Arabella Huntington

Arabella Huntington
Arabella Huntington
Born	1851 Richmond, Virginia
Died	1924
Nationality	American
Known for	Second wife of American railway tycoon and industrialist Collis P. Huntington, and then the second wife of Henry E. Huntington

Arabella Yarrington "Belle" Huntington (c.1851–1924) was the second wife of American railway tycoon and industrialist Collis P. Huntington, and then the second wife of Henry E. Huntington. She was once known as the richest woman in America, and as the force behind the art collection that is housed at the Huntington Library.

Arabella Huntington was the second wife of Collis P. Huntington. After his death, she married his nephew Henry E. Huntington, who was also a railway magnate and the founder of the famous Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, in San Marino, California. She had a son, Archer Milton Huntington.

Compared to her famous family, information about Arabella is scarce. She was apparently born in 1850 or 1851, probably in Richmond, Virginia (see Wark, p. 312). However, in the 1921 passenger list for the ship Aquitania, sailing from Cherbourg to New York, Arabella identified herself as being born in Mobile, Alabama on February 9, 1851. Her first husband was a Mr. Worsham, of New York, who died shortly after they were married, leaving her with a young son, named Archer (some other sources have suggested that they were not actually married, but that she was his mistress). (It has also been suggested that Archer's father was actually Collis Huntington, who legally adopted the boy when he was a teenager.). In 1877 she was able to purchase some property in New York, which was later sold to John D. Rockefeller. She married Collis Huntington in 1884, in San Francisco, California, and was left a widow a second time when he died in 1900. Following Collis’ death in 1900, Arabella continued to spend lavishly—on homes, furnishings, jewelry, and art. She also gave generously to the Hampton Institute, Tuskegee Institute, Harvard University.