Clara Ward, Princesse de Caraman-Chimay
| Clara Ward | |
|---|---|
An English postcard from c. 1905, featuring a German chromolithograph of Clara Ward
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| Born |
June 17, 1873 Detroit, Michigan |
| Died | December 9, 1916 (aged 43) Padua, Italy |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) |
Joseph, Prince de Caraman-Chimay Rigó Jancsi Peppino Ricciardo Signor Cassalota |
Clara Ward (17 June 1873 – 9 December 1916) was a wealthy American socialite who married a prince from Belgium.
The story of Clara Ward, who commonly used one or another version of the title "Princesse de Caraman-Chimay", is poorly known today, but for some years in the early 1890s she was the toast of the United States. During the late 1890s and the Edwardian years, she spent much time in both the society and gossip columns of two continents. She was widely known, envied and admired, desired, loathed and reviled.
Clara Ward was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Captain Eber Brock Ward (1811–1875) and his second wife, Catherine Lyon, a niece of Senator Benjamin Wade. A wealthy man, often stated to be Michigan's first millionaire, E.B. Ward had holdings in Great Lakes steamships; lumbering at Ludington, Michigan; iron and steel manufacturing at Wyandotte, Michigan, Leland, Michigan, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois; and silver mining in Colorado. He manufactured the first Bessemer steel to be made in the United States at his plant in Wyandotte. Ward was president of the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad from 1860 until his death on 2 January 1875 in Detroit.
Captain Ward died when Clara was less than two years old. The mill and timber holdings at Ludington passed into the hands of Clara's mother and were managed by her brother, Thomas R. Lyon, as the firm of Thomas R. Lyon, Agent. As a child, Clara and her mother periodically visited Ludington to see their kin and inspect the mills.
She came to the public's attention in 1889 or early 1890, when it was announced that a distinguished Belgian visitor to the United States, the Prince of Caraman-Chimay, a member of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies, had proposed marriage to the very young, very attractive daughter of a very wealthy family.
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