Robert Gould Shaw II
| Robert Gould Shaw II | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
June 16, 1872 Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | March 29, 1930 (aged 57) Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Hills Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Other names | RGS II |
| Occupation | landowner, socialite |
| Spouse(s) |
Nancy Witcher Langhorne Mary Hannington |
| Children |
Robert Gould Shaw III Louis Agassiz Shaw II |
| Parent(s) |
Quincy Adams Shaw Pauline Agassiz |
| Relatives |
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Robert Gould Shaw II (sometimes referred to as RGS II) (June 16, 1872 — March 29, 1930) was a wealthy landowner and socialite of the leisure class in the greater Boston area of Massachusetts. He was one of the prominent figures of the boom years at the turn of the century, sometimes called the Gilded Age.
Born in 1872 into one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Boston, he was a first cousin of Robert Gould Shaw (RGS, 1837—1863). As an adult, RGS II gained a reputation for alcohol abuse and promiscuity. His first wife was Nancy Witcher Langhorne, and they had a son, Robert Gould Shaw III (RGS III, also known as Bobby). RGS II and Langhorne divorced after four years of marriage. She moved to England after some time, where she met and married Waldorf Astor, who later succeeded his father as Viscount.
RGS II married again and had another son, Louis Agassiz Shaw II. Both of his sons suffered from depression, alcoholism, and legal difficulties. Bobby was arrested in England for homosexuality; he eventually committed suicide in 1970. Louis Agassiz Shaw II murdered his 60-year-old maid in 1964, for which he never stood trial. He was determined to be unfit for trial and was remanded instead to a psychiatric hospital, where he resided for nearly the rest of his life.
RGS II was the youngest child of Quincy Adams Shaw and Pauline Agassiz. Quincy was one of the wealthiest men in Massachusetts as a result of his investment in the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. RGS II's four older siblings were Louis, Pauline, Marian, and Quincy Jr. His father's side of the family had Anglo-American roots extending back to passengers on the Mayflower. His paternal grandparents were Robert Gould Shaw (1776—1853) and Elizabeth Willard Parkman (1785—1853). His maternal grandfather was Louis Agassiz (1807—1873), a prominent paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist, and scholar of the Earth's natural history who immigrated from Switzerland in 1846.
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