Oliver Belmont

popular name: Caroline Schermerhorn Astor

date_of_death: October 30, 1908

age: 78

cause_of_death: Heart failure

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, often called “The Mrs. Astor,” was one of the most influential and wealthy social figures in the United States during the late 19th century's Gilded Age. Married to William Backhouse Astor Jr., she was part of the immensely wealthy Astor family, whose fortune came from real estate investments that made them among the richest families in America. Living in a lavish mansion on New York’s Fifth Avenue, Caroline Astor became the unofficial leader of high society, using her wealth, social connections, and elaborate entertainments to shape the city’s elite social world. She was famous for maintaining an exclusive list of prominent families known as the “Four Hundred,” which represented those considered acceptable in fashionable society. Her luxurious lifestyle included grand balls, elegant dinners, expensive clothing, domestic servants, and extensive travel, all symbols of the immense wealth enjoyed by America’s upper class during the Gilded Age. Caroline’s death marked the end of old-style high society in New York City. She had ruled over the upper crust as an un-crowned American queen, and an invitation to one of Mrs. Astor’s famous balls was the ultimate symbol of one’s social rank.

popular name: Armand Hammer

date_of_death: December 10, 1990

age: 92

cause_of_death: Bone marrow cancer

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: After earning his medical degree from Columbia University Armand Hammer went on to become a successful entrepreneur before retiring in his 50s. Shortly after he was approached by a friend who suggested that he finance two wildcat oil wells being drilled in Bakersfield, California by the near-bankrupt Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Hammer financed the wells, which unexpectedly struck oil, and he quickly increased his holdings in Occidental, becoming the firm’s chief executive officer and chairman of the board in 1957. Within 10 years the company was generating over $2 billion is sales.

popular name: Sarah Winchester

date_of_death: September 5, 1922

age: 83

cause_of_death: Congestive heart failure

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Sarah Winchester was an American heiress who amassed great wealth after the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester (son of Winchester Repeating Arms Company founder Oliver Winchester). Her inheritance included $20 million ($606.5 million in 2022) as well as a 50% holding in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, which made her one of the wealthiest women in the world at the time. Sarah Winchester was, supposedly, so racked with guilt and haunted by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester firearms that she started building a house in California because a medium advised her that endless building would appease the dead. Construction, which continued 24 hours per day 7 days a week, only stopped when she died. The only problem with this narrative is that it is 100% completely false. And to make matters worse, the owners of the Winchester Mystery House continue to this day to repeat this myth to thousands of visitors every day to the home in San Jose. The fact of the matter is Sarah Winchester was not a crazy, guilt-ridden millionaire who sought guidence from ghost whispers, but rather she was highly educated, spoke multiple languages fluently, and moved to California for her health. She purchased a modest (by her standards) farmhouse and started work on her architectual marval. Aside from its immense size and Victorian style architecture, the House has a number of unique characteristics. To begin, it is undeniably a labyrinth. There are literally miles of maze-like corridors and twisting hallways, some of which have dead ends—forcing the traveler to turn around and back-up. There are also some centrally located passages and stairways that serve as shortcuts allowing a virtual leap from one side of the House to the other. Although Sarah’s labyrinthine House serves the same function as the ancient prototypes, her labyrinth is more a symbolic introductory step into her puzzle. The greatest test for the initiate lies in his ability to understand and identify Mrs. Winchester’s remarkable mix of symbols and numbered code. Sarah’s love of Geometry and specific symmetric numbers is prominently displayed throughout the House. When Winchester died in 1922 the house had 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and 6 kitchens.