A Whole Lotta Bull: Love, War & Gossip in the Gilded Age

There were many sensational love stories and romances during the Gilded Age, and there is no need to look further than Staatsburgh’s guests to find some of the individuals involved in them. As we have been researching the approximately 150 individuals who signed the guestbook, several interesting stories and personalities have emerged.  The story of Henry Worthington Bull and Maud Livingston is just one of those stories.  This story reveals the tale of a broken-hearted young woman who lost her fiancé only to later fall in love with his close friend.

Henry W. Bull (1874-1958)

Henry Worthington Bull (1874-1958) was a frequent guest of Ruth & Ogden Mills. His signature appeared in the guestbook nine times! He was born into a wealthy family and his father, William Lanman Bull, was at one time the President of the New York Stock Exchange. Bull himself became a stock-broker after graduating from Columbia. However, just two years after his graduation, he left his brokerage firm to serve in the Spanish-American War with the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry – the now-famous “Rough Riders” led by Col. Theodore Roosevelt. Bull was part of the “Fifth Avenue Boys” or “Millionaire Recruits,” as they were called by the newspapers. They were a group of young and wealthy men who were sportsmen and society leaders who joined up to serve during the war. In June 1898 his unit, Troop K, arrived in Cuba and garnered fame following the Battle of San Juan Hill. Bull survived the war and mustered out as a Sergeant.

Henry Bull (circled) with the Rough Riders 

The Inquirer, June 4, 1898

He was lucky to have made it out alive, but the same could not be said for his close friend and fellow “Millionaire Recruit” Lieutenant William Tiffany. Tiffany was the grandson of Commodore Perry, a naval officer known for working to open Japan to trade with the West. In May of 1897, the newspapers announced Tiffany’s engagement to Maud Livingston. While Ruth Mills was also a Livingston, she was very distantly related to Maud and their direct ancestors go back more than five generations.  

Lt. William Tiffany (1863-1898)

Close up of Rough Riders Henry Bull (left) & William Tiffany (right)

William and Maud were in similar social circles and must have fallen in love leading to an engagement. Yet a year after the engagement, they had not yet married, and Tiffany was among the "Millionaire Recruits" who joined up with the “Rough Riders.” He was an excellent horseman and had spent time in the West so he decided to volunteer. Sadly, he did not survive the war. He didn’t die in combat, but like most deaths during the Spanish American War, he contracted typhoid fever. He died at only 29 years old on August 25, 1898 shortly after he was transported back to the US from Cuba. Maud was devastated and went into mourning for her lost fiancé.

New York Tribune, May 14, 1897

The New York Times, August 28, 1898

By 1902, Maud Livingston had come out of mourning and was listed in the newspapers attending social events and balls, many of which were also attended by Henry Bull. During the summer of 1903, they played tennis against each other in a mixed doubles match on Long Island. By October 1904, the papers announced their engagement, and they married two months later in Saratoga. They wed in Saratoga because Maud’s mother had been living there and was ill.  The whole affair was on the quiet side, and then they honeymooned in Egypt.

 

Maud Livingston Bull (1875-1962)
1919 Passport Photo

The New York Times, October 29, 1904

This relationship would not have been as noteworthy without the discovery of this (at least somewhat) sensationalized article. The article, entitled "Like the Love of Othello and Desdemona - in New York's 400: Pathetic Love Tragedy of Poor "Willie" Tiffany and Maud Livingston, and How the Dead Rough Rider's Chum Won the Girl," printed entire conversations of dialogue between the two. These conversations between Miss Livingston and Mr. Bull were very likely fabricated since the author would not have been present for private conversations and did not interview them. The "supposed" conversation consists entirely of Maud pleading to Henry for details about her dead fiancé when they served in Cuba together.

The Commercial Appeal, December 25, 1904.

Henry Bull spoke to Maud, “I can see him now as we lay there in the wet trenches around San Juan Hill. The one happy picture in his mind.” “Yes. Yes Mr. Bull, pray go on,” urged Miss Livingston. “...His one great happiness…was your love,” he shared.  According to the article, day after day, evening after evening, she was hungry for every little scrap about her dead soldier. One might think it would tire Henry Bull, but no…  “The more this living chum praised his dead chum the more this Desdemona of today drank in every word of this modern Othello telling of disastrous chances, battles, accidents. They were quietly falling in love all the time. She with the chum of her sweetheart and he with the sweetheart of his chum.”

The Commercial Appeal, December 25, 1904.

The article continued to describe their love story.  In summary, after five years of sympathy and grief following William's death, they both happened to accept an invitation to a house party in Roslyn, Long Island and the hostess asked Henry to sit by Maud. She was wearing all white with no jewelry and he found her to be a goddess of simplicity. They agreed to be friends and he began to call on her more and more because he enjoyed the visits. They seemed to remain brotherly and sisterly until she fell off her horse during a hunt. He was first to reach her and he brought her into his arms to try and revive her. He was distraught and from then on she never rode alone. It was not long until their engagement was announced. …or so says The Commercial Appeal article…  The article gave no indication of sources and was likely printed to sell papers by creating the most dramatic story possible!  

 

The Barre Daily Times, December 7, 1904

While Henry and Maud never had any children, they did take in Maud’s two nieces Phyllis and Kathleen Baker. Apparently Maud’s sister’s marriage had ended and she moved to Paris with a new husband while the children’s father moved to Boston so the little girls ended up with their aunt and uncle. Phyllis (1908-1954) married twice and her second husband was someone who was pretty well known. Do you recognize this man? 

Fredrick Austerlitz, better known as Fred Astaire (1899-1987)

If you thought Fred Astaire, you are correct! She married Fred Astaire and they had two children together. Fred actually knew Henry Bull from horse circles for a few years before he met Phyllis. The two were married until her untimely death from lung cancer at age 46 in 1954. Both couples, the Bulls and the Astaires, are buried alongside each other just outside of Los Angeles. Henry Bull went from New York high society, to the trenches of Cuba, back to high society, and ended up in Hollywood!