DOROTHY STOKES BOSTWICK SMITH CAMPBELL — In his online blog post titled My Favorite Heiresses: A Bevy of Bostwicks, author Conrad Hanson wrote of Dorothy Stokes Bostwick Smith Campbell, “…it is impossible to find images of her online, following the spirit of the old money adage that a lady’s name should appear in print three times, upon their birth, marriage, and death.” In the course of researching this accomplished former Short Hills resident we were surprised, then, to find two images of Ms. Campbell. One seen here is from a 1921 passport photo and one from a book of poetry she wrote.
Blogger Hanson further wrote about Bostwick: “Dorothy Stokes Bostwick Smith Campbell was an American heiress who was born in Manhattan to Marie Lilian Stokes and her husband, Albert Carlton Bostwick. Her grandfather was Jabez A. Bostwick, a railroad owner and wealthy co-founder of the Standard Oil Company…In 1922, papers announced the young heiress’s marriage to W.T. Sampson Smith in Gilbertsville, NY…The couple split their time between residences in Cooperstown New York, and Short Hills New Jersey, where Dorothy employed the all-female firm of Wodell and Cottrell to design her gardens.” Note: The daughter of Ms. Wodell gave the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society a large collection of Wodell and Cottrell landscape plans for a great many homes in Millburn Township and the Bostwock plans are probably in that donation.
Hanson continues: “A skilled yachtswoman, she was a good match for her husband, a builder of International Star Class racing yachts in the 1920s and 30s. The two were fixtures on the international powerboat racing circuit…Her father died young in 1911. This meant that when her grandmother Helen Bostwick died in 1920, her father’s share of her grandmother’s $29,000,000 estate passed directly to Dorothy and her siblings, making her a very wealthy young woman…She also became fascinated with the autogyro (a precursor to the modern helicopter) and became the first woman in the United States to obtain a helicopter license.” Note: We called the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and two helicopter-related organizations, but the no one had information about the claim Ms. Bostwick was the first woman in the US to have a helicopter license.
Ms. Bostwick Campbell was also a painter, sculptor (see her dolphin sculpture in the photo here), and author. She published “Passing Thoughts,” a collection of her poetry and drawings and “Touch of Wisdom“…and in those two books in the historical society’s collection are where you can find that elusive second photo of the author!