Edith Van Buren

Edith Marie Van Buren (1858-1914), also known later in life as the Countess de Castelmenardo, was an American socialite and world traveler. She is remembered for her tourism in the Yukon, her contentious divorce from a man styling himself as the Count di Castelmenardo, and her family connection to Teaneck, New Jersey. Family Edith Van Buren's father was General Thomas Brodhead Van Buren, a Union officer and U.S. diplomat who later became the U.S. Consul-General in Yokohama. Through her father, Edith Van Buren was related to the U.S. president Martin Van Buren. Her mother was Harriet Sheffield, daughter of the railroad magnate Joseph Earl Sheffield. Harriet Sheffield's brother-in-law, William Walter Phelps, encouraged the family to take up residence in Teaneck, New Jersey. Portrait bust