User:Elisa.rolle/Leila Griswold Webb

Amelia Howard "Leila" Griswold Webb Codman (November 12, 1856 - January 21, 1910) was an American socialite.

Early life
Leila was the daughter of John Augustus Griswold and Elizabeth Hart. Through social connections, she was acquainted with the Rockfellers and related by marriage to the Vanderbilts.

Marriage
In 1884 Leila Howard Griswold married H. Walter Webb, and they had two sons: Henry Walter Webb, Jr. (c. 1885 – 1919) and State Senator J. Griswold Webb (1890 – 1934). H. Walter Webb'a brother, William Seward Webb, married Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt, daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt. His new father-in-law asked him to manage his company, which was a manufacturer of railroad cars. H. Walter Webb maintained his position as the Vice President of the company until his death. After Webb passed away, Leila Webb, 44, inherited $3 million. On July 8, 1903, Leila’s new architect, Ogden Codman Jr., proposed a new plan to build a residence with six floors at No. 15 East 51st Street, which would cost $42,000. Leila apparently fell for the architect later, and they later married despite of Codman was a homosexual. Following the marriage Codman left his home on East 79th Street and moved to the luxurious new home that he personally designed for his wife.

Leila volunteered herself in Stony Wold Sanitarium near Lake Kushaqua. Many female patients of tuberculosis were living in that sanitarium. Her house at E. 51st Street was used for meetings about the sanitarium. In 1907 Codman and Leila planned a new home uptown and bought a piece of land at No. 7 East 96th Street. Leila did not see the new house cause, she died at 54 in the 51st Street mansion on January 21, 1910. Leila’s sons inherited more than $150.000. The rest of the estate went to Ogden, which was considerably more since the mansion on 51st Street alone was valued at $160,000. He later sold the house and moved to E. 96th Street.

Although Leila's name is mentioned on the memorial stone at Lincoln Cemetery, MA, of her last husband, Ogden Codman Jr., she is actually buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, in Westchester County, NY.