Louise Cromwell (born Henrietta Louise Cromwell; September 24, 1890 – May 30, 1965) was an American socialite whose four marriages included seven years as the first wife of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. She was "considered one of Washington's most beautiful and attractive young women".

Biography

She was born as Henrietta Louise Cromwell on September 24, 1890 in

Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...

to Lucretia Bishop "Eva" Roberts and Oliver Eaton Cromwell. Her brothers were the American mountain climber Oliver Eaton Cromwell Jr., and James H. R. Cromwell, the American diplomat and first husband of Doris Duke. After her father's death her mother married prominent

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

Edward T. Stotesbury Edward Townsend "Ned" Stotesbury (February 26, 1849 – May 16, 1938) was a prominent investment banker, a partner in Philadelphia's Drexel & Co. and its New York affiliate J. P. Morgan & Co. for over fifty-five years. He was involved in ...

in 1912. She made her debut in

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in 1910. Cromwell married four times. Louise Cromwell, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing left, wearing fox furs LCCN90708175

In 1911, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Washington, DC, she married Baltimore businessman Walter Booth Brooks Jr., in a ceremony called "one of the most brilliant social affairs in the Capital that season." They had three children: Evalyn Louise Brooks (1912-196

married William Ross Howard III(1907-1978

Walter Booth Brooks III (1914-1981). Angela Brooks (1918-1918). Brooks and Cromwell divorced in 1919. In late 1921, Brooks met Brigadier general (United States), Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur. Walter Borneman describes Brooks at this time as “recently divorced, the mother of two young children, fabulously wealthy, and by all accounts the epitome of a liberated Roaring Twenties woman racing a breakneck speed to embrace far more rights than those granted by the recently ratified Nineteenth Amendment.” The pair announced their engagement in mid-January 1922 and were married on

Valentine’s Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thro ...

, at Louise’s stepfather’s Palm Beach villa. Mrs

In September 1922, the couple set out for the Philippines, wither MacArthur had been transferred for overseas service. William Manchester, in his biography of MacArthur, stated that General John J. Pershing, then the Army Chief of Staff, summarily transferred MacArthur from his post as Superintendent of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

to the Philippines because Pershing was himself interested in Mrs. Brooks. She claimed that Pershing wanted to marry her and had threatened to send MacArthur to the Philippines if they married. Pershing said the allegation was "all damn poppycock". More recently, Richard B. Frank has written that Pershing and Brooks had already "severed" their relationship by the time of MacArthur's transfer; Brooks was, however, "informal y engaged to a close aide of Pershing's (she broke off the relationship in order to accept MacArthur's proposal). Pershing's letter concerning MacArthur's transfer predated--by a few days--Brooks's and MacArthur's engagement announcement, though this did not dispel the newspaper gossip. In January 1925, MacArthur was promoted, becoming the youngest

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in the U.S. Army; he and his wife returned to America, choosing to live at Louise’s estate, near

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

(and

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). In 1928, MacArthur set out again for the Philippines, this time as commander of the

Philippine Department The Philippine Department (Filipino: ''Kagawaran ng Pilipinas/Hukbong Kagawaran ng Pilipinas'') was a regular United States Army organization whose mission was to defend the Philippine Islands and train the Philippine Army. On 9 April 1942, durin ...

. This time, with his marriage deteriorating, the general travelled alone; Louise had moved out of the estate with her children, adopting as her residence the entire twenty-sixth floor of a

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

hotel. Brooks's marriage to MacArthur ended in divorce in 1929, on the nominal charge of "failure to support", though both later acknowledged the real reason to be "incompatibility". MacArthur gave the marriage only one sentence in his memoirs; "In February 1922 I entered into matrimony, but it was not successful, and ended in divorce years later for mutual incompatibility." She next married the actor

Lionel Atwill Lionel Alfred William Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the U.S., he subsequently appeared in various Broadway plays and Hollywood f ...

, whom she divorced in 1943. In 1944 she married bandleader Alf Heiberg, then a Lieutenant Colonel in the

US Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and the first leader of the US Air Force Band. That marriage also ended in divorce. Brooks died of a heart attack in

at the age of 74. She was buried in the Roberts Family plot at Chicago's

Oak Woods Cemetery Oak Woods Cemetery is a large lawn cemetery in Chicago, Illinois. Located at 1035 E. 67th Street, in the Greater Grand Crossing area of Chicago's South Side. Established on February 12, 1853, it covers . Oak Woods is the final resting place o ...

Biography

References

Further reading