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Time Period
1861 to 1876
1877 to 1924
1925 to Today
Timeline of the Weddells and Important Events
1874
- Virginia Atkinson Chase was born in Edina, Missouri.
1876
- Alexander Wilbourne Weddell was born in Richmond, Virginia.
- Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
- United States celebrates centennial
1894
- Virginia (Bertie) Chase graduates from Miss Brown's School for Girls in New York and tours Europe.
1898
1900
- Virginia Chase marries James Harrison Steedman in St. Louis, Missouri.
1901
- William McKinley assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt becomes president.
1903
- Wright Brothers fly the first airplane.
1904
- Alexander Weddell attends George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., and clerks at Library of Congress.
- Olympic Games held in the United States for the first time.
- Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Panama Canal legally transferred to the United States.
1907
- Alexander Weddell appointed private secretary to minister to Denmark.
1909
- Alexander Weddell passes the foreign service exam.
1910
- Alexander Weddell is named the U.S. consul to Zanzibar.
1912
- Alexander Weddell is commissioned U.S. consul to Catania, Italy.
- Woodrow Wilson elected President.
1913
- 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution established income tax.
1914
- Alexander Weddell commissioned U.S. consul-general to Athens, Greece.
- World War I begins after Archduke Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated.
- Panama Canal opens.
1916
- Woodrow Wilson is reelected president.
1917
- Alexander Weddell is appointed diplomatic attache to Cairo, Egypt.
- United States enters World War I.
- J. Harrison Steedman is called to active service as a naval engineer.
1918
1919
- Prohibition begins.
- The League of Nations is established.
1920
- Alexander Weddell is commissioned U.S. consul-general to Calcutta, India.
- 19th Amendment passed, giving women the right to vote.
- First successful commercial radio broadcast.
1921
- James Harrison Steedman dies leaving a substantial fortune to his widow, Virginia Steedman.
- Virginia Steedman makes a large donation to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.
1922
- Virginia Steedman departs on a world tour with Mr. and Mrs. William Cocke.
- Russian White Cross honors Virginia Steedman for her large donation for refugee relief in Istanbul.
1923
- Alexander Weddell meets Virginia Steedman in Calcutta; they marry after a four-month courtship.
1924
- Alexander Weddell is appointed U.S. consul-general to Mexico City.
1925
- Virginia and Alexander Weddell purchase Warwick Priory in England and ship the stones to Richmond.
1926
- First successful television transmission.
1927
- Lindbergh makes historic trans-Atlantic flight.
1928
- Virginia House is completed.
- Virginia and Alexander Weddell settle in Richmond after his resignation from the foreign service.
1929
- Virginia House is deeded to Virginia Historical Society.
- Stock market crashes, and the Great Depression begins.
1932
- Virginia Weddell is delegate to the National Democratic Convention in Chicago; Roosevelt nominated.
- Virginia Weddell organizes state and local chapters of the Woman's Organization for National Prohibition Reform.
1933
- Alexander Weddell is appointed U.S. ambassador to Argentina.
- 21st Amendment repeals Prohibition.
1935
- Alexander Weddell chairs American delegation to the Pan American Commercial Conference.
- Alexander Weddell serves as American representative at Chaco Peace Conference.
1937
- Virginia Weddell presented at the Court of St. James in London.
1939
- Spanish Civil War ends.
- Alexander Weddell named U.S. ambassador to Spain.
- Virginia Weddell established Fondo de Socorro Español de Mrs. Weddell (Mrs. Weddell's Spanish Relief Fund).
- World War II begins when Germany invades Poland.
1940
- Virginia Weddell presented with Medal of Honor of the Red Cross in Madrid for her humanitarian efforts.
1942
- Alexander Weddell retires from the foreign service.
1943
- Alexander Weddell named president of the Virginia Historical Society.
1945
- Franklin Roosevelt dies and Harry Truman becomes president.
- Atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
- World War II ends.
- United Nations founded.
1948
- Virginia and Alexander Weddell die in a train accident in Otterville, Missouri, on New Year's Day.