Alletta “Leta” Nathalie Lorillard Morris was born in New York City in 1912 to socially prominent parents: Lewis Gouverneur Morris II (1883-1967), a banker, and Nathalie Lorillard Bailey Morris (1887-1935), an amateur historian, photographer, and tennis champion. (“Mrs. Lewis Morris Dies in her Home”) On both her maternal and paternal sides, Alletta was descended from eminent American families. Her mother was a direct descendant of Robert Livingston (1688-1775), the Lord of Livingston Manor, as well as Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (1711-1787), a founder of the Lutheran Church in the United States. Her father was part of the Morris political family, descended from Lewis Morris (1671-1746), the Lord of the Manor of Morrisania and first governor of the New Jersey colony. Alletta was a direct descendant of Chief Justice Richard Morris (1730-1810) of the New York State Supreme Court, whose brothers Lewis Morris III (1726-1798) and Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816) were signatories of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, respectively. (Lurie and Veit; New York Court of Vice Admiralty Records) Family history was important to Alletta’s mother, Nathalie, who was an avid collector of manuscript materials, as well as an active member of the Order of Colonial Lords of Manors in America and Colonial Dames of America. Nathalie’s collection of family history materials, as well as her personal papers, now comprise PSNCA.H.049, the Morris Family papers.

From an early age, Nathalie educated Alletta to be a lady of society. Alletta was involved in charitable organizations from the age of 5. She attended dance and music classes, and was taught to host and attend social gatherings. The family split their time between 1015 Park Avenue in New York City and their Gothic-Revival summer home, Malbone Castle and Estate in Newport, RI. For her formal education, Alletta attended Miss Hewitt’s Classes – now the Hewitt School – near her family’s home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Alletta was a member of Miss Hewitt’s first graduating class, finishing secondary school in 1929. Upon her graduation, she was sent to finishing school at L’Ermitage in Versailles, France; there, she continued her artistic education through life drawing classes. After she returned from France, Alletta made her society debut alongside her childhood friend, Doris Duke (1912-1993). Like other debutantes, her lifestyle was dominated by dinners, dances, and charitable functions, seemingly insulated from the Great Depression.

1935 was a transformative year for Alletta. Her engagement to Byrnes MacDonald (1908-1959), a Princeton University graduate and officer of the National Recovery Administration (NRA), had been announced in November 1934. However, in January 1935, Nathalie passed away following a brief illness. Opting to go ahead with the wedding despite her mother’s death, Alletta married Byrnes on February 2nd in a small ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City; there was no reception, and attendance at the ceremony was limited to immediate family. (“Miss Leta Morris becomes bride of Byrnes MacDonald in New York)

During her marriage to Byrnes MacDonald, Alletta’s philanthropic activities were strongly influenced by Byrnes’s career in public service. After his time with the National Recovery Administration, Byrnes was appointed as a sixth-deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department and was put in charge of the department’s Juvenile Aid Bureau. He helped to found the Police Athletic League, and led efforts to redirect youth away from truancy and petty crime. He later served as an assistant to New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, joined the Naval Reserve, and saw combat in the Pacific as a Lieutenant Commander in World War II. Alongside him, Alletta was involved in fundraising for the Police Athletic League and, like other socialites, advocated for cost-saving efforts during the war. In 1942, Alletta gave birth to their son, George Morris “Mac” MacDonald. The young family lived at 895 Park Avenue, just a few blocks from Alletta’s father, who still resided at 1015 Park Ave. In 1946, Lewis G. Morris remarried, becoming the husband of Anita Rhinelander Stewart (1886-1977), the widow of Prince Miguel de Bragança of Portugal. Alletta gained three stepsiblings of royal descent: Isabel (1910-1946), John Miguel (1912-1991), and Miguel (1915-1996).

In 1949, Alletta inherited one of three shares of a Newport summer residence formerly owned by her father’s cousin, Emily Morris Gallatin, the other shares being left to her father and her sister, Frances Elizabeth “Betty” Morris (1915-1994). Alletta purchased the others’ shares, and became the sole owner of the house, which Emily had named “Chepstow” after a town in Wales with significance in Morris family history. Like the Gallatins before them, Alletta and Byrnes continued to use the house as primarily a summer residence. Alletta was a noted hostess for Newport summer society, and both Alletta and Byrnes were members of Bailey’s Beach and the Newport Country Club. Byrnes suffered from declining health throughout the second half of the 1950s, and passed away in 1959.

In 1962, Alletta married Peter McBean (1910-1997), a Marine Corps veteran and member of a prominent California ranching family. Peter had three daughters from a previous marriage: Judith, Sheila, and Edith. Alletta and Peter split their time between Hillsborough, CA and Newport, continuing to use Chepstow as a summer residence. In the 1970s, they began hosting an annual buffet dinner on the Sunday of the Newport County Club tournament weekend; Alletta’s friend Evie Pyne chronicled these dinners in two photo albums. Alletta’s wide social circle included her childhood friend Doris Duke, although this relationship was at times strained, as well as other Newport socialites, such as Marion “Oatsie” Charles, Noreen Stonor Drexel, Janet Lee Auchincloss, Beverly Bogert, and Anita O’Keeffe Young. She entertained Edward, Duke of Windsor, and Wallis Simpson Windsor, and attended exclusive social events such as the 1948 Greenbrier Resort re-opening and the 1967 Tiffany Ball. A noted hostess and fashionista, she was featured in magazines, including Vogue and Town and Country, the latter of which featured her Chepstow table settings in their August 1982 issue.

Alletta passed away in 1986. In her will, she graciously bequeathed Chepstow to the Preservation Society of Newport County, with the intent that the house be used as a museum. In addition to her significant involvement with the Preservation Society, Alletta was the founding secretary and a trustee of Doris Duke’s Newport Restoration Foundation, serving alongside Jacqueline Onassis and Katherine Warren. In 1986, Alletta was posthumously awarded the Preservation Society’s Antiquarian Award. In her will, she also established the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Trust, which continues to use Alletta’s fortune to “enhance the quality of life in and to perpetuate the history of the City of Newport and Aquidneck Island.” (Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Trust Statement of Purpose)