Sophie Girard’s family has been in Newport, R.I., for what she estimates is 17 generations. She’s a direct descendant of Roger Williams—who founded Providence, the state’s capital, in 1636—and, more recently, of Nicholas Brown, after whom Brown University is named.
One of the primary heiresses in the family at the turn of the 20th century had “as much as $80 million,” Girard says, pointing out that it was “not a lot, compared to the Vanderbilts.”
