Lydia Locke was born in St. Louis, MO in 1886. Professionally, she was an opera singer, performing as a member of the celebrated Oscar Hammerstein London Opera Company.

Her life, off-stage, was more of a soap opera. She was married seven times, although information from the Yorktown Museum can only identify six of her seven husbands, who were: Lord Reginald Talbot, the tenor Orville Harrold, Arthur Hudson Marks, salesman Harry Dornblazer, international playboy Count Carlo Marinovic and Irwin Rose. 

She lived in a 26-room mansion on a 1,000-acre estate in Yorktown, which she purchased in 1916. According to the book: "Images of America: Yorktown," by Linda Cooper and Alice Roker (Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2003) the property was "situated on Route 118 between Yorktown and the Croton Reservoir." Today, that area is part of the property owned by the Sanctuary Golf Club.

Allegedly, Locke killed her husband Lord Reginald Talbot after she shot him in the chest with a pistol hidden in her muff. She stood trial only a year after she was presented to the Queen Consort of England. She was found not guilty on the grounds of self-defense.  

Continuing with research, clipping from The New York Times on May 4, 1915, said Locke was married to her second husband at the time, the opera tenor Orville Harrold. The article said the woman was due in court to answer charges of disorderly conduct brought about when a driver was dispatched to give her some medicine at her fashionable Central Park West apartment. When he attempted to collect the 25 cents due for the item, allegedly she slapped him in the face with her high-heeled slipper.

During her marriage to her third husband, Arthur Marks (1917-1924), the couple adopted a baby boy, named Newton Locke, who was born in 1921 (See attached photos of Lydia and Little Newton circa 1922).

Sometime between 1921 and 1924, the marriage broke down and  Marks, a millionaire organ and automobile tire manufacturer (Goodyear) filed for divorce. Further rumors in 1924, alleged she admitted to having obtained a baby from an orphanage in an attempt to extort more money from her estranged husband. Before the divorce became final, Marks testified that Locke claimed that she was pregnant with his child. Several months later, she appeared on his doorstep, with an infant in her arms.

Alarmed, Marks hired a team of private detectives, who found out that Locke, assumed the identity of a wealthy society matron from Hannibal, MO, when she appeared at a Kansas City orphanage and gained custody of the child.

Another Times article, dated  Nov. 11, 1924, reported the six-month old baby boy was ordered to be returned to the home.

Lydia then married her secretary, Harry Dornblaser, who was about 10 years her junior. However, he returned to America during their European wedding trip, and the couple never again lived together. They ended their marriage in October 1926. His body was found in an abandoned log cabin, near Cleveland, OH, a victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.                   

In 1927, Locke married Carlo Marinovic, who was reportedly a count in his homeland before becoming an American citizen. Their marriage ended in 1932, after she discovered his infidelity.

Local townspeople, over the years, have told stories of Locke being chauffeured around town in a full-length fur coat and nothing else. Reportedly, she appeared before a Yorktown town board meeting in this bizarre get-up. 

She and husband No. 7, Irwin Rose, ran the profitable Inn at Locke Ledge until they sold the property in 1965, the Evening Star newspaper reported.

She died a year later, at age 79. That same year, her 19th-century estate house burned to the ground.

Today, Lydia Locke, one of the more colorful characters in Yorktown history, rests in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

According to the archivist at the Yorktown Museum, Nancy Augustowski, Locke's adopted son, Newton Locke, was taunted by his schoolmates with the moniker of 'Fig Newton.' 

Information obtained at the museum indicated that Newton led a rather sheltered life. He "was not allowed to associate with Yorktown children and, exceedingly isolated, harbored a life-long dislike for his home at Locke Ledge and a love-hate relationship with his mother."

Records indicated Newton attended the Peekskill Military Academy, the Staunton Military Academy, and graduated from Yorktown High School in 1939. He went on to Northeastern University for his bachelor's and law degrees. Newton Locke was an Assistant Public Defender for the Seventh Circuit Court in Meriden, CT for 14 years. 

He lived in Berkshire, NY, and died at the age of 65 of a blood disorder on August 27, 1986. According to the Sept. 10, 1986, obituary that appeared in the Hamden Chronicle, Locke was survived by seven daughters, one son and five grandchildren.