It was noon of Nov. 6 , 1895 , the hour set for the marriage of one of America 's wealthiest heiresses , Consuelo Vanderbilt , to the ninth Duke of Marlborough -LRB- le tout New York in attendance , Walter Damrosch 's 60-man orchestra completing their Wagner and Tchaikovsky , platoons of policemen keeping hordes of curious citizens out of St. Thomas Episcopal Church -RRB- .