The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Fitch, Florence Lynette Hopper, 1876-1941             

Title:               Florence Fitch and George Hopper papers and photographs

Dates:             circa 1875-1995, bulk dates 1890-1928.

Call No.:         Col. 393

Acc. No.:        91x106; 96x60

Quantity:        2 boxes (about 80 items)

Location:        9 H 6

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Florence Lynette Hopper Fitch was born in 1876 near Unionville, Ohio.  Her father, George H. Hopper (1837-1898) worked for the Standard Oil Company office in New York City, but maintained a large horse farm called "Elmwood," near Unionville.  He had started out as a cooper and supplied barrels to John D. Rockefeller for his oil.  Eventually, Hopper sold the cooper shop to Standard Oil and became head of its shipping department.  The Hoppers were noted for hosting large functions at "Elmwood," particularly parties at the estate's horse race track.  They also owned another property, "Driftwood," at Geneva on Lake Erie, Ohio.  Florence’s brother Charles Henry Hopper (1862-1916) was a stage actor in Cleveland; his most famous role was as Chemmie Fadden.  Their sister Jennie married  Fred M. Nicholas of Cleveland; Nicholas, too, worked for Standard Oil.

 

In 1897, Florence Hopper married Winchester Fitch, a lawyer, who apparently went on to work for Standard Oil in New York.  (Some sources give his name as Peter Winchester Fitch, but he is always referred to as Winchester Fitch.)  The couple lived in Ohio for a short time before moving to New York City.  In 1915, the Fitches purchased a late Federal period home with sixteen acres of land in Greenwich, Connecticut. They enlarged the home, renovated it, and named the estate "Hillbrook."  Since the grounds were undeveloped, Mrs. Fitch designed formal gardens and a vegetable garden.  The property was sold in 1933.  The family also had a home in Florida, “Orchid Oaks,” in Riomar (later called Vero Beach). 

 

Winchester Fitch was born in 1867, the son of Alta D. Winchester and Edward H. Fitch.  He was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, where his father and grandfather practiced law.  Winchester Fitch attended Cornell University and then worked several different jobs in Chicago, where he attended law school.  Eventually, he returned to Ashtabula and practiced with his father.  There, he was also involved in musical and literary events.

 

A listing for Florence Fitch in Woman’s Who Who in America for 1914-1915 notes that Mrs. Fitch’s interests were music, gardening, and motoring.  She studied singing with Oscar Seagle in Paris in 1907-1908.  She supported woman’s suffrage and was a member of the Equal Franchise Society of New York.  She was also a member of the Municipal Art Society of New York, the Woman’s Municipal League of New York, the Fortnightly Musical Club of Cleveland, and several garden clubs.  Her son George Hopper Fitch (1909-2004) was also an art lover, being a collector of Indian miniatures, watercolors, and photographs.  He served on the board of the Yale University Art Gallery and was a trustee of the San Francisco Fine Art Museum, as well as a founder of the Royal Oak Society.  Daughter Dorothy Fitch Peniston (1904-1992) wrote a book, An Island in Time, about her life in the 1920s and 1930s, focusing on life in Florida.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

This collection contains primarily historic black and white photographs depicting various views of the George Hopper estates of "Elmwood" and "Driftwood," and the Fitch estate of "Hillbrook."  There are some clippings of published articles on the estates, as well as clipped obituaries of George Hopper, and a very short history of the "Hillbrook" estate written by Horace Hotchkiss.  Designs for the gardens at "Hillbrook" (drawn in 1995) are included in the collection, along with Mrs. Fitch's bills for plants and a few garden catalogs and some information on food preservation printed during World War I.  Also of interest is an autochrome in a viewing case, showing flower beds and a grassy path in the garden of “Hillbrook.”  More personal items such as a card case and a small collection of chromolithographed trade cards, pages from a scrapbook of chromolithographed trade cards collected by Mrs. Fitch as a young girl with her mother, and estimates for her wedding reception luncheon are also included in the collection.  As well, there is a bill approved by George H. Hopper for hardware purchased from a store in Geneva, Ohio.

 

The pages from a scrapbook contain 74 American trade cards, mostly from New York and Cleveland, Ohio.  (The pages are now detached from the original album, the covers of which do not survive with this collection.)  Products featured include Boraxine, sewing patterns, candies, clothing, shoes, Palmer's flavoring extracts, and The Cleveland Leader.  Such firms as Wm. Hall & Co., H. O’Neill & Co., E.R. Hull's, Reynolds Brothers, and the Cleveland Paper Company are represented.  Depictions of children (including Kate Greenaway illustrations) and animals predominate.  There are also two illustrations from a series, "Seven Wonders of the World," showing the Pharos Watch Tower and the Temple of Diana; nine cards advertising Chas. L. Davis performing as Alvin Joslin; a series of six caricatures; and a collector's card of Sarah Bernhardt.  Seventy-one of the cards are chromolithographs.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The materials are roughly in accession number order.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

           

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Horace L. Hotchkiss.  (Mrs. Fitch’s daughter Alta married a Mr. Hotchkiss.)

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS

 

Papers of Winchester Fitch are held by the Western Reserve Historical Society and by the New York Public Library.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Davis, Charles L., 1849-1900.

            Hopper, George H., \d 1837-1898.

            Fitch, Winchester, \d 1867-1963.

 

Topics:

            Advertising - Clothing and dress.

Advertising - Drugs.

Advertising cards - New York (State)

            Advertising cards - Ohio - Cleveland.

Barns - Photographs.

Caricatures and cartoons.       

            Chromolithography, Victorian.

            Commercial catalogs.

Dwellings - Photographs.

Gardening - Catalogs.

Gardens - Connecticut - Greenwich.

Gardens - Design.

Gardens - Photographs.

Hobbies - History - 19th century.

Horse farms - Ohio - Unionville - Photographs.

Landscape - Photographs.

Landscape design.

Mansions - Photographs.

Photography.

            Photography of gardens.

            Printing - Specimens.

Wedding etiquette.

World War, 1914-1918 - Food supply - United States.

Trade cards.

Scrapbooks.

 

            Additional author:

                        Hopper, Florence Lynette, \d 1876-1941.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location:

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1:          leather card case, with cards of Florence Hopper and her parents; one flap of the case is embroidered with flowers; tucked inside is a card with the greeting Merry Christmas;

                        Trade card for Charles Talcott of Geneva, Ohio;

                        New Year’s card;

                        Calling cards of various friends

                        (acc. 91x106.1)

 

Folder 2:          photo: interior of “first home of Winchester and Florence Fitch, Ashtabula(?), Ohio, 1897-1898”: sitting room, looking at fireplace with marble mantel, photos on wall, several rocking chairs in various styles, book shelves; an open door looks through to the dining room (acc. 91x106.2)

 

Folder 3:          correspondence about wedding (acc. 91x106.3):

                                    Letter from Edward Weisgerber, [caterer], Cleveland, to G.H. Hopper, Unionville, June 5, 1897.  Discussing menus for bridal and wedding luncheons, arrangements for hiring help, the wedding cake, railroad transportation.  Also includes menu headed Wed., June 30, 1 pm, with list of items and personnel needed (china, silver, linen, chairs, waiters, dishwasher, detective, dressing room maid, etc.)

 

Folder 4:          photos of Driftwood, Hillbrook, and Elmwood (acc. 96x60.1-.4, .8, .10-.11, .16, .28-.30, .39, .41-.44):

                                    Farmland near Elmwood, circa 1905: haystacks (acc. 96x60.1);

                                    woman, man holding dog, standing next to statue of a stag (acc. 96x60.2);

                                    Driftwood: walk to bathhouse (acc. 96x60.3);

                                    Driftwood: man and two women on steps to a treehouse (acc. 96x60.4);

                                    Elmwood: exterior of front (acc. 96x60.8);

                                    Elmwood, exterior of front, with stone marker bearing name of Geo. H. Hopper (acc. 96x60.10);

                                    Elmwood, exterior of front (acc. 96x60.11);

                                    Entrance gate to Elmwood, with woman in road (acc. 96x60.16);

                                    Driftwood: steps up front lake, obstructed view of house (acc. 96x60.28);

                                    Driftwood: exterior of house, with bench in front (acc. 96x60.29);

                                    Driftwood: exterior of house, with women in yard (acc. 96x60.30);

                                    Hillbrook: exterior of front, with flag above door, circa 1920 (acc. 96x60.39);

                                    Hillbrook: exterior of front, circa 1917 (before enlargement of 1919) (acc. 96x60.41);

                                    Hillbrook: exterior of back, circa 1917 (before enlargement of 1919) (acc. 96x60.42);

                                    Hillbrook: early stage of long garden, circa 1917 (acc. 96x60.43);

                                    Hillbrook: exterior of south end, circa 1917 (before enlargement of 1919) (acc. 96x60.44)

 

Folder 5:          photo portraits of George H. Hopper (1837-1898):

Carte-de-visite taken in 1870’s by Copeland, Cleveland (acc. 96x60.5);

Larger photo taken in 1890s by Rockwood, New York City (acc. 96x60.6)

 

 

Folder  6:         photos of horse Bell Boy and house Elmwood:

                                    Horse: Bell Boy, owned by J. H. Clark of Elmira, N.Y., and Geo. H. Hopper of Unionville, with pedigree printed on back; photo taken by Schreiber & Sons of Philadelphia; handwritten note on back indicates Bell Boy died in a fire (acc. 96x60.7);

                                    House: exterior back and side view of Elmwood, the Hopper home in Unionville, Ohio; visible in photo is also a gazebo and a windmill (for pumping water), the metal structure of which has been covered so as to make a tower.  Taken when no leaves were on trees. (acc. 96x60.12)

 

Folder 7:          photo: exterior front view of Elmwood (acc. 96x60.9), with awnings on windows

                                    (see also acc. 91x106.24, which is similar but not the same)

 

Folder 8:          photo: view of Elmwood estate (acc. 96x60.17): “road to the racetrack,” with barn to one side

 

Folder 9:          photo: view of Elmwood estate (acc. 96x60.18), with barn, windmill/tower (in this photo clearly separated from house), and house (mostly hidden by trees); two women stand beside road which passes in front of house; railroad tracks in foreground

 

Folder 10:        photo: view of Elmwood estate (acc. 96x60.19), with windmill/tower in foreground and obstructed views of barns; a fountain is in foreground, with a covered well or gazebo beyond it

 

Folder 11:        photo: bathhouse at Driftwood, with bathing costumes and towels draped over a rail  (most of bathhouse obscured by trees) (acc. 96x60.27)

                                    Note on back: “belonged to Geo. Hopper, then his granddaughter Marjorie Nicholas Davenport”

 

Folder 12:        photocopy of booklet: “Summer Outings, 1895,” advertising Nickel Plate Road rail excursions from New York and Boston through Buffalo, Cleveland, and Chicago.  “Driftwood” is pictured on page 9. (acc. 96x60.32)

 

Folder 13:        typed history of Hillbrook, Greenwich, Conn., by Horace Hotchkiss, written 1995 (acc. 96x60.37);

                        Photocopies of obituaries of George H. Hopper and Florence Hopper Fitch (acc. 96x60.33, .39)

                        [also: some genealogical information found on ancestry.com; not part of gift]

 

Folder 14:        photos of Elmwood, Driftwood, and portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Fitch (acc. 96x60.20, .31-.32, .35-.36)

copy of photo, panorama of Elmwood, showing barns, windmill tower, gazebo, house, with children, dogs, and pony in garden (acc. 96x60.20; see also acc. 96x60.21, in oversize box);

photos of drawings of Driftwood, showing house, tree house, and lake (acc. 96x60..31-32);

photos of portraits of Florence and Winchester Fitch (acc. 96x60.35-.36);

 

folder 15:                    photos of Elmwood and Hillbrook (acc. 96x60.13-.15, .40, .45-.47):

copy of a panoramic view of Elmwood, showing race track, barns, windmill tower, and house (3 photos; acc. 90x60.13-1.5);

Hillbrook: rear or east front, circa 1921 (after enlargement), sun porch on left (acc. 96x60.40);

Sheet with 4 photos: a garden path, Mrs. Fitch in garden (circa 1915), south end of Hillbrook, view of vegetable garden and tennis court at Hillbrook (acc. 96x60.45);

Sheet with 4 photos: all Hillbrook, all circa 1920: vegetable garden and tennis court, tennis court, entrance portico and west façade after addition, rear (east) façade with new sun porch (acc. 96x60.46);

Sheet with 2 photos: Hillbrook, circa 1920: long garden: looking south and looking north (acc. 96x60.47)

 

Folder 16:        booklets about gardening and garden plans (acc. 96x60.55-.61, .63):

                                    Two copies of landscape and garden plans for Hillbrrok, almost identical, except each mentions some features not on the other, drawn circa 1995, but depicting grounds during Fitch family ownership (acc. 96x60.55-.56)

                                    “Home-Made Fruit Products,” from Green Dormers, Barker, Niagara Co., New York, Miss O. M. Fish, proprietress, with a note, probably circa 1918 (acc. 96x60.57);

                                    “The Progress of Food Thrift,” by Charles Lathrop Pack of the National Emergency Food Garden Commission, circa 1917 (acc. 96x60.58);

                                    Bobbink & Atkins (Rutherford, N.J.): catalog: “World’s Choicest Nursery Products for Rock-Gardens,” no date (acc. 96x60.59);

                                    Mandeville & King (Rochester, N.Y.): seed packet for Sweet Alyssum, no date, color picture (acc. 96x60.60);

                                    Elliott Nursery Co. (Pittsburgh, Pa.): flower catalog, circa 1915 (mentions “war prices for gladioli”)  (acc. 96x61a) ;

                                    Elliott Nursery Co. (Pittsburgh, Pa.): partial flower catalog (missing covers), spring 1917 (acc. 96x61b) ;

                                    “Raking the Gardener and Canning the Canner,” published by the National Emergency Food Garden Commission, 1917 (acc. 96x60.63);

 

 

Folder 17:        bills, receipts, orders for garden materials at Hillbrook  (acc. 96x60.62, .64-.71)

                                    Greenwich Nurseries, Sept. 10, 1915: for privet, hydrangea, forsythia, spirea, etc. (acc. 96x60.62);

                                    Henry A. Dreer, Philadelphia, April 10 and May 5, 1917 and no date: two notes that cannot supply part of her order, and one note that order will be shipped later (acc. 96x60.64-.66);

                                    B.H. Fath [?], Sept. 14, no year: list of plants  (acc. 96x60.67);

                                    Note about acc. 96x60.69-71  (acc. 96x60.68);

                                    Lists of plants written on stationery of The Kirkwood, Camden, S.C., one list is dated March 10, 1917, another mentions the name Elliott  (acc. 96x60.69-.71

 

Folder 18:        autochrome in viewer: garden at Hillbrook  (acc. 96x60.75)

 

 

 

Box 2: oversize materials

 

Folder 1:          scrapbook pages (acc. 91x106.4)       

                                    a scrapbook of chromolithographed trade cards collected by Mrs. Fitch as a young girl with her mother

 

folder 2:          dioramic photo: Elmwood, showing barns, windmill tower, house, with children and dogs in garden (acc. 91x106.21; see also 91x106.20 in Box 1)

                        FRAGILE PHOTO: handle with care

 

folder 3:          photo: fountain in a garden, possibly Elmwood (acc. 91x106.22)

 

folder 4:          photo: Elmwood: view of house mostly obscured, but good view of windmill tower, railroad tracks in foreground (acc. 91x106.23)

 

folder 5:          photo: Elmwood: front exterior view (acc. 91x106.24; similar to but not the same as 91x106.9)

 

folder 6:          photo: grounds of Elmwood, house almost entirely hidden by trees, but can see a barn, a fountain, and a corner of windmill tower; two men in buggy in front of barn, with another buggy sitting outside (acc. 91x106.25)

 

folder 7:          photo: Elmwood: grounds, with barn, windmill tower, house, all partly obscured by trees (acc. 91x106.26)

 

folder 8:          receipted bill: George H. Hopper bought of Barnum & Miller, dealers in hardware, stoves, tinware, doors, windows, paints, oils, etc., Geneva, Ohio, July-October, 188-.  For hammock hooks and eyes, hose nozzle, pail, chest handles, screws, bolts, stove pipe, cedar faucets, wardrobe hooks, Russia pipe, nickel pipe collards, oil cloth binding.  Possibly items for Driftwood.

 

Folder 9:          photos: Hillbrook (acc. 91x106.48-.51)

                                    Long Garden, looking south, circa 1928; taken by Publishers’ Photo Services, Stamford, Conn., and New York (acc. 91x106.48);

                                    South end of house, with Myrtle walk at right, North Street at left, circa 1928; taken by Publishers’ Photo Services, Stamford, Conn., and New York (acc. 91x106.49);

                                    Statue of Pan in garden at east side of Long Garden (acc. 91x106.50);

                                    Long Garden, looking south, 1920s (acc. 91x106.51)

 

 

Folder 10:        photo: Hillbrook: small terrace at south end of house, circa 1928 (acc. 91x106.52)

 

Folder 11:        photo: Hillbrook: trellis arch in garden, looking into the back garden from the side, with diagram showing where the trellis was located, circa 1928 (acc. 91x106.53)

 

Folder 12:        photo: HIllbrook: Long Garden, looking north, circa 1928, circa 1928 (acc. 91x106.54)

                        Note: this photo was used as illustration for article in The House Beautiful

 

Folder 13:        magazine: The House Beautiful, June 1927, with article about garden at Hillbrook, page 812 (note: front cover is missing) (acc. 91x106.72)