The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry
Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE 19735
302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION
Creator: Thomson, Eva Purdy, 1852?-1917
Title: Diary
Dates: 1890-1915, bulk 1898-1901
Call No.: Doc 1541
Acc. No.: 07x75
Quantity: 1 volume, 1 folder
Location: 31 K
BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT
Eva Purdy Thomson was the daughter of Caroline Hall and Fay
Hovey Purdy. She was possibly born on
December 5, 1852, in or near
Eva’s mother, Caroline Hall, was the daughter of Clarissa
Wilcox and Ambrose Hall (1774-1827). Caroline’s
sisters (Eva’s aunts), Clarissa and Catherine, married the brothers Leonard and
Lawrence Jerome. Clarissa and Leonard
Jerome were the parents of Jennie, Clara, and Leonie, who married respectively
Lord Randolph Churchill, Moreton Frewen, and John Leslie (later Sir John
Leslie). Eva’s brother, Ambrose Hall
Purdy, was a lawyer in
SCOPE AND CONTENT
Diary kept by Eva Purdy Thomson from January-July 1898, July 1899 (one entry only), January-July 1900, and January-May 1901. In addition, some letters and newspaper clippings were tipped into or laid loosely in the diary. In the diary, Mrs. Thomson records her activities, such as going skating, taking Italian lessons, and attending dinners, luncheons, lectures, plays, and the opera. What interested her most were her contacts with artists. She had her portrait painted several times. She does not mention purchasing other works of art, but she visited artists in their studios, encouraged young artists, and gave support to aged artists. Especial mention is made of her friendships with Samuel W. Rowse, Raimundo de Madrazo, and to a lesser extent, Mary Tillinghast. Having her portrait painted by Madrazo in 1900 was the happiest time of her life. In 1898, she was most upset when her apartment building, the Hanover House, burned. Fortunately, her apartment was spared damage, but the Thomsons had to move, and they lived a nomadic existence while she looked for a house to purchase. The death of the artist Samuel Rowse in 1901 was a cause of much sorrow for her. Her husband, David, seems not to have shared her enthusiasm for art as he was pointedly excluded from an invitation to Mrs. Thomson to dine with several artists. He was, however, quite fond of Mrs. Thomson’s pet parrot.
In addition to Mrs. Thomson’s
patronage of artists and opera singers, the Thomsons’ social circle included
judges, lawyers, and leaders of
ORGANIZATION
The entries are in chronological order. Tipped in items are usually near the passage to which they belong.
LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS
Most of the materials are in English; a few letters are in French.
RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Purchased from Carmen Valentino.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Churchill, Randolph Spencer, Lady, 1854-1921
Frewen, Clara Jerome.
Hitt, Robert R. (Robert Roberts), 1834-1906.
Leslie, Leonie, Lady, 1857-1943.
Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902.
Chartran, Théobald, 1849-1907.
Gérôme, Jean-Léon, 1824-1904.
Lazarus, Jacob Hart, 1822-1891.
Madrazo y Garreta, Raimundo de, 1841-1920.
Müller-Ury, Adolph Felix, 1862-1947.
Munzig, George Chickering, 1850-1908.
Rowse, Samuel Worcester, 1822-1901.
Swope, H. Vance, 1877-1926.
Tillinghast, Mary Elizabeth, d.1912.
Torrey, George Burroughs, 1863-1942
Waltman, Harry Franklin, 1871-1951.
Topics:
Metropolitan
Opera (
American National Red Cross.
Artists.
Artists –
Artists’ studios –
Artists’ studios –
Cemeteries – Photographs.
Fourth of July celebrations.
New Year.
Opera singers.
Parrots.
Pets.
Socialites.
South African War, 1899-1902.
Spanish-American War, 1898.
War – Relief of sick and wounded.
Women – Diaries.
Diaries.
Black-and-white photographs.
TRANSCRIPTION OF THE DIARY
Note about the transcription:
Punctuation has been added to make reading easier, but it may sometimes be misplaced . Most misspelled words have been corrected without comment. Hyphens in words have been ignored, unless the word was split between two pages. Notes identifying people are in square brackets. A question mark set inside parentheses following a word means that the transcriber was unsure that the word was transcribed correctly. The word illegible set inside brackets is an indication that the transcriber could not guess what word was written.
The following artists are mentioned in the diary (in alphabetical order):
Broughton, George [not listed in reference books]
Carolus-Duran (1838-1917)
Chartran, Théobald (1849-1907)
Gérôme, Jean-Léon (1824-1904)
Johnson, Eastman (1824-1906)
Lazarus, Jacob Hart (1822-1891)
Lenbach, Franz Seraph von (1836-1904)
Madrazo y Garreta, Raimundo de (1841-1920)
Müller-Ury, Adolph Felix (1862-1947)
Munzig, George Chickering (1850-1908)
Porter, Benjamin Curtis (1845-1908)]
Reynolds, Joshua, Sir, 1723-1792.
Romney, George, 1758-1832
Rowse, Samuel Worcester (1822-1901)
Sargent, John Singer (1856-1925)
Swope, H. Vance (1877-1926)
Tillinghast, Mary Elizabeth (d.1912)
Torrey, George Burroughs (1863-1942)
Waltman, Harry Franklin (1871-1951)
TRANSCRIPTION OF DIARY:
Flyleaf: Eva P. Thomson, Note Book, 1898
[p.1]
Saturday Jan 1st 1897 [i.e. 1898]
We watched the old year out & the new year in last night
at the
[p.2]
the title [illegible],
& a man called Coglam(?) played it very very well; after this play, the party,
including our friends Mr. & Mrs. de Herdia and ourselves, went for supper
to the
[p.3]
supper at the table next to ours, at which were Mr. & Mrs. Chas. Franklyn(?), Mr. Munsig the artist, & others that we knew. [The artist was George Chickering Munzig, lived 1850-1908.] My sister & her husband with Mr. Armor joined us later & we returned home after welcoming the new year, in a snow storm about one o’clock.
Thursday Jan. 6
I lunched with Miss Tillinghast [Mary Elizabeth Tillinghast, d. 1912]
[p.4]
at her studio(?) where were Mrs. Chas. Franklyn(?), Mrs. Bowers(?)
Lee her sister, Mrs. “Bunti”(?) Bradford, & Miss McAllister. It was a very gossipy luncheon. Mrs. Franklyn(?) described most lively(?) how
she had found herself between Oliver Belmont and “Cris”(?) Roberts at Mrs.
Stuyvesant Fish’s famous dinner last year, where the
[p.5]
enemies, & as the Roberts & the Belmonts were quite willing to tear each other to pieces, naturally it could not have been a pleasant position to have been the one placed between them. Then the tragic death of poor Mr. Roberts (peace be to his ashes) was discussed – as he shot himself about ten(?) days ago. After the luncheon Miss Tillinghast
[p.6]
& I passed the whole afternoon driving about in the rain leaving cards.
Saturday Jan. 15
My Italian lessons continue to interest & charm me. I am now reading Barrih’s(?) works & do so enjoy the unfolding(?) of the knowledge of the language. This evening we dined at Judge van Brunts’ (the presiding Justice of the appellant division of the Supreme Court). [Charles H. van Brunt] I sat on one side of Judge
[p.7]
van Brunt, being taken in by Judge Truax. It was bright & gay at our end of the table, tho’ the rest of the table (& there was a large party) seemed very dull.
Sunday, Jan. 16
I went this afternoon to see my aunt Mrs. Lawrence Jerome; tho’ at the advanced age of seventy-five, she seemed well & to enjoy life. Judge & Mrs. Truax dined with us en famille. On Friday
[p.8]
Mr. Waltman [Harry Franklin Waltman, 1871-1952] called with
his master(?) to see my sister’s portrait.
Mr. Waltman is here only for a few days & then he goes back to
[p.9]
to my having interested myself in him, which of course is not so, but it is nice to feel that you can help someone, & that life about one is happier & better because of one’s having lived. On Thursday last I went to the meeting of one of the four sewing(?) classes to which I belong. The class met at Mrs. Whitelaugh [sic, i.e. Whitelaw] Reid’s, cor. [corner] of
[p.10]
[p.11]
In a letter from Lady Constance Leslie received a short time ago, she says, “Jennie has dismissed her cook, not having a need for a cook as she never dines home, always out dining with the Royal Dukes & Duchesses.” It is particularly gratifying intelligence to me, as it proves that her popularity is solely due to her
[p.12]
own attractions, as she is more of a success since Ld. Randolph’s death than she ever was during his lifetime, & it much more sought for. The newspapers continually state(?) that she is to marry W. Waldorf Astor, which I only wish were true.
Friday 21st
From my little Italian teacher, I found that Monsieur
[p.13]
Ibus (the new tenor at the Metropolitan Opera house who is here for the first time, & takes Jean de [illegible] place) is stopping with them. I asked her to bring him to see me, which she did, or rather sent him by himself this afternoon. I asked Georgie(?) & Carlos de Heredia to meet him; he does not speak any English. He came &
[p.14]
& [sic] seemed very pleased & appreciative of the attention. Georgie(?) asked him to go to a musical she is giving next week, at which Plancon & many other artists are to sing. Georgie(?) & Carlos stopped on for dinner. We had a very pleasant evening. Mr. [illegible] came in & sang for us most sweetly.
Saturday
I went with Georgie(?) & Carlos
[p.15]
de Heredia to hear Monsieur Ibus sing in Faust this afternoon. It was his debut, so Georgie(?) & I sent him each a laurel wreath, which they wd. not allow him to receive in public over the footlights, to our disgust. Mr. & Mrs. Hillary Bell [Mr. Bell was an editor and critic] were there, & Mr. Bell could not believe it, until(?) he made quite sure of it by going
[p.16]
out & asking the manager, which was a great thing for M. Ibus, as Mr. Bell told the members of the press, who did not like that in this great free land of ours a stranger should not be entitled at least to the welcome & attention our country people wished to extend to him. It hurt the feelings of every true American – however, I think it was good for Mr.
[p.17]
Ibus as it threw(?) sympathy for him from the press. Walter Damrosch lead too slowly, & the opera dragged. The house was packed & most enthusiastic. Melba [Nellie Melba] sang too beautifully, & M. Ibus was excessively good as Faust, tho’ he did not atall [at all] wish to make his debut in that work, preferring greatly Aida, in which he is to sing
[p18]
Monday night & which he says is his favorite role. In vain we told him that Faust was a favorite
opera in
[p.19]
My Italian teacher tells me he is devoted to his wife, who is always in his dressing room at this play house, & who have never heard him sing from the salle before the foot lights, as he says he doesn’t think he cd. [could] sing at all if he did not know that she was behind the scene(?) when he went to his dressing room.
Sunday.
I went after church to Mrs.
[p.20]
de Heredia’s to breakfast with just the family, after which I went with Judge Truax to Mr. Torrie’s studio [George Burroughs Torrey (1863-1942)] to see a life size portrait which Torrey is making of him; very very bad, I thought. Every thing I saw there (about the portraits) as bad as anything could be, not one free hand sketch even, all enlarged photographs colored. Arthur Truax came to dine with me & I told him what I thought of his father’s portrait,
[p.21]
with which he wholly agreed.
Monday
I saved myself today for the evening, as I was going with Mr. & Mrs. Bell to the opera to hear M. Ibus in “Aida.” It was a brilliant night & a great success. Bombini(?) had the orchestra, & it went along apace. Poor Melba was very bad in it. The music is too heavy for her bird
[p.22]
like voice. It was a most enjoyable evening to me, & I was greatly pleased when M. Ibus was called before the curtain five times – poor(?) man, I’m sure he is quite happy, as by the terms of his contract, this was the last night, & if he did not prove a success, he contracted to return at once to France - so that his financial success is
[p.23]
secured by this performance.
Thursday Jan. 27
Yesterday Mr. Rowse [Samuel Worcester Rowse (1822-1901)] lunched with me as he usually does two or three times a week. He seemed in very good form & eat [sic] some bird pie – the birds having been sent us by Ridgway Moore. After luncheon, he wrote R.M. a note saying how much he has enjoyed the pie, a very amusing note & very characteristic.
[p.24]
After my Italian(?) lesson, I went to three receptions & came home very late – glad to go to bed early after dinner.
Thursday 27 [sic]
I went to Georgie(?) de Heredia’s reception & musical; Plancon(?) sang divinely; the house was crowded. Mr. Ibus was there, also Mr. Chartrand(?) [Théobald Chartran, lived 1849-1907] the French portrait painter, who has been making portraits for N.Y. for the past three winters. I do not care for
[p.25]
his work. I(?) stopped on for dinner after the reception.
Friday, Jan. 28, 1897 [i.e. 1898]
Yesterday Mr. Rowse came in, in the morning. Ever since, I have worried about him – he did not seem well & said he had had a bad night, indigestion, &c. He does not cough at all since(?) two weeks(?) – his eye looked badly & something of indistinctness in his voice gives
[p.26]
the suggestion to me of paralysis – God forbid. During the afternoon, Mrs. Cowden [probably Katharine Cowdin] came in, & as he made her portrait last year, she always asks me about him, & I told her of my fears, tho’ I have said nothing yet to my husband, only at dinner (he had a friend dining with him, with whom he was going later to the play) something
[p.27]
was said of Mr. Rowse, & as he saw my unwillingness to talk of him, he asked me if I had seen him today, & when I told him I had not, & what I feared yesterday, he seemed greatly concerned. I was glad to be left alone to myself tonight & to think. My poor friend seemed so helpless yesterday & seems to wish to turn to me as the only one to whom he could turn.
[p.28]
Saturday Jan. 29
Just after breakfast, during my Italian lesson, Mr. Rowse came in. I was confirmed in my fears when he looked at me before taking off his coat & said, offering me his hand, “My dear friend. I am finished. It is all over with me. I can do no more. I must bring yr. [your] portrait home. The dr. [doctor] says I must do no more work or it will be serious. He told yesterday when I went to see
[p.29]
him that I had had a rush of blood to the head, & my left leg(?) doesn’t work properly.” I saw plainly tho that it was with the right side of the mouth that he spoke, & the left eye still(?) seemed wrong. I told him “it was all nonsense to talk like that.” At the very moment my heart was sinking within me, he seemed to be worrying about my portrait, & every thing I said, when he could not
[p.30]
hear plainly, he wd. say “portrait! Did you say
portrait.” He seemed for the first time
to realize that he could not work & wants me to have the portrait, saying
if he could he wd bring it home tomorrow or next day. When I told him I wd not bring it home on
Sunday, he seemed worried about its getting back. He said he had been speaking to the manager
of this house (the
[p.31]
we live, to ask him if he has an apartment here where he could come. He asked me which I thought wd be best for him to do – to come here or go to the Albermarl [sic] Hotel [the Albemarle Hotel at 1 West 24th Street]. I saw plainly he wished to come here to be with us, but did not wish to do so unless urged by us. I told him by all means to come here, that he wd. be far
[p.32]
happier here. He readily agreed, so that I sent for the manager, & we went to see the apartment, & it was agreed that he should come Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, he objected to any one’s bring the portrait here but himself, fearing something might happen to it, so I wrote an order for it, to the Brevoort House where he had been painting on it, & sent the valet for it, without Mr. Rowse’s knowledge.
[p.33]
I asked him to come into the library while the drawing room was being dusted(?), & I shut the door till the portrait was in its old frame & place, then arranging the lights, by drawing the shades in our window, I asked him to come into the drawing room, drew up a large arm chair before a big crackling wood fire
[p.34]
over which the portrait hangs. I asked him how he liked the arrangement of the mantle; as he looked up, he saw the portrait, with a short quick look at it & from it to me, he said “there is just so much saved(?), every emotion not felt is so much saved(?).” He seemed greatly relieved to find it safely here & asked all about its getting here repeatedly,
[p.35]
saying over & over again “of course you are the best woman in the whole world.” I arranged with him that an old maid of mine (in whom he always seemed to have great confidence) should be sent for & go to pack up his things tomorrow; & so at half past four, he left me, with a very heavy heart. Some time during the day he told me that this is his birthday &
[p.36]
that he was seventy-six years old. He looked long & seemingly with pleasure at his picture, saying that he only hopes he wd be able to paint the finger, that it looked like a sausage without any shape as it is. Other than that, there seemed nothing that he wished especially to do to it, or regret that was not done. After he had gone I was very blue & a great longing came over me
[p.37]
to see my dear brother Ambrose [Ambrose Hall Purdy, a lawyer]. I felt that it wd be a comfort to see him & hear the sound of his beautiful voice, so I telephoned to him at his office, & tho’ it was then five o’clock and Saturday too, I found he was still there, to my surprise. When I spoke to him, I said I was very blue & wished to see him, he said he too was very low in his mind, &
[p.38]
after I told him of my troubles, he said a friend of his was very ill at the hospital, not expected to live, & that he wd come up to see me, that it wd be a comfort to him to see me. He came & stopped for dinner, after much persuasion; he was evidently most unhappy over the illness of his friend & talked to me of it. During the night, I received a telegram(?) from my brother Ambrose which read,
[p.39]
“She is dead,” Hall. That was all, but it eloquently told my heart that Love resigns over all.
Sunday Jan. 30
I received a note from my brother Hall [apparently the same person as Ambrose] that I wd not see him for some days. In the evening I went to my sister’s house for dinner. There were gathered a pleasant company of twelve, among whom were a Miss Clapp, who after
[p.40]
dinner recited French verse most charmingly with a charming
Parisienne accent, she having lived in
[p.41]
Lanier(?), Mr. Boorann(?), Miss Rita Pomeroy, Miss Cushing(?). It was a most agreeable evening.
Monday, Jan. 31
This morning, I occupied my time seeing that Mr. Rowse’s apartment was made comfortable for his coming. He arrived at noon & seems most happy to be here with us.
[The rest of the entry for this date is found on p. 44-45 – she had accidentally skipped a page during the writing.]
[p.42]
Tuesday Feb. 1
I went this morning to Mrs. Loyd [sic, i.e. Lloyd] Bryce’s sewing(?) class, & there saw a charming portrait done by Benjamin Porter [Benjamin Curtis Porter (1845-1908)] of herself. A woman repeated(?) negro stories to entertain the company, very [illegible]. I had a long talk with Mrs. George Gould on the subject of my friend Count Boniface Castellane who married
[p.43]
Miss Anna Gould. She told me of their two boy children, & contrary to newspaper stories, of their happy married life, saying that the Countess de Castellane had become in all her life a perfect French woman. As a most beautiful snow storm is in process, I did not go out again today, dined home.
[p.44]
Monday, Jan. 31 [continued from p.41]
I made a mistake in turning the leaf so must finish this day on this page. In the evening we gave a dinner in the Waldorf Café to Judge & Mrs. van Brunt, Judge & Mrs. Truax, & our sister(?), & went(?) after to the play. The dinner was excessively good. The night tempestuous with a foot of snow & a terrific storm still blowing
[p.45]
but as it was a “first night,” the play house was filled, a very pretty piece called “A Virginian Courtship” was given.
Thursday Feb. 3
I went by appointment today with Mrs. Cowden [i.e. Cowdin] to call on her daughter Mrs. “Harry” Marquand, where it being her reception day, we met many agreeable people & saw some most charming pictures – a portrait by Sargent [John Singer Sargent] of
[p.46]
the elder Mrs. Marquand, now dead. I did not care for it or the house, which is
said to be so beautiful a cause of the works of art & articles of
virtu. The few pictures compared with
the collection that the elder Marquand has given to the
[p.47]
nothing; a few, six I think, old masters, 2 Renolds [i.e. Reynolds], 2 Romneys, a [illegible] is all that I remember & only of these I took to be good specimens. It is thought, I think generally, that he has been more liberal to the public than he can afford to be in justice to his children – another case of man’s vanity.
[p.48]
Saturday, Feb. 5
My brother & I went today to see at the Eden Musée the
cennimetigraphs [sic, i.e. cinematograph] of the Passion play at Anberamergau
[i.e.
[p.49]
to go there, the next in(?) 1899 when it is to be given I believe. We saw among so many faces unknown, Miss Louise McAllister & Mr. Nelson Lewis, who are said to be engaged; they evidently did not care to have us see them there. David went tonight to a dinner given by Judge Truax to sixteen men. My brother dined with me and Mr. Rowse.
[p.50]
Sunday February 5 [i.e. 6]
I went with my husband to church, after which my mother came for luncheon, & for tea came Mr. & Mrs. John C. Shuhorn(?). They were quite alone(?) & I enjoyed very much a long talk with him. I could but feel that he is a man that the public will yet hear much of, notwithstanding his apparent downfall.
[p.51]
He is good looking & seems to me a natural leader of men. His wife is very pretty & remarkably human(?). Most interesting people to me. After tea, I dined with our friends Georgie(?) & Carlos de Heredia at their house, 1 East 78th st.
Tuesday Feb. 8
One of my sewing(?) classes met at Mrs. Benson’s(?),
[p.52]
A lecture on music was given. I listened a little, but finding it tiresome(?) left and went into another room to talk to Mrs. Benson(?). Mr. Winthrop’s(?) house and hers being thrown into one gives them a charming effect of one large house.
Thursday Feb.10
Another of my sewing(?) classes met at Mrs. John Alexandre’s, 26 W. 38. A very pleasant meeting & many of my friends
[p.53]
were there. In the afternoon I went to ask for my friend Mrs. John G. Heckscher, who is so very ill & cannot recover. I saw “Johnny,” who seemed heart broken; he said she suffered the agonies of the lost(?), poor woman; she has paid dearly for any short questionable happiness she may have gained in life. What an illustration her life is of all the phases of
[p.54]
sides of life – oh me! “[a French phrase]”
Tuesday Feb. 15th 1898
This morning I went to my sewing class at Mrs. Fred.
Vanderbilt’s,
[p.55]
painter, the same [illegible] Muller-Ury took me in & Mlle Sagan the contralto sat opposite(?) me. She is young & so pretty. The dinner was charming & gave me a delightful reason(?) to use, for the first time socially, my Italian, which greatly delighted me. There was no English spoken, & in fact I believe I was only asked to speak French & Italian. However, it was most interesting to meet those men.
[p.56]
Wednesday Feb. 16, 1898
This morning my husband came into my room while I was taking my coffee with his morning paper in his hand to tell me that during the night our battleship the “Maine” had been blown up & hundreds of lives lost in the harbor of Havana. All the papers assert that it must have been done by an internal explosion
[p.57]
or accident, but however great excitement prevails. I go nearly every day to skate, which still I
enjoy very much, & today Mr. Rowse & I went to see some pictures at two
galleries. He seemed very much
fatigued. I received a charming letter
from
[p.58]
also that she goes because of the too devoted admiration of
her young friend. The day before she
left
[p.59]
Steuben Co., that the last of my dear father’s family, an old lady of 94 years of age, is very ill & not likely to recover. My sister Katharine has seen a great deal of her & will feel sad at a final parting with her.
Thursday Feb. 17
I skated with much pleasure all the morning & paid
visits all the afternoon. The explosion
of the
[p.60]
the absorbing topic of conversation in each & every drawing room, especially so in the drawing of Mrs. de Navaro, whose husband is a Spaniard & whose daughter- in-law is Mary Anderson, the once famous beauty & actress. There the idea of our battleship being blown up by the Spaniards wd not be allowed to be suggested, the idea being too monstrous to suppose for a moment.
[p.61]
Friday Feb. 18
Early this morning I received a telephone message from my sister Katharine Mott, saying that our aunt had died last night, & that she should go there tomorrow, & asking if I wd go with her. As the weather is cold & stormy, after taking counsel with my husband & my aunt’s old & beloved friend Mrs. Cook, I concluded it was best to take their advice & not go, to my sister’s
[p.62]
regret. I gave word at the door that owing to a death in the family, I wd not receive. I was caught, tho, in the hall, while on my way to the telephone by the portrait painter Muller-Ury, whom I then allowed to come in & I received him. A friend dined with us & I, reflecting on a great deal in the past which my aunt’s death recalled, went early after dining
[p.63]
to my room & to be alone, while a wild storm raged outside.
Saturday Feb. 19th\
My brother & I went to lunch with my mother at my sister’s today, fearing she wd. be sad & lonely(?) alone, while she must be living(?) over a past associated with my dear Father & his people, while the last rights [sic, i.e. rites] & ceremonies were being administered to the memory of the last of his kinsmen.
[p.64]
We were quite right; she told us of our father’s & her courtship, of their early marriage, while she but a child of 17 & he but four & twenty. They lived a long life of matrimony, he being buried on the 51st anniversary of their wedding day. My brother came home with me, & we quietly dined alone together.
Sunday, Feb. 20
The storm still continues. I remained in the house
[p.65]
all day long, my brother & my husband with me. My old friend Mr. William Gebhard(?) dined with us, after which we early retired.
Feb. 22, Tuesday
Last night, I had a long talk with my sister of an hour over
the telephone. She had arrived from
[p.66]
breaking up & bidding farewell forever to the happy home love & cheer of so many days long since spent. She was devotedly attached to this aunt. I have never seen much of her, but quite enough to convince me that she was in many respects a wonderful woman – certainly widely known & respected & honored. After luncheon today, my old friend W. Bourke Cockran [a lawyer] came in & stayed for tea.
[p.67]
It being a national holiday (Washington’s birthday), my
husband & brother were here & W.B.C. told us of the “field trial” where
he was counsel for the defense. He was
most brilliant, & one could easily see why he is called our greatest
orator. Still, there is much talk of
this
[p.68]
seem willing to wait patiently for the report of a board of inquiry before judging what was the cause.
Wednesday March 2nd
My sister & I agreed with my brother to go this morning down to court & hear him “sum up” in a case of murder; he defending an Italian(?) man who had killed another man; his plea was self defense. It was the first time that ever I was in court & most
[p.69]
interesting was it. My nephew Jordan L. Mott 3rd was also there with us. Both defense & prosecution spoke one hour by [illegible] agreement & then the judge summed up. The judge was Freeman(? or perhaps Foreman), a most charming, delightful man – was, as my sister declared when first we saw him as we went into the courtroom, “a picture of a signer of the Declaration of
[p.70]
Independence.[“] I have rarely in my life met a more attractive man, & one who, at the moment when one feels his attractions, also feels him to be a man with great capacities. His charge to the jury was most impressive & eloquent, both in manner & substance, so that after the jury had gone out, my brother took us by invitation from the court to the judge’s private office, where we had
[p.71]
a most delightful hour with the judge, one I shall never
forget. Altho’ this judge does not live
in
[p.72]
me. After luncheon, Mrs. Hillary Bell came in, & after her came Judge Truax, wife & daughter. We talked out till five o’clock, when a telephone message came for my sister to go home. After she had been gone a few moments, I learned from a second message that Mrs. Mott Sr., my sister’s mother-in-law, had been dying while we were talking & has now breather her last.
[p.73]
My sister will be most unhappy at this sad news, for she dearly loves her husband’s mother.
Thursday March 3rd
My nephew came for me to go with him to get black clothes for him, after which I went with my brother to see my sister. We found her & her husband quite crushed with sadness.
Thursday March 10
I went this morning to St, Luke’s
[p.74]
Hospital to see an old maid who had been taken there for an operation. I was greatly impressed with the greatness of my dear(?) country where such an institution could live & flourish under its great laws. It is a magnificent stone structure, free to all. This is indeed humanity & not charity. After that, I went to Miss Furniss where my sewing class met; it was pleasant there & I met my friend Georgie(?) de Heredia
[p.75]
& went home with her for luncheon, after which I went to Mrs. Wm.(?) Kingsland’s for tea, not reaching there in time to hear a lecture by a member of the Audubon Society, which must have been most interesting. However, I saw many friends & enjoyed a cup of tea with them. I still enjoy my daily Italian readings beyond any thing.
Wednesday March 16
I went skating this morning &
[p.76]
on my return, I found my brother had come in to take lunch with me. After luncheon, we got into a handsome [i.e. hansom cab] & drove up to my sister’s. There he left me, & I went on to some studios, but only got to Muller-Ury’s. As he was expecting me, he had many pictures to show me, with which I was much pleased. I wished very much to go to Mac[illegible] studio as I had lunched with
[p.77]
him last Sunday at Judge Truax’s & promised to do so; he
had then told me in Italian that he wished much to spend his last days in
Venice, where lived his sister Madame [illegible], the widow of the great
painter of that name. As it was late
today when I left Muller Ury’s (nearly five o’clock), I determined to go home
for tea. I drove down the ave. &
noticed much smoke in lower
[p.78]
[p.79]
in the house after the first half hour. Then next I thought of my beautiful bird, when suddenly I ran into my own servant, my husband’s valet, who gave me the comforting assurance that our apartment was completely intact, & that not even smoke had entered its doors. The firemen consented after some persuasion to allow him (the servant) to go for my bird, which he did & I took him to Mrs. Wilson’s
[p.80]
house on
[p.81]
to our dear friends Mrs. Cook’s & Mrs. de Heredia’s, who, hearing of the fire, had sent for us to come to them. My sister, too, had heard of it & was there with many of our dear friends to offer us their aid & assistance, as well as their homes. How full to overflowing the world is with kindness & goodwill. Certainly no one ever had greater proofs of friendship than we are having at this moment.
[p.82]
The
I am stopping here for the night, my husband remaining at 1 East 78th at our friend’s Mrs. de Heredia’s, where I too passed last night & where we went for dinner after the fire last night. But it is impossible for me to leave here tonight. I am too tired to dress for dinner. I sent the valet to the hotel opposite, where he
[p.83]
got my dinner & I had it on a tray & will stop here for the night with my maid, tho’ the packers, twenty(?) of them in number, have been here all day, packing our belongings, with great confusion [illegible] expense(?). We will be quite moved by tomorrow night, I think. A constant line of kind friends have come & gone all day, besides being inundated with letters & telegrams of inquiry for us & our possessions,
[p.84]
all of which, tho’ most pleasant & gratifying, greatly
add to the already much confusion & fatigue, which I wd. gladly spare
myself; however, am most philosophic(?) at such moments. I found last night, before leaving the
[p.85]
safely installed at the
Saturday March 19, 1 East 78
At six o’clock last night, after a most exhausting day, I
left with my maid & valet the
[p.86]
wretched days of my life have been passed there. We dined quietly with Mr. & Mrs. Cook & Mr. and Mrs. de Heredia last night. Being very tired, I went to my room after dinner, but my husband, who seems in great spirits, remained with the family. During dinner, he said so many clever, witty things; he is certainly wonderfully clever & intelligent. This morning I went out with Georgie de Heredia
[p.87]
into shops, etc. She left me at half past one at the Manhattan Club, where I was to breakfast with the wife of Judge Truax, who was giving a large breakfast to fourteen women; & after we looked at a fine collection of pictures sent to the club to be exhibited. Judge & Mrs. Truax came out to the carriage to accompany me into the club house upon learning that I had arrived, & I presented
[p.88]
them to Georgie de Heredia, who left us & went home. I remember nothing as especially interesting in the company of those at the breakfast, excepting that a Mrs. [illegible] & a Mrs. Henry Burnett, the wife of the N.Y. district attorney [Henry L. Burnett], were discussing a book written by Mrs. Van Renslaer [i.e. Rensselaer] Cruger [she wrote under the name Julien Gordon], saying that I wd. enjoy it as it caricatured my old friend Mrs. Paran Stevens, a most astonishing statement, as they seemed
[p.89]
to know that Mrs. Stevens had been my friend. I regretted to be placed in a position where I was obliged to say severe things, which I felt compelled to do, considering that Mrs. Cruger had ever & ever again accepted Mrs. Stevens’ hospitality, & [illegible] it. To ridicule her after death, when she was defenseless & could give no more, seemed to me beyond all bounds of good breeding, & unbearable for anyone, even tho strangers, to suppose
[p.90]
that such an exhibition of disloyalty & dishonor toward my dead friend wd. interest me(?) & be desirable reading to me. I am afraid I made myself disliked in my response to the question “if it did not interest Mrs. Thomson.” After breakfast, I took the wife of Judge van Brunt to drive with me in the Park; she sat next me at the breakfast. The fresh air was grateful to
[p.91]
my tired, worn nerves. We both enjoyed it. After taking her home, I went back to my friends, wrote some notes, & sent off some telegrams, & dressed for dinner. My husband & the de Heredias went to the play. I was not equal to it, so am going to bed & rest!
Sunday, March 20
Judge & Mrs. Truax came to see us this morning to ask us to come to them, saying that
[p.92]
they could put us up & make us most comfortable, but we told them we had engaged rooms at the Waldorf Astoria, where we were to go in the morning. Judge Truax said he had also come to ask my advice – that he had been asked to entertain the Crown Prince of Bavaria, who is here, & asked me what I thought of his doing so - & if he did so, would I receive with Mrs. Truax, which I agreed to do.
[p.93]
After they left, I dressed & went to Mr. Seaman’s house
in
[p.94]
that we should again meet. The rest of the company were tiresome, none of whom I especially remember. An Englishman & his wife, who writes English poetry, is a friend & follower & imitator of Oscar Wilde’s, quite dreadful people. After the breakfast, I took Madame Modjeska & her husband home (to the Robt. [illegible]) in my carriage & then drove to my sister’s, where I found my husband. She asked me to
[p.95]
go there tomorrow, instead of the to the Waldorf, for a fortnight. After some talk, we changed our plans & arranged to go there. I went back to the Cooks, dressed for dinner & passed a pleasant evening with only the family & ourselves.
Monday.
We moved our traps to 17 East 47th Street, my sister’s house, & my husband took a room at the Manhattan Hotel, as my sister had only one room (that of my mother’s, who
[p.96]
is absent for a fortnight) to give us, as Mr. Armour from
[p.97]
greatly shocked to hear so much levity in a house of mourning, but as he came in & saw but the family, no doubt he did not feel it to be so much misplaced, but it was most amusing to see his surprise as he entered.
Wednesday 23 March
My sister & I went out early to shop – stopped at
[p.98]
together. When we departed, the cafe was full of our friends & seemed gay. We dined quietly at home.
Thursday March 24
It has rained all day. I’ve spent this day arranging papers or writing letters abroad. We dines at the Hotel Martin in a private room, very pretty, all red(?), & quite like Paris, only the Motts, Mr. Armour, and ourselves, but we amused ourselves beyond everything.
[p.99]
Friday March 25
The day is a quiet restful day, doing nothing but a drive in
the Park & to 130
Saturday
Judge Truax lunched with my sister & myself, quite alone. We had a most charming luncheon, after which I took him to drive in the Park to drive [sic]
[p.100]
& at five o’clock went for tea at his house, where his wife had asked a few friends to see her portrait by Gérôme. It was very pleasant. Perry Belmont stood by me & talked the greater part of the time that I was there. He seemed more vague than ever & certainly seems to me like a man under the influence of some drug. We dine alone with my sister & her family.
[p101]
Monday March 28
I was pleased to see my old friend Mr. Rowse who came for luncheon & to hear our plans. He told me he thought when we left the Motts & moved to the Hotel Manhattan, he too wd. go there as he was lonely at the Albemarle, where he went the night of the fire at the Hanover, & too he said he was not altogether comfortable there. We dined as usual alone with the family, my brother coming in for coffee.
[p.102]
These hours have been most pleasant days here with my sister, & I shall be sorry to have them end.
Thursday March 31
As my mother returned today to occupy her room at my sister’s, I was obliged to give it up & come to the Manhattan Hotel with my husband. We dined at Delmonico’s, where we saw many of our friends. We find ourselves most comfortable & charming
[p.103]
rooms. The bath room splendid in white tiles & marble, as is my dressing room. My sitting room is charming, with engravings of old van Dyke pictures, portraits of Charles II & his wife. I will, I feel sure, be quite happy here till we go to the country, & while I am looking for a house & a future home for us, & more furniture to put in it, when found.
[p.104]
Sunday April 3rd
My mother, my brother-in-law Jordan Mott, & myself went this morning to [illegible] to be present at the baptism of Mr. Mott Sr. It was an impressive service to see, this aged man standing at the altar to make his first confession of faith. His wife’s death has made so serious a moment(?) in
[p.105]
his full life that the has stopped to think. After the service, which was impressively beautiful, we went to lunch with him. We dined with my sister & after dinner, she & my husband took a handsome [sic, i.e. hansom] & drove around the Park.
Monday, April 4th
As we were just leaving the house to go to Delmonico’s for
[p.106]
dinner, Mr. Rowse arrived & asked me if I wd. go to the office of the hotel & introduce him, as he had come from Tarrytown(?) where he had been with his nephew, S. B. Fowler, a few days, & that now, as he were here at the Manhattan Hotel, he had determined to come here to be with us. I did as he wished & they
[p.107]
have given him a good room, they say.
Wednesday April 6th 1898
I went down to the Lutonic(?) this morning to say good-bye to our friends Georgie de Heredia and her husband, who were sailing. We saw many of our friends there, who were also sailing – young Madrazo was there seeing friends off & talked to me. The Spaniards who were leaving the country
[p.108]
Seemed very excited & certainly apprehend danger, as we all do. Our friends said probably before they reached the English shores, war wd. be declared or peace wd. be arranged. The country is at such a pitch of excitement & the tension(? if this is the word, then she has spelled it tention) is so great that I quite envy them knowing nothing, until some thing is determined.
Good Friday April 8th
I am almost ashamed to say
[p.109]
that tho’ it is Good Friday night, still I went very
quietly(?) with my brother to Proctors.
[There was a Proctor’s
[p.110]
Saturday April 8th [sic, i.e. 9th]
My brother came uptown early & lunched with me at
Delmonico’s. We went after to get some
Easter gifts for our family. He walked
around to Delmonico’s with us, where we were to dine, after which we stopped at
the Fanshawes who are living at
[p.111]
very cheery evening & talk.
Sunday April 10, Easter
I went to our own church as usual this morning, the
[p.112]
them quite alone with their neighbor(?) Mrs. McDugal, who is always a grand dame – so handsome! & such I thought her when in my earliest childhood I first met her. After luncheon, I stopped, as I had promised to do, at Judge Truax’s house. It being a warm day, & Mrs. Truax being called to her mother who was ill, I asked the Judge
[p.113]
to drive with me in the park, which he said he was very happy to do. The drive was most beautiful & we greatly enjoyed it. I left him at the Savoy Hotel, where he was to meet Mrs. Truax, & went home to dress as I was to dine at my sister’s, where Col. Cody was to dine. I have [sic] met him twenty years ago when I was
[p.114]
a girl at my uncle Lawrence Jerome’s house. Those years have greatly changed him. He had changed from a young straight Arab style of beauty to old age, still straight & very handsome & very modest as to his services as a scout. I remember the morning he came to my uncle’s house so many years ago. We were at breakfast.
[p. 115]
He came to make arrangements for a “big game” shooting party – who had engaged him as their guide, chief among whom were James Gordon Bennet(?), who was then stopping with my uncle & aunt as I was - & my two uncles Leonard Jr.(?) & Lawrence Jerome, as my aunt Mrs. Leonard was then with her daughters in Europe. He was stopping with my uncle Lawrence during her
[p.116]
absence. I remember well their planning the trip that morning with Col. Cody, then only known as “Buffalo Bill” the Indian scout. The trip proved to be a famous one, as the party consisted of many known men, fully half of whom are now dead & gone, among whom are my two uncles Leonard & Lawrence Jerome, Gen.
[p.117]
Sherman, who was of the party, Mr. August Belmont, Sen. Davies [or Dawes], who after wrote a book of the trip. They killed many buffalo – who like their slayers are all dead(?), as one of the noblest of our American wild animals. It is a pity that they have(?) should have been allowed to have become extinct & so after al these years & the
[p.118]
subsequent events, I met Buffalo Bill. He did not, of course, remember me as a
child, but he perfectly remembered the morning he came to my uncle’s house
& the family at breakfast. He
referred to the trip as evidently one of the proudest occasions of his
life. He told of his trip to
[p.119]
able & instructive spectacal [sic, i.e. spectacle] as evidence of the living Indian race & of the “cowboy” horsemanship & life generally on the plains. He told with great interest of Custer’s massacre by the Indians & I believe he said he was the first white man on the field after the battle. He has with him here the Indian who killed Gen. Custer. He was
[p.120]
intensely interesting, quite willing to talk of all his
achievements & life. He says he
lives at
[p.121]
should there be war, he wd. be obliged to go since he had so
much experience in fighting in the west & had been “playing war” in his
show ever since. He said at
[p.122]
five hundred dollars to the accepter if not defeated. He said the next morning, his door was rudely(?) opened by his manager saying, “for God’s sake, Cody, what have you done? Get up quick, get yr. arms, they are going to mob you.” He said he jumped up & on looking out of his window, there were to be seen an angry mob pressing
[p.123]
against the hotel where he was stopping, loudly clamoring for Col. Cody. He said he was frank(?) to say that he did open his box(?) & armed himself with all he had. As his manager told him he wd. go for American consul, who being summoned, soon appeared & after some time of talk & translations, or rather interruptions, he learned that the Spaniards
[p.124]
considered that he meant to make light & insult the national games of Spain & they proposed to drive him out of the country, & nothing short of a solemn assurance from the American consul that he personally wd be responsible for the departure of “Buffalo Bill” & his show wd. satisfy & disburse [sic, i.e. disperse] the crowd. So that on account of the advertisement, he was
[p.125]
obliged to leave town.
He told of various interesting things, from the English Queen, thro’
each country. Before dinner had finished,
a young company of boys & girls began arriving, who had been asked by my
nephew to come in to see “Buffalo Bill,” as he had taken them all to see B.B.
in his show.
[p.126]
at the age of sixteen, he is a very great man. Among the boys was a boy about sixteen called Henry Tinker, another Marshall [illegible], Fanny(?) Jones, Marie de Neville, & others. I wonder what the future has in store for these young people of pleasure & pain.
Easter Monday April 11
Mrs. Truax lunched with me & after took me to Madrazo’s [Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta]
[p.127]
studio, where we found him at work on Mrs. Edwin(?) Gould’s portrait, also a portrait of Mrs. Kingsland(?) was there, just finished, both good. I told him of a letter I had received from Gerome [Jean-Léon Gérôme] in reply to the one I had sent to him, congratulating him on the lovely portrait of Mrs. Truax which he has made of her as Sappho & has presented to her. It was a most enjoyable visit &
[p.128]
Mr. Madrazo seemed pleased at our coming. I expressed to him my greatest regret at the
strained relations of our respective countries.
He assured me there wd. never be war between
[p.129[
& was the immediate outcome of a country after it had acquired our strength. Certainly every day, the papers give every reason to suppose that war will not be averted, God forbid. After, we went to the studio of Carilus Durant [probably the French artist Carolus-Duran], who had made an appointment with Mrs. T. to see some of his pictures. She presented him to me as he met us in
[p.130]
the hall. He seemed confused, & as we were an hour late, I think he had “some thing going on,” so it was evident he could not receive us. He said that some of his pictures were there(?) & wd. we come in a couple of days when they wd. have arrived. The contrast between him & Madrazo, whom we had just left, could not have been more
[p.131]
marked. Madrazo seemed all brains & intellect; Durant “Carralus” (as his friends like to call him without the Durant) seemed all animal. In this short meeting, I was far from agreeably impressed French! The worst sort of French! As I was dressing for dinner, Mr. Rowse’s card was brought to me; he wished to dine with us, but as we were going to Delmonico’s, I put him off.
[p.132]
Sunday April 17
After church went to see Mary Tillinghast & went with
her & a Mr. Morrison, (charming man), to breakfast at the Martin(?). After went to her studio where a Mr. [blank
space left in the diary] joined us & gave us preserves of rose leaves,
which he said he had brought from
[p.133]
Tuesday April 19, 1898
War declared.
Such are the headers in the morning paper that the Senate & Congress have agreed & now we are making history & living in it. It is all sad. The people seem to not understand the reasons for it & do not seem to wish it, but right or wrong, we must stand by our country.
[p.134]
Saturday April 23
I lunched with my sister; went after to see Mr. Madrazo, to whom I wrote at once upon the declaration of war between his country & my own, expressing the deepest sorrow at the situation, so that I went to see him today, fearing he wd. feel alone & deserted in a foreign land. He had left word that he
[p.135]
wd. receive no one & as I was leaving the
[p.136]
of course, his feelings were not quite the same as they wd. be had he left his home & people in Spain, but that he had for a long time not lived in Spain & that members of his family & friends from France had cabled him to learn if he were in danger, which greatly amused both him & me since in New York, there is absolutely no war feeling of any kind. He said
[p.137]
he should not in the least change his plans but should
finish his work & leave about the twentieth of May & that he had taken
a studio in
[p.138]
wore, with the crown cut out so that the brim served to
shield his eyes while at work. It suited
him so well that he promised to send me a pho’ [i.e. photograph] of it on his
return to
Sunday April 24
As it stormed, we did not go to church. Miss Tillinghast & Mr. Morrison [or perhaps Merriam] lunched at Delmonico’s with my husband & myself. After, we went to my sister’s, where we met some
[p.139]
of her visitors. On returning home for tea, I found Mr. Rowse & Judge & Mrs. Truax waiting for me. They stayed on & went around to Delmonico’s with us to dine, where we met our friends Mr. & Mrs. Cook, who were also to dine with us.
Monday, April 25
My husband arrived for dinner, saying that our friend Ridgway Moore had telephoned him of his arrival & that he wd. dine with us.
[p.140]
Saturday, April 30
We dined at the Waldorf with Ridgway Moore; my old friend Mr. William Gebhard(?) joined us, a very cheery evening. My brother & Mr. Rowse had spent the afternoon with me, as I had a headache did not go out.
Sunday May 1st
The first fighting of the war. Admiral Dewey sailed into the
[p.141]
seven of the Spanish warships. The excitement today is immense(?). No one can speak of anything but the naval victory. I am saving the New York Herald which, of course, gives all the particulars. We dined at the Savoy Hotel with Judge Truax. Judge [illegible] joined us, a very insignificant little man, & his wife quite impossible.
[p.142]
Monday, April [i.e. May] 2
Mrs. Cook lunched with me, & a Mr. Swope [H. Vance Swope] painted & finished for me a miniature of my sister, not very good, but(?) he has done two of them, the first one, the larger, decidedly the better of the two. We dined with the Hillary Bells & went after to the comic opera, where war bulletins were given between the acts. Admiral Dewey’s portrait was given
[p.143]
by cinematographs, & the sinking of the
[p.144]
Spangled Banner tonight, everyone in the house standing,
while cheer after cheer went up for Dewey & the Red White & blue. The stage was draped heavily with flags; in
fact the whole town is wearing bunting.
I went this morning with my husband to select carpets for his new
offices; on our way down
[p.145]
to take the cars for camp. They were a serious, solemn lot of men. The day was warm & their clothing looked too heavy. On my return, all about the 42 Street Station were great crowds of women & children & all the windows were filled with them, waving a good-bye to them. Poor fellows – it is very sad to see it all, for their hearts are not in it. They are not to fight for their
[p.146]
country – it’s someone’s else country they are to give their all to.
Wednesday May 4th
We dined with Mr. William Gebhard(?) at the Waldorf. It being the first celebration of Greater New York called Charter Day & hereafter to be a legal holiday. My brother spent the day with me. Mr. Rowse came in & asked me if I had seen by the papers that the Metropolitan Museum of Art had purchased a portrait of him (Mr. Rowse) & that it was
[p.147]
there on exhibition & asked me if I wd. go with him to
see it. He told me it was done by his
friend Eastman Johnson many years ago, & that Mr. Louis(?)
[p.148]
& when I told him it was meant for he, he wd. not credit it.” I asked him if Mr. Field knew him well enough to be accustomed to his face, & he said “oh yes, when first I came to N.Y. in 1855, I met the Fields.” He went on to say that Mrs. Field came into his studio one day, that he had never met her & did not know that she was Henry Field’s first wife, & the notorious woman who was the governess in the celebrated Duc de Pretin(?) murder,
[p.149]
who murdered his wife the Duchesse de Pretin(?), & at the time was given as the reason that he was having an affair with the governess, which was after disproved, & Mr. Field married her. Mr. Rowse said she told him she had long admired his work & had never known any other like it. “Which (Mr. Rowse added) pleased my vanity & made me fell kindly toward the lady, so that I can never believe that she was a bad woman, & when my friends asked me how I could visit a
[p.150]
murderess, I said what Fanny Kemble had said to me, & what, I am told, that after she herself wrote in her autobiography, “that tho’ the world had recognized that the governess had been proven on the trial of the Duc de Pretin(?) innocent of either being an accomplice to the murder of the Duchess, or the messenger which carried the poison to the Duc in prison, with which he killed himself, still it never has forgiven
[p.151]
her for the alienation of the affections of the Duchesse’s children, which came out on the trial with unquestionable authority.” Mr. Rowse said she wished him to make a drawing of herself, which he said he did, & that she was “very plain” but “very knowing,” as he expressed himself, from which I can [illegible] that she had much charm. He said the Field family did not care for her, for which reason she continually gave them
[p. 152]
“sly digs.” Mr. Rowse
said Mrs. Field drew remarkably well herself, & after a little took to copying
him. Mr. Rowse said he had visited the
Fields at Stockbridge, & that there existed a strong friendship between
them & Fanny Kemble, who was then living at Lenox in the place now owned by
my husband’s family or an uncle’s family, charmingly located. Each year I go to Lenox, we drive thro’ these
places & past the
[p.153]
with regret that they are not all there now, or that I might
have lived in their day. I told Mr.
Rowse, & he was much interested, how the day after the fire at the Hanover
in last March, an old gentleman & lady had, unasked, walked into my rooms
while twenty men were packing my things.
The old gentleman said, “I saw by the papers that the
[p.154]
at the room where my first wife died, & where I have passed so many happy hours.” Turning to his companion, he said, “these, my dear, are the rooms,” & turning to me, “you have heard of [illegible] Field, have you not?” In replying, I said that I had. “Well,” said he, “I am his brother Henry Field & this is my wife (in explanation), my second wife.
[p.155]
My first wife died here, in that bedroom,” indicating my bedroom. After a moment, Mrs. Field No. 2, who was a Miss Sedwick of Stockbridge, a bluestocking, & I believe of literary pretensions, said to her husband, “I think we are intruding upon a stranger.” I explained that naturally, I was a the moment much occupied, & they quickly retired, but not till today did I realize
[p.156]
that it was the notorious governess in the Pretin(?) murder case who had lived in my apartment & died in my bedroom. Why I have not seen her ghost will never be explained, & what is still more curious, that Mr. Rowse, who has for years been so constant a visitor to those rooms, should not have remarked it. He vows that he never has thought of it, but the truth is he always seems
[p.157]
ashamed of the friendship.
May 5th 1898, Thursday
I dined at the William Fanshawes (Jessy(?) Jerome that was). Her sister & husband Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Foote were there. It was a beautiful dinner, & I have enjoyed nothing more in years than meeting these friends of my youth. Mrs. Foote & I have always been devoted friends, & the whole evening was spent in renewing old memories, old associations, old loves,
[p.158]
& old hates. May we all live to have a renewal in my own home next winter of this happy occasion.
Saturday May 7
I lunched at the Holland(?) House with Mrs. Cook & Mrs. McDugal, & we dined with Ridgway Moore at Delmonico’s. Such is the irony of Fate, he was once engaged to Mrs. Cook’s daughter, & much bitterness now is felt between them. They both talk of the other to us & is a novel situation.
[p.159]
Sunday May 8
Rained all day. Mr. Rowse & my brother spent the day with us, & Mr. & Mrs. Cook dined with us, quite by ourselves.
Monday May 9
All the morning I spent in brick a brack [sic, bric-a-brac] shops, looking for bits of furniture. At three o’clock, Mrs. Cowdin came. Mr. Madrazo came in later for tea, & still later Mr. Rowse came. We dined at Judge Truax – dinner given for Judge
[p. 160]
Starr(?). It was the first time I had ever met him; he seemed charming & my husband was greatly pleased with him. It was a company of fourteen, no one else of consequence.
Thursday [sic, i.e. Tuesday] May 10
Poor Carli(?) Havemeyer killed himself, poor unhappy man. He had had an interview with his mother, who being a Catholic, refused to consent to his getting a divorce, & his vain wife refused to take a separation, & the man is sacrificed between
[p.161]
the wife & mother.
They dined here a few evenings ago, & one hardly then realized the
tragedy before them. All
Thursday May 12
I lunched at Samuel Berger’s(?) house with a company of eight ladies, given for Mrs. Hallack(?), a daughter of the house & a friend of mine. Nothing was talked of but the poor Havemeyers. All the women at the lunch had houses at Cedarhurst, where the Havemeyers are especially identified with the hunting people, and were
[p.162]
even more interested than others. After this lunch, I went to a reception given by Stuart(?) Smith for his sister, who is to marry a Mr. Duryea. There were many familiar faces & was rather pleasant.
Sunday(?) May 25(?) [If the day is Sunday, the date should be May 15]
It rained all day long. My brother spent the day with me, & we went to the Waldorf for dinner, where we had asked Judge & Mrs. Truax to dine with us, with Judge Starr(?) & Mrs.(?) Mott Senior, which was a pleasant & agreeable company. They all seemed to enjoy the evening, as we sat late over the coffee & cigars. [Mrs. Mott Senior had died, so perhaps it was Mr. Mott who was at dinner.]
[p.163]
Thursday May 19
After an early breakfast, we went over to the 42nd St. Station to say good-bye to my sister & husband, who went off this morning to Canada with a party salmon fishing on the Restigouche River [in New Brunswick]. After shopping for hours(?) all the morning, Mr. Madrazo came to say au revoir as he is sailing Saturday. He certainly is a most charming man. He brought me a photograph of himself. I trust it is but the beginning of a long, strong friendship between us.
Thursday May 26
This morning I went to the house of
[p.164]
Mrs. Benjamin Welles in 37th Street, where I had been asked to go to attend a meeting of the Red Cross Society for the relief & care of the soldiers. [see notice tipped in between pages 140-141] It was most interesting. They made me an associate member & asked my cooperation with them. It makes me keenly feel that war is a reality & is upon us with all its responsibilities, not only as a nation but as individuals.
Saturday May 28
Judge Truax stopped in on his way to a train to give me a charming
[p.165]
copy of Sappho’s poems, with translations made by himself from the original Greek. I greatly appreciate it. He continually does such charming things for me, bless him.
Tuesday May 31st 1898
I went this morning to the second meeting of the Red Cross
Society at the house of Mrs. Chester Griswold in
[p.166]
to make a codicil to his will & had asked my husband yesterday to be his executor. After I left him, I went to see real estate agent about 66 W 47, which is the house I hope we may get.
Wednesday June 1
I went this morning to Mrs. Butler(?) Duncan’s,
[p.167]
of many such occasions during our late Civil War. I am glad to participate in such relief. On my way home, as I was getting out of the carriage, my left foot slipped, hurting me so badly that I had to be carried into the house, & when the Dr. arrived, he declared that no bones were broken, but that there was danger of inflammation, so besides being most painful, I am completely helpless, not being able to put my foot to the floor.
Tuesday June 7
My foot much better. Our friends the de Heredias came down from
[p.168]
Lenox last night & will return tomorrow. We, with them, go to pay our annual visit of a fortnight. We lunched together & dined at Delmonico’s, where we saw many of our friends; it was gay & cheery.
Lenox, Wednesday, June 8
We took an early train for Lenox, Mr. & Mrs. de Heredia & myself, Mr. Cook & my husband following in the afternoon. The day was intensely hot, & the trip most uncomfortable. The traps met us at Stockbridge, where we left the train & drove
[p.169]
over to this earthly paradise. Mrs. Cook received us as if she were my own mother & ordered that I was “welcome home,” bless her.
Wednesday June 22
We have spent a most delightful fortnight at Lenox with our friends. On Saturday, as we were returning from our drive & had just arrived, a coach with four beautiful horses driven by coachmen!!!! drove up. It proved to contain our friends Judge & Mrs. Truax,
[p.170]
who had come here the day before to stop with a Mr. &
Mrs. Samuel Untermyer [a lawyer in
[p.171]
of brains, saying that he was always content, that contentment & ambition were not at all conflicting, that he was as happy & contented when he had but $20 a week as now, & they say he has millions. His pretty wife said, “yes, that is the romance of it. We have only needed each other to give us happiness.” We were agreeably impressed with the Untermyers, & I hope he will be successful in his efforts this autumn in obtaining the Tammany
[p.172]
nomination & election for judge. His half brother Gugenheimer [probably his
law partner Charles S. Guggenheimer] is the president of the council. Just before we left Lenox today, Mrs.
[illegible] de
[p.173]
dinner, I am off for bed.
Thursday June 23
I found upon inquiry this morning that Mr. Rowse had been
ill & still has a trained nurse. We
had intended to go to
[p.174]
his brother-in-law had sent on from
[p.175]
get the house. It wd.
be about what we wd. like. I received a
nice letter from my brother from
Friday June 23
We arrived this morning. As the house is only just opened, there are few people. Mrs. [illegible], Mrs. Austin Corbin’s oldest daughter, who owns this property, came in with us & seemed glad to know that they had arrived.
Tuesday June 28
Mr. Mott Sr. arrived for dinner &
[p.176]
seemed greatly to enjoy being with us.
Wednesday June 29
I met Mr. & Mrs. Robert Hitt today as they had just
arrived. [Robert Hitt was a U.S.
Representative from
[p.177]
Her sisters-in-law, Mrs. Adair(?) and Lizzie Wadsworth,
living in London, makes her desirous to bring her daughter out in London, a
year hence, & not in Washington, where they live in winter, he being a
congressman. [James Wadsworth was U.S.
Representative from
[p.178]
from children.
Friday July 1st
A week ago today, when I arrived, our friend Mr. Bourke Cockran [a lawyer in New York City] telephoned me to know how we were, saying he wished to come to see us. After various telephones, I advised him to wait till this week. The heat is tremendous.
Saturday July 2nd
The war news this morning is distressing. There has been fighting at
[p.179]
one is tremendously excited.
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Thomas B. Reed from
[p.180]
said in discussing the battle of yesterday, he said that he
had gotten Gen. Shafter [W. R. Shafter], who is in command at
[p.181]
pleasant day, Mr. Cockran leaving us after we had promised to go over to dine with him on Monday night, the whole party. During the evening, Senator Platt & Mrs. Platt [probably Thomas C. Platt of New York, although possibly Orville H. Platt of Connecticut] with the Reeds & Hitts joined us, & we spent a most enjoyable evening together, Mr. Platt telling an amusing story of a grandchild of his, whose mother’s name was Phelps. He cam in from school one day, much aggrieved, he said, because some boy at school
[p.182]
had been boasting of how many more grandfathers he had than the Platt boy, whose father to comfort him said. “never mind, my boy, you have many hundreds & thousands of grandfathers. In fact, Adam was yr. grandfather.” After some moments of silence, the boy said, “Papa, was Adam a Phelps or a Platt!”
Sunday, July 3rd
I sat all day with the Reeds & Hitts, enjoying Mr. Reed’s charming
[p.183]
society. He said so many clever things. Taking out of his pocket a box of “straight cut” cigarettes, being the cheapest 5 ct. [cent] brand of cigarettes, he offered Mr. H a cigarette. As Mr. Hitt hesitated, he said in his slow drawling way, “will you please be quick, Hitt, as I am every moment that you hesitate losing character & caste,” which curiously enough, the ideas had passed thro’ my mind, why does such a great man feel the necessity to smoke so cheap a cigarette. It was most amusing to hear him. He is not
[p.184]
well off & feels the necessity to economize, they tell
me. Too mournful always is it to me to
know that such a man is shut in by the limitations by filthy lucre. During the evening, a Mr. Littlefield, the
paymaster on the
[p.185]
in three days. It
makes it all seem very near. Every where
tonight is a spirit of unrest(?), everyone feeling that our army is not strong
enough at
[p.186]
& made the photographs at the moment. It was a most interesting evening. Mr. L is returning with the
[p.187]
Monday, July 4th 1898
The really glorious fourth.
This morning, we are given the news of a glorious victory at
[p.188]
changed from last night when, as E. Ellery Anderson [a New York City lawyer] said this morning, that no American had put itself to rest(?) last night without a sense of unrest. We all hope the news will not prove exaggerations, but I fancy not since Senator Platt handed to us who were in a circle together, composed of Speaker Reed, Representative Hitt from Ill., my husband, E. Ellery Anderson, &c., a telegram from Vice President Hobart [Garret Hobart] confirming the news. I telephoned
[p.189]
to my sister, who was in town waiting to take the ship Kaiser Wilhelm de Grosse(? name of ship
unclear) tomorrow for
[p.190]
We were all to go over to dine with Mr. Cockran tonight at his country house at Sand Point, but the heat compelled me to give out early in the day, & Mr. Reed told me when my husband reported my decision, when he met them early on the piazza, they all determined it was the wise thing to do, & forthwith telephoned Mr. C. I am sorry, for I’m sure he will be greatly disappointed. There are great crowds of people here today.
[p.191]
Tuesday July 5
A change to cooler weather this morning is very grateful. My sister called me to the telephone at ten
o’clock to say good-bye. She sailed at
two, & I plainly saw the ship pass here at four & distinctly heard her
fog horns. My husband breakfasted with
her & her party at Delmonico’s & went after to the ship with them. All the
[p.192]
Wednesday July 6
While the
[p.193]
Thursday July 7
The
[p.194]
amused myself with it. Mr. R wd. not accept Mr. Clews’(?) invitation that the party should be served with drinks & curtly refused; but later, sans Mr. Clews(?), the whole party adjourned to Mr. Reed’s palacial [i.e. palatial] apartment, provided for him by the Hitts, whom he was visiting, & I gave him an exhibition of my dear little bird’s accomplishments. Both Mr. Reed & Mr. Hitt seemed astonishingly delighted. Pretty boy blue sang “Yankee Doodle,” “Ah How I love My Eva,” “Peek a Boo,” and said all this apt sayings for them, always at my husband’s request, for he will seldom talk for me tho’ I taught him every thing he knows, but he always talks for David & says “I belong to David Thomson, would you sell me for filthy lucre,” & numberless(?) things which are most amusing. Mr. Reed declared
[p.195]
he had enjoyed nothing more since his arrival here than this exhibition of my bird & vowed that he had seen & heard of many parrots, but had never dreamed of the like.
Thursday July 7 [a second entry for this date]
After sitting the most of the morning with the
[p.197]
a copy of his speech on the Hawaiian annexation. [copy of speech is tipped in between p.198-199] I am glad to have it since I really know nothing of its purposes, & Mr. Hitt & Mr. Reed’s constant references to it here makes me anxious to at least be intelligent(?) upon the subject. Mr. Reed does not evidently approved of it, while Mr. Hitt is one of the promoters of it. Mr. R said that the bill wd. not probably be signed at this session & that Congress wd.
[p.198]
most probably adjourn tomorrow. He only was anxious to be in the chair himself when the House adjourned. After they had gone, Mrs. Platt & Mrs. Hitt sitting [sic, i.e. sat] with me while Mr. Hitt told us of much that Mr. Reed had told her, how up to the age of thirty, his life had been a very hard one; that his mother was a bright, witty woman, but hard & inflexible, in fact not quite right in her head; that his father was a night watchman in a R.R. [railroad] station; & of
[p.199]
[the – omitted] struggle with his father when he proposed to go [to – omitted] college & not to work; & how he worked his own way up – it was splendid to hear of his final success.
Sunday, July 10
Judge & Mrs. Truax came here to spend the day & say
good-bye to use as they are sailing Wednesday for
[p.200]
Tuesday July 12
[illegible] I forgot to say that Congress adjourned Friday,
so that Mr. Reed got there in time, & the Hawaiian annexation bill passed
before next year. The papers have told
us that the President has appointed Mr. Hitt as one of the commissioners to go
to
[p.201]
were in discord a cause d’une petite femme that Mrs. G. had discovered wearing violets which Freddy had sent her – alas! What’s born in the [illegible] will come out in the flesh.
Saturday 16th July
This evening, Senator Platt, who had arrived from
[p.203]
the Secretary of War (Allgers) [i.e. Russell A. Alger] at breakfast when the telegram arrived from Gen. Shafter announcing the unconditional surrender. Senator Platt said he had seen the President this morning & that tho he remained up so late nights, still the situation did not seem to tell upon him, that he seemed in very good spirits & well. I expressed my sympathy & appreciation that he who did not wish the war
[p.204]
& had fought against it to the last, should have the
whole thing “dumped” on him, with its terrific responsibilities, in hot
Monday July 25, 1898
Saturday, my brother spent the day with me, after a separation of some weeks, which is a cause of sadness to me.
[p.205]
I met a Mr. Geo. B. Warren from
[p.206]
letters of Broughton’s to read, in which he speaks of
himself as Mr. Warren’s “protégé.” Mr.
Brechman(?), the son of the Swiss consul, whom I have known for some years,
joined us on the piazza. He gave us news
of our old friend Baron von [illegible], whom he said was well & went to
[p.208]
engagement to her was broken nearly thirty years ago, & now he is taken for [her – omitted] husband. Thus one sees truths in life stranger than fiction. Mr. Warren told me he had known Broughton since a boy, that one day, he went into an art store(?) with his cousin who asked the price of a small picture there for sale. The dealer(?) asked $20 for it, at which his cousin
[p.209]
said, “I like it & will give you $15.” “You may have it,” said the dealer, as he
would probably have said had he offered him $5 or $10, Mr. Warren added. After the purchase had been made, Mr. W asked
the dealer who painted it. He said, “a
young boy here in
[p.210]
& did much for him, & now he writes from
[p.211]
Sunday(?)
My brother came again to spend the day with me. We sat on the piazza, where James Wadsworth
joined us. He had only just returned
from
[p.212]
crowds, Mr. Wadsworth [part of text covered up]. He went to
[p.213]
so miserably, refusing to help our soldiers make necessary roads, &c. for the army; that Gen. Garcia sent word to Gen. Shafter, who told Mr. Wadsworth, that his men were soldiers & not laborers, when asked to help our men make the road. He said Hobson told him that Admiral Cevera had thanked(?) him in the best possible
[p.214]
way, that the admiral came out himself & praised him for
his bravery, & that tho he was at first sent to Morro Castle with his men,
that when our fire commenced on
[p.215]
began taking exercises & they came in[? part of text obscured by newspaper clipping] & looked at him, the Spaniards thinking he was losing his mind. The whole talk was most interesting & too long to report(?) on paper, I am sorry to say. After E. Ellery Anderson & Arthur Truax, the son of Judge Truax, joined us & we passed a pleasant evening. This morning I received a very sad letter from my
[p.216]
friend Annie Bartlett, the wife of Judge Bartlett of the
court of appeals,
[p.217]
was coming to dine with us. After answering that, I went out on the piazza, where I met with Mrs. Austin(?) Corbin (that old lady irritates me beyond expression with her perpetual, never-ending smile, so tiresome & boresome), [and - omitted] Mary Bradford Crowningshield [i.e. Crowninshield]. I was pleased to see her after all these years, for I was a child ten years old when she was at my father’s house as
[p.218]
my brother’s fiancée. Time has made its changes; she has grown the inevitable stout, no idea or suggestion of romance or sentiment about her, the embodiment of maternalism(?). She has with her, her son, a grown man, & Captain Crowinshield went off on the train just as I came out on the piazza. She told me he had to hurry back to
[p.219]
Washington, where he had worked very late & early since the war began in April, as he gave all the orders for the navy; that he had written personally the order to Dewey to go straight to Manila & destroy the Spanish fleet there, that it was signed by Secretary Long [Secretary of the Navy John D. Long], & sent off; that Captain Crowninshield made the sug-
[p.220]
gestion to the President, who said to Capt. C, “will you write the order.” She said in [the – omitted] August number of The Century, I wd. find a story written by her, for which they paid her a hundred dollars, & that her last book “Where the Trade Winds Blow” had paid well & was a success, saying “thus we never know what is before us. I hated to go off there &
[p.221]
was most unhappy to have to go, & yet that book wd. never have been written if I had not gone there.”
[The book, titled Where the Trade-wind Blows: West Indian Tales, was published under the name Mrs. Schuyler Crowninshield in 1898.]
[p.222]
July 8th 1899
Nearly a whole year has passed since my old friend, my note book, has received any notice from me & in a way, it has been an eventful year in my life, the establishing my first home at 14 East 73, which we have so enjoyed with our friends. But my chief reason for recourse
[p.223]
to my old friend is the foreboding of evil to me. It is a gray foggie [sic] day, & I’ve been sitting all day looking out on the ocean with field glasses, straining thro the mist & rain, pimpling(?) in every nerve at the noises of the winds, for my dearest & only sister Katharine is sailing away with her husband Jordan Mott on a yacht for Europe. So precarious does it seem to me. My husband
[p.224]
has gone to see them off. Last night when I talked to my sister over the telephone, she suddenly stopped, not wishing to say good-bye. I called again & again & no answer came before I realized why she did not respond – the effect was unspeakably sad & filled my eyes with tears, as I went most unhappy & weeping back to my husband, who laughed at my superstitions.
[p.225]
February [sic; January crossed out and replaced by February, but should be January] 12th 1900
I cannot go to bed tonight without recording here the day’s happenings, as it is the index(?) day to, I hope, many pleasant ones in which I am to sit to Madrazo for my portrait, which he is to present to me as a souvenir of our devoted friendship. I received word this morning form him
[p.226]
that he wished to see me about my costume. He told me Sunday night (for he still dines with me, as last year, every Sunday night) that he wd. send for me some day this week for a “seyance” [i.e. séance?]. In consequence, this afternoon, my maid, taking the costume I was to submit to him, & I went at four o’clock. He did not
[p.227]
care for the hat I had & substituted in its place the hat he has made famous in using in so many of his fancy pictures. It was in color & form quite lovely & went marvelously well with the gray color of my dress. His wife, who was ill in bed, made(?) us tea as we sat by her, & I staid [i..e. stayed] till long after dark, & hated to leave the dear
[p.228]
charming people(?) so much. Mr. Madrazo gave me two prints of one of his famous pictures with the hat on, & they, with this record of my portrait, must go to some one who loves me when I am no more. I have spent a most happy day. After leaving the de Madrazo’s, I went to Miss Tillinghast’s studio, where I heard most beautiful music. This morning
[p.229]
the miniature painter Vance Swope came here, asking me if he could see my servants as models for life drawings as he could not afford to pay a professional model. My butler sat for him, & he made a wonderful likeness of him in a short time. My maid will sit on Monday to him, & as she is wonderfully pretty, it will be something nice. I asked him to stop on for luncheon & after lunch,
[p.230]
while we were yet at table, the valet brought in a book begging for money for the Salvation Army. I asked to see the man, who was in Salvation Army uniform. I asked him to be seated & take a cup of tea with us, which he did, & gave me his blessing on leaving, & said it was the first time in his life that he had received a like treatment & that it was helpful & encouraging. So my day ends happily.
[p.231]
Tuesday, January [she went back and forth between January and February, but the correct month is January] 23, 1900
This is the first day of my portrait. I went this afternoon, & he made a complete sketch in pencil on a small piece of paper, with the whole scheme of the picture on it. It seems to be quite lovely. I only hope the painting will be as grand. As I looked through with him a portfolio of his sketches, we passed several;
[p.232]
each time, he said “another one of Elsie,” always in French, as he never speaks to me in any other language, but always to his wife in Spanish. These sketches introduced the subject of “Elsie,” a Miss Brown whom he painted last year twice. Mrs. Madrazo talked long & earnestly to me about the girl, saying she had behaved so badly, & that she had heard, as all the town had, that
[p.233]
de Madrazo was supposed to be in love with her. She showed much feeling &
resentment. I told her how the first
time I had heard this report last winter, how I had repeated it to de Madrazo
& how he had then told me that there was but one woman in the world whom he
wd. think of marrying & that was herself, & how a few days after, the
newspapers announced his coming marriage to her. It seems after that Miss Brown went to
[p.234]
to Miss B & her mother, on account of de Madrazo, which she illy(?) received after having accepted two portraits from her fiancé(?), which she thought was sufficient proof that Miss Brown thought Madrazo was going to marry her. I was most sorry to see dear Mrs. de M so earnestly unhappy about it, for she has been so kind & so appreciative of my dear friend’s [illegible] & friendship to me. She told me
[p.235]
she had written to her mother that she was “very pleased to have de Madrazo make the portrait of Madame Thomson” as she thought next to herself, I was the nearest & most fond of him. She is most sweet & gentle & quite all that is womanly & feminine. He is so fond of & devoted to her, caressing her always. Mrs. Truax(?) came in as I was leaving, & so ends the first day of the portrait. I am so happy to be there & so thoroughly enjoy his companionship, & it all all [sic].
[p.236]
Saturday Jan. 27, 1900
This has been the day when the first paint was put on my portrait by de Madrazo. I went to his studio at two o’clock & remained till there was no longer light for him to paint. I like very much his pose of me. It is of course nothing yet to see of the color. Madame de Madrazo talked to us while I sat.
[p.237]
She told me a most amusing story of Inondarson(?) the
painter. He was very intimate at her
home in
[p.238]
He made the portrait & it was ugly, comme tout. He became so infuriated with Mme. de Castellane that he told Mme de Madrazo he wished in his heart he could see her burned alive & that all the fat which had made his picture so ugly would make a beautiful fire. Proving that he always painted what he saw & could not leave out the ugly & paint only the beautiful. She told of more things he did to the Castellanes, which must end an otherwise agreeable(?) friendship
[p.239]
only because he hated her for being in his portrait of her so ugly. After my sitting, we went together, all three, in a small confe(?) to Oehme’s gallery, where were on exhibition all the portraits, fourteen in number, that he had just finished, quite beautiful it all was. The rooms & gallery were filled with people, like a reception, & all greeted him, as we entered, with much enthusiasm. After speaking to all & seeing the portraits, we all went to Delmonico’s
[p.240]
together for tea, after which we separated, they to pay visits & I to do the same. So ends this happy happy day.
Sunday, Jan. 28th 1900
I will write in this book every day during this eventful moment in my life, that when I am old (should I live to see that time), I may enjoy it all again by recalling it all, & living it all over again, thus this record of it all. This morning, I went
[p.241]
again at eleven to site to de Madrazo. I sat from eleven till half past one, he working only on the face. We stopped for luncheon at half past one, & after lunch, worked for an hour, when darkness came upon us from a heavy storm, & he was obliged to stop, to his regret, as there was no light. I am to return tomorrow to have the face finished, as he expected to finish it today. He has before, besides myself, the pencil sketch which he did
[p.242]
on Tuesday last & which he looks at as he works, which he does so rapidly, sitting for the most part as he works, & continually wipes his brush on an old bit of linen that he always has in his hand. Mme., who grows more & more attractive to me, talked, & we had the happiest of days together. When I returned home, Mr. Munsig (the portrait painter) [i.e. Munzig] came in for tea. He was most interested to hear of my day’s happenings. He looked earnestly at Muller Ury’s
[p.243]
portrait of me, which he had not seen before, since it only came home the day before last Christmas. He thought it far too dark, not giving anyone any idea of my coloring, but that is the universal opinion, that it is not like me, as it is all too dark & strong. Mr. Rowse’s portrait looks better & better to me by comparison, & so far, that is the portrait that I myself prefer to all others. When de Madrazo’s is finished, then I will reflect & decide which is best.
[p.244]
Monday, Jan. [Jan. replaces Feb.] 29, 1900
Today I sat for Mr. Madrazo from then o’clock to twelve in order to finish the painting on the face, which he wished to do yesterday & was prevented by the storm taking all the light from the studio. It is most interesting. I lunched with my sister & found my mother not well, so sat there for some time. After this I am only to sit on Sundays to Mr. Madrazo. He told me I might ask any of my friends
[p.245]
to see him work, as he was [illegible] to working in front
of everyone. It will be a great pleasure
for many of my friends to see him work.
My cousin’s husband Moreton Frewen [husband of Clara Jerome] is in town
& says he is amazed to find so strong a sympathy for the Boers against
[p.246]
an evil. My cousin
Jennie Churchill has gone on the hospital ship
[p.247]
Sunday, Feb. 4th 1900
This is a day to be remembered all my life through. I went to early church & at eleven o’clock went to Mr. de Madrazo’s studio, where he worked till luncheon time with great effect. Mr. Vance Swope, the miniature painter, came in while we were at luncheon, after which Mr. George Munsig [i.e. Munzig] the portrait painter, Mr. & Mrs. Hillary Bell, the critic, & my
[p.248]
husband came. All pronounced the portrait a wonderful success. So great was the enthusiasm that Mr. Bell frankly admitted it to be the greatest of Madrazo’s works. Here here & I quite agree.
April 1st Sunday 1900
I had my last sitting today for the great portrait, for such it really is. After early church, I went at eleven o’clock & sat till one
[p.249]
o’clock, when I took luncheon with Madrazo & his wife. He painted on the dress, hands, & arms, as nothing yet has he done to the background, except to indicate(?) that it is to be green. To be with him & to see him work is a great delight to me. Some callers came in during the afternoon sitting & I went away about four o’clock. Madrazo seemed tired & worn. He has been working on some portraits of
[p.250]
of [sic] the family of Pierrepont Morgan [sic, i.e. J. Pierpont Morgan] during the week & is in truth overworked. The American people have given him more commissions that he can possibly paint. He & Mme de Madrazo arrived for dinner at eight o’clock, as also did Judge Bartlett, whom I had asked to meet them, & Mrs. Chapin, Daisy Pierson, Andrew Ribby(?), &c. They were too tired to enjoy the evening, I plainly saw, tho’ the others greatly en-
[p.251]
joyed meeting them. He told me I would not be required to sit to him again, so alas! ends the pleasantest hours of my life.
May 30th, Wednesday, 1900
I went to say good-bye to my very dear friends the Madrazos, as they are sailing on Saturday & I am leaving town tomorrow. He signed the portrait today & it is to come home to me tomorrow. I cannot record here the
[p.252]
exact happenings of this day. They must remain with me, in my memory, ever dear. Nothing could be dearer & more sympathetic than Mr. & Mrs. Madrazo both were to me & a great deal that was amusing(?) happened; & I bid them good-bye, the dear people, with a real heart to heart regret at the thought of separation. How seldom in my life have I ever formed friendship so sound(?)
[p.253]
as with them, but they will return in November next (God grant it), & we will have still(?) another happy winter together.
June 27, 1900
I cannot record here in my note book the receipt today, after many anxious days of waiting & suspense, that we have a cable announcing the birth of a son to my
[p.254]
dear cousin Leonie Leslie [Leonie Jerome, married to John
Leslie of
[p.255]
to both my husband & myself foreboding(? word partially obscured) letters. I pray it will continue to go well with her.
July 28th 1900
Today is an eventful day to me(? word partially obscured) for my cousin Lady Randolph Churchill is to marry for the second time, this time to George Cornwallis West. I sent her a cable of congratulations last night. I love her & wish her much happiness & understand well why she has married this man fifteen years younger than herself. Were I in her place, I should have
[p.256]
done the same, but I regret it for myself very much & am
glad for her happiness. My mother is
here with me today at
[p.257]
Last night, at exactly twelve o’clock, we were awakened by a furious(?) ringing at the telephone. I jumped up from a sound sleep, hearing a din of noise bringing in the new century. We had stupidly gone to bed, & out of the darkness & noise came clearly that loved voice of my dear friend Madrazo, wishing me a Happy New Year. He was followed by his dear wife Maria, who said kind, loving things to me, & I went back to bed to commence a new century with the sweetest of thoughts & dreams, after the kind wishes of my well beloved friends.
[p.258]
January 14th 1901
I received a telephone from my dear friend Maria de Madrazo, saying that at last Madrazo had made for her the long-promised portrait of himself, that they went together into the studio together sic]. She [illegible] that she was at last to have the coveted prize. He is in the midst of a magnificent portrait of her, but as she was not well enough to sit today or yesterday, he had taken this time to make his portrait & to her chagrin, she did not like
[p.259]
the expression, that is looked cross, as she had seen him look but twice since she was his wife, whereupon she burst into tears, & after the face was finished, he put down his brush. I told here I wd. go to see it. In consequence, I went this afternoon & was glad to just miss them, as it was nice to be alone with his portrait. I went to the studio & asked the maid & valet to leave me there alone. As I walked in, his portrait was standing touching my own, which has been sent there to be varnished previous to being sent
[p.260]
next week to his exhibition. Her portrait stood by itself, in all its talented splendor. It is such a happy souvenir for me to have been with them day after day during these creations. We are all three so congenial & happy together. The portrait his!! effected [sic, i.e. affected] me strangely [or strongly]. It was almost himself, & tears filled my eyes with longings to possess it. After a long time, I left it & turned to come home, feeling very lonely. As I drove up the avenue, nearing my own street, I saw passing,
[p.261]
too quickly by to be stopped, my friends & wondered if by chance they had not been to find me, & when I arrived, I found they had but left ten minutes. This gave me an uncomfortable feeling of regret, & I went to the telephone to speak to Maria, but alas, she had not yet arrived. I wished & longed for that portrait, & to everyone who came, I confessed my longing, begging them to pray for me to have it. Each one in turn so laughed at me that I became discouraged, but hoping on with very little real hope. I went to bed after talking the whole evening of my hopes to my husband & Miss Tillinghast.
[p/262]
Wednesday January 16, 1901
Glorious of days!!!!!
The portrait is mine!! Dear Maria called me to the telephone & said, “Eva, since you like Madrazo’s portrait so much, & since next to me, I know you love him the most, I think you deserve it, & we shall give it to you!! & only if he should die without painting me another, you will then give it back to me, but he will paint me another;
[p.263]
if he does not die immediately.” No, no one can ever know the joy of this day, to have that portrait. It all seems unreal, & I long to have it here, where it shall be all mine. My sister says it will be my altar & that I will say my prayers to it. Bless her, the dear woman, as long as life last, & after all this, I receive the news that my dear friend Judge Barrett is finally thought to be out of danger, & after all these long, eight weeks of typhoid fever & suspense, I go to bed tonight quite indifferent to the whole work(?)
[p.264]
& my life & heart full of love & happiness.
Thursday, January 17th 1901
This wd. have been an uneventful day, if any day can be uneventful in which I see Madrazo, but he & Maria were here tonight at a little dinner company of twelve, which we gave for them, at which were also the Seaton(?) Thomson’s & the Hillary Bell’s. Mrs. Bell sitting one one side of Madrazo & I on the other, as she cannot speak French;
[p.265]
during the dinner, Madrazo asked me to say to her that he appreciated so much her kindness to his wife last winter & that she & Mr. Bell had been so very sympathetic, that he wd. like to make her portrait as a souvenir to her. It was such a pleasure for me to convey the news of it to her, for Mr. Bell, who sat next to me, also had told me from his earliest boyhood he had admired Madrazo’s work, as well as his father’s & grandfather’s work, & that he had written a great many criticisms(?) on their works. After I had interpreted all this to Madrazo, he shewed [i.e. showed] him
[p.266]
the gold watch he always wears of his father’s, & which I had many times before seen, being a most curious, beautiful piece of workmanship, with a repeater not only repeating the hours but half hours, & a most charming inscription inside reading(?) in Spanish ‘to the court painter de Madrazo in gratitude for the beautiful portrait of the unfortunate Prince from his father the king, 1847,” I think was the year. It was a most interesting & enjoyable company, which coming after the news that I had had by telephone that
[p.267]
Madrazo was planning to come here on Monday next to paint my bird as a present to my husband. Madrazo has been very much entertained with my parrot, liking his gentle ways & voice, & being intensely amused(?) to know that the bird & my husband, who are the most intimate of friends since seventeen year, have had for the first time in their lives a furious row, not having spoken for months, & the other day for the first time, while Madrazo & Maria were
[p.268]
dining here, my husband took the bird in his hands, & he [the bird] said “I belong to David Thomson, would you sell me for filthy lucre,” which won himself back to the favor of my husband, & so engaged Madrazo & amused him, that he told Maria that he should paint the portrait of the bird as a present for my husband. So the day ends most happily for me.
[p.269]
January 22, Tuesday, 1901
This day, the poor Queen
[p.270]
no youth(?) left to enjoy his reign. Madrazo was to have come yesterday to make a portrait of my bird, but failing came today by arrangement. Both he & his wife came, & at luncheon as well were my friends Mr. & Mrs. de Heredia. It was too charming to watch Madrazo make the portrait. What a really great man he is! & oh! so
[p.271]
beloved & honored by me, as well as his dear, gentle,
true(?) wife Maria. Our portraits are
now on exhibition together at the Oheme [sic, i.e. Oehme] galleries on
[p.272]
portrait of David taken from a photograph & not from Rowse’s penciling of him, but put into that frame, which gives one to believe at first that it is Rowse’s portrait, but upon examination, one easily sees that it is of the other side of his head. It is most charming & will be forever very dear to me & I trust to mine who will
[p.273]
possess it after we are gone. My little niece Eva seems very promising, & I hope will grow up to gratify our love & pride. If so, there is no one so far in my life & home(?) I should wish in preference to have our possessions. She came to me last April for the first time in her life at nine years of age, & I began giving her French lessons myself, & tho’ she was then with me but a month, she has been often
[p.274]
With me since & speaks & reads French very well already, & before the year is passed will have it quite completely & will in April commence Italian. It is the first time I have attempted to illustrate my theories of education, & I must say, in justice to myself, I am more than satisfied that they are the correct ones & will prove so in every case, regardless of the personal ability of the child.
[p.275]
Tuesday, April 30th 1901
A dreadful day of disappointment, for as my maid came to dress me this morning, she said there was an account of “Mr. Mott’s marriage” in this morning’s papers. I asked what Mr. Mott, & I gradually understood that it was my sister’s 19 year old boy Lawrence, who had married his tutor’s daughter. As my sister was entirely unprepared for it before seeing it in the papers, it has well nigh broken her heart, & tho’ awful as it is, I predict that the time will come when she will say that it was the best for him after all.
[p.276]
May 23, 1901
Today, my very dear friends the de Madrazos sailed away to be gone till next January, when, upon their return, they will come to live with us for the five months that they are to be in America. Nothing could be nearer perfection then. They are as friends to me. We have been together constantly all this year, never a day without seeing or hearing from each other. Maria has but one fault, that of always being late; outside of that, she is a perfect woman & can never live(?) in this world. She is too good & the “good die young.” I could not believe that anyone could wind themselves about my
[p.277]
my [sic] life & heart as they have done, & have become a part of my very life with their winning ways & loving hearts. He is always the “grand signore.” In the most intimate of studio life, as I have been with them, he is always the “great man.” He loves & adores his winning, caressing wife, & she is they embodiment of tenderness & love. I am so happy with them, always in an atmosphere of love. They both give me a very satisfying, devoted love, which fills a place in my life & heart left empty by those who should naturally fill it. Today, I feel sad & lonely without them & am much comforted by a portrait, but drawn in in [sic] black & white paint, of Madrazo & Maria, which he made in one sitting, & which is to be finished one his return. For her, the position &
[p.278]
& [sic] likenesses are perfect. She has her head on his back, one hand on his shoulder, & he nearly full face, while looking into a mirror to paint them. It is most charming. It hangs in my room where I can see it the first & last of my days. My mother is ill with malarial fever, & my sister’s anxiety for her & her own sadness of her only child’s disappointing marriage makes the day dark.
Friday, May 24th, 1901
This morning I received a note from Mrs. Ella Rowse, the sister-in-law
of my dear old friend S. W. Rowse, saying that he was so ill at
[p.279]
that there was no hope of his recovery. [The note from Mrs. Rowse is tipped into the volume at p.278-279.] I have just written to her. Ah me! These long partings, how many many delightful hours I have passed(? word partially covered) with him during the years that(?) he has lived in the same apartment house with us at the Hanover, & the summer at Long Beach, Long Island, that he made all the beautiful little cards(?) for me. I live over today, alone(? word partly covered) by myself, all those days. He was a philosopher(?), & poor man, had no domestic life whatever, & at times, I think felt the loss of it bitterly. He was always unmistakably happy with us, where he enjoyed a degree of domestic life. He dreaded(?) suffering to such a degree that I am comforted to know from Mrs. Rowse’s letter
[p.280]
that he has been unconscious for days. Peace be to him. I cannot realize then(?) that I am never to see him here again, so so much we have been together. It is a comfort to think that the last but once that I saw him, I found him in bed & on the bed were several of my letters. As I entered the door, he smiled & greeted me with the expression “ever faithful.” I shall know from his faithful sister-in-law later all about his last illness.
[p.281]
A letter received together with the above newspaper notice
[death notice of Samuel Rowse, but surname spelled Rouse in the notice] advises
me that the end has indeed come to my old & honored friend Mr. Rowse. I have spent this whole day with his letters,
his pictures, & my note books, alone.
It has been a sad comfort to be alone with my memories of him. In March 1890, I first met him at the house
of our mutual friend Jacob Lazarus,
[p.282]
house [the Brevoort House was on
Duchess of Marlborough (Lillie Hammersley). It was the first time she had come to
[p.283]
to leave the room & saw an old gentleman reading, & passed out, going to pay another visit to my friend Emily Lazarus, just around the corner. After a few minutes conversation, the same old gentleman whom I had seen at the Brevoort House arrived (he afterwards told me that he had thought he wd. go out & see which way I was going & seeing me turn the corner, he followed on as he was about to take a walk anyway, & when seeing me enter the house of his friend, he easily followed on) & there we met
[p.284]
& forever after were we friends.
Monday May 27, 1901
A dark, pouring rain all day long. In the early gray of the morning, I started
for
[p.285]
were there, only Munzig the critic was the only familiar
face to me. After, when they insisted upon
my going into the room, was I a little comforted to find my friend in all his
own dignity, with that of the dignity of death added to it. There he lay with no other flowers save my
wreath of orchids, which was one of the greatest satisfactions to me; like his
own work, so beautiful, so perfect, it was all & enough. They took the wreath all the way to
[p.286]
together, so that after all, my thoughts literally followed him alone to his grave & beyond it & this is especially comforting to me.
[end of diary; descriptions of tipped in and loose items follow]
Items tipped into volume, between page numbers as listed below; all letters addressed to Mrs. Thomson unless otherwise noted:
p.8-9 letter from Robert Perry Hughes, Hotel St.
George, Dec. 7, 1897, about the artist Harry Franklin Waltman and his upcoming
studies in
letter from H. F. Waltman,
p.16-17 letter in French, G. Ibus,
p.38-39 letter from Katharine Cowdin,
p.40-41 note, Charles Akers,
p.54-55 note, [name illegible, but from Mme de Heredia], no date, to Eva, invitation to “diner de boheme,” with a number of artists, is not inviting Mr. Thomson as doesn’t think he would enjoy it
p.138-139 two photographs of the artist de Madrazo
wearing his famous hat; one photo shows Madrazo working on a portrait of Mrs.
Peacock of
p.140-141 printed notice from Red Cross Auxiliary No. 5, “The Metcalf Bliss Cot Equipment … Committee,” requesting funds for solider relief, n.d. but summer 1898; Mrs. David Thomson is listed as one who will be helping to raise money
p.166-167 note from Maria Hahn [soon to be Mme de Madrazo], April(?) 26, 1899; thanks for a silver tray and her friendship
p.174-174 letter from Hall [Mrs. Thomson’s brother
Ambrose Hall Purdy],
p.198-199 printed speech given by Robert R. Hitt,
congressman from
p.204-205 black and white print from magazine of the painting “The Road to Camelot” by George Broughton
p.208-209 note from Genl. and Mrs. Grant, San Juan, Puerto Rico, January, no year regretting that they will not be able to call upon Mrs. Thomson [envelope is tipped in, but note itself is loose]
p.212-213 newspaper clipping about Richmond Pearson Hobson, hero of the Merrimac, no date but 1898 [part of clipping is tipped in, part is loose]
p.215 newspaper article entitled “Bits of Spanish Sarcasm,” 1898
p. 221 another newspaper clipping about Richmond Pearson Hobson, 1898
p.224-225 letter in French from Maria de Madrazo, no date
p. 225 calling card of Madame de Madrazo, setting appointment for Mrs. Thomson’s portrait painting session to begin
p.230-231 letter from Adelaide Louise Samson, Metropolitan Magazine,
p.244-245 letter from Leonie L. [Leonie Jerome
Leslie],
p.246-247 two letters, one signed Clara, the other
C, both from Clara Jerome Frewen, on stationery of the American Hospital Ship
Fund for
tipped in letter: news received of Winston Churchill’s heroic stand against the Boers; all are very upset because Winston is missing; Clara on her way to be with Jennie;
loose letter (Nov. 26): encloses circulars about their relief work and asks Mrs. Thomson to encourage her friends to donate; Jennie is planning to sail with the relief ship
p.250-251 letter from Leonie L. [Leonie Leslie], Eastbourne, April 17, no year; am weary at present, but will be all right by July [she was pregnant and the child was expected in July]; one son has been ill but others (Jack and Norman) are well; will order a cape for Mrs. Thomson when she returns to London; writes about Irish tweeds; tell Kitty [probably Katherine Mott] her parcel has been found; lists some friends who are nursing the wounded
p.252-253 two telegrams, one tipped in, one loose; one announces birth of son to Leonie Leslie; other requests David Thomson to be godfather to the boy
p.254-255 newspaper article about return of Colonel Leslie, a son of Sir John and Lady Constance Leslie
p.256-257 newspaper clipping about marriage of Jennie Jerome Churchill to George Cornwallis-West
letter from Jennie
Cornwallis-West,
p.258-259 newspaper article with photos of portraits by de Madrazo, including his portrait of Mrs. Thomson
p.260-261 letter from Josephine Butler,
p.262-263 catalog of portraits by de Madrazo being exhibited at Galleries of Juluis Oehme, together with a printed invitation from de Madrazo to view the exhibit on and after Jan. 19 [1901 – year written on catalog] (the invitation is loose, the catalog is tipped in)
p.274-275 note from Maria de Madrazo to Mr. Thomson, thanking him for flowers
p.278-279 letter from Ella A. Rowse,
p.281 death notice of Samuel W. Rowse (but spelling his surname as Rouse)
p.282-283 [Duchess of] Marlborough, Brevoort House
[
p. 286 note from E.A. Rowse,
p. 287 letter from Ella A. Rowse,
p.290 letter from Ella A. Rowse,
p.291 letter from Mabel Percy Haskell,
p.292 letter to the editor of the Evening Post, signed with initials O.G.H., about Samuel Rowse
p.293 letter from [illegible],
p. 295 newspaper article about Samuel Rowse’s brief theatrical career, Boston Evening Transcript, June 1, 1901
Loose items removed from diary, with page number where found:
p.16-17 postcard
of
p.26-27 advertisement for exhibit of portraits by Raymundo de Madrazo at the Galleries of Julius Oehme [Mrs. Thomson’s portrait is in the exhibit] [printed]
printed poem, no title, first line reads “Go thou thy way and I go mine…”
three rough astrological charts for a lady born Dec. 5, 1852 at 10:30 a.m.
p.78-79 letter, Louis L. Seaman,
p.114-115 newspaper clipping about Gérôme’s portrait of Mrs. Charles Truax [clipping in two pieces]
p.140-141 note in French, from R. de Madrazo, no date, turning down a dinner invitation
p.168-169 note from Maria Hahn [soon to be Mme de Madrazo], June 14, 1899; thanks for fruit
note in French, F. de Madrazo, no date; will she be home Thursday at 5? His father wishes to say good-bye; attached to letter is calling card of R. de Madrazo, with note that he regrets he has not been able to see Mrs. Thomson
wedding announcement, in French, for marriage of Raymundo de Madrazo and Maria Hahn, July 1, 1899 [printed]
p.178-179 a biographical sketch of Raymundo de Madrazo, to accompany an exhibit of his works at the galleries of Julius Oehme, 1900 [printed]
p.226-227 newspaper article about Prince Otto von Bismarck, no date but 1898
p.262-263 newspaper article about Madrazo and his intention to stay with Mrs. Thomson, the cousin of Mrs. Cornwallis-West; the article thus describes Mrs. Thomson: “While she is not in any way a leader, Mrs. Thomson has a very wide acquaintance, and is gifted with an eloquence that is untiring, and gains its end as most untiring things do.”
p.266-267 calling card of Madame de Madrazo, with a note
p.276-277 four newspaper obituaries of Samuel Worcester Rowse, and a letter to the editor of the Boston Herald about his brief acting career, all 1901
p.294-295 probably the last sheet of a letter, from Ella Emerson Rowse, no date, about a crayon portrait by Samuel Rowse of Ralph Waldo Emerson
p.294-295 letter from little Evie to her aunt,
Plandome,
the following were found loose in the back of the volume:
photograph of Thomson grave marker with woman standing in front of it, laying flowers (woman’s back is to the camera)
letter from Lawrence(?)
Hutton(?),
letter from
E.A. Rowse,
letter in
French from J.L. Gérôme [Jean-Léon Gérôme],
two newspaper clippings reproducing portraits of children by Samuel W. Rowse; one also includes an article about an exhibit of his work, from The Mail and Express, Jan. 22, 1902
newspaper
article (in three pieces) about death of Dowager Empress Frederick of
newspaper announcement
of marriage of Leonie Jerome and John Leslie of
two small
snippets, one about Leslie Stephen being elected to a lectureship at