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Weekly News May 23, 2016Description
Lizzie Marshall’s Vacations: Housewives of 100+ years ago had the responsibility of taking care of their families and their homes, and little time was left for vacations. Elizabeth Cloud “Lizzie” Mitchell Marshall (1854-1930), my grandmother, was no exception. She was in charge of three homes in succession from the time of her marriage to Israel Marshall in 1877 to the time she turned over Auburn Heights to her son Clarence and his new wife in 1921.
As a newlywed, Lizzie’s first home was an addition to her in-laws’ home on the Marshall family farm at Marshall’s Bridge, one mile north of Yorklyn on Red Clay Creek in Kennett Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. This was less than 5 miles from the Mitchell homestead at Woodside Farm where she was born, raised, and married. At Marshall’s Bridge her four children were born. The eldest, Irwin, died in 1881 at the age of 10 months. Warren, Anna, and Clarence grew up to have happy and productive lives. Before 1890, Warren and Anna began first grade at a one-room schoolhouse called Pleasant Bank and walked the 1½ miles each way, crossing the west branch of the Red Clay on a foot bridge. Lizzie and Israel went to Washington, D.C., on their honeymoon in October 1877 and shook hands with President Hayes. Then they went on to Accotink, Virginia, and visited Israel’s cousins, the Ways, who were operating a Quaker community on Woodlawn Plantation, owned at one time by George Washington (it was 3 miles west of Mount Vernon). To my knowledge, this was the only vacation trip enjoyed by Lizzie for the next 30 years.
In 1890, after Israel and his brother Elwood had bought the Clark woolen mill on Benge Road in Yorklyn, Lizzie and her family of five moved into the old farmhouse on the new property, the oldest section of which was built by John Garrett II in 1760. The entire house was occupied by the Marshalls, which had been the case with several mill owners who preceded them. Lizzie had her hands full managing the home and her growing family, not to mention the millworkers who worked and lived next door. It was during this period that she began serving a full dinner to salesmen who called on Israel and who had no place to get a mid-day meal in Yorklyn. In most cases, she had little notice of how many might sit down at her dining room table. The family lived here for seven years until 1897, when Auburn Heights was built. Soon thereafter, the old farmhouse was divided and provided a home for two families for most of the time to the present.
We know a little about Lizzie’s life as hostess of Auburn Heights for 24 years. She was presiding over a mansion that was probably more to Israel’s liking than to hers. She needed domestic help, often provided by the wives of millworkers who lived nearby. She oversaw the management of an elaborate front hall, two sitting rooms, a dining room, and a large kitchen, in addition to seven bedrooms and two large bathrooms. Unexpected guests from the mill still had to be fed for the mid-day dinner, often without prior notice.
Her son Warren, along with his cousin Albert from Marshall’s Bridge, was enrolled in Wilmington Friends School at Fourth and West Streets, and both boys boarded the train at Yorklyn for the trip to and from school until their graduations in 1900. Anna did this from 1899 until 1901, and Clarence started at Friends about 1901. His cousins Henry and Ellen Mitchell from Woodside Farm traveled on the same daily trains, boarding at Mill Creek (a flag stop) on Valley Road west of Hockessin. About 1901, Anna transferred to Swarthmore Prep School, where one of her roommates was Esther Shallcross, later to become her sister-in-law.
Israel lived 14 years at Auburn Heights before his death at age 60 in 1911. We know he made two trips alone during this period, the first a train trip around Virginia sponsored by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1899 and the other a trip to Poland Spring, Maine, in the summer of 1910, where he drank spring water to alleviate his persistent kidney ailment. Apparently Lizzie had too many home responsibilities to be invited to go. These 14 years must have been busy times, with the rapid expansion of the paper mill and the beginnings of National Fibre and Insulation Company on a much larger piece of land near the railroad. Also, Clarence was getting into those newfangled road machines called automobiles. Warren left home when he married Bertha Lamborn in 1907, and the following year they built a comfortable bungalow on the hill east of the new mills. Shortly after Warren and Bertha’s marriage, the remaining Auburn Heights family, including Israel, Lizzie, Anna, and Clarence, made a 3-day, 2-night trip in Clarence’s 1906 4-cylinder Winton to Gettysburg and return.
We know that Lizzie treated the mill children to a day trip to Cape May and return on the steamer “Republic.” She did this for several summers, both before and after Israel’s death, and it was a highlight for those young people who participated. She would pack enough lunches for all, and they would take the trolley to the Delaware River pier at Gordon Heights, with changes at Brandywine Springs and Wilmington. Here they would board the crowded steamer from Philadelphia on its trip down river. Taking about 3 hours in each direction to Cape May Point, plus a short trolley ride into Cape May itself, not much time was allowed in the resort town before the return journey began. These days were hardly vacations for Lizzie.
Dorsey Edward Peterson Jr., born in 1908, told me that he and his sister Eliza walked with their mother Martha from a small tenant house along Auburn Mill Road to Auburn Heights each day so Martha could work for Lizzie in the big house. When it came lunch time, “Pete” would go down to the front gate so he could ride up the driveway in a Stanley steamer when Clarence would come home from the mill for lunch. The latter would stop and pick him up, and the young passenger’s day was a success. Pete knew that Clarence smoked cigars, so one day he thought he would try it, using a butt that had been discarded. Finally he got it lit, but he became deathly ill, so the practice was not repeated. When he and his sister sat down at the kitchen table for their lunch, Lizzie would say “Now Edward, thee must drink thy milk!” It would be fresh from the cow on the property and not refrigerated.
After their father’s death, Lizzie’s children made sure she got some time off. She would pack a trunk and ship it to a hotel in Atlantic City or Ocean Grove for a two- or three-week stay along the New Jersey shore. In the 1920s, she preferred Galen Hall, an elaborate Quaker resort near Wernersville on a low mountain ridge west of Reading, Pennsylvania. Here there was a large stone hotel with a view and numerous cottages spread around the grounds in the woods. Lizzie rented one of these cottages for several summers. I was told that my mother and I spent two or three weeks there with her during my first summer (1924). I think Lizzie had this cottage each summer until her death, as I vaguely remember visiting about 1929, when my father and I would take long walks through the woods.
Work Report: On Tuesday, May 17, 16 volunteers were on hand, as follows: Jerry Novak (in charge), Tom Marshall, Mark Russell, Larry Tennity, Steve Bryce, Ted Kamen, Bob Jordan, Neal Sobocinski, John Bacino, Anne Cleary, Mike Ciosek, Dave Leon, Tim Ward, Dennis Dragon, Jerry Lucas, and Tom Sandbrook. The reflectors were polished in the lamps of the ’37 Packard, and wire-ends were tinned for soldering on the sockets. There was discussion how to best install a battery disconnect switch. On the Stanley Model H-5, the brakes were adjusted further and the engine again put in gear for determining how much must be cut off the steam pipe. The left rear door was re-installed on the Model 725.
Locomotives 401 and our “Diesel” were moved to the tunnel (towed by the Diesel) to make more room for re-assembly of the 402 on the middle track in the engine house. On the garage repainting, the steel shelving was put back in place and thoroughly cleaned so the plywood backing could be painted. All paint, bolts, and nuts, removed for the floor painting project, were brought back to the garage for sorting and future storage. Boxes have been designated “Surplus to FAHP” and items in them are presently in the Pump House. These items are available to any FAHP volunteers who would like them. After two weeks or so, they will be disposed of.
On Wednesday, May 18, seven volunteers answered the call: Tom Marshall (in charge), Dave Leon, Larry Tennity, Gary Fitch, Steve Bryce, Jerry Novak, and Bill Rule. The latter three cleaned up the museum and removed personal items that had been lent to us for Train Day on May 1. The hood was put together and installed on the Model 725, and the hood handles were painted. Since a few imperfections exist in the new paint job, this hood will probably be removed next month for improvement, detailing, and pinstriping.
With help from “Bucky,” the wood backing on the steel shelving was painted, and the wooden bins were scrubbed. Installation of the low-water shut-off on the Mountain Wagon was continued.
On Thursday, May 19, 12 volunteers were on hand: Bill Schwoebel (in charge), Dennis Tiley, Bob Stransky, Neal Sobocinski, Matt Richard, Jim Personti, Geoff Fallows, Robert Hopkins, Ted Kamen, Bob Jordan, Tom Marshall, and Steve Bryce. The wooden bins were painted gray, and 2 x 4 framework was installed on the garage’s back wall for anchoring these bins in place. The areas over the tunnel portals on the A.V.R.R. were further cleaned for repair. The springing for the main drivers was installed on Locomotive 402.
Our paint supply was sorted again and the cans placed on the steel shelving for permanent storage. Automotive paint is separate from house and floor paint. Many portable items were hung back on the garage wall, and other items put back in place on the floor. On the ’37 Packard, electrical work continued. Installation of the low-water shut-off continued on the Mountain Wagon. The brake drums and wheel bearings for the Model 607 were located after some anxiety. On Saturday, May 21, the low-water shut-off installation on the Mountain Wagon was completed, and the car is ready for testing. Early this week, the wooden bins can be moved to their permanent location, anchored to the wall, and re-stocked with nuts, bolts, and screws.
