Early Days on the Lake Shore 2 w/ transcript

Archive

-

Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society

Name/Title

Early Days on the Lake Shore 2 w/ transcript

Entry/Object ID

2013.01.01

Scope and Content

18-page history of families on the lakeshore – mostly people from St. Louis, Missouri. The story begins in 1898, when Dr. Edward Bartow purchased what was then a cow pasture from the family of the late William McVea.

Collection

1900 Lakeshore community

Cataloged By

Good, Betsy

Acquisition

Accession

2013.01

Source or Donor

O'Leary, Virginia

Acquisition Method

Donation

Archive Details

Creator

Holland, Dorothy Marie (Garesche) 1905-1997

Date(s) of Creation

1983

Location

164 General local history
Files Accession Number

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Lakeshore Drive, Douglas, Douglas, William A., Barron, Bonnie Catherine (O'Neill) 1915-1987

Person or Organization

Bartow, Dr. Edward L.

Person or Organization

Sayre, Professor Lucius E. 1846-1925

Person or Organization

McVea, William

Person or Organization

Wallin, Van Arthur 1866-1942

Person or Organization

Bryan, Lena L. (Robinson) 1910-1983

Person or Organization

Simpson, William H.

Person or Organization

Garesche, Marie

Person or Organization

Garesche, Ferdinand

Person or Organization

Garesche, Louise

Person or Organization

O'Brien, James

Person or Organization

O'Brien, B.J.

Person or Organization

O'Brien, Mrs. William

Person or Organization

Daggett, Alvin H. 1880-1966

Person or Organization

Fish, Mr.

Person or Organization

Devine, Patrick 1832-1909

Person or Organization

Hellmuth, Harriet M. (Fowler) 1882-1972

Person or Organization

MacDonald Family

Person or Organization

Leland Family

Person or Organization

Walz, Christian "Chris" 1854-1921

Person or Organization

McVea, Samuel 1864-1938

Person or Organization

Von Brecht, Betty

Person or Organization

Michel, Marie

Person or Organization

Howard, Wilhelmina

Person or Organization

O'Brien, Laura

Person or Organization

O'Brien, Rosalie

Person or Organization

Garesche, Lala

Person or Organization

Von Phul, Grace

Person or Organization

VonBrecht Family

Person or Organization

Bohn, Chick and Jeanne

Person or Organization

Northern, Mary

Person or Organization

Erikson, Sue

Person or Organization

Delany, Elizabeth (Sloan)

Person or Organization

Sloan, Sophie

Person or Organization

Wigant, Marie Tract

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Delany, Elizabeth (Sloan)

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Paris, Maurice 1906-1985

Person or Organization

Clark, Dr.

Person or Organization

Stutzman, Dr. and Mrs. A.B.

Person or Organization

Carr, Bob and Julia

Person or Organization

Twink and Charlie

Person or Organization

Ring, Eleanor Murray 1908-1993

Person or Organization

Allan, Dr.

Person or Organization

McCormich, State Senator and Mrs. Raleigh

Person or Organization

Worthington, Virginia

Person or Organization

Walsh, Mr.

Person or Organization

Hummell, Mr. Joseph

Person or Organization

Wagner, Mary and Jerry

Person or Organization

Beckman, Paul and Vincent

Person or Organization

Hummel, Mr.

Person or Organization

Desloge, Mr. and Mrs. Louis

Person or Organization

Leveroni, Irene

Person or Organization

Meslans, Kiki

Person or Organization

Thiel Family

Person or Organization

Watts Family

Person or Organization

Woods Family

Person or Organization

Clark, William Allan "Bill" 1919-2005

Person or Organization

Houser, Emma Garesche

Person or Organization

Houser, James

Person or Organization

Hellmuth, George W. 1870-1955

Person or Organization

Fowler, Mr. and Mrs. Francis

Person or Organization

Shuhan Family

Person or Organization

Hellmuth, Sister Heldegarde, RSCJ\Ibsen \Corletts

Person or Organization

Atwood Family

Person or Organization

Merrils/Erker, Otto

Person or Organization

Aleshire Family

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Barrett, Bob and Avis

Person or Organization

Sloan, Sophie

Person or Organization

Painter, Helen and Harry

Person or Organization

Worcester, Helen and Gene

Person or Organization

Vandenberg Family

Person or Organization

Frith, Arthur

Person or Organization

Farish, Mimika

Person or Organization

Benoist, Bill

Person or Organization

Garesche, Adelaide

Person or Organization

Benoist, Irving

Person or Organization

Ibsen, Mira Lee Benoist

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Bolin, Adele

Person or Organization

Bolin, Edith

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Dorr, Oliver

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Kniedelseder, Amy

Person or Organization

Kniedelseder, Bill

Person or Organization

Kniedelseder, John

Person or Organization

Hennessy, Jack

Person or Organization

Corley, Frank

Person or Organization

Corley, Bob

Person or Organization

Corley, Frank

Person or Organization

Corley, Margaret

Person or Organization

Corley, John

Person or Organization

Corley, Bill

Person or Organization

Curran sisters

Person or Organization

Tierney, Mrs. John

Person or Organization

Gross, Abigail Curran

Person or Organization

Gross, June Curran

Person or Organization

Smith, Frank

Person or Organization

Smith, Donna

Person or Organization

Eagleton, Tom and DeeBarbara Smith

Person or Organization

McClellan, Jim and Delphine

Person or Organization

Zwitzer Family

Person or Organization

Smulski Family

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Kern Family

Person or Organization

White, Joe and Eunice

Person or Organization

Eagleton, Mr. and Mrs. Mark

Person or Organization

De Messimey Family

Person or Organization

De Messimey, Count Vincent

Person or Organization

Heuchan, Don

Person or Organization

Sarpy family

Person or Organization

Sarpy, Victoria

Person or Organization

McCormick, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan

Person or Organization

McCormick, Dinks

Person or Organization

De Messimy, Juliette

Person or Organization

De Messimy, Charlotte

Person or Organization

Thiel, Edward

Person or Organization

Corrigan, Tom and June

Person or Organization

Moss, Mrs.

Person or Organization

Trumbull, Mrs. Anna

Person or Organization

Muckerman, Walter and Peg and family

Person or Organization

Robinson, Professor and Mrs. John Beverly

Person or Organization

Luckow, Lottie

Person or Organization

Bramman, William

Person or Organization

Bramman, Barbara

Person or Organization

Bramman, Hildegarde

Person or Organization

Bramman, Bill

Person or Organization

O'Neill, Laurence and Family

Person or Organization

Barron, John Taylor Jr. 1916-1970

Person or Organization

Funsch, Dr. and Mrs.

Person or Organization

Kinsella, Dr. and Mrs Ralph

Person or Organization

Hall, Louis T. Family

Person or Organization

Kennedy, Jim and Georgann

Person or Organization

Kosac Family

Person or Organization

Trumble, Mrs. E.

Person or Organization

Senseny, Dr. and Mrs.

Person or Organization

Michel family

Person or Organization

Scudder, Mrs. Rogers

Person or Organization

Hattersley, Lil

Person or Organization

Bohn, Chick

Person or Organization

Shorey, Elizabeth Douglas

Person or Organization

Parrish, Charles W. (1877-1955)

Person or Organization

Parrish, Pearl A. (Braman) (1878-1949)

General Notes

Note

Status: OK Status By: Betsy Good Status Date: 2013-01-07

Note

("EARLY DAYS ON THE LAKE SHORE" by Dorothy Garesche Holland, presents a wonderful history of the early lakeshore by an early and long-time summer visitor. Her aunt, Marie Garesche, built one of the first summer cottages on the lakeshore in 1902, and her father, Ferdinand Garesche, built their own cottage in 1912. After retiring in 1960, she wrote three books on genealogy and several articles for the Missouri Historical Society Bulletin. Mrs. Holland, an educator and writer, died in 1997 at the age of 92. She was the subject of an SDHS oral history interview in 1995. (Thanks to her son Dempster Holland for giving SDHS permission to add this history to the SDHS On-Line Research Center archives. -- Chris Yoder, March 23, 2011) EARLY DAYS ON THE LAKE SHORE Dorothy Garesche Holland - August 1977 - updated 1983 For several years I have had the intention to jot down Lake Shore memories and it would probably still be merely an intention were it not for the needlings of the late Chick Bohn. These memories in no way pretend to add up to the definitive history of the Lake Shore, they are personal and primarily of the St. Louis contingent, which included many members of our family. St. Louisans were not the first resorters an the shore . In the booklet, The Lake Shore Chapel (Nancy J. Budd 1974) Elizabeth Douglas Shorey is quoted saying that two cottages were built below the Bryan property in 1897, but she incorrectly identified them as the Ibsen cottage and the one directly south of it. The two old cottages are the two north of the Ibsen cottage, that belonging to the Vanderbergs and the one recently sold by Gene Worcester. An early account of the Lake Shore as future summer resort was given me by the late Virginia Bartow, who was afterwards interviewed by the Commercial Record for the Centennial issue in 1970. Her father, Dr. Edward Bartow, walked down along the lake from the old Ox-bow Inn, now part of the art camp. They found the section, now called the Knoll then a cow pasture belonging to the late William McVea, the first of that name. Dr. Bartow and several other men made him an offer of $500 for the property which included 500 feet of lake front, Mr McVea accepted and rushed home to harness up his horse. When his wife asked him why the hurry, he answered, "Some fools have offered me $500 for the pasture and I'm going to record it in Allegan before they change their minds." The original owners included also Professor Lucius Sayre of the University of Kansas, members of the Caldwell family and Frederick Sperry. In about 1970 Miss Bartow told me that four of the Knoll cottages were owned by descendants of the original owners who built in 1898. Some of us remember Dr. Bartow, a tall, handsome old man with a white mustache and a twinkle in his eyes. He was always at our branch post-office in the morning and, an avid stamp collector, on the lookout for new issues. In the chapel book there is a notation from Van A. Wallin who reported that his family built a cottage on the corner of Center Street and Lake Share Drive in 1900; it later burnt down and the twin cottages put up. They now form one house, recently the home of the late Mrs. Lena Bryan. Mr. Wallin added that during the same summer of 1900 his brother-in-law, W. H. Simpson built on the other corner, the cottage later owned by the youngest Simpson, Betty, and her husband, Charles Goode. It was during the summer of 189 that my aunt, Marie R. Garesche, visiting friends in South Haven, took the fruit boat up to Douglas and hired someone to drive her out in a buggy to the lake shore. She had heard of' this beautiful untouched stretch of beech and was immediately entranced with the area. She bought about 100 feet of lake front property from the McVea family and made plans for the summer home to which she intended bringing her aged parents each year. As my aunts never threw away any letters , after the death of the last one, Lala, I spent many hours going through boxes of correspondence, keeping out anything of interest, In March of 1900 my grandfather, Ferdinand L. Garesche, wrote his daughter, Louise, who was teaching in Minnesota, "Marie is going ahead with her plans for her cottage - a piece of madness none of us can prevent." It was considered "a piece of madness" because there was so little money available. Marie was an art teacher at one of the public high schools in St. Louis and despite her training at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, later the Art School of Washington University and a year's study in Paris under several we11-knowm masters, she received a very small salary. A subsequent letter from her father to Louise reported that Marie had modified her plans, the first ones were too costly. Marie and several of her four sisters spent the summer of 1900 in the cottage, both parents coming for visits plus several friends. Before her father arrived, he wrote that he knew the cottage was full so if there was no room for him, please put him, in the room underneath the cottage, "I don't mind being with the spiders". My Douglas memories begin in this cottage, although they are merely hazy fragments. In 1909 my father, Ferdinand A. Garesche, and his brother-in-law, James B. J. O'Brien, bought about thirty feet of property at the south end of Marie's and put up their cottage, the next summer; my grandmother, Mrs, E1izabeth Fitzwilliam O'Brian, and her daughters, Laura and Rosaline and our family spent many seasons there together. Today my two remaining brothers, Bob and Dick, and I are the owners of the F A G, as it is known. We all grew up there, including my others brothers, John and Phil. My parents' eight grandchildren have all stayed there, first as children, now as parents with their children, the fifth generation to enjoy it. In the early 1900's the trip from St. Louis to Douglas was no matter of a seven or eight hour drive. We took the day train to Chicago, our family getting on in Madison, Illinois, just across the river from St, Louis, where we lived. At the Chicago station we climbed aboard a Parmalee bus (in the very early days, horse-drawn) headed for the pier where we took the lake steamer for the overnight trip, getting off either at Holland or the closer Jenesen Park. Breakfast was either in Holland or Saugatuck after we arrived by the Interurban which ended its run in front of the Butler Hotel. Then by bus or Mr. Daggett's taxi to the Lake Shore. Later Mr. Daggett would bring over the trunks and the barrel of beer my father always sent up - once in a while one of the bottles turns up - a beautiful blue green. One night there was a terrible storm as we crossed the lake and we were all scared and very ill; my mother said never again, so from then on it was the night train to Chicago and the Pere Marquette to Fennville where our old friend Mr. Daggett would meet us. At first all supplies came from Saugatuck and my parents and aunts would often walk to the Kalamazoo river and row over. Each family rented a boat for the season. Ours was number 17. There was also a ferry that crossed every hour, returning on the half hour round trip a nickle, Later a horse drawn bus ambled along the shore driven by one of the old men of the Campbell family, very kind to children, and who allowed my brother John when, he was five or six years old to ride up and down with him. There were also two motor buses from Saugatuck, both driven by enormously fat men. Each bus had four long seats and were open at the ends. When the buses were crowded, after the movies for instance, adventurous ones stood on the running boards. It was those same buses that took us to Mass on Sundays, to the small white frame St. Peter's, now the Community Church. Twenty-five years ago the handsome new St. Peter's was erected on the edge of the bluff overlooking the river. Its beautiful simplicity has pleased everyone, residents and vacationers alike. For many years there was no resident pastor, the priest from South Haven came every Sunday morning, Sometimes his car broke down, sometimes the road was impassable, and he would phone Mrs. Fish who lived across the side street to tell us there would be no Mass. Mrs. Fish took care of the vestments and the church was opened by Mr. Devine who also acted as usher and collection taker. Sometimes the appointed altar boy would not appear and when this became evident several boys or young men would step up into the sanctuary to serve. For years St. Louisan Mrs. George Hellmuth made her self responsible for the flowers and I remember her coming to our cottage to tell my mother it was her turn the following Sunday to provide them, she could either bring the flowers herself or give Mrs. Hellmuth two dollars and she would see to them. There was no electricity at first - We had coal-oil lamps in the living-room, dining room and kitchen and candles for the bedrooms. Electricity was brought to the shore after a few years but it was temperamental and the slightest storm would cause it to go off, so for years we kept a supply of candles and lamps on hand. We always had plumbing, although each cottage had a little outhouse for the help, but for a long time we had no hot water except that heated on the kitchen stove or a little sterno in the bathroom where my father heated his shaving water. After a few years the MacDonald brothers opened a grocery store in Douglas and fruit and vegetables were brought around by nearby farmers- the Felker peaches were especially delicious. Later on the Lelands opened a store in Saugatuck, an establishment with groceries on one side and merchandise on the other. I remember the little trollies on wires that would be sent whizzing from the various counters to the cashier's. The Butler Patry and Belle of the Reef occupy that space today. Mr. Walz was the butcher - we could hear his "Good morning" as we sat at the breakfast table and he would deliver the order in the early afternoon. Where I was very young there was an ice-cream and candy stand across the road from our cottage, just a little stall where the shutters could be pulled down at night. It was owned by Sam McVea, "Uncle Sam" as everyone called him, and later he was joined by his nephew Bill, father of the present Bill McVea. They added a screened-in summer house holding two tables with a choice of chocolate or strawberry sundae but my generation preferred a large nickle ice-cream cone or a box of Cracker Jack with its prize. In the '20's, much to the delight of the Lake Shore residents, Bill. McVea opened a grocery store. And it was a marvelous store, any staple anyone wanted or asked for, fresh vegetables and fruit from the nearby farms or even closer. One day my mother wanted some fresh corn and Bill turned to one of his helpers and said, "Go out and pick a dozen ears for Mrs, Garesche," Far many years there was a wonderful butcher at the McVea store old Charlie, a Czech who had been a Chicago butcher until he retired and bought a little place down the shore. In one corner of the store were newspapers, Chicago, Detroit and 5t. Louis, these could be reserved, marked with the person's name and put in a large pile. There was also the branch post-office and the morning mail distributed about nine-thirty was the focal point of the day. Everyone gathered there, everyone knew who had recently arrived, bridge dates were made, teen-age gatherings arranged and it was almost as goad as a club. Bill and Gertrude McVea were always patient, helpful and courteous, ever in the midst of demanding customers, kids grabbing chewing gum, dogs on leashes, and several people all wanting to be waited on at once. McVeas delivered not only groceries but milk. Driving the truck, a museum piece, was a prized fob, my cousin Edmund Benoist was of the first drivers and was couch envied by his contemporaries. It became a tradition for each driver to inscribe his name inside on the ceiling. The present Bill McVea stir has the truck, called "Bruno" by its devoted drivers, the names still visible. In my memory Douglas was a real paradise for children, we could roam safely at wi1l and we spent days roaming - through Shorewood, through Camp Gray with its mysterious wooded paths, down to Campbell's dock to climb around through the boathouses until an irate Mr. Campbell chased us out, through the woods behind Trumbull's and Rosemont where we picked blackberries and discovered an arbor of luscious white grapes to which we illegally helped ourselves. Betty von Brecht, Marie Michel, Wilhelmina Howard, and I rambled together, sometimes taking picnic lunches, often climbing Baldy or taking the chain ferry to Saugatuck. We wandered through meadows catching butterflies, we collected tiny baby frogs on the river road, we searched for turtles in Turtle Creek. In the mornings and early evenings everyone went to the tennis court owned by Trumbell's, a court still used by the present' owners, the Corletts. It was the principal gathering place, togetherness being more important than the actual game. As ten or eleven year olds we were snubbed by our teen-age elders but we came anyway. Then as now there were beach suppers, marshmallow and hot dog roasts and sometimes in August corn roasts. Card games were popular from the very first days and I can remember being half asleep when a loud cry would come up from the dining room as someone won a big pot at poker - my parents, her sisters, Laura and Rosaline O'Brien and their friends loved to play and the evening would end with a welsh rarebit made by my mother. Often when they were playing there would be a tap on the window and there would be Miss Sophie Sloan with a whispered, "Can I get in the game?" She loved the company of younger people and they loved to have her. Then there were the more staid five hundred and later bridge parties, four or five tables of dressed up ladies and a sprinkling of men. Before flashlights were popular each household had one or more candle lanterns and as each guest came in she would deposit her lantern at the door - when it came time to go home; there would be much confusion trying to identify the lanterns - the wise ones had tied a colored string around the handle. Elaborate refreshments were served about eleven, my mother's specialty was tomatoes stuffed with crabmeat salad and hot biscuits followed by ice cream with red raspberries and cake. I was pressed into service to help the cook and pass the biscuits. Every cottage had a cook, often a nursemaid, and on Thursdays and Sundays they would gather at the Douglas Beach for a picnic. The place to go, especially on Saturday and Wednesday nights, for the teenagers and almost teen-agers, was the Big Pavilion in Saugatuck. One of the mothers would take a group of us over and find a bench on the river side - girls who stayed on the street side were looking for pick-ups, so it was said. At any rate those from the Lake Shore always settled in about the same spot. The floor was wonderful, the music equally wonderful, and each dance cost seven cents; when the boys were broke our mothers would buy tickets. The girls paid fifteen cents entrance fee to the pavilion but the boys managed to slip over one of the rails on the porch along the street side or go through a window. At one end of the pavilion were the movies and at the other end an ice-cream and refreshment section. For some obscure reason we never ate there - Parrish's Drug Store was the place to go. To return to the cottage building: Aunt Marie not foreseeing the day when almost every cottage would need two parking spaces, proceeded to build three more cottages on her property. The one next to our family cottage went up about 1911 or 1912 and was rented for man years to the Dinks Parrish family of St. Louis; Mr. Parrish never came to Douglas but the ladies of his family loved it. Mrs. Parrish, always known as "Miss Ag" even to her children, had two sisters who lived with them, "Aunt Sal", an unbelievably salty character and another who was rarely seen. There were three Parrish daughters, all great readers, Grace and Wilhelmina, excellent almost professional photographers, whose work has been exhibited at the Missouri Historical Society, and the youngest, Isabelle, later Mrs. Morgan McCormick, This cottage, named 'Sans Souci", meaning without care, was the summer home of the von Brecht family of St. Louis for many years. In 1954 after renting it for several seasons Chick and Jeanne Bohn purchased it and Jeanne, her children and grandchildren occupy it every year. The next cottage erected on the property, right on the beach, was the Maisonette, put up about 1914, with a lower level of two extra bedrooms. In the 40's it was purchased by my aunt Lala Garesche and her friend. Grace von Phul and the lower part remodeled and enlarged. Lala died in 1961 and later Grace sold it to Mary Northern and her brother and sister-in-law, the Hafkas, who in turn sold it to Sue Erikson of Hinsdale who has done considerable remodeling, bringing in the furniture from her former home and has made a lovely year-round house. It was probably about 1916 that Aunt Marie built the "cement" cottage, actually stucco,, and called it "Ravinedge." She lived in this cottage for every summer from then on, except the seven or so years she was in Europe. At one time she had severe eye trouble and the doctor told her she must be absolutely quiet for a long period. She and her sister Millie decided to spend the winter, so she installed a furnace and settled down. Much to the consternation of the family in St. Louis, she sent home snapshots of the frozen lake and even worse of the shore photographed from the frozen water. She was spending her "quiet" winter climbing out over the ice mounds to take pictures. Unfortunately these pictures have been lost. "Ravinedge" was left to her sisters, Lala and Mimi, and eventually came to me in 1961. I rent the upper part, my son Garry and I live in the apartment below, and further down the old studio has been remodeled into an apartment. Before leaving Marie R. Garesche, I must add a few words about her art; unfortunately she had no agent to promote her work and she sold her pictures in her Michigan studio and in Florida where she spent many winters and had a small shop and studio. Many of the paintings are lovely, especially those she did in Greece and the flower pictures. In her seventies, she took up etching, installed an etching press (since donated to Oxbow) in the Michigan studio and turned out some really handsome etchings. She exhibited frequently, her picture being accepted at many jury shows: she was a founding member of the Artists Guild in St. Louis and of Artists Equity in the same city. Most of the family own and cherish her pictures. To return to the building of Lake Shore cottages - in 1900 one of Aunt Marie's friends, Mrs. John O'Fallon Delaney, came to see her new summer home, and promptly fell in love with the area, buying the property south of Marie's, excluding the McVea right of way. The Delaney cottage was larger and much more elegant than any previously built and although the Delaneys had no children they wanted plenty of room for relatives and friends. Her sister, Miss Sophie Sloan lived with them and the two ladies always referred to each other as "Sister Lizzie" and "Sister Sophie," Mr. Delaney lived the life of an English gentleman portrayed in novels written before World War I. He had inherited a great deal of money, he had received an excellent education, holding degrees in both law and medicine, he had traveled extensively and he had never worked a day in his life. Tall and handsome, he always, even to his last somewhat hazy days, had beautiful courtly manners. Mrs. Delaney, a busy, bustling little woman, was one or the kindest people alive and never happier than when doing seething for someone. Almost every summer there were guests in the Delaney cottage, chief among them her cousins, the Wygant family. Mrs. Wygant, the former Marie Tracy, had married into the army and while I do not remember Colonel Wygant ever coming to Douglas, I remember all the children well. The oldest was Marie, about my age, and the first child I remember playing with. She later married Potter Curran of St. Louis whom she met one summer and was left the Chalet where they used to come before she died some years ago. Another visitor was another cousin, the fascinating Nell Tracy, the belle of St. Louie in her debut year. She was less than five feet, had deep dimples and golden hair and when she was at the cottage there were always beaux arriving from St, Louis. She married Hartly McVeigh, a brother of the senior Mrs. John Barrymore and moved to California. Her daughter Tracy inherited the Delaney cottage at Mrs Delaney's death and after several owners it now belongs to Petty Thiel whose husbands Ed purchased it some years before his death. They have made it a beautiful winterized home end returned it to the graciousness Mrs. Delaney gave it. For years Mrs. Delaney had a butler-chauffer, Luther, Margaret, the cook, and up in a third floor room was an old black woman, Angelique, too old to work but kept almost as a member of the family and who occupied herself with the household mending. Margaret, the cook, a World War I widow, had a little red-headed girl who became devotedly attach to Mrs. Delaney and who eventually was almost - but not quite - adopted by her and who later caused her endless heartache and trouble by her escapades. Margaret later married and she and her husband stayed on with Mrs. Delaney after Mr. Delaney died and the poor old lady became a virtual prisoner of the two. She had became progressively confused and had for a time complained that much of her silver, fine china and other furnishings had disappeared and that money did not last as long as it should. Finally, friends brought suit to have her declared incompetent (the only way her relatives could oust Margaret). The suit was successful, the thieving couple ejected, a good nurse and a cook engaged and Mrs. Delaney, one time grande dame of St. Louis ended her days peacefully. Directly north of our cluster of cottages is one owned for may years by the Woodcock family, now belonging to Lilah and Maurice Paris, and beyond are two cottage belonging to the family of the late Dr. Clark, one to his widow, another to his son. Beyond these is a large very old house, once used as a summer school for girls by a Miss Butts, and later sold to Mr. Walsh of Cincinnati. He bought the cottage about 1910 or so and he and Mrs. Welsh and their eight children spent many summers there. It has belonged for many years to Mr. and Mrs. Paul F. Ring of St. Louis and is frequently filled with various of their seven children and seventeen grandchildren and friends. The last cottage before the Knoll belongs to the Allan family, Dr. Allan of Alton, Illinois, and Bill Al1an who for some time was a newscaster in Grand Rapids. For the last several years Genie and George Thoma of St. Louis have rented it. One St. Louis family built a cottage at the far end of the Knoll, the Landon Lodges who later sold it to Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Stutzman, also of St. Louis. Across from the Knoll is the summer home of Bob and Julia Carr and their daughter and son-in-law Twink and Charlie and next door is the house owned by state senator and Mrs. Raleigh McCormick and now belonging to their daughter Virginia Worthington. Mr. Welsh was so delighted with Douglas that he sang its praises to a Cincinnati friend, Mr. Joseph Hummell who with Mrs. Hummell and theirs daughters came to stay at Beachmont and who about 1917 bought a white house next to Homestead. The family has spread out over the original property and the Homestead property they bought in the 1950's. The original house is now the O'Donnell-Macheca cottage, belonging to the two daughters of Gertrude Hummell von Brecht. Mary and Jerry Wagner lived for many summers in the small house right on the golf course which Mr, and Mrs. Hummell built for their retirement years. Now that cottage belongs to the Wagner's younger son Jerry. Mary and Jerry built another cottage on adjoining property and their son, Bob, spends most of the year there. Gertrude, as the widow of Carl Rohs, married Charles von Brecht, a Douglas romance, and when they turned over the big house to their children, built a smaller one for themselves, and son Charles. Add to this the "Snore House", a converted laundry house to a guest accommodation bunk house and the total number in the compound is five. Joe Rohas and his children often spend time at the big cottage. Another Cincinnati family to settle in Douglas was that of the Beckmans, Mrs. Beckman being the sister of Mr. Hummell. They bought an old farmhouse south of Center Street, now owned by their children, Paul and Vincent Beckman and Irene Leveroni, and often visited by the two Jesuit sons, Fathers Bob and Jack Beckman, Vincent Beckman, the oldest son, married the late Betty Desloge of St. Louis after another Douglas courtship. Her Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Desloge had summered in Douglas for many years. The Vincent Beckmans and her brother., George Desloge, purchased a house on the corner of Lake Shore Drive and the road leading to the highway and converted it into apartments. A third member of the Desloge family, Kiki Meslans, had an antique shop for several years and divides her time between Douglas and Belair, Florida, Directly south of the former Delaney, now Thiel property are two cottages belonging origins to the Bicknells, then to descendants the Watts and now to the Woods family. Some of the Bicknell descendants still come to Douglas, among them Josie Watt and her husband, Bill Clark of St. Louis, a third Douglas romance. They occupy a Shorewood cottage which belonged to her parents. Only one other St. Louis family ever owned a Shorewood home. Douglas and Emma Gareache Houser. The younger Houser son, James, became interested in collecting rocks be found on the beach, later majored in geology and today is on the staff of the St. Louis Museum of Science. Beyond the Woods cottage is the large house designed and built by George Hellmuth, St. Louis architect, for his family and that of his parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Francis Fowler. It is a beautiful house and was always beautifully kept, the scene of much entertaining and sold after the death of Mrs. Hellmuth to the Shuhans. Mrs. Fowler was a sweet little old lady with large black eyes and her husband was a fiery little man who always carried a cane, In the late 30's and later Mrs. Hellmuth took "paying Guests" in a most elegant fashion, service plates and large damask napkins at dinner and such elaborate meals that all the guests put on pounds. None of the He11uths come to Douglas these days except Sister Hildegarde Hellmuth RSCJ who visits the Ibsen cottages. Directly south are several houses owned by the Corletts and then the cluster of Atwood buildings, the main house dating back to the early days. Beyond the Atwoods is the cottage built by the Merrils of Chicago and now owned by Otto Erker of St. Louis and south of it is the house built by the Aleshire family and bought some thirty years ago by Bob and Avis Barrett of Chicago. Miss Sophie Sloan owned several rental cottages at the time of her death, the one next to the Barretts was rented for any years to the Morgan McCormicks and has since been pulled down and a new cottage erected on the lot. Beyond that was another Sloan cottage, one of the oldest on the Lake Shore, sold to Helen and Harry Painter and after their deaths to Helen and Gene Worcester, who remodeled it considerably, making it a year-round home. Last summer it was sold and Gene and his second wife Dee moved to Arizona. The Vandenberg cottage is next, according to The History of The Lake Shore Chapel two early houses in this area were built about 1897 by D.C. Barto and William A. Douglas, the Vanderberg and Worcester houses are surely these two. The Vanderburg cottage was occupied for some years by the Arthur Friths, she was a first cousin of my fathers, the former Mimika Farish, and he was a professor of architecture at the, University of Chicago. Their only child, a handsome, gifted boy, was run over and killed by a street car and within g year his father died. His mother lived to be 96 and even at the end of her life could never mention her son without tears rolling down her cheeks. To the south is the house built by Bill Benoist arid his wise, another cousin of ours Adelaide Garesche beautiful charming woman, and her husband one of the kindest men who ever lived. The cottage was built about 1914 and they spent many summers here. Their eldest son, Edmund, was killed in an automobile accident and the cottage belongs to their daughter, Mira Lee Ibsen who frequently has as guests her younger brother Bill and his wife Irving. The last cottage on the hake aide before Center Street was built by the Bolin of St. Louis, probably like so many others about 1910. There were three daughters who spent summers there, Adele, Edith, Mrs. Oliver Dorr whose husband was head of the famous catering firm of Dorr and Zeller, and Amy, Mrs. Kniedelseder, and two sons, Bill, killed in World War I and John, the last of the family to use the cottage. It is now owned by Jack Hennessy of St. Louis. On the other side of the road beyond Center Street is Elkhorn Ledge, rented through the years to several St. Louis families, including the Frank Corleys and their children, Bob, Frank, Margaret, John and Bill. Mrs. Corley was of the Curran sisters, the other three also summering in Douglas from time to time; Mrs. John Tierney with her large family let the teenagers take over her home every evening as she read quietly upstairs. They all knew that they were expected to leave at eleven and as none of the attractive Tierney girls were allowed out after that hour, the rest of the group went on to... [truncated due to length]

Create Date

January 7, 2013

Update Date

March 12, 2025