Gardiner P.L. (ME) Danny D. Smith P. O. Box 625 Gardiner, Maine 04345 207-582-0632 26 July 2005 Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. Shapiro Library Southern New Hampshire University 2500 North River Road Manchester, NH 03106-1045 Dear Ron, After a long interval, it was most interesting to read the section on Mary Ward Dorr from "Family Sideshows" in the Yellow House Papers. Before I comment on that, I realize that I must withdraw the statement that Charles Door was an attorney. I had confused him with another individual who was one of a multi- generational family of Hale and Dorr, the Boston law firm that I believe continues today and has a long history extending well back into the nineteenth century. I had first become familiar with the name when I inventoried papers of a distant cousin of mine. The collection is the George and Clarence Smith Papers now at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine. George and Clarence Smith were both Boston attorneys (the second was a judge). They had a multi-generational association with members of both the Dorr and Hale families, and many incoming letters in the collection were written from Bar Harbor. Hence, I was over hasty reaction to collapse the Dorr pedigree, an object of research that I must address. Therefore, in another edition of my inventory, I will withdraw "great Boston Lawyer," etc. One at least if not more folders containing the "Family Sideshows" Laura Richards inscribed "for family consumption only" or words to that effect. It is obvious that Laura Richards did not like Mary Dorr, and if we accept Richards' characterization to be a valid one, it would not stretch the imagination to agree with your conclusion that Charles Hazen Dorr accomplished a "final revenge" on his wife. There are also comments that Laura Richards and Henry Richards sketched in 1937 in the Edwin Arlington Robinson section of the Yellow House Papers about their general view of aristocratic circles in Boston and in Maine. I almost think that there was some reference to Mary Dorr. I must re-read that document. 2 There is also some reference in Louise Hall Tharp, Three Saints and a Sinner (Boston, 1956) about the engagement of Henry Ward to Mary Ward. Therein her brother is referred to as "the Good Sam Ward," in contrast to the brother of the same name of Julia Ward Howe. Samuel Ward IV, brother of Julia Ward Howe, figures as the "sinner" in the title. In regard to the extended Ward genealogy, there was absolutely no connection between the two Ward families. They merely shared the same surname. A thorough tracing of the Rhode Island Ward family of which Julia Ward Howe as a member is to be found in the scholarly work, Correspondence of Governor Samuel Ward ed. Bernhard Krollenberg and Genealogy of the Ward Family, compiled by Clifford P. Monahon (Providence, R.I.: Rhode Island Historical Society, 1952). Therefore Laura Richards' comment about "a different branch, to the best of my knowledge and belief, of the original stock" is a typical Victorian phrase uttered by those who had no in-depth genealogical knowledge. The style of "Family Sideshows" is significantly different from anything that Laura Richards would have published. Her autobiography, Stepping Westward, is a marked contrast in which both the highs and lows are omitted. One of the highlights of her life, "Mammy's Great Frisk" is omitted entirely from the autobiography. This is an account of a private luncheon, I think in 1906, with Theodore Roosevelt at the White House. I asked her granddaughter who had intimate knowledge of family affairs why it was omitted. It omitted because its inclusion would have been considered bragging. Any mention of depression, family strife, and monetary problems were scrubbed from published writings. The first scholar to have addressed the public versus private presentations of self is Valarie Ziegler, Diva Julia: The Public Life and Private Agnony of Julia Ward Howe (Trinity Press, 2003). Dr. Ziegler, chairman of the Religious Studies Department at Depauw University, made extensive use of the Yellow House Papers and extended the discussion of the family circle down to the children of Julia Ward Howe and the extreme family factionalism when Laura Richards wrote the biography of Julia Ward Howe. I think that Valarie Ziegler has produced a very good analysis of the matter. I mention this because it will put- "Family Sideshows" in context, although I cannot remember (doubt it) that she referenced the Sideshows. In any event, Valarie Ziegler's work is the first book to make extensive use of the Yellow House Papers. Now to some textual analysis of the typescript of Mary Ward Dorr by Laura Richards. I will isolate some phrases that would never have been presented to the public, in my opinion. "this may have been partly owing to a gibing and sarcastic humor." "a great saint, not canonically, of that Church." "Her features were very irregular; her nose and mouth can never have been anything but very bad, her voice was like the quacking of duck; but she had extraordinarily brilliant, expressive eyes, a perfect figure, and a charm, attraction, power that were not in 3 the least dependent upon ordinary good looks." [I suppose that phrases like that caused me to say that the sketches were caricature. Some might say character assignation.] "My wicked Skipper " "I have an impression that Mary was from the first very masterful and liked to manage the sisters-in-law elect." "One of the gentlest, sweetest, most amiable of men." [Only in context does this seem dragged in to present evidence of Mary's being a bad person.] "I don't think she ever did Flossy any harm." [Flossy was sister of Laura E. Richards, i.e. Florence Howe who married John Elliott, the artist.] The quotation from Aunt Henrietta Sullivan needs explanation. She was Henrietta Gardiner who married Richard Sullivan. Henrietta Gardiner was one of the younger daughters of Robert Hallowell Gardiner I, hence a sister of the mother of Henry Richards. Richard Sullivan was a leading Bostonian who supposedly assembled the largest private library in America at the time. He was grandson of Gov. James Sullivan of Massachusetts and first cousin of George Sullivan Bowdoin. Bowdoin with his business partner J. P. Morgan was the principal contributor to the erection of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Devine in New York City. This Gardiner-Sullivan circle was a the highest level of Boston society that included the Cabots, Lowells, Peabodies, etc. etc. I think it fair to say that Cabots and Lowells would not have received Mary Ward Dorr. A few other telling phrases. "People loved her and detested her." "I suppose there are more stories about Mrs. Dorr than about anybody of her generation in Boston." "I poured it all on and went on with my breakfast." In sum, Mary Ward Dorr was a very unpleasant person, and Laura Richards did not spare any feelings that the she harbored towards her. In like manner, Laura Richards "poured it all" on and went her own way. These telling incidents are caricature. There is no depth of analysis. These comments are merely a summation of the ill will most of the members of Boston's elite social circles must have recounted amongst themselves. In that regard, Laura Richards is a fascinating reporter. These are completely unguarded comments, and useful information for the historian, much more so than the carefully manicured passages in Stepping Westward. It is somewhat like the current psychobabble, "No more family secrets. Family secrets kill." I hope that these comments help. Please keep me informed of your work, and I certainly want to have a copy of your publication when completed. All best wishes, Composed 1924. C.4 ward Family T.W.Ward MARY WARD DORR (Mrs. Charles H. Dorr) It is very probable that someone else of my generation may attempt a sketch of this remarkable woman, but it would be from a different angle, and perhaps I know some things that other people don't, so here's for the attempt. Mary Ward was the daughter of Mr. Thomas Ward of Boston, middle name, if any, unknown to me. He was not of our Wards, but from a different branch, to the best of my knowledge and belief, of the original stock. He was a merchant of substance and repute. He had three children that' I know of, very likely more: Samuel G. Ward, John, and Mary. Samuel, I believe, was the eldest, a man of brilliant parts, a lifelong friend of my mother and of her brothers and sisters; friend and correspondent of Emerson; a very remarkable man who somehow accomplished less, to the outward eye, than was to have been expected. This may have been partly owing to a gibing and sarcastic humor. He married the beautiful Anna Barker of Rhode Island, daughter of a Quaker family, who became an ardent Roman Catholic, and a great saint, not canonically, of that Church, also a great invalid during the greater part of her long life. This may have had something to do with Mr. S. G. Ward's bitterness. He never became a Catholic, though all children did. John was desperately in love with my Aunt Louisa. She was engaged to him and would doubtless have married him, had she not met Thomas Crawford, who whisked her off her feet and Barried her off. The Ward marriage would doubtless have been more prudent in many ways, but we should have had no Marion Crawford. -2- All this, however, is by the way. I know, after all, very little about these people. It is of Mary, the only daughter and sister, that I want to speak. I am not clear just when or how she and my mother first met. They became intimate, ardent friends, and Mary became engaged to my Uncle Henry, my mother's nearest and best loved brother. Mary Ward must have been extremely attractive in her youth. Her features were very irregular; nose and mouth can never have been anything but very bad, her voice was like the quacking of 8 duck; but she had extraordinarily brilliant, expressive eyes, a perfect figure, and a charm, attraction, power that were not in the least dependent upon ordinary good looks. "In thy dark eyes a power like light doth lie," says Shelley of Constantia. I fancy that Mary Ward's eyes may have had this power. The engagement, so far as I know, was an extremely happy one. Henry was young, ardent, beautiful. I can see his miniature now, fair-haired, N dark blue eyes, rosy or boyish complexion, the very spirit of joy and life. He died at twenty-one, in my mother's arms, of typhoid, or it may have been scarlet, fever. A11 through her long life my mother never failed to mention in her diary the day and circumstances of his death. It was a perfectly crushing sorrow to both young girls. They were much together after Henry's death. It may have been at this time that Mary gave my mother the prayerbook that I so greatly treasure. In it is written, "Jules from her sister Mary". I have an impression that Mary was from the first very masterful and liked to manage the sisters-in-law elect, as she always liked to manage everybody. My wicked Skipper said once, "The best thing your Uncle Henry ever did was to die." This is perhaps too wicked to record, but still I put it down. He suffered much provocation from the lady. -3- It was some years after this, perhaps seven or eight, that Mary Ward married Charles H. Dorr of Boston, one of the gentlest, sweetest, most amiable of men. I saw him once enact the part of Joe Gargery in "Great Expectations" in one of my mother's brilliant charades. The word was "rampage" and I remember well how he said, "On the rampage, Pip, and off the rampage, Pip, sich is life." Sich was life, thenceforth, for Charles Dorr, and he was as like Joe Gargery as an intelligent and educated person could possibly be. My personal knowledge of Mrs. Dorr dates from the time when I was a very youug girl. She lived out of town in those days, in Canton or elsewhere, and was still on terms of most affectionate intimacy with both of my parents, though they did not very often meet. When we lived at South Boston, she would have Flossy out for long visits. In fact, I rather think that while attending Miss Ireland's school in Jamaica Plain, Flossy practically lived with Mrs. Dorr months at a time. I don't think she ever did Flossy any harm. Later she took up Maud in her early youth of beauty with ardor, and did her, I must think, harm which might have been permanent, had Maud's nature been less strong and wholesome and noble than it is. Certainly Mrs. Dorr did her best, with the kindest intentions in the world, to make an utter worldling of the child. She had become a worldling herself, and yet by no means an ordinary one. She had wealth, I don't know whether her own or her husband's, and position. She came to have a very remarkable position, even although Aunt Henrietta Sullivan did say to me, "My dear, there are some houses in Boston where she would not have been received." She was of an unbounded social ambition; yet ambition is hardly the -4- word, because she felt that she occupied the highest position in Boston or wherever she came or went. Arrogance is the word. She was the most arrogant person I have ever known. Brilliant, kindly, hospitable, all these in high degree. People loved her and detested her, and everybody wanted to go to her house, and one was sure of meeting there always the best and most delightful and most brilliant people, native and foreign. The spiritual life was always to her own thinking, much in the ascendant. She would say to her husband after some gay entertainment, "Dust and ashes, Charlie, dust and ashes It is only the constant presence of the Lord that enables me to go through it. " This may have been one of the dinners when Charlie had to dine alone upstairs for fear of making thirteen at table. Two sons were born to her, William and George. of these she was wont to say, "Willie first, Georgie second, Charlie, my husband, third, and the dear Lord in the background." This was, I fancy, a pretty accurate statement. Willie grew up into something of a fop, a harmless, wel1-intentioned youth. They called him "Beau Dorr". He was of my set and a pleasant enough partner in dancing, et cetera. On surveying a gathering of lovely youug girls, his mother exclaimed, 11 A garden of roses for my Willie to choose among!" Poor Willie died before he had chosen anybody, or at least before anybody had chosen him. George is still living (1924) and is well known in Bar Harbor, where he has done much for the horticulture and so on of the place. A singular man, but I am not writing about him. I suppose there are more stories about Mrs. Dorr than about any body of her generation in Boston. People delighted in sending round -5- the latest anecaote. She had a way at her dinner or other parties of changing the guests about which they did not like at all. She would say after a while, "Julia Howe, you have sat long enough by Mrs. Bell. You go and talk to so and so! So and so, come and talk to Mrs. Bell!" Then the guests would get up and change places. They generally did, at least. Occasionally one rebelled. I think it was James Russell Lowell who: on being ordered about in some such way, replied, "Yes, Mrs. Dorr, I will go and talk to Mrs. So and So, and I will never come to your house again." He probably did, though. It was a very pleasant house to go to. Or they would tell how dear Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes came to visit her at Bar Harbor, and how at breakfast, spying a pitcher of cream close beside him, he was about to pour some on his porridge, when "You can't have that, doctor, you can't have that cream, said Mrs. Dorr. "That is Fido's," Fido being the little dog. "I poured it all on, said the doctor in telling the anecdote, "and went on with my breakfast." The sympathy between her and my mother did not long, I think, outlast their marriage. It could not be. They remained familiar friends through life. Mrs. Dorr said to me once, "Your mother and I used to be like hand and glove, but I have grown There was nothing to say to this, and I don't remember that I said anything. I remember at an evening party at 241 Beacon there was a new photograph of my mother. Mrs. Dorr saw it and said, "Julia Howe, I want one of those photographs." "Very well," said my mother, "you shall certainly have one." Other friends saw the photograph, praised it, and asked for copies, my mother cheerfully consenting. Presently, "Julia Howe," said Mrs. Dorr, "I don't want that photograph. "Very well, Mary," said my mother. Mrs. Bell said once of Mrs. Dorr, "She spanks us handsome all round, but still we're fond of her." She was mostly very kind to me. When I was in my early girlhood, she used to have me to stay at Canton quite often. I enjoyer going there, had delightful times, was fond of her, as one is fond of a handsome cat that may scratch at any moment. She wanted Phillips Brooks to fall in love with me and had us to stay together there once or twice. He didn't, dear man ,but it was very delightful to be there with him. I was at the time engaged to the Skipper. I made a very grea the Dor mistake in not writing beforehand to tell her of my engagement. It was very stupid, very ignorant of me not to do so, but I didn't know any better, and my blessed mother didn't tell me, for some reason. Perhaps it wasn't done so much then as it is now. Anyway Mrs. Dorr took it in great dudgeon and I think she never forgave me. I never saw much of her after that, but she took mightily to my Skipper and employed him to build her new house at Bar Harbor. This was in the yea 1879. The house is still considered one of the most beautiful on the island. I must always feel that your father had a great future in architecture before him, but we need not go into that now. At all. events he built the house, and very beautiful it is. Concerning the building he and he alone could write the story, but as it is not very likely he will, I will tell a few things. He learned to know Mrs. Dorr as perhaps few people have and to manage her as few people have. Most people were afraid of her. He was not. He was always ready for her, always calm and cheerful to her, perfectly courteous, paying just as -7- much attention as he thought proper and no more. Jordan, the builder, could tell many a tale. When the house was nearly finished and the paper hangers and so on came down, Skipper thought it advisable to give them a gentle hint. So he said after the first day, "You will find that Mrs. Dorr sometimes changes her decisions." "Oh, yes," said the man, "lies like the devil. Found that out the first hour." It was Jordan, the builder, who was the first and, so far as I know, the only witness of the worm's turning, the worm being the long suffering and patient Charles Dorr. Mrs. Dorr had given directions about setting out certain plants, had changed them a dozen times, then gone off and left the directions with her husband. She came back and having meanwhile changed her mind or forgotten the directions, I know not which, attacked Charles fiercely, Jordan being within hearing behind a clump of shrubbery. Finally, after rating him soundly, she said, "I thought you had some sensel" "I had," replied Charles Dorr, "before I married you." With all this she was intensely religious, attending Trinity Church, worshipping Phillips Brooks, and never forget this - full of good deeds, helping lame ducks constantly. Ungracious kindliness it was. Some people could not accept it, finding the manner of it too detestable, but it was kindness none the less. When her husband died, she was inconsolable for a long time. My mother went to the funeral, which was in the little reception room. Going home, she told Rosalind how in the tiny room there were only half a dozen people, mother Perkins herself, Mrs. Charles Parks, Fanntp Bruen, a lifelong intimate friend of Mrs. Dorr and of my Aunts Annie and Louisa, George Dorr, the minister, -8- and perhaps one other. "My dear," said mother, "I knew she would do it, and she did. She came into the room and gave us one glance and changed us all round. 'Fannie, you sit there; Julia, you sit so; George, you sit there. She had to do it." I do not know whether she had begun to develop before his death any of the psychic tendencies which formed so important a part of her later life. She became an ardent spiritualist and lived much with her husband's spirit. She came to have a great influence over a great many young people, an influence which they felt to be highly spiritual and beneficial. I am speaking of her later life. I seldom or never saw her in these years, but people certainly did think that she had some very remarkable powers. I think she always loved mother in a way, she always was profoundly jealous of her, but unconsciously so. She thought she felt herself entirely superior to Julia Howe, intellectually, morally, spiritually, but I cannot help it; she was jealous all the same. Well, so she died, and I don't know what will remain, or what the final influence of that ardent spirit may be. She wholly meant, wholly desired, to do good, a great deal of the highest good to the best kind of people. She was wholly unconscious of any mean or base or unworthy feeling. That is a great deal to say, and yet she was a very worldly and extremely arrogant and domineering woman; but as she observes, the dear Lord was in the background and knows all about it. J. Richards Easy 5/12/08 1850-1943 Written in 1924 p. JWH & mG w "become intomate acdent freed," mcwrut lower streng attractive in her youth mouth can never have Clen anythy but veg bad, Hu features were very crepular her Nose t her voice was like the quacher of a duck; but she had extraording huller, express eyas, a purfect figure & a chain attention, oner that was not the lease dependent upon ndwy good loads." Dieng Wards date was ".a perfectly " crushing sorrow fo both young guils "may was for the pure very ma terful t behind manager the sisters-in - law Did as she always liked to my everybody Henry. Howe Henry Sickeds said me "The best they you Mide Hey ever did was h die, " this bely spaced many magagement CHD Charles "an of the gutlest, sweeted, mast admitted animale of men."