THE ORCUTT FAMILY HOME – OMAHA, NEBRASKA

Posted on July 22, 2021 by treeklimber
Orcutt home at 550 S 26th Avenue, Omaha, NE. Photograph by Louis Bostwick taken November 1903 on the occasion of Jane Orcutt’s Debut into Society. Handwriting from Anna Jane Beaton Hyde, granddaughter of Clinton Orcutt.

Family historians research every aspect of their ancestor’s lives, including where they lived. We search for addresses by following a paper trail: census records, directories, land deeds, tax records, and newspaper articles. Once we have an address, we google it to determine if the house still exists. If it doesn’t, we might be fortunate enough to discover old photographs. Two of my favorite ancestoral families, the Orcutts and Beatons, left behind a generous paper trail. Compelled by a treasure trove of pictures, records, and newspaper articles, I decided to explore the Clinton and Anna (Dutton) Orcutt house in Omaha, Nebraska – in detail.

My maternal great-grandmother, Edith (Orcutt) Beaton, spent her first seven years in the sleepy rural village of Durant, Iowa – population 500. Then, in the fall of 1887 the Orcutt family packed their belongings and moved 300 miles west to Omaha, Nebraska – population 125,000. By 1890 the population had grown to 140,000.

CLINTON ORCUTT AND HIS FAMILY

Listed below are the Orcutt family members who moved to Omaha. Scroll through the picture gallery to view their photos. Sadly, there are no photographs that survived of Louis DeForest Orcutt, the eldest son who died four years after the family moved to Omaha.

  • Clinton Delos Orcutt (1840-1905)
  • Anna Dorcas (Dutton) Orcutt (1842-1899)
  • Louis Deforest Orcutt (1871-1891
  • Marion Edith Orcutt (1879-1964)
  • Anna Ri Orcutt (1881-1942)
  • Jane Clare “Jennie” Orcutt (1884-1918)

  • Clinton Delos Orcutt – painted about 1890 in Omaha, NE. Portrait in possession of author.
  • Anna Dorcas Dutton Orcutt – portrait painted about 1890 in Omaha, NE. Portrait in possession of author.
  • Marion Edith Orcutt, circa 1896, Omaha, Nebraska.
  • Jane Clare Orcutt and Anna Ri Orcutt, circa 1899 (L-R).

OMAHA

Panoramic View of Omaha -Austen, Edward J, and Jefferson Bee Publishing Company. Panoramic view of Omaha. [Jefferson Iowa Bee Publishing Co, 1905] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/75694679/.

Between 1870 and 1900, Omaha developed from a frontier railroad center to a regional metropolis.[1] From a business standpoint, the city oozed potential. It had a new Union Pacific railroad hub, manufacturing plants, mills, stockyards, and packing houses. From a cultural perspective, Omaha offered arts and sciences, schools, higher education institutions, and churches. Noted as the “Gate City of the West,” Omaha is located nearly midway between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and about 500 miles from Denver, St. Louis, and Chicago.

The 1890 Omaha city directory described the city in glowing terms.

“Upon entering Omaha, we find ourselves treading finely paved streets and surrounded by a busy throng of active, energetic people, substantial and elegant buildings on every side, stores filled with goods from every climate, and all the appliances of modern civilization. The streets are broad, clean, well lighted and many of them excellently paved with granite, Colorado sandstone, asphaltum, or cedar or cypress blocks, making them fine driveways and roadways.

Shade trees abound on the residence streets, protecting the pedestrian from the summer sun -seventy-three miles of sewer and good drainage. City well lighted with gas and electric lights. Public squares and parks abound.”[2]

Glimpses of Omaha- "Omaha Illustrated: A History of the Pioneer Period and the Omaha of Today", 1888. https://archive.org.
Glimpses of Omaha- “Omaha Illustrated: A History of the Pioneer Period and the Omaha of Today”, 1888. https://archive.org.

I found another description that portrayed a less appealing side of Omaha. In 1888, Frisby Rasp, a Nebraska farm boy, moved to Omaha to attend business college. His letters to his family may reflect how Edith Orcutt and her family felt when they first moved to the big city. Frisby was overwhelmed by the crowds and anonymity. “If 2/3 of the country people could see Omaha they would open there [sic] eyes as if they had been thunderstruck. It has the most noise and rattle to it I ever saw…” He also found the city to be filthy by a country boy’s standards. “I guess there ain’t any end to Omaha, at least I can’t find any. You can walk till you are tired out any direction you choose, and the houses are as thick as ever…Everything is coal smoke and dirt and people. It is dusty just as soon as it quits raining, and the dust is the worst dust I ever saw. It is all stone and manure. Streets that ain’t paved, two feet deep of mud.”[3] Another disturbing aspect for Frisby was the vice in Omaha. “Every other store is a saloon. This is an awful wicked town. The saloons run on Sunday and most all work goes right on.” In 1888, Omaha boasted 300 saloons. According to Frisby, “…even the local newspapers claimed that if you shut down all the saloons, brothels, and tobacco shops, half of Omaha’s business would be gone…I never want to live in the city. It is the worst place in the world to live.”[4] Frisby rented a room near the Union Pacific Depot, an area not as genteel as the neighborhood the Orcutts chose.

ORCUTT NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOUSE

Based on newspaper articles, I knew in 1886 Clinton Orcutt began building a spacious house in Omaha, Nebraska. Researching the deed records required that either I travel to Omaha or find a professional genealogist to do the research. So I decided to splurge. I referred to the website for the Association of Professional Genealogists and quickly found a very thorough and professional researcher and genealogist. A sound decision.

Lewis, S. 2021. Research Report: Beaton and Orcutt Homes. History Walks LLC. Sanborn Map Company, (1890). Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Omaha, Douglas and Sarpy County, Nebraska. Vol 2 [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn05229_003/.

When Clinton Orcutt decided to build a new home in Omaha, he chose two lots in an area known as Clarks Addition or Clarks St. Mary’s Addition, a largely undeveloped area in the city.[5] Clinton purchased lot 9 from Isaac Congdon (a lawyer) for $4,000 on September 8, 1886. Three days later, on September 11, 1886 he purchased lot 10 from Charles C. Housel (real estate agent) and his wife for $5,000. [6] Unfortunately, the genealogist could not locate information regarding the building costs on the property. The city of Omaha destroyed older building permits in the 1990’s.[7]

Initally, I thought the Orcutt home at 550 S 26th Avenue was located in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Omaha. According to Adam Fletcher, who writes a blog about North Omaha History, “the new Gold Coast was the nouveau riche flexing their muscles.”[7] It contained two distinct neighborhoods within its boundaries: the Blackstone neighborhood and the Cathedral neighborhood.

“Houses had all kinds of spectacular features, including three -and four- story towers and spectacular flower gardens on the outsides. Yards were often ringed with iron fencing and served by regal driveways where coaches and drivers could gracefully haul their charges to the next location. The insides of these homes with even more elaborate furnishings, all reflecting the opulence and splendor of the Gilded Age. Woods from exotic places, fine handmade woodworking; elaborate stained glass leaded windows; beautiful silk wall tapestries; Tiffany Lamp Fixtures; and exquisite rugs filled these homes. On an average, when a fine home had six or ten rooms in two stories, these mansions had 20 and 30 rooms in three and four stories. These all had large coach houses, often two stories tall with enough room to accommodate their horses, carriages, and buggies.”[8]

Orcutt home at 550 S 26th and the Gold Coast Historic District, Google Maps.

The Gold Coast lies to the north of the Orcutt home. Clinton may have thought that Clarks Addition would develop into similar high-end real estate. After all, he’d made his fortune buying and selling real estate in Iowa and Nebraska. The area had potential at the time.

Using Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps provided details I previously overlooked regarding Clinton Orcutt’s property. When he purchased two lots, he built two houses plus a carriage house.[9] The larger home served as the Orcutt family residence. The smaller six-room cottage at 554 S 26th Avenue may have been intended as a “mother-in-law” house. Although Clinton’s mother had passed away, Anna’s widowed mother was still alive in 1886. Thanks to a suggestion from the professional genealogist, I examined Omaha city directories for the address “550 S. 26th” to determine who lived in the smaller home from 1886-1910. The occupants were not family members nor domestic servants who worked for the Orcutts. City directories revealed that Clinton rented the home to various tenants, none remaining longer than two years – single men, single women, and occasionally a married couple.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Omah, Douglas and Sarpy County, Nebraska. Image 20, 1901. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4194om.g05229190102/?sp=20&r=-0.481,0.595,1.662,0.822,0

Many of the wealthy hired Omaha’s finest architects to custom design their homes. I don’t know if that is the case for Clinton Orcutt’s residence. However, the Orcutt home did receive notice in a book published in 1888 that featured prominent Omaha residences, “Omaha Illustrated: A History of the Pioneer Period and the Omaha of Today.”[10] Included in the book is the image depicted below. I am thrilled to have discovered the only known photograph that clearly shows the Orcutt’s home. The home is also listed amongst the notable residences in “Born Rich: A Historical Book of Omaha”, published in 1978.[11]

“Omaha Illustrated: A History of the Pioneer Period and the Omaha of Today,” (Omaha, Nebraska, D.C. Dunbar & Co. Publishers, 1888; digital images, Archive.org (https://archive.org : accessed 20 April 2021), p.110.

The Orcutt’s three-story house embodied the popular Victorian Queen Anne architecture; it included a steep roofline, an ornamental chimney, irregular angles, a tower, shapely windows – including a bay window – and an expansive wrap-around porch with decorative trim, railings, and posts. Unfortunately, black and white photographs don’t reveal the color of the Orcutt home, but Queen Anne architecture typically featured rich tertiary colors.

  • “Body: one or two strong colors (usually different for clapboards and shingles)
  • Trim: a color unifying the body colors. Often a different accent color was used for decorative features.
  • Sash: the darkest color on the house: dark green, deep brown, black, deep red, maroon, chocolate, deep umber.”[12]
  • L- Clinton Orcutt, Alfred Beaton – R, and baby Phillip Orcutt Beaton outside the Orcutt home – 1901. Edith Orcutt Beaton is visible on the porch.
  • Clinton Orcutt and his grandson, Phillip Orcutt Beaton outside the Orcutt home, 1903, Omaha, Nebraska. Colored by MyHeritage.com
  • Outside the Orcutt home circa 1900 in the fall. Jane Clare Orcutt 2nd from left with her friends.

INTERIOR OF THE ORCUTT HOME

The home’s interior reflected Victorian style, orderly with detailed ornamentation, yet unique and rambling with multiple bedrooms, second-floor balconies, double doors, and ornate stairways.

A visitor to the Orcutt home first encountered the expansive entrance hall. Traditionally, the front hall included a hall stand, chairs, and a card receiver for calling cards. The stand provided space for hats, coats, parasols, and umbrellas. Hall chairs offered a seat for messengers or unexpected guests who awaited instructions.

“[Illustrations]: Decorative Chart for a Hall; Decorative Chart for a Parlor.” The Decorator and Furnisher, vol. 17, no. 6, 1891, pp. 206–207. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25586303. Accessed 11 Feb. 2021.

The Orcutt reception/entrance hall must have been impressive. For formal events, the ample space served as an ideal location to place an orchestra. “An orchestra was stationed in the large reception hall, screened by large palms.”[13] In the two photographs below you can see a portion of the entrance hall. The grand staircase is on the left with Anna Ri on her wedding day. On the right, Edith Orcutt Beaton is standing in the palm filled hallway on the occasion of her sister Jane’s wedding. Directly behind Edith is a portrait of her sister Anna Ri Orcutt. I wrote about the painting in another blog about Orcutt family portraits.

Anna Ri Orcutt celebration of her wedding, 1905. She is standing on the staircase of the Orcutt family home.
Edith Orcutt Beaton, 1906, standing in the hallway of the Orcutt family home. Image colorized by MyHeritage.

Newspaper articles from the Omaha Daily Bee and the Omaha World-Herald described the Orcutt home with the following adjectives: comfortable, commodious, spacious, beautiful, and handsome. I gleaned snippets of information from the newspapers about the types of rooms, their function, and decorative features. For example, the ground floor had a drawing-room, a music room with a piano, a west parlor, an expansive rear parlor with a “bow window,” a dining room, and the grand staircase. Wide doorways separated the parlors, the latter accented with fancy mantles. The “capacious” drawing-room provided sufficient space to host large numbers of guests. On several occasions, the Orcutt’s invited 300 guests to special events, such as the Christmas party they hosted in December 1900.

“In honor of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Beaton [Edith Orcutt Beaton and her husband Alfred Beaton], Mr. Orcutt gave a reception on Tuesday evening to about 300 guests. Though she does not make her debut until next season, Miss Anna Ri assisted her father, presiding with a dignity that would reflect credit upon a much older and experienced hostess.

The house was elaborately decorated with holiday greens, palms, and smilax. In the doorways were suspended Christmas bells with clappers of holly berries and mistletoe. The stairway in the hall was festooned with evergreen and bows of red ribbon, while tall palms formed a screen behind which the orchestra played during the evening.”[14]

When the three sisters, Edith, Anna Ri, and Jane Clare, reached the appropriate age, they acted as hostesses for social events to practice their future roles as mistresses of their own homes. Fifteen- year-old Edith appeared in the Omaha Daily Bee in 1895, when she served as hostess at a luncheon for her young friends.

“A Dainty Pink Luncheon – One of the prettiest luncheons was given by Miss Edith Orcutt last Tuesday in honor of her guest, Mrs. T.G. Wear of Topeka. Cover [places] were laid for sixteen. The table decorations were beautiful. The centerpiece was prettily embroidered in wild roses and the cut glass vases at each end of the table and in the center were filled with fragrant blush roses. The menu consisted of eight delicious courses. The house throughout was decorated with palms and pink roses. The young ladies made a charming picture in their dainty, fairylike summer gowns.”[15]

Researching the Orcutt family produced a wealth of information, as they frequently appeared in the society columns. These included the weddings of the Orcutt sisters. All three events took place in the Orcutt home, beautifully decorated for the special ceremonies.

Of the three sisters, I could only find evidence that Jane Clare actually made a formal debut into society. Described as “an exquisitely pretty girl,” her debut in 1903 made the Society News. Photographed by Louis Ray Bostwick, Jane’s Debut Album showcased the young woman in the Orcutt family home. What a bonanza for my research!

  • Jane Clare Orcutt, October 1903. Her Society Debut. Photograph taken at her home, 550 S. 26th Street, Omaha, Nebraska. Photograph in possession of author.
  • Jane Clare Orcutt, October 1903 – Society Debut. Photograph colorized by MyHeritage.
  • Jane Clare Orcutt, October 1903. Her Society Debut. Photograph taken at her home, 550 S. 26th Street, Omaha, Nebraska. Photograph in possession of author.

A professional photographer captured the Orcutt daughter’s weddings, including images of the gifts elegantly displayed in the upstairs room. Preserved for over 100 years, these albums provide a glimpse into the Orcutt home and family history.

Based on the pictures, I know the formal dining room included the following:

  • Ornate dark wood furniture
  • Paneled walls
  • Wallpaper with wide decorative borders near the ceiling
  • Stained glass windows
  • Tasseled draperies
  • A gas chandelier
  • A corner cabinet filled with china and crystal

  • Jane Clare and Anna Ri Orcutt in the dining room. Photograph taken October 1903 for Jane’s Society Debut. Photo colorized by MyHeritage. Photo in possession of author.
  • Photograph of Orcutt home at 550 S. 26th Street, Omaha, NE – dining room- taken in January 1906 on occasion of Jane Clare Orcutt’s wedding.

“A formal dining room ensured enjoyable meals. A library stocked well with books and with a sprawling fireplace provided comfort and warmth. Spacious parlors located throughout a home provided occupants with formal living areas for welcoming guests. Parlors usually featured ostentatious decors such as tasseled draperies, dark wood, fireplaces with fancy mantles, and gilded wainscoting.”[16]

  • [L-R] Edith, Anna Ri, Jane Orcutt on the occasion of Jane’s Debut in 1903. Image colorized by MyHeritage.
  • [L-R] Edith, Anna Ri, Jane Orcutt on the occasion of Jane’s Society Debut in 1903. Taken in one of the parlors at 550 S. 26th Street, Omaha, NE, Clinton Orcutt house.
  • A parlor room in the Clinton Orcutt house, 550 S. 26th Street, Omaha, NE. Photograph of Jane Clare Orcutt (on right) on occasion of her Society Debut October 1903.
  • Orcutt house on the occasion of Jane Orcutt’s Society Debut, 1903. Image colorized by MyHeritage.

The most important rooms in the house were the parlors, as they served as showcases for the homeowners to entertain their guests. The Orcutt parlors, decorated in dark woods, such as mahogany and walnut, featured oversized cozy chairs, oriental rugs, window coverings made of thick heavy fabrics, valances, swags and tassels, candelabras, and multi-light chandeliers ornamented with porcelain and glass shades. “A bare room was considered to be in poor taste, so every surface was filled with objects that reflected the owner’s interests and aspirations.”[17] The Orcutt’s decorated their home with marble figures, artwork, potted plants, and flower-filled vases.

The second floor of the Orcutt home included individual bedrooms for each of the six family members. Anna and Clinton Orcutt had separate bedrooms. Additional rooms included a library, a sitting room and a “modern” bathroom and lavatory for the family members.

“In wealthier homes, the toilet was often in a room by itself, in a corner, or an anteroom with a door. The room itself was always relegated to the bedroom floor, above the parlor floor, away from the public rooms of the house. Many houses had a servant’s toilet off the kitchen, often outside in a shed, or in an attic.[18]

  • Victorian bathroom. New York Public Library Digital images. J.L. Mott Iron Works Catalog.
  • Victorian bathroom, the photograph was taken by the author.
  • Victorian bathroom, the photograph was taken by the author.

Photographs from the family albums show that the second-story had spacious rooms but with lower ceilings than the ground floor. Oriental rugs draped the floors, lace curtains covered the windows, and lightly patterned wallpaper decorated the walls. Furniture included a carved four-poster bed and walnut or mahogany dressers. Although the images focus on the wedding gifts, they still provide the viewer with a glimpse into the upper rooms of the Orcutt house.

  • Wedding photograph for Anna Ri Orcutt, 1905. Taken in bedroom at Clinton Orcutt home.
  • The photograph was taken at Clinton Orcutt’s home, Omaha, NE. Wedding gifts displayed.
  • Upstairs room in the Clinton Orcutt home, Omaha, NE. Photograph colorized by MyHeritage.
  • The photograph was taken at Clinton Orcutt home, Omaha, Nebraska, Possibly the library. Wedding gifts displayed. Colorized by MyHeritage.

BEHIND THE SCENES – SERVANTS AND NEIGHBORS

Newspapers never mentioned the behind-the-scenes aspects of how the Orcutt’s managed their household, but I know that servants performed the daily tasks. Society ladies did not engage in household chores. Based on the 1900 census, the Orcutts employed two female servants, one nanny, and a coachman. Female servants probably slept on the third floor, but the coachman likely had a room in the carriage house or the basement.

Unfortunately, I could only refer to the 1900 census for information regarding the Orcutts and their servants. Census records, a valuable resource for family historians, are only available every ten years. The 1890 census records were destroyed in a fire, and by 1910, the Orcutt family no longer lived at 550 South 26th Avenue. I used the tip from the professional genealogist to search Omaha city directories for just the address to learn more about the Orcutt’s domestic help. Searching a directory for an address instead of a name did not yield results for every year. However, I did confirm that the Orcutt family employed two female domestic staff and one coachman. Not surprisingly, the staff changed about every two years.

1900 United States Federal Census for Clinton Orcutt and his household. [19]

  • Clinton Orcutt – head of household – age 59 (widower) – birthplace, Illinois – Capitalist
  • Edith Orcutt Beaton – daughter – age 24 – birthplace, Iowa – no profession listed
  • Anna Ri Orcutt – daughter – age 19 – birthplace, Iowa – no profession listed
  • Jennie C Orcutt – daughter – age 16 – birthplace, Iowa – At School
  • Alfred Beaton – son-in-law – age 26 – birthplace, Canada – Merchant, carpets
  • Baby Beaton (Phillip Orcutt Beaton) – grandson – age one month – birthplace, Nebraska
  • Anna Winter – servant – age 21 – birthplace, Pennsylvania – domestic servant
  • Maggie Oflatherty – servant – age 24 – birthplace, Illinois – domestic servant
  • Emil Anderson – servant – age 26 – birthplace Sweden – coachman
  • Dora Dart – servant – age 27 – birthplace, Missouri – Nurse (nanny)
Phillip Orcutt Beaton with his Nurse (Nanny), Dora Dart, 1901.

The 1900 census didn’t list a cook living at the residence, but I know the Orcutt family employed one. Finding the right cook could be challenging. The Orcutts advertised for “a good cook” in 1896, 1897, 1898, and 1899.[20]

“Wanted a good cook. Mrs. Orcutt, 550. S 26th St.” Omaha World-Herald, July 1898. GenealogyBank.com.

The kitchens of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were the domain of the staff. As the mistress of the home, Anna Orcutt dictated menus and managed the budget. She did not cook the meals nor clean the house. Accordingly, the kitchen would have been functional but not as ornate as the rest of the house.

  • L.Prang & Co. “Prang’s aids for object teaching – the Kitchen,” 1870-1889, Lithographs, Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97502879/
  • Victorian stove. The image was taken by the author.
  • Victorian kitchen. The image was taken by the author.
  • Victorian kitchen cupboard. The image was taken by the author.
  • Icebox – Bloomingdale’s (Firm). (1890). Illustrated fashion catalog: summer, 1890. New York: Bloomingdale.Bros https://catalog.hathitrust.org/

“The late Victorian kitchen had the latest in modern appliances. A cast iron stove, able to cook and bake, often connected to a hot water heater that would feed into the sink and piped to bring hot water to the bathrooms. The sink was a large porcelain surface on sturdy legs with hot and cold running water from taps, not pumps. A large work table was usually in the middle of the room, which served as both work space and eating table for the staff.

Wealthier homes had iceboxes, lead-lined cupboards with a block of ice below keeping food cool in a compartment above. There was usually a pantry, a closet with shelves and built-in cupboards for storing foodstuffs, dishes and pots. Often there was also a built-in cupboard in the actual kitchen, or a butler’s pantry, either in the hallway leading to the dining room, or a separate room next to the kitchen where servers could do final prep work on the dish before serving.

Very wealthy families might have a locked silver room, and a larger butler’s pantries. Lighting to the kitchen was supplied by generous windows, as well as overhead gas lighting or electric lighting.[21]

Supplied with heat, gas, and running water, the Orcutt home provided optimal comforts for the time. Based on an 1890 newspaper that recounted a robbery in the home, I know that electric buttons powered the gas lights.

“When Mr. Orcutt drove up to to his house shortly before 7 o’clock, he noticed that the gas in his wife’s room was suddenly turned down but thought nothing further about it. His little daughter, Annie [Anna Ri], and a girl who was her guest finished supper early and ran up the front stairway. The gas in the hall had been extinguished, but the children attached no importance to it and did not relight the jets until they reached the second story, when they touched the electric buttons.”[22]

The burglars escaped via the rear hallway and back staircase, the staircase used by the servants. The thieves made off with two watches and chains, several pairs of bracelets, a diamond pin, and assorted jewelry. The value of the jewelry in 1890 was $600.

Who were the Orcutt’s neighbors? They were a mix of homeowners and renters. Some of the houses were large and elegant, while others were modest properties. On the north side of the Orcutts at 546 S 26th lived Jacob Soloman, a cattle dealer, his wife, two daughters, their spouses, a grandchild, and three servants. Immediately on the south side of the Orcutt home, in their rental property at 554 S 26th, resided a young couple, Charles and Catherine Moyer. The house immediately next to the rental property was occupied by Warren Switzler, a lawyer, his wife, two sons, a daughter, and one servant. Across the street at 557 S. 26th lived James Van Nostrand, a leather clerk, with his wife Virginia, and two female boarders, both listed as nursing school graduates. The neighbor’s occupations included: bookkeeper, printer, salesman, grocery store clerk, car builder, jewelry engraver, bookkeeper, real estate agent, and laundry proprietor. It was also a culturally diverse neighborhood. The majority were American-born with a mix of Canadians, Welsh, Irish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Germans.

ORCUTT FAMILY HOME SOLD

For twenty years, the Orcutt family occupied their home at 550 South 26th Avenue in Omaha. They would be the only family to occupy the house as a single residence. After Clinton Orcutt’s death in 1905, his three daughters inherited the property in equal shares. On December 26, 1905, sole ownership was transferred to Edith Orcutt Beaton for the sum of “$1.00 and other good valuable considerations.”[23] Anna Ri married in March 1905 and moved to Chicago, Illinois. Jane continued to live at home until her marriage in February 1906. Edith and her husband, Alfred Beaton, remained in the Orcutt home until January 1907. Then they downsized and moved to “a neat double cottage of gray buff brick at 212 South Thirty-Seventh street“.[24] A more modest home, it consisted of two stories, nine rooms, including the reception hall.

Instead of immediately selling the family home, Edith and Alfred Beaton rented it furnished to a “party of bachelors” – ten single men.[25] By 1910 the Beatons converted the Orcutt home to a boarding house.The 1910 census listed twelve occupants: one female property manager, nine male boarders, and two female housemaids.[26] Finally on March 31, 1915, the Beatons sold the Orcutt home to Frank McGinty for $10,000.[27]

Lewis, S. 2021. Research Report Beaton & Orcutt Homes. History Walks LLC. Douglas County Nebraska Register of Deeds, (1915). Deed Bok 391: 556; Edith Beaton sells to Frank McGinty.

Why did Edith and Alfred sell the property for only $10,000 – a mere $1,000 more than what Clinton Orcutt paid for the land in 1886? As I mentioned previously, Clinton Orcutt likely speculated that the property values would rise. Instead, they declined. According to the professional genealogist, the area today has lower-end apartments and homes subject to vandalism and a high crime rate.[28]

After Frank McGinty bought the property he probably converted the house into at least two flats. I found an advertisement in the Omaha Daily Bee for January 1915 with the following listing. For $30/month the tenant could occupy a nine room, modern flat. The term “light housekeeping” indicated that there were limited facilities for cooking.

“13 Sep 1925, 21 – The Omaha Daily News at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, http://www.newspapers.com/image/738240507/?terms=%22554+s+26th%22.

After only 33 years, the Orcutt home was demolished in 1920 to make room for a four-story apartment building.[29] In September 1925 an advertisement in the Omaha Daily Bee featured “Omaha’s Finest Walking Distance Apartments” at La Morada Apartments – noted as 554 S 26th St.

“13 Sep 1925, 21 – The Omaha Daily News at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, http://www.newspapers.com/image/738240507/?terms=%22554+s+26th%22.

554 S 26th Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska – former location of Clinton Orcutt home. Google Maps.

Time marches on but as a family historian I try to capture glimpses of my ancestral past and preserve them for future generations.

© 2021 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

 

Genealogy Sketch

Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON UTTENDORFER
Name: [Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON UTTENDORFER -1879-1964
Parents: Clinton Delos ORCUTT 1840-1905 and
Anna Dorcas DUTTON ORCUTT 1841-1891
Spouse: *Alfred James BEATON 1872-1916 and George Newell UTTENDORFER 1887-1972
Children: Anna Jane BEATON HYDE -1907-1998 and Orcutt Phillip BEATON 1900-1971
Relationship to Kendra: Great-Grandmother

  1. Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON UTTENDORFER
  2. Anna Jane BEATON HYDE
  3. Jean HYDE HOPP EICHORN
  4. Kendra

 

  1. Lawrence H. Larsen and Barbara J. Cottrell; The Gate City A History of Omaha (Lincoln, Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press, 1977) p 61.
  2. Lawrence H. Larsen and Barbara J. Cottrell; The Gate City A History of Omaha (Lincoln, Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press, 1977) p 61.
  3. David L. Bristow, “A Farm Boy Comes to Omaha, 1888,” History Nebraska (https://history.nebraska.gov : Blog; accessed 20 March 2021.
  4. Ditto
  5. Douglas County Nebraska Register of Deeds, (1886). Deed Book 79: 69-70; Isaac Congdon et al. sell to Clinton Orcutt. Lewis, S. 2021. Research Report: Beaton and Orcutt Homes. History Walks LLC
  6. Douglas County Nebraska Register of Deeds, (1886). Deed Book 74: 406-0; Charles C Housel and Wife sell to Clinton Orcutt. Lewis, S. 2021. Research Report: Beaton and Orcutt Homes. History Walks LLC
  7. Lewis, S. 2021. Research Report: Beaton and Orcutt Homes. History Walks LLC
  8. Adam Fletcher, “A History of the Gold Coast Historic District of Omaha,” North Omaha History (https://northomahahistory.com : accessed 12 April 2021).
  9. Sanborn Map Company, (1887).Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Omaha, Douglas and Sarpy County, Nebraska. [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn05229_001/.
  10. “Omaha Illustrated: A History of the Pioneer Period and the Omaha of Today,” (Omaha, Nebraska, D.C. Dunbar & Co. Publishers, 1888; digital images, Archive.org (https://archive.org : accessed 20 April 2021), p.110.
  11. Margaret patricia Killian; Born Rich: A Historical Book of Omaha (Omaha, Nebraska, Assistance League of Omaha, 1978) p.46.
  12. John Fiske, “Painting your historic house, a guide to colors and color schemes,” Historic Ipswich on the Massachusetts North Shore, (https://historicipswich.org : accessed 5 May 2021.)
  13. “Mrs. Orcutt’s Dancing Party,” Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha) 20 December 1896, p.4. col.1 : digital images, Chronicling America online Newspaper Archive (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 9 May 2021).
  14. “Mr. Orcutt’s Reception,” Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha), 23 December 1900, p.6 : digital images, Chronicling America Online Newspaper Archive (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 12 February 2021).
  15. “A Dainty Pink Luncheon,” Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha), 18 August 1895, p.4; digital images, Chronicling America Online Newspaper Archive (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 11 January 2021.
  16. “A Complete guide to Victorian Houses,” Home Advisor, (https//www.homeadvisor.com : accessed 5 April 2021.
  17. “Victorian Decorative Arts,” digital images, Wikipedia (https://wikipedia.org : accessed 5 April 2021.
  18. Suzanne Spellen, “From Pakistan to Brooklyn: A Quick History of the Bathroom,” digital images, Brownstoner, (https://www.brownstoner.com/architecture/victorian-bathroom-history-plumbing-brookly-architecture-interiors/.
  19. 1900 U.S. Census, Douglas County, Omaha, population schedule, Omaha, Enumeration District (ED) 0045, sheet 7, dwelling 102, family 119, Clinton Orcutt : digital image, Ancestry.com (https://ancestry.com : accessed 4 June 2021 citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 1854.
  20. “Help Wanted – Female,” Omaha World-Herald, (Omaha), July 12, 1898, p.7; digital images GenealogyBank.com, (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 16 May 2021).
  21. Suzanne Spellen, “Walkabout: Someone’s in the Kitchen Part I,” digital images, Brownstoner, (https://www.brownstoner.com/interiors-renovation : accessed 15 May 2021.
  22. “A Neat bit of Work – How Two Burglars Robbed mr. Orcutt’s Residence,” Omaha World-Herald, (Omaha), 13 February 1890, p.3 ; digital images, GenelaogyBank.com, (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 16 February 2020).
  23. Douglas County Nebraska Register of Deeds
  24. “Dempsters New Cottage,” Omaha Daily Bee, (Omaha), 6 January 1907, p.13; digital images Newspapers.com, (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 4 June 2021.
  25. Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha), 30 December 1906, p.7; digital images, Newspapers.com, (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 May 2021.
  26. 1910 U.S. Census, Douglas County, Omaha, population schedule, Omaha, Enumeration District (ED) 0083, sheet 6, dwelling 108, family 110, Jeannie Nealley : digital image, Ancestry.com (https://ancestry.com : accessed 4 June 2021 citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 844.
  27. Lewis, S. 2021. Research Report: Beaton & Orcutt Homes, History Walks LLC. Douglas County Nebraska Register of Deeds, (1915). Deed Book 391: 556; Edith Beaton sells to Frank McGinty.
  28. Lewis, S. 2021. Research Report: Beaton & Orcutt Homes, History Walks LLC.
  29. Lewis, S. 2021. Research Report: Beaton & Orcutt Homes, History Walks LLC. Douglas County Nebraska Assessor/Register of Deeds, Douglas County, Nebraska Property Record -R0813850000. douglas County Assessor/Register of Deeds GIS Mapping (Internet Site), at http://www.dcassessor.org/gis-mapping (Accessed 15 July 2021).

Posted in Biographies, My Family Ancestry, Photographs | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

CLINTON ORCUTT – FROM FARMER’S SON TO WEALTHY CAPITALIST

Posted on July 13, 2023 by treeklimber
Image courtesy of Library of Congress

“No chance for a poor man in this country,” a phrase Clinton Orcutt chose to ignore. A strapping young farmer’s son, he took it into his head, as boys sometimes do, “that the world presents numerous opportunities for accumulating fortune and ease and that the most they have to do is to leave home and wander about a little here and there to find one of them.” Clinton left the family farm in Muscatine, Iowa, about 1858 when he was eighteen with a “few dollars in his pocket, and very few at that.” Some time passed, and nothing turned up. Tired and hungry, he wandered into Galesburg and met an old friend, Suel Foster, a well known Muscatine nurseryman and horticulturist. The friend suggested that Clinton go into the peddling business selling fruit trees on shares but advised that Clinton return home, where he was known, to start his business. Accepting a loan of five dollars, the young man returned to the family farm and studied the tree nursery business. A steady, hardworking, young man, he glued a maxim into his hat – “keep out of debt.” He determined then and there that he wouldn’t borrow any more money. However, he did borrow an old horse and bridle, set off bare-back, and went into selling with a keen interest. He thoroughly covered Muscatine, Scott, and Cedar counties. In a few months, he had earned enough to expand his business and eventually turned his hundreds into thousands.[1]

Sectional Map of Iowa Muscatine, Scott, and Cedar counties outlined in blue – David Rumsey Map Collection

Mining local newspapers for information, I found the this story in one of the many articles about my maternal great-great-grandfather, Clinton Delos Orcutt (1840-1905). His granddaughter, Anna Jane Beaton Hyde, my grandmother, never met Clinton because he died five years before her birth. But she had a constant visual reminder of her Orcutt grandparents because their large ornate portraits hung in her parent’s home and hers.

Clinton Delos Orcutt 1840-1905, Portrait in possession of author.

A master guilder recently restored the gold frame for Clinton’s portrait, inspiring me to write his story and recapture lost memories. Thankfully, my 2x-great-grandfather left an extensive and exciting paper trail. I eagerly followed it.

CLINTON’S YOUTH

Born on November 3, 1840, in Naperville, Illinois, to Daniel Heath Orcutt and Angoline Perkins, Clinton was the fourth of five children. His parents moved from Washington County, New York, in 1836 to Naperville, Illinois, which you can read about here. The Orcutt’s two eldest children were born in New York, Ann Maria in 1834, and Nelson, born on January 31, 1836. A year after they settled in Naperville, Henry joined the family on December 12, 1837. After Clinton’s birth in 1840, there was a four-year gap before the youngest child, Jennie Martha, was born on February 28, 1844.

Bird’s eye view of Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois. Courtesy of Library of Congress

The Orcutt family, one of the founding families of Naperville, spent eighteen years in Illinois. In the spring of 1850, Daniel developed “Gold Fever” and set off across the plains for Placerville, California, with a group of eager townsmen. It was a long and dangerous journey. Daniel barely survived the trip due to asthma attacks but regained his strength after his arrival in July and began his quest for gold. “Mr. Orcott, who was almost dead with the asthma…is one of the healthiest and stands work the best.”[2] During his absence, Angelina and the three boys, Nelson, 15, Henry, 14, and Clinton, 10, shouldered the responsibility of farming – quite a chore for three boys.

Route across the Isthmus of Panama 1852 – David Rumsey Map Collection

In the fall of 1851, Daniel made his way home but chose an alternate route hoping to avoid the long overland journey – via the Isthmus of Panama. The eight-week-long trip involved several stages. First, the easiest part of the journey was a steamship from San Francisco, along the western coast, to Panama City. Then by mule train through a steaming jungle on an 18-mile trail, dangers lurking everywhere, to the town of Las Cruces. Next, a 45-mile ride downriver in a native cayuca (canoe) to the village of Chagres. And finally, another steamer through the Caribbean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, landing in New Orleans. Perhaps Daniel thought the route would be easier. Although his obituary stated that he felt “refreshed by the journey,” most travelers agreed “..that it was a gauntlet, which they never wish to pass again…” primarily due to malaria, yellow fever, and cholera.[3] As he traveled home through the Southern states, Daniel contemplated purchasing land in Missouri, “..but while pleased with the country, the system of slavery seemed so obnoxious to him that he gave up his purpose to settle in that State.”[4]

Daniel got the itch to move again three years after he returned to Illinois. With the sale of his property and some gold in his pocket, he had enough money to buy more land in a less populated area. The Orcutt family loaded their wagon and moved in 1854 to Muscatine County, Iowa, where Daniel purchased vacant prairie land.[5]

According to a newspaper article, fourteen-year-old Clinton crossed the Mississippi on a ferry with two colts and a cow during the move. He drove them up to the Davenport House. The small hotel was advertised as a neat house with a well-furnished larder and a large yard for wagons and stabling horses. Clinton spent the night, during which the proprietor (William Grant) died of cholera, and others became ill. “When the guests heard of it, there was a stampede even though it was before breakfast. Mr. Orcutt was a strapping young fellow then, and he was hungry, so he told the others they could go, but he proposed to stay for breakfast. And he did.”[6]

Davenport, Iowa, David Rumsey Map Collection

The 1856 Iowa census noted that Daniel Orcutt’s farm comprised 120 acres of improved land and 126 unimproved. Clinton, sixteen at the time, worked on the farm, as did his older brothers Nelson and Henry. Daniel raised 160 acres of spring wheat, 4 acres of oats, 40 acres of corn, and 1/2 acre of potatoes. It doesn’t list the number of cows he had, but he manufactured 200 pounds of butter and 100 pounds of cheese.[7] On a pioneer farm in Iowa, wheat was the main cash crop whose profits could be used to improve the family farm.

Farm life in the summer- Library of Congress

Compared to his neighbors, Daniel cultivated more acres, a daunting task even with three sons to help on the farm. Planted in the early spring, the wheat ripened by July when it had to be harvested. Daniel used the horse-drawn McCormick reaper (listed in his probate records).[8] The two-wheeled machine was invented by Cyrus McCormick in 1833 and enabled farmers to harvest larger crops with fewer laborers.

Harvesting by hand – Image courtesy of Living History Farms, LHF.org.

After expanding his factory in Chicago, McCormick sold the device through travel agents.[9] Clinton, who was more interested in sales than farming, briefly became a salesman for the company.

McCormick reaper – Courtesy of Living Farms History, LHF.org.
Cyrus McCormick’s self-rake reaper of 1864. A mechanically operated arm swept the grain off the platform. Courtesy of Eon Images.

CLINTON ORCUTT’S PATH TO SUCCESS

After beginning his sales career selling fruit trees, Clinton saved enough money to expand his business. In 1859 and 1860, Clinton and his brother Henry Orcutt advertised in the local papers to sell Osage hedge plants for fencing.

H & C Orcutt, Durant, Iowa – selling Hedge Plants – Muscatine Weekly Journal February 3, 1860. Newspapers.com

The Osage Orange tree was a popular tree amongst homesteaders before barbed wire. A fast-growing tree that could be woven together produced a “pig-tight, horse-high, and bull strong fence.”[11] A local paper described the efficacy of the trees, “…miles after miles of Osage hedge fences which may be seen in all stages of growth, form the safe and perfect fence against almost everything from an elephant to a squirrel down to the shoots of last Spring’s setting.”[12]

Osage hedge trees form a fence line. Image courtesy of National Park Service

In addition to selling hedge plants, Clinton continued to work on his father’s farm. The 1860 Federal census listed Clinton Orcutt as a farmer living with his parents and two siblings in Muscatine, County. Clinton, age 20, was noted as having attended school during the year. After he completed public school, he studied law and prepared for the bar.[13] The census indicated that he had a personal estate of $420 more than his older brother Nelson, who had only $50. Daniel’s real estate value was $7,300 and his personal estate value was $2,730. Also listed in the household was a farm laborer, 27-year-old William Tappan. Daniel needed an additional man to replace his son Henry, who married and had his own farm.[14]

DURANT, IOWA

Durant Railroad Station, Durant Iowa

Clinton left home around 1861 and moved into the small “neat and tastefully built village” of Durant.[15] The attractive village was surveyed 1855 on the Chicago, Rock, Island & Pacific Railroad line and “presented the activity and bustle of an incipient Western town.” An agricultural town in the heart of the corn belt, it soon had its first store, lumber yard, carpenters, butcher, and a physician – Dr. Erastus Bills, a graduate of Yale College.[16] Located just 6.5 miles from Daniel Orcutt’s farm and twenty miles west of Davenport, Durant offered greater opportunities for an aspiring businessman.

Iowa – arrows indicate location of Durant, Davenport, and the Orcutt Farm – David Rumsey Map Collection

Trouble had been brewing in the country prior to the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, and the Orcutt men were not immune to the turmoil. They read about the Civil War in the local paper, which included articles encouraging men to volunteer. Advertisements enticed recruits with a twenty-five-dollar bounty, a month’s advance pay, and a two-dollar premium for a three-year-enlistment.[17] It wasn’t enough.

U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Records, Clinton Orcutt, Residence Durant, age 22, occupation Merchant, single, born in Illinois, “Is now in Minnesota,” date June/July 1863. NARA – Ancestry.com

Although Clinton, Henry, and Nelson Orcutt registered for the draft, they did not volunteer or have to serve in the war. Nor did their father. However, Daniel Orcutt acted as one of five vice-presidents of the local Union organization, donating funds to the volunteers’ families. Daniel’s brother, Phillip, who lived in Illinois, enlisted in Company H, 9th Regimental Cavalry, in September 1861 and served until October 1864. Although the Orcutt family suffered no deaths during the war, two members became ill and died between 1862 and 1864.

Clinton’s sister Ann Maria passed away in April 1862. She was only 28 and left behind a husband, George Bristol, and four little children: Ira-7, Emma-5, George-3, and Charles-1. Two years after her death, Daniel died in April 1864 at age 50. No death certificates are available for that period, so their causes of death remain unknown. However, Daniel may have had a premonition that he didn’t have long to live. Despite the harsh winter of 1864, he felt compelled to return to New York, his birthplace, to visit friends and family. During his last year, he also worked to lay out the Durant cemetery, where he now rests.[18]

Ann Maria Orcutt Bristol, Naperville, Illinois
Daniel and Anjoline (Perkins) Orcutt, Durant, Iowa

Clinton and Nelson Orcutt acted as administrators for their father’s probate. After the debts were paid, including $175 owed to Clinton and $1000 to Nelson (for farm labor), each sibling received $286.47. Ann Maria’s children inherited her portion. Clinton’s mother, Angoline, inherited $716.19 and the farm. She was allowed to keep all wearing apparel and trunks to contain them, all farming utensils, one team of horses, harnesses, and a wagon, one lot in the cemetery, one cow and calf, five hogs, three beds, and bedding for them, and $100 of household furniture, spinning wheels, fuel for six months and provisions for twelve months. Everything else Daniel possessed was sold.[19]

CLINTON ORCUTT – THE MERCHANT

The village of Durant is where Clinton chose to go into business with Clark M. Loomis in 1862, two years before his father’s death. Although neither of the men had any business experience, they opened a dry goods and grocery store. Everything the locals needed was kept on hand-groceries, hardware, crockery, and dishes, sewing notions, and even gunpowder.

Harkin’s General Store. (2023, April 16). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harkin%27s_General_Store

Several years later, Allen Nesbitt, the local mayor of Durant, discovered that a fire broke out in the store. As head of the volunteer fire department, he went to check it out and entered the building just as a barrel of gunpowder exploded. Severely injured, he died a few months later.[20]

By 1868 there were four general merchandising stores in Durant and too much competition.[21] Orcutt and Loomis sold their business in 1870 to A.D. Crooks – lock, stock, and barrel. With money in their pockets, “Clint” Orcutt and Clark Loomis headed west to California in April to relax in the El Dorado mountains for a few months.[22]

WEDDING BELLS

A small town offered limited options for both single men and women. In 1869 Durant included 67 dwellings, 70 families, and about 500 inhabitants.[23] Anyone new in the area would incite the interest of the locals. Reverend Thomas Dutton and his family relocated to Durant in 1866. A Williams College and Yale Theological Seminary Graduate, Thomas moved west due to bronchial problems. Doctors advised that outdoor work would improve his health. So, he purchased a small farm and served as a part-time pastor for the Congregational community.[24] His wife, Sarah Maria Dutton, nee Whiting, directly descended from Governor William Bradford and came from a family that valued a good education.

The Dutton’s only daughter, Anna Dorcas, caught the eye of Clinton Orcutt, or visa-versa. A young, single, attractive, and educated woman, she was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and attended Grove Hall Seminary for young women for eight years at no cost to her parents. The education was free because her Aunt Mary Dutton was the principal and owner of Grove Hall for thirty years.[25]

Grove Hall Female Seminary- New Haven, CT, Courtesy of Connecticut Historical Museum & Library, Accession #2000.178.120

Anna had an advantage as a single woman in Durant. About thirty or forty young bachelors were vying for the attention of just four or five young women. The ladies had their pick of the “fellows” and could have a husband in three days from when they arrived in town, according to the Daily Davenport Democrat newspaper.[26]Clinton and Anna took longer than three days to make the commitment. They needed four years. However, in a small town, they would have met on many occasions, especially since they both attended the Congregational Church.

After Clinton returned from his California trip in October 1870, the Davenport papers announced their pending nuptials.

“By the way, our friend Clint Orcutt has got back from California. He is looking healthy and cheerful and sports a sideshow. His next trip is booked for the state of matrimony. Hurry up boy, winter is coming you know, and oak posts and a nor’wester isn’t good for horse flesh.”

On Thanksgiving, November 24, 1870, the couple exchanged vows in an evening ceremony celebrated by Reverend Edwin Webber at the Congregational Church “…before a large and fashionable audience of the elite of the city and vicinity. The bridal party was dressed richly but in excellent taste, an example worthy of imitation. In the evening, a select party of friends repaired to the house of Rev. Mr. Dutton, where the good things were discussed into the ‘wee sma’ hours.’ After due congratulations, the party wended their way to their several homes, and the affair was over. The next day Mr. and Mrs. Orcutt took the cars [train] for the east to spend their honeymoon with old friends near Chicago.”[28]

Iowa County Marriage Records, Familysearch.org – Clinton Orcutt and Anna D. Dutton, November 24, 1870, Minister of the Gospel, Edwin Webber, Durant, Iowa.

Nine months later, the Orcutts welcomed their first child – Louis Deforest Orcutt, born on August 17, 1871. A second son, George Dutton Orcutt, arrived two years later on November 11, 1873. Six years lapsed before their first daughter was born on August 26, 1879, my great-grandmother, Marion Edith Orcutt, whom I wrote about here. Three more daughters followed. Anna Ri in July 1881, a stillborn daughter in September 1882, delivered by Dr. Erastus Bills, and the youngest daughter, Jane Clare, known as “Jennie,” born in September 1884.

During these years, Clinton continued to diversify his business interests. He invested with Durant businessmen to build a cheese-making company in 1873 and served as president of the firm.[29] He found his true calling when he developed an interest in real estate.

Local papers touted his expertise. “The ‘livest’ real estate agent in seven States…C. Orcutt of Durant, actually handled as agent and principal, $500,000 worth of real estate in the year ending July 1st, 1875.”[31] Using an online inflation calculator, that translates to $13 million today. In 1876 another article proclaimed his savvy skills.

“Tall oaks may go on growing from little acorns, but it will surprise no one after learning that the local real estate business into which Mr. C. Orcutt of Durant was almost forced a few years ago has, without especial effort on his part, grown to such proportions that the aggregate sales in which he has officiated as an agent during the past two years foot up considerably over one million of dollars To begin with, nearly all of Farmington township has, through his instrumentality, changed hands at least once, much of it selling from forty to fifty-five dollars per acre. Then his business gradually extended to western counties in Iowa, to Kansas, and Nebraska until it is safe to say that no man in this country has the run of so much saleable property or knows so well the channels which to find purchasers as “Clint” Orcutt- a fact which both buyers and seller would do well to remember.” [32]

Iowa farm – David Rumsey Map Collection

Clinton did not claim to be a creature of “luck” or that he just stumbled across something; rather, he felt any steady, hardworking, determined, and economical young man could accomplish the same. “A determination to owe no man anything at any time, coupled with health and a hankering to work, is the foundation of wealth.” [33]Described as a sharp-eyed, clearheaded man of ordinary size, Clinton had pursued a thrifty course. He “had no bad habits, didn’t run to fine clothes, nor expensive nonsense of any sort, but he had good brains, and good health, and a determination to work and save.”[34]

Part II- Clinton Orcutt – A Solid Citizen and Family Man

© 2023 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

ENDNOTES

[1] Chance for a Young Man, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 4 Jan 1879, Page 1; digital images, newspapers.com (https://newsappers.com: accessed 15 May 2023.)

[2] Morris Sleight Papers, Morris Sleight to Hannah Sleight, letter 2, August 1850, pages 1-2, folder 2 and transcription by Richard L. Rieck, 1999, folder 2a, Chicago History Museum, Chicago, Illinois.

[3] Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, Massachusetts, 28 March 1851, P.4, digital images, genalogybank.com (https://genealogybank.com: accessed 2014.)

[4] Obituary, Muscatine Journal, Muscatine Iowa, 29 Apr 1864, P.2 (Copy provided by an Iowa Genealogy Society.)

[5] 1856, U.S. State Census, Muscatine County, Illinois, population schedule, Montpelier, D.H. Orcutt: digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 23 May 2023; from State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.)

[6] The Orphans’ Home, The Morning Democrat, Omaha, 15 April 1887, p. 4; digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com): accessed 21 May 2023.

[7] 1856, Iowa, U.S. State Census Collection, Montpelier, Muscatine County, Iowa, population schedule, D.H. Orcutt, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com: accessed 23 May 2023; from State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.)

[8] Estate of Daniel H. Orcutt, Probate, Muscatine County, Iowa, 28 May 1864, privately held by Kendra Schmidt, Vienna, Virginia.

[9] McCormick, Cyrus. Britannica, May 9, 2023. Electronic edition. http://www.britannica.com: accessed 4 July 2023.

[10] Muscatine Weekly Journal, Muscatine, Iowa, July 29, 1864, P.4, digital images, newspapers.com (http://newspapers.com: accessed 10 Feb 2023.)

[11] Important to Farmers, Muscatine Weekly Journal, Iowa, 3 Feb 1860, p. 3; digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com) accessed 21 May 2023

[12] Our Country Towns Durant, The Tipton Advisor, Tipton, Iowa, June 10, 1869, Page 3; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 22 May 2023)

[13] Nebraskans, Omaha, Nebraska, The Bee Publishing Co, 1904, P342-343.

[14] 1860, U.S. census, Muscatine County, Iowa, population schedule, Fulton Township, dwelling 442 Clinton D. Orcutt: digital images, Ancestry (http://ancestry.com: accessed 23 May 2023; NARA microfilm Roll M653_337, Page 548.

[15] Durant Its Location, Business, Churches, Schools, Society and Prospects, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 27 Nov 1868, P1, digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 3 July 2023.)

[16] The History of Cedar County, Iowa: containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c.:a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of the Northwest, history of Iowa, map of Cedar county. Chicago, Western Historical Co., 1878, 525-526; digital images, Archive.org, https://archive.org, https://archive.org/details/historyofcedarco00west/page/526/mode/2up?q=orcutt: accessed 21 Jun 2023.

[17] State of Iowa, the Tipton Advertiser, Tipton, Iowa, 24 July 1862, p. 2, digital images, newspapers.com (http://newspapers.com: accessed 3 July 2023.)

[18] Obituary, Muscatine Journal, Muscatine Iowa, 29 Apr 1864, P.2 (Copy provided by an Iowa Genealogy Society.)

[19] Estate of Daniel H. Orcutt, Probate, Muscatine County, Iowa, 28 May 1864, privately held by Kendra Schmidt, Vienna, Virginia.

[20] The Daily Times, Durant Iowa, 6 December 1927, Iowa Digital Library, https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu, accessed 21 Jun 2023.

[21] Durant Its Location, Business, Churches, Schools, Society and Prospects, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 27 Nov 1868, P1, digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 3 July 2023.)

[22] New Store and Going Away, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 26 Apr 1870, P2; digital images, newspapers.com, (https://newspapers.com: accessed 30 Dec 2020.).

[23] The City of Durant, Daily Davenport Democrat, Davenport, Iowa, October 26, 1867, Page 1; digital images, chroniclingamerica.gov (https://chronicilingamerica.loc.gov: accessed 23 May 2023.).

[24] Death of Rev. Thomas Dutton, the Morning Journal-Courier, New Haven, Connecticut, 14 March 1885, P3, digital images, newspapers.com (http://newspapers.com: accessed 21 July 2019.)

[25] Connecticut, U.S. Wills, and Probate Records 1609-1999, New Haven, Connecticut, database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 24 June 2021, entry for Mary Dutton, Vol 208-209, 212, 1886-1887.

[26] Durant Its Location, Business, Churches, Schools, Society and Prospects, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 27 Nov 1868, P1, digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 3 July 2023.)

[27] Local, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 11 Oct 1870, Page 2. digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 30 Dec 2020.

[28] From Durant, The Tipton Advertiser, Tipton, Iowa 8 Dec 1870, Page 2; digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 25 May 2023.

[29] History of Cedar County Iowa, Chicago, Illinois: Western Historical Company, 1878, p526; digital images, googlebooks.com, (http://google.com/books: accessed 15 June 2019.)

[30] The Tipton Advertiser, Tipton, Iowa, 16, November 1876, p.1. digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 1 May 2023.)

[31] The Tipton Advertiser, Tipton, Iowa, 12 Aug 1875, Page 3; digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 23 May 2023.)

[32] The Tipton Advertiser, Tipton, Iowa, 2 March 1876, Page 3; digital images, newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 23 May 2023.)

[33] Chance for a Young Man, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 4 Jan 1879, Page 1; digital images, newspapers.com (https://newsappers.com: accessed 15 May 2023.)

[34] Chance for a Young Man, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 4 Jan 1879, Page 1; digital images, newspapers.com (https://newsappers.com: accessed 15 May 2023.)

Posted in Biographies, Heirlooms, My Family Ancestry | Tagged , | 5 Comments

LAST OF THE THREE POPULAR OMAHA SISTERS MARRIES – JANE CLARE ORCUTT & ARTHUR KEELINE

Posted on February 11, 2023 by treeklimber
Jane Clare Orcutt and Arthur Keeline, Mexico 1904

Three sisters, three weddings at the Orcutt home in Omaha. The house no longer exists, and the people have long since passed, but the photo albums and newspaper articles have preserved the memories of their special celebrations.

“Omaha Illustrated: A History of the Pioneer Period and the Omaha of Today,” (Omaha, Nebraska, D.C. Dunbar & Co. Publishers, 1888; digital images, Archive.org (https://archive.org : accessed 20 April 2021), p.110.

The first two weddings took place during a period of mourning. When Edith, my great-grandmother, married Alfred James Beaton, her marriage was quiet due to her mother’s death. The second daughter, Anna Ri, wed Louis Jaques five years later. Although the guestlist was limited, with only immediate friends and family present due to her father’s passing, it was noted as one of the prettiest of the season. Finally, on February 7, 1906, Clinton and Anna’s last and youngest daughter (Dutton) Orcutt married her beau, Arthur Raymond Keeline. It was also held at the Orcutt home. Because her engagement took place during the mourning period for her father, she had to forego the parties and celebrations that would have taken place.[1] However, her wedding occurred after the mandatory year of mourning.

Jane Clare Orcutt, circa 1901

Jane Clare Orcutt, my maternal grandmother’s favorite aunt, was born on September 23, 1884, in Durant, Iowa. I have written about Jane’s early life and her debut in previous blogs. She was a favorite amongst her peers, a pretty, petite, blue-eyed brunette with a gentle personality. Shortly after her debut, Jane met Arthur Keeline, a son of one of the oldest families of Council Bluffs, Iowa.[2] The young couple was an attractive and popular pair in Omaha society.

Arthur Keeline, a handsome man with blue eyes and light brown hair, was of average height at 5’7″.[3] He was born March 28, 1880, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and came from a wealthy family of cattle and sheep ranchers who owned the Keeline Ranch in Gillette, Wyoming. Educated in the East, Arthur attended Worcester Academy in Massachusetts, and then studied for one year at Harvard, 1900-1901.[4]

When he returned to Council Bluffs, Arthur regularly attended social events in Omaha, where he met Jane Orcutt. On October 7, 1905, Edith and Alfred Beaton announced the young couple’s engagement.

“An engagement of more than passing interest is that of Miss Jane Orcutt, daughter of the late Clinton D.Orcutt, and Mr. Arthur Keeline of Council Bluffs, which was announced yesterday by Miss Orcutt’s sister and brother Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Beaton. The wedding is not to take place until next spring. Both young people are immensely popular socially. Mr. Keeline being of one of the oldest families of Council Bluffs. Miss Orcutt was introduced two years ago, and until the death of her father withdrew her family from society last winter was in demand to an extent that few of even the debutantes enjoyed.”[5]

A wedding announcement appeared in the Omaha Examiner on January 20, 1906, in the Omaha World-Herald on January 29th, and in the Omaha Daily Bee on January 14th, 21st, and February 4th.

“A wedding of interest to society will be that of Miss Orcutt, and Mr. Arthur Keeline of Council Bluffs, which will be solemnized at the residence of the bride, 550 South twenty-sixth street, Wednesday evening, February 7th, at 8 o’clock. the ceremony will be performed by Rev. Father Stritch [from Creighton University.]”[6]

“The marriage of Miss Jane Orcutt, daughter of the late Clinton D. Orcutt, to Arthur Keeline of Council Bluffs, will take place Wednesday evening at the home of the bride and her sister, Mrs. A.J. Beaton, on South Twenty-sixth street, and will be among the conspicuous functions of the week, although not the largest. The family having been in mourning, Miss Orcutt has declined all prenuptial entertainment, and the many things that would otherwise have been given in her honor have been postponed until after her return from the wedding trip, which will include a three months’ trip to California and Honolulu.”[7]

On February 7th, the day they married, the Evening World-Herald published that 22-year-old Jane Orcutt and 25-year-old Arthur Keeline had received a marriage license.[8]

The Wedding

Orcutt-Keeline wedding album (8 photographs 7.5″ x 9.5″), February 7, 1906, Omaha, Nebraska

Splashed across the Society sections of the Sunday, February 11th Omaha Daily News and the Omaha World-Herald, the headline proclaimed the “Last of the Three Popular Omaha Sisters Marries.”[9]

“With the wedding of Miss Jane Orcutt, youngest daughter of the late Clinton D. Orcutt, was the last marriage at the Orcutt home, Miss Jane being the youngest of the three Orcutt girls, all of whom have been immensely popular in Omaha society.

The eldest and youngest Misses Orcutt both chose Omaha men and will reside here. The second daughter, Miss Anna Ri, whose wedding was one of the prettiest of last season’s afffairs, is now the wife of Louis Jaques of Chicago.

When Miss Orcutt became the wife of A.J. Beaton, the wedding was a quiet one, owing to the death of her mother.

Miss Anna Ri’s wedding was a comparatively quiet one, only immediate friends and relatives being present. Although not a large affair, it was noticeably pretty, a feature of it being the altar, before which the ceremony was performed. This altar was brought from a nearby church and was beautifully decorated.

The Orcutt home for Miss Jane’s wedding to Arthur Keeline was a veritable bower of floral beauty, with the room being lined with palms concealing the walls, and to this was added hundreds of American Beauty roses, lilies of the valley, violets, and Japanese cherry blossoms.”[10]

Photo #1 – The Bride – Jane Clare Orcutt

“The cathedral chimes sounded the approach of the bridal party and the procession came slowly down the broad stairway to the strains of the ‘Lohengrin’ march, played by a stringed orchestra. Gowned in white satin, chiffon, and lace trimmings, with a veil that fell to the floor, and, carrying a shower bouquet of orchids and lilies of the valley, the bride was as lovely as a fairy princess.[11]

“The bannisters were wound with smilax and the newel posts were surmounted by baskets of showering red roses. From these ropes of white chiffon were stretched across the hall to the drawing room.”[12]

Jance Clare (Orcutt) Keeline, February 7, 1906, Omaha, Nebraska.

Photo #2 – The Bride and Groom at the Altar – Jane Orcutt and Arthur Keeline

“Cut flowers and greens were combined in a decorative scheme at once simple and beautiful in the trimming of the spacious rooms, making the wedding one of the most beautiful home functions of the year. The large drawing room was a bower of ferns and white roses, and before the east windows an altar was improvised beneath a canopy of white illusion covered with plumosus fern and from which was suspended a large white floral wedding bell. Candles in brass holders burned at the back and on either side stood a tall cluster of American Beauty roses.”

Jane Orcutt and Arthur Keeline, February 7, 1906, Omaha, Nebraska

Photos #3 and #4 – Maids of Honor and Bridesmaids

“The groom, with Mr. Odin Mackay as a groomsman, came first, and directly after Miss Blanche Kinsler as maid of honor, gowned in white and carrying American Beauty roses. Then came the bridesmaids, Misses Margaret Wood and Faith Potter, Mary Lee McShane and Bessie Brady, Edna Keeline and Marie Coffman, walking two and two, all gowned alike in white organdie and Val. lace, with girdles of rose red and carrying showers of American Beauty roses. Short white tulle veils held to place a the left side with princess jeweled tips of rose red completed their costumes. Miss Ella May Brown, as maid of honor, came next. Her gown was of iridescent gauze shaded from the rose red to silver, and she carried a shower of American Beauty roses.”[14]

Left to right – Blanche Kinsler, Margaret Wood, Faith Potter, Mary Lee McShane, Bessie Brady, Edna Keeline, Marie Coffman, and last, Ella Mae Brown.
Far left, Blanche Kinsler; far right, Ella Mae Brown; bridesmaids Bessier Brady, Margaret Wood, Mary Lee McShane, Faith Potter, and Marie Coffman.

Photo #5 – The Bride at the Altar

“The bride came last with her brother-in-law, Mr. A.J. Beaton. Her gown was of soft white chiffon satin, made princess and inset with panels of duchess and point lace that extended up into the bodice and down the skirt. The yoke and bolero were of rose point lace. The wedding veil of tulle hung to the carpet and was held to place by a wreath of orange blossoms and jeweled butterfly. Her only ornament was a necklace pendant in the form of a bunch of grapes, the front made of shaded pearls combined with diamonds.”[15]

Jane Clare Orcutt on her wedding day, February 7, 1906, in Omaha, Nebraska.

Photos #6 and #7 – The gifts

The Keelines received silver, crystal, stemware, china, vases, a glass dome-covered clock, pictures, books, and even a pair of shoes decorated with large satin bows. On the right-hand side of photo #6 is a donkey painting by Frances Miller Mumaugh. This was a gift to my great-grandmother, Edith (Orcutt) Beaton, who took art classes from Frances Mumaugh, which I wrote about here. My mother still has the painting in her home.

Examining the photos of the gifts closely, I can see pictures of various friends and family hanging on the walls. I recognize two images (photo #7) because my grandmother, Anna Jane (Beaton) Hyde, preserved the photos. She also inherited the silver tea set, which is still in the family.

Wedding gifts for the Orcutt-Keeline wedding. The donkey painting and silver tea set are still in the family.
Orcutt-Keeline wedding gifts, February 7, 1906, Omaha, Nebraska.

The Reception

Unfortunately, the photographer did not take any pictures of the reception area, but the description conjures up delightful images.

“The wedding guests were received informally after the ceremony. The den had been transformed iinto a bower of wild cherry blossoms, adjoining which was a grotto of orange bows and rocks, over which a waterfall played. The punch was served here from a bowl sunk in a rustic well, studded with small colorful lights. The windows and doorways of the rear parlor were outlined with American Beauty roses and asparagus fern, and the color scheme or red extended to the dining room, where smart red bows combined with American Beauties in the decoration. In the center of the table, a little electric fountain splashed into a bed of lilies of the valley.”[16]

“The refreshments, the dainties of French pastries, candies, salads and creams, were served in the dining room and den, which were decorated to resemble grottoes with electrical fountains and dense foliage and floral arrangements. The flowers, which were the most beautiful that have been seen in Omaha this season, were furnished by J.F. Wilcox of Council Bluffs.”[17]

“The guests numbered 300. Those assisting were the members of the Orcutt, Keeline, and Beaton families. A number of out-of-town folk were present.”[17]

The Honeymoon

“Immediately after the ceremony Mr. and Mrs. Keeline departed for their wedding trip, which will include a two months’ visit to California and Honolulu. They will be at home upon their return, but have made no definite plans regarding their residence. Mrs. Keeline is one of the most generally popular young women in the fashionable set, and three seasons in society have only served to increase her popularity. Mr. Keeline, who is associated with his father in extensive cattle interests in Wyoming, was reared in Council Bluffs, where his family is one of the oldest and best known, and he has been equally prominent in society there and in Omaha.”[18]

Executive Building, Honolulu, ancestry.com
Carriages at harbor, Honolulu 1903, Library of Congress
Honolulu, 1902, Library of Congress

Hopefully, the Keelines had already departed California for Honolulu by April 18, 1906 – the day of the Great San Francisco earthquake.

The Bridal Gown has a History

Twenty-nine years after Jane Orcutt wore her bridal gown, her niece, Anna Jane (Beaton) Hyde, wore the ivory satin gown for her Omaha wedding on June 25, 1935, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church. The groom, my grandfather, was John Frederick Hyde, a descendant of Benjamin and Joshua Hyde, Revolutionary War ancestors.

Anna Jane (Beaton) Hyde June 25, 1935, Omaha, Nebraska, wearing her Aunt Jane Orcutt’s wedding gown.

My sister now has the wedding gown, but it has dramatically deteriorated. I don’t know if it is possible to preserve the gown at this point.

Jane Orcutt wedding gown

COMING NEXT:

Over this last year, I have written several articles about the three Orcutt sisters, Edith, Anna Ri, and Jane Clare, but have yet to focus on their father, Clinton Delos Orcutt. My grandmother often pondered how he managed to amass his wealth. She didn’t know. After researching the matter for several years, I discovered the story of my 2x great-grandfather. I think my grandmother would be pleased. His is the tale of a farmer’s son who, through hard work, determination, and common sense, accrued enough money to live comfortably, and dedicated himself to helping the less fortunate. Stay tuned for Clinton Orcutt’s biography.

© 2023 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

ENDNOTES

[1] “Weddings and Engagements,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, p.6, February 4, 1906, online archives, (https: newspapers.com: accessed 19 February 2021.)

[2] “Weddings and Engagements,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, p.2, October 8, 1905, online archives, (https:chroniclingamerica.loc.gov: accessed 29 June 2012.)

[3] “U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925”, database, Ancestry.com (http:www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 January 2023), entry for Arthur Keeline, 30 December 1907, Washington D.C., citing NARA Roll#51; Volume #; Roll 0051-Certificates 43952-44651.

[4]“U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 January 2023), entry for Arthur Keeline, Harvard College; the Year 1904, p.218.

[5] “Weddings and Engagements,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, p.2, October 8, 1905, online archives, (https:chroniclingamerica.loc.gov: accessed 29 June 2012.)

[6] “Mostly about People,” The Examiner, Omaha, Nebraska, January 20, 1906, p.6, online archives, (https://newspapers.com: accessed 3 February 2023.)

[7] “Weddings and Engagements,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, p.6, February 4, 1906, online archives, (https: newspapers.com: accessed 19 February 2021.)

[8] “Connubial Ventures,” Evening World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, p.3, February 7, 1906, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 4 February 2023.

[9] “Society,” The Omaha Daily News,” February 11, 1907, p.18, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 2 February 2023.).

[10] “Society,” The Omaha Daily News,” February 11, 1907, p.18, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 2 February 2023.).

[11] “Keeline-Orcutt Nuptials,” Morning World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, February 8, 1906, p.5, online archives, (https:genealogybank.com: accessed 10 October 2021.)

[12] “Hymeneal Keeline-Orcutt,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, p.5, February 8, 1906, online archives, (https:chroniclingamerica.loc.gov: accessed 29 June 2012.)

[13] Ibid

[14] Ibid

[15] Ibid

[16] Ibid

[17] “Keeline-Orcutt Nuptials,” Morning World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, February 8, 1906, p.5, online archives, (https:genealogybank.com: accessed 10 October 2021.)

[18]“Hymeneal Keeline-Orcutt,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, p.5, February 8, 1906, online archives, (https:chroniclingamerica.loc.gov: accessed 29 June 2012.)

Posted in My Family Ancestry | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

WEDDING IN A TIME OF MOURNING – ANNA RI ORCUTT AND LOUIS TALLMADGE JACQUES

Posted on February 6, 2023 by treeklimber
Anna Ri (Orcutt) and Louis Jaques, 1906. Handwriting, Anna Jane Beaton Hyde

Three sisters, three weddings overshadowed by death and mourning. The Orcutt sisters, Edith, Anna Ri, and Jane, lost their mother, Anna Dorcas Orcutt, nee Dutton, in January 1899. I’ve already shared the story of Edith’s marriage to Alfred James Beaton, which occurred nine months after Anna’s death. Due to the strict rules of mourning observed during that era, it was a quiet wedding. Then, six years later, the girl’s father, Clinton Delos Orcutt, suddenly passed away in January 1905 – shortly before Anna Ri planned to wed her fiancée.

The mourning period for children mourning a parent (or vice versa) was one year. Mourning rules proscribed dress and etiquette, especially specific for women. Women wore deep black, lusterless fabrics like crepe or wool with simple white undergarments- no lace. Minimal or no jewelry was the rule. The Orcutt girls had to forego all social events except attending church during the mourning period. Despite the restrictions, Anna Ri went ahead with her wedding plans, albeit greatly modified.

Anna Ri, the second eldest daughter, was born July 15, 1881, in Davenport, Iowa. At age six, her family moved to their newly built spacious home in Omaha, Nebraska. Like her sisters, Anna Ri attended her final year of education at an out-of-state Catholic girls’ school. She chose to attend Loretto Heights in Denver, Colorado. You can read more about the Orcutt girls’ education here.

Anna Ri reveled in the luxurious lifestyle her father provided. According to the letter written by Anna Jane (Beaton) Hyde, her niece, and my grandmother, “Anna Ri was very extravagant and society minded.”[1] She loved to shop for beautiful clothes, particularly at the Brandeis department store, which carried imported French clothing. Edith complained that her sister “would keep the horses waiting all afternoon at Brandeis while she bought clothes.”[2]

Brandeis Department Store, Omaha, Nebraska, courtesy of Omaha Public Library

In 1900, the Omaha Daily Bee featured sixteen young women who represented Omaha’s popular and younger fashionable set. Included amongst them was nineteen-year-old Anna Ri Orcutt.[3]

Anna Ri Orcutt – one of the fashionable set – Omaha, Nebraska, 1900.

A portrait and a picture of Anna Ri Orcutt elegantly dressed. The image was painted circa 1900, and the photo was taken circa 1904. My grandmother, Anna Jane Hyde, sold the painting in 1972 to an acquaintance. I’ve often wondered – who has the painting now?

MOUNTAIN VACATION LEADS TO LOVE

The Orcutt family traveled on several occasions to the Colorado mountains for vacation. Local Omaha newspapers included articles about “the wonders of this entrancingly beautiful part of the country.”[4] They also suggested exclusive hotels, like the new Antlers hotel in Colorado Springs. The “magnificent brick structure” had 250 rooms and 85 handsome private baths, plus amenities for the guest with refined tastes.[5] The cost per room was $3.50, which converts to $121 today. It’s pretty reasonable if a guest stays for a week or two. Anna Ri remained in Colorado for three months.[6]

Northwest view of Antlers Hotel that was completed in 1901. Wikipedia.org

On August 10, 1902, the Omaha Daily Bee reported, “Miss Orcutt [Anna Ri] and Miss Jenny [Jane] Orcutt are at the Antlers, Colorado Springs.” [7]During her extended stay, Anna Ri met her future spouse, Louis Tallmadge Jaques, and his family, including Louis’s younger sister, Lita Jacques. The two girls, who shared a July 1881 birthday, forged a friendship. Upon their return to their respective homes, they began visiting one another regularly. Anna Ri’s first visit to Chicago was an invitation to attend the November wedding of Louis’s elder brother, Willard.[8]

Meeting an attractive young businessman from Chicago certainly fit Anna Ri’s plans for a successful future. A tall, slender, handsome man, Louis graduated from Yale Sheffield Scientific School in 1900. [9]After graduation, he went into the tea import business with his father, Frank Forester Jaques, and Jaques Manufacturing Company with his brothers, Charles and Willard.[10] The latter was a profitable baking powder business, especially during WWI when the Jaques business provided supplies for the military.

The young couple continued to visit one another over the next three years. While Louis spent much of his time working, Anna Ri indulged in a busy social life attending teas, luncheons, dinner parties, the theater, horse races, and cotillions. She traveled to Chicago, New York, Yellowstone Park, Mexico City, and the World’s Fair in St. Louis. She also planned her wedding to Louis.

Mr. Louis Tallmadge Jaques of Chicago and Miss Anna Ri Orcutt

Coming from a socially prominent family and one of the “best-known young women in society,” Anna Ri planned an elaborate wedding with many attendants to be held at All Saints Episcopal Church, followed by a journey around the world[11]. However, the unexpected death of her father, Clinton Orcutt, called for a change in her plans. Clinton died at age 64 from a stroke on January 27, 1905, leaving his three daughters devastated but not destitute.

“The death of Mr. Clinton D. Orcutt, which occurred Friday morning, removes from society, temporarily three of its most popular young women, his daughters. Mrs. A.J. Beaton [Edith], Miss Anna Ri Orcutt, and Miss Jane Orcutt.”[12]

Anna Ri and Louis forged ahead with their altered wedding per the request of Clinton Orcutt prior to his death. His final wishes he expressed were that the wedding would not be postponed. the betrothal had taken place months earlier and Clinton Orcutt had planned a brilliant wedding for his daughter. The wedding would take place, but the details had changed from a large church wedding with a bevy of attendants to a quiet home affair with just the closest friends and family. The Omaha Bee printed a marriage announcement on March 19, 1905.

“The marriage of Miss Anna Ri Orcutt to Mr. Louis Talmage [sic]Jaques of Chicago will be solemnized quietly at the home of the bride, 550 South Twenty-sixth street, April 12. Mr. Jacques is a successful young businessman in Chicago. Miss Orcutt is one of the best-known young women in society, and her many friends will regret her departure from Omaha while extending their congratulations. Mr. Jaques spent several days in the city last week en route to Texas and will stop on his return next week.” [13]

THE WEDDING ALBUM

Preserved by my grandmother, Anna Jane (Beaton) Hyde, the beige paper-covered wedding album for Anna Ri Orcutt and Louis Jaques measures 11.5″x 14″ and consists of nine pictures, each 7.75″ x 10″. [14]An unusual aspect of this album is that the photographer focused on the bride, her six attendants, and the gifts. The only photograph of the groom shows his backside as he stands next to his bride.

“The wedding of Miss Anna Ri Orcutt, daughter of the late Clinton D. Orcutt, and Mr. Louis Tallmadge Jaques of Chicago was solemnized at 8 o’clock last evening [Wednesday, April 12, 1905] at the home of the bride on South Twenty-Sixth street. Owing to the recent bereavement in the family of the bride, the wedding was very quiet, only thirty-five guests witnessing the ceremony, including the relatives, a number of whom were from out of town.”[15]

“It was one of the most beautiful that has taken place in Omaha in many seasons.”[16]

Photo # 1 – The Bride – “The bride walked last with her brother-in-law Mr. A.J. Beaton. the bridal gown was of ivory white satin, cut princess, with yoke and bertha of rose point lace, and the skirt was embroidered with chiffon orange blossoms. The long veil was caught to place with a coronet of orange blossoms, and she carried a shower of lily of the valley. her only ornament was a pendant Austrian opal cameo, surrounded with diamonds, suspended on a fine gold chain set a frequent intervals with diamonds.“[17]

Anna Ri Orcutt, April 12, 1905, Omaha, Nebraska.

“It was a green and white wedding, and throughout the house Easter lilies and white flowers were combined with smilax, ferns, and palms in effective decoration. The stairway was wound with smilax and at the newel posts and landings stalks of lilies were fastened with white illusion bows. In the reception hall beyond the orchestra was hidden behind a bank of palms.” [18](An orchestra stand is visible to the left of the staircase where the musicians played the wedding march.)

Close-up of Anna Ri Orcutt with the Austrian opal cameo surrounded by diamonds.

Photo # 2 – Bride and Groom before the altar. “The ceremony was performed in the rear parlor in the bow window, which extends across the entire width of the room. Here an arbor of smilax and Easter lilies was constructed and beneath it an altar and priedieux. The altar cloth was of lace and on it were burning candles and lilies. At either side were tall, white candles in heavy brass standards, and the supports of the bower were tied with white illusion bows.” [19]

Anna Ri Orcutt and Louis Tallmadge Jaques – Wedding day, April 12, 1905

Photo # 3 – Wedding party attendants – “The wedding march was played by the orchestra in the hall. Preceding the bridal party down the stairway were Miss Marguerite Pritchett and Miss Ella May Brown and Miss Georgia Kennard and Miss Gertrude Moorhead walking in twos and carrying between them arches of Easter lilies. In the wide doorways between the parlors and reception hall they paused, holding the arches under which the others of the bridal party passed.“[20]

The attendants – were Ella Mae Brown (far right), Georgia Kennard (far left), Marguerite Pritchett, and Gertrude Moorhead. Note the gentleman on the far right and behind the girls on the staircase to the far left.

Photo #4 – The Bridesmaids –“The bridesmaids, the Misses Jaques of Chicago, came next, both gowned in net over apple green taffeta and chiffon with short sleeved, lace bodices and wearing short tulle veils, held to places at either side by clusters of white poppies. They carried stalks of Easter lilies.”[21]

Bridesmaids Marguerite Jacques (on left) and Abbie Lita Jaques (on right)

Photo # 5 – The Altar and Priedieux -(see description in photo #2) – “The bridal party was met at the altar by Mr. Jacques, with his brother, Mr. Charles Jacques of Chicago who served as groom’s man, and the marriage ceremony was read by Rev. T.J. Mackay of All Saints’ church. [22]

Altar set up in the rear parlor of the Orcutt home for the wedding of Anna Ri Orcutt to Louis Jaques.

Photo # 6 – Edith Orcutt Beaton- “Mrs. A.J. Beaton, sister of the bride, came next as matron of honor. Her gown was of white net and lace over white silk, and she carried Easter lilies and also wore the short tulle veil. Miss Jane Orcutt, as maid of honor, walked next, in a charming gown of apple green chiffon, made princess, over green silk and with trimmings of panne velvet and duchess lace, and completed by the short veil and lilies.” [23](The album did not include a photo of Jane, the sister, and maid-of-honor. It is possible that each girl received an album with a picture of themselves; therefore, Edith’s album did not include a photograph of her sister.)

Edith (Orcutt) Beaton, sister of the bride. Note the portrait of Anna Ri behind Edith. It is the same portrait referred to earlier in the blog, which I wrote about here.

Photo #7 – The Dining Room- “A buffet supper followed the ceremony. In the dining room the green and white was carried out in the decoration of the table and room. A shower of illusion butterflies mingled with plumosa fern was suspended over the table, which had its centerpiece a mound of marguerites resting upon a cloth of Cluny lace.”[24]

Dining room – Edith, who had a flare for decorating, made the butterflies.

Photos #8 and #9 -The Gifts –“Among the out-of-town guests who attended the wedding were the members of Mr. Jacques family from Chicago. Notwithstanding the fact that the guests numbered less than two score, a spacious room upstairs was filled with the costly gifts that testified to the many friends of the young people.”[25]

The wedding gifts are silver, crystal, lace, china, vases, and knickknacks. The gifts are displayed in Jane Ocutt’s bedroom; her fiancée attended Harvard.
The wedding gifts, more silver, decorative items, Persian silk rug.

After the wedding, the young couple, who had to forego their journey around the world, chose to visit California for an extended trip. “Mr. and Mrs. Jaques left for California last evening [April 12, 1905] and will be at home in Chicago after September 1.” [26]Upon their return to Chicago, Louis, and Anna Ri lived with his parents at 2771 Sheridan road, Edgewater, until they purchased their new home in December 1905 at 2544 Kenmore Avenue, Chicago.

Coming soon – The last of the three popular Omaha sisters marries. The wedding of Miss Jane Orcutt is the final one in the Orcutt home.[27]

© 2023 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

ENDNOTES

[1]Hyde, Anna Jane. Letter to Kendra Hopp. Date unknown. Personal collection of Kendra Hopp  Schmidt.

[2] Ibid

[3] “Popular and Representative Members of Omaha’s Younger Fashionable Set.” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, April 8, 1900, p. 8, online archives. {https: chronicling America.gov: accessed 8 January 2023.)

[4] “No Hot Nights in Colorado and Utah,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, June 25, 1899, p. 27, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 31 January 2023.)

[5] “The New Antlers,” Omaha Hotel Reporter, Omaha, Nebraska, June 19, 1901, p.2, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 1 February 2023.)

[6] “Movements and Whereabouts,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, October 19, 1902, p.6, online archives, (https:www.newspapers.com: accessed 6 December 2022.)

[7] “Social Chit-Chat,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, August 10, 1902, p.6, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 10 January 2023.)

[8] “Movements and Whereabouts,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, October 19, 1902, p.6, online archives, (https:www.newspapers.com: accessed 6 December 2022.)

[9] Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut), The 1900 Yale Pot-Pourri, vol. XXXV, 58, “Seniors” graduates of Sheffield Scientific School; U.S. School yearbooks, 1880-2012,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/32826_B064502-00071?pId=120038760: accessed 1 February 2023, image 72.

[10] “Hymeneal,” the Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, April 13, 1905, p.2, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 13 December 2021.)

[10] “Social Calendar,” The Omaha Daily News, Omaha, Nebraska, March 26, 1905, p.15, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 13 December 2021.)

[12] “The Social Calendar,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, January 29, 1905, p.6, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 18 May 2021.)

[13] “The Social Calendar,” The Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, March 19, 1905, p.6, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 18 May 2021.)

[14] Anna Ri Orcutt and Louis Tallmadge Jaques. Wedding Album. April 12, 1905. Personal collection of Kendra Hopp Schmidt.

[15] “Hymeneal,” the Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, April 13, 1905, p.2, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 13 December 2021.)

[16] “Weddings and Engagements,” Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, April 16, 1905, online archives, (https:genealogybank.com: accessed 13 December 2021.)

[17] “Hymeneal,” the Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, April 13, 1905, p.2, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 13 December 2021.)

[18] Ibid

[19] Ibid

[20] Ibid

[21] Ibid

[22] Ibid

[23] Ibid

[24] Ibid

[25] Ibid

[26] Ibid

[27] “Society,” The Omaha Daily News, Omaha, Nebraska, February 11, 1906, p.18, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 10 November 2022.)

Posted in Biographies, My Family Ancestry | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

GILDED AGE GIRLS IN OMAHA – JANE CLARE ORCUTT’S DEBUT

Posted on January 30, 2023 by treeklimber

Miss Jane Orcutt, one of Omaha’s fairest debutantes in the fall of 1903, was ready to be officially launched into society[1]. After her Grand Tour of Europe in the summer of 1901, she completed her formal education and graduated from the Kenwood Sacred Heart Academy in Albany, New York, in June 1903. The next step for her future revolved around her debut. It announced she was ready to secure a successful marriage partner.

Born on September 23, 1884, in Durant, Iowa, Jane was the youngest child of Clinton Delos Orcutt and Anna Dorcas Orcutt, nee Dutton. You can read more information about Jane’s youth here. When Anna Orcutt passed away in January 1899, fourteen-year-old Jane relied on her eldest sister, Edith (Orcutt) Beaton, to fill the void. Edith, (my great-grandmother) who was five years older than Jane, continued to live in the Orcutt family home after her marriage in October 1899 and acted as a chaperone for her two younger sisters and as a hostess for her father.

Neither Edith nor the middle sister, Anna Ri, had made their debut. Perhaps because they had already met their future spouses before they completed their educations. The debutante ritual provided a safe means to vet prospective suitors, as marriage was “the only respectable career for [wealthy] women.”[2] In addition, books on the subject offered advice to young women on the etiquette of dress; how to behave at luncheons, dinner parties, and dances; the choice of literature; the art of conversation; and friendships with men.

Lady Jephson wrote a book, “Letters to a Debutante,” and offered the following advice. “Be good, and you will be happy, always true but cultivate charm, and one has the key to the door of happiness. By charm, she meant goodness and amiability, tactfulness, and resourcefulness, all kneaded into an agreeable whole. The sharp tongue is the worst of all evils – it is far worse than a gossiping one (which is quite bad enough) and will leave the young debutante who practices sarcasm friendless and forlorn in no time.”[3]

Jane, a popular society girl, had a “gentle and charming personality.” Described by the Omaha society columns as “an exquisitely pretty girl,” the nineteen-year-old petite, blue-eyed brunette had no problems fulfilling the requirements of a successful debutante.

When Jane returned to Omaha after her June graduation, she quickly filled her social calendar with a whirlwind of activities. Dinners, luncheons, card parties, dances, and country house parties hosted by friends and family kept her occupied. Then, as autumn approached, Omaha society prepared for the ninth annual Ak-Sar-Ben Ball, including the Orcutt family. It was held on October 10th amid palms, flowers, and blazing light, surrounded by beautifully gowned women, men, and their knights in gay attire. Two maids of honor chosen to attend the queen were Jane and Anna Ri Orcutt. Both girls wore dainty white gowns trimmed in lace, while each carried a shower of American Beauty roses and wore ostrich tips in their hair.[4]

As grand as the ball might have been for Jane, her debut held a greater significance. Accordingly, invitation cards had been sent out by Edith and Anna Ri for a reception to be held at the Orcutt home at 550 South Twenty-six Street on Monday, November 2, 1903, from 3 to 5 p.m. to introduce Miss Jane Orcutt formally.[5]

The Orcutts chose a well-known photographer, Louis R. Bostwick, to record the event. Known for his clear photographs with amazing detail, he used a large 8 x 10 view camera for all his pictures. The paper-bound album measures 12.5″ x 10.25 and is tied with a faded cream satin ribbon. There are seven images, each 4.75 ” x 6.75″.

Unfortunately, the writing on Jane’s preserved portfolio cover has faded with time, but I can still read the cover title, “Her Debut.” The writing is faintly visible in the bottom left-hand corner: “Some Camera Sketches of Jane Clare Orcutt, By Louis Ray Bostwick, Omaha.” My grandmother, Anna Jane (Beaton) Hyde, cherished the images of her favorite aunt, and now I have the pleasure of sharing them with my extended family and readers.

“HER DEBUT“

Rain and chilly 42-degree temperatures did not dampen Jane’s pleasure. On the contrary, her special day must have filled her with excitement. The beautiful, spacious Orcutt residence was a vision of beauty in preparation for the reception. As was customary, friends sent large bouquets of flowers that filled the rooms with color and aroma. Three hundred guests visited the Orcutt home throughout the afternoon. Thirty-six family friends assisted throughout the rooms, presiding at tables and serving punch to the guests. This is in addition to the servants who prepared the refreshments.

The first picture featured Jane amidst a profusion of blossoms. Described by Society columns as “an exquisitely pretty girl, she was charming in an imported gown of white net over white liberty satin. The skirt was inset with lace and had applications of narrow ribbon. The bodice had a capuchin of silk thread lace with iridescent fichus. Puffed elbow sleeves and a girdle of white liberty satin completed the costume.”[7]

Photo #1

Jane Clare Orcutt – Debut November 2, 1903, Omaha, Nebraska

Photo #2

“The entire south wall of the drawing room in which Mrs. Beaton (Edith), Miss Orcutt (Anna Ri), and the young debutante (Jane) occupied was banked with yellow and white chrysanthemums. Great clusters of American beauty roses filled the corners, and fragrant violets added their sweetness.”[8]

Edith (on the left) wore a gown of white renaissance lace over blue chiffon. Anna Ri (middle) was dressed in yellow broadcloth with deep points of yellow lace forming a skirt yoke. The bodice was of embroidered lace. Both ladies carried violets. Jane Orcutt, the debutante (on the right), had American beauty roses.

Photo #3

The drawing room of the Clinton Orcutt home. Jane Orcutt’s debut, November 2, 1903

Photo #4

Jane Clare Orcutt was surrounded by a profusion of flowers at her debut.

Photo #5

Jane Orcutt on the right with two friends who helped serve punch in one of the west parlors of the Orcutt home. The floral arrangements in the west parlors were pink. Ella Mae Brown is on the left.

Photo #6

Jane posed standing with her hand on a silver tea samovar. You can see her reflection in the mirror on the wall behind her. Anna Ri, seated, gazed at the camera man. Green and red were the dominant colors in the dining room with a low mound of American Beauty roses forming the centerpiece. Streamers of green tulle hung from the chandelier.

Photo # 7

I chose to include a colorized version of this photograph because it enhanced Jane’s image, even though the color of the flower arrangements is not accurate,

A contemplative photo of Jane Clare Orcutt.

Photo #8

The final photo in the album shows Clinton Orcutt’s property, including two homes and a carriage house. The Orcutts lived in the most prominent house, which was slightly obscured by the barren trees. I appreciate this photograph because there are so many details. Carriages lined the wet pavement while the drivers patiently waited for their passengers to return. Behind the last carriage on the left sat a dog who watched the comings and goings of the guests.

Clinton Delos Orcutt house at 550 South Twenty-Sixth Street, Omaha, Nebraska.

DANCE PARTY

After her formal introduction to society, Jane and her sister Anna Ri attended a “brilliant dance party” to celebrate her debut, hosted by their father, Clinton Orcutt. Held on November 19 at the Chambers Dance Academy, the venue was “prettily decorated.”

“Southern smilax wound around the railings of the balcony. In the balcony, where supper was served at small tables, palms had been placed between all the tables. Cut glass candlesticks with red candles and bows of red ribbons ornamented the tables, harmonizing with the short red curtains at the windows. Beautiful Turkish rugs and inviting couches made the platform at the north end an attractive place, while a small room at the right of the entrance was converted into a cozy den. The programs were dainty affairs with the monogram of the debutante, Miss Jane Orcutt, done in gold and white. Miss Jane Orcutt wore her coming-out gown and carried chrysanthemums.”[9]

Chambers Dance Academy on West Farnam, Omaha, Nebraska. From the KMTV/Bostwick-Frohardt Photograph Collection, permanently housed at The Durham Museum

The reader likely wonders if Jane met her prospective spouse at her coming-out party. I don’t know. However, by February 13, 1904, two months after her debut, Jane attended an Orpheum Theater party and a café supper hosted by her future spouse, Arthur R. Keeline.[10] They announced their engagement on October 8, 1905, and married on January 21, 1906.

Coming soon- the weddings of Anna Ri and Jane Clare Orcutt, complete with photographs.

© 2023 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

ENDNOTES

[1] “Miss Jane Orcutt, Omaha Excelsior, Omaha, Nebraska, December 19, 1903, Volume XXVI, Number 16, p.1, online archives, (https:newspapers.com: accessed 6 November 2022.)

[2] Richardson, Kristin. (2019, November 25). It’s Easy to Dismiss Debutante Balls, But Their History Can Help Us Understand Women’s Lives. https://time.com/5737250/debutantes-history/

[3] “Advice to Debutantes,” The New York Times, New York, New York, September 23, 1905, p20, online archives, (https://newspapers.com : accessed 10 December 2022.)

[4]“The AK-SAR-BEN Ball,” The Examiner, Omaha, Nebraska, October 10, 1903, p.5, online archives, (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 December 2022.)

[5] “Society,” Sunday World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, October 25, 1903, p. 12, online archives, (https://genealogybank.com: accessed 9 December 2022.)

[6] Bostwick, Louis. Photograph portfolio of Jane Clare Orcutt’s Debut. 2 November 1903, Omaha, Nebraska. Author’s personal collection.

[7] “Society Gossip of a Day,” Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, Volume: XLII, Issue: 34, p. 2, online archives, (https://genealogybank.com: accessed 5 November 2023.)

[8] Ibid

[9] Ibid

[10] “Card Basket,” The Omaha Excelsior, Omaha, Nebraska, February 13, 1904, p.12, online archives, (https://newspapers.com:accessed 8 December 2022.)

Posted in Biographies, My Family Ancestry | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

FORMER SOCIETY MISS TURNS WYOMING TRAPPER – (Anna Jane Beaton – my maternal grandmother)

Posted on August 16, 2022 by treeklimber
Anna Jane Beaton, Creighton Prom Queen, Omaha, NE 1926

Instead of an Omaha debut, Anna Jane Beaton opted for a year teaching on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming after she graduated from college in June of 1927. The title of this article is derived from a newspaper clipping preserved in my grandmother’s scrapbook.

“Miss Anna Jane Beaton, Omaha girl, who received many honors as a student at Duchesne College, having been crowned queen of the Creighton university prom, and having served as a princess in the court of Ak-Sar-Ben, is enjoying a totally different experience in Wyoming this season where she is tutoring at the Offutt ranch near Gillette.”[1]

Wyoming 1921, Wyoming Homestead Maps

What images do you have in your mind’s eye when you think of your grandparents? Do you picture them in their youth? Do you know what dreams and aspirations they had? We tend to view our grandparents through the limited lens of our relationship with them.

I thought I knew a great deal about my maternal grandmother, Anna Jane (Beaton) Hyde. I lived with her the summer after graduate school and visited her during some of my college vacations. Our conversations often covered aspects of her youth. We corresponded and called one another weekly. Grams, as my family called her, had inspired me in every realm of my life. But how well did I know who Anna Jane Beaton was as a young woman?

My grandmother embraced life’s adventures and was equally at home on the dance floor at a ball as in the saddle on a ranch. Since she died in 1998, I have regularly examined her scrapbooks, looking for more clues about her life. Her scrapbooks included cards, photographs, and newspaper clippings about her friends, family, and herself. One article piqued my interest. It referred to a story my grandmother had written at age 21, the year after graduating college. She submitted the article to “The Signet,” a magazine published nationally by the Sacred Heart Order.

Newspaper article from Anna Jane Beaton’s scrapbook
The Signet – May 1928 – New York Public Library Archives

For many years I tried to locate a copy of the article, to no avail. Then, while researching information regarding my great-grandmother and her sisters’ education, I found an archivist at the Loretto Heritage Center who provided a tip. The New York Public Library has copies of the Signet, including the article I desired. Anna Jane’s story revealed another layer of information about her life as a young college graduate.

ANNA JANE BEATON’S STORY

TEACHING IN THE WEST – By Anna Jane Beaton

“What shall I do after I graduate? is the question that confronts every college girl. The world stands with its hands on its hips, saying challengingly: “Well, now that you have a college degree, let’s see you do something.” Many a college graduate has probably pondered over the problem of a career with as much indecision as a Freshman choosing a prize from the sea of delectables on Reverend Mother’s tray after the congé.

Seven out of the class of ’27 planned to teach but the pedagogic career did not appeal to me. It happened that an article or so of mine had been published and, unfortunately, some of my friends said they were good, and thenceforth the editorial staff seemed the end of the rainbow. The only detaining factor was that a friend invited me out West for the Summer, to the West whose wild hills in past summers had been boundless childhood playgrounds.

  • Anna Jane Beaton, age 8, Gillette, Wyoming.
  • Anna Jane Beaton (age 8) on “Old Dad”, Keeline J Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming.
  • Anna Jane Beaton (age 8) and Rummy, Gillette, Wyoming.
  • Anna Jane Beaton (age 8) on the right, Gillette, Wyoming 1916.
  • Anna Jane Beaton, 1916, Gillette, Wyoming, J-Ranch (Keeline).
  • Gillette, Wyoming, Keeline J-Ranch
  • Anna Jane Beaton 1918 (holding the reins) c. 1920, Gillette, Wyoming Circle J Ranch Keeline Ranch
  • Anna Jane Beaton (on right) 1918, Gillette, Wyoming

The acceptance of this invitation was to be one last fling of youth before taking on the staid duties of a business woman. Besides, mused the future editor, there I can find time to read, converse, observe, gain experience and, let’s see, what was the fifth source of material? –the textbook recommended for a newspaper writer!

At any rate, when the west-bound train puffed into Gillette, one hundred miles from Sheridan, Wyoming, if you know where that metropolis thrives, the pseudo-editor found herself at her journey’s end.

Gillette, Wyoming, 1920 – Anna Jane Beaton Scrapbook

The old western town had not undergone so many changes and, in spite of what Mary Roberts Rinehart [She is often called the American Agatha Christie] says about the West and its lack of cowboys, there were two live cowboys on the street that afternoon –big hats, loud shirts, leather chaps, spurs, and the prerequisite bow-legs.

The first taste of Western hospitality found a scenic background in the country about twenty miles north of Gillette where we were extended an invitation to a house party with friends living in rustic sublimity at the foot of the Rockies. Our party assembled, and, though the black clouds rolled about sardonically, we laughed at the bad omens. A storm in the weird loneliness of the Bad Lands, however, ten miles from the habitation of a living thing, even a rabbit, for there was little or no vegetation, had not been anticipated. the great steep white banks of white sand rising on either side of narrow divides changed to dull gray, and pink shale turned pale with fright under the freakish yellow light of the approaching outburst. Our horses tremulously hurried homeward under pressure of spurs. Almost sitting on their haunches and with front feet braced they intermittently crawled or slid down steep embankments, only to jump the ravine at the bottom and snort, puff and bob their heads with the labor of mounting the next diminutive cañon, as they trudged under fir branches that provokingly slapped the unwary rider in the face or brushed his hat over one ear.

Anna Jane Beaton (age 20) 1927, Gillette, Wyoming Offutt Ranch

When the storm broke, rain fell, not in drops, but as if the whole wet cloud had lost its mooring and dropped at the same instant. The echo of the thunder gave the effect of a constant deep rumble, broken only by the snap of lightening. One lonely tree in that barren yet picturesque waste-land extended its arms for our protection and when we at last moved from our cramped position, after two hours of drenching and shivering everything was dampened except our spirits. It gave one a feeling of rough-and-readiness to weather a storm like that without even sneezing and the whole atmosphere fostered “the call of the wild”, which undeniably finds a harbor in any heart that revels in adventure or romance.

As we neared our hostess’ home, a match-box of a house loomed up in the lap of a cedar-covered butte. The match-box is the school-house in which this (what shall I call it?) is being created, while little Janey is writing her language-lesson for the first time in ink and Bob just interrupted to find out if it were not about time for recess.

School-House, Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming – Anna Jane Beaton Scrapbook
Jane Offutt (8-years-old), Robert (Bob- 14-years-old), Offutt Ranch, 1927-1928, Gillette, Wyoming

You see, this being a “school-ma’am” (an appellation much resented by the way), began as a joke for, although my hostess of the house party was eager to obtain a tutor for her two children, she had suggested teaching with the idea that it was quite absurd to picture her guest wearing the traditional psyche-knot coiffure and prematurely balancing glasses on the end of her nose. The matter being finally taken into serious consideration, however, an egotistical exaltation over the real utility of the new position, together with the thrill of actually being self-dependent, made the editorial dream a fugitive. It would be a change, of course, from the ordinary round of social obligations, in direct opposition to the atmosphere of New York and the days spent at Manhattanville. [ Anna Jane attended her junior year of college at Manhattanville], but the time spent at the Sacred Heart is a preparation for withstanding circumstances. Pioneering is nothing new in the annals of the Sacred Heart, and many of its children have caught the spirit.

So, credits, references and registration in accordance with the state laws were speedily attended to and “the new school teacher” was rushed to the Teacher’s Institute for the customary week of lectures, in a town with a population of three hundred expecting to accommodate four hundred teachers.

The “Institute” is a meeting of all teachers from several counties for the purpose of hearing pedagogical questions discussed by prominent educators throughout the state. Attendance at the Institute or meeting-place nearest one’s post is required by contract. The lectures were not long and at the end of five days we received a lucrative remuneration for attending. I wanted to frame that first check and would have, had there not been a good looking leather coat in a window in Gillette.

On returning to the scene of the house party it was necessary to begin work at once, but the days have been anything but drab or uninteresting. One day a rattlesnake with thirteen rattles, counting the button, was killed outside the school-house door just after the men had brought in the fuel from a nearby coal-bank. For our coal-bin is not in the basement; it is in the back yard where it is dug out of the ground being very near the surface.

[Campbell County, Wyoming is mostly grassland over extensive sub-bituminous coal deposits. Some are so close to the surface of that settlers could dig their coal, as the Offutt’s did on their ranch.[2]

Offutt Ranch school house- 1927-1928 – Anna Jane Beaton photo album with her handwriting.

One day while the children were cutting down a Christmas tree they were nearly stuck full of quills for a roly-poly porcupine was hiding under the rock on which they stood. The best sport of all, however, is trapping along the creek for muskrats or looking for the coyote trap whose victim has dragged it across the prairie. Of course, the boys always do all the shooting, for all the practice in the world would not create me into a good marksman.

Trapping and Hunting on the Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming- Chuck Offutt on the far right. Marguerite Offutt on far left – 1928

There are times when the traps are empty, but then the gallery is more thoroughly appreciated, the priceless art gallery of Nature. God must have forgotten that He promised the rainbow only after the storm for there is at least an approximation of His truce in the lavender, pink, and yellow hues of shale that patch the western hills. As though a French couturier had gowned them, the hills wear a chiffon-like covering of grass dotted thickly with clusters of sage-brush, yet not so thickly as to hide their pink shale underslips. Some of them boast rich green cedar or pine trees, apparently as carelessly laid out as a Futuristic design, yet with equal finesse.

Following an antelope or rabbit trail in the snow on the way to the “matchbox,” the sun seems to burst over one special butte and cast its spotlight teasingly until the early pedestrian feels like a water nymph dancing in a fountain spray; that is morning.

A broad uncivilized expanse ended by the peaked ridges of the Rocky Mountain Range on the western horizon and by shadowy Black Hills on the east, enclosing a vast prairie, broken by rough hills like turbulent waves on the ocean; that is broad day.

Even red glow, a halo on the crest of the square-topped buttes, gradually shading into mauve; that is sunset.

Ethereal moon, gleaming through silhouetted pines like a forest-fire in the night, as fascinating as the long, drawn-out coyote howls that accompany its resurrection; that is nightfall.”[3]

LIFE ON THE OFFUTT RANCH

As Anna Jane mentioned in her story, she applied for a teaching position at the suggestion of her friend, Marguerite (Elmore) Offutt. The list of characters in this blog might be a bit confusing due to the similarity of names – Offutts and Orcutts and three “Janes,” thus it’s best to provide a background to each individual.

  1. Anna Jane Beaton – born 1907 in Omaha, NE. Named after her maternal aunt, Jane (Orcutt) Keeline. Friends with the Offutt family through Jane (Orcutt) Keeline.
  2. Jane (Orcutt) Keeline – born 1884 in Iowa- maternal aunt of Anna Jane Beaton, married to Arthur R. Keeline of the historic Keeline Ranch in Campbell County, Wyoming, and classmate of Marguerite (Elmore) Offutt

OFFUTT FAMILY MEMBERS

1.Charles Seymour Offutt – born 1879 in Maryland, owner of the Offutt/Elmore ranch along the Little Powder River, located 16 miles from Gillette, WY. According to The Bureau of Land Management website, Charles Offutt filed for a land patent for 616 acres in 1916 to raise stock. In 1933, his wife, Marguerite filed for an additional 480 acres.

Offutt Brand – Wyoming State Brand book 1916- Hathitrust Digital Library

2. Marguerite (Elmore) Offutt – born 1881 in Iowa, owner of the Offutt/Elmore ranch, a classmate of Jane (Orcutt) Keeline. The Elmore family filed their first land patent in 1888 in Wyoming. Marguerite’s brother, Michael, her sister, Mary (Elmore) Clark, and her brother-in-law, Maurice Clark, are pictured in Anna Jane’s photograph albums.

3. Charles Elmore “Chuck” Offutt –born in 1907 in New York, eldest son, and rancher on the Offutt Ranch.

4. Robert Seymour “Bob” Offutt –born in 1913 in Wyoming – second son of the Offutt family.

5. Jane Margaret “Janey” Offutt –born in 1919 in Nebraska – named after Jane (Orcutt) Keeline, youngest child in the Offutt family.

Marguerite (Elmore) Offutt and Jane (Orcutt) Keeline were married to men who owned ranches in Wyoming. While Marguerite lived year-round on the O-7 Bar Ranch near Gillette, Jane (Orcutt) Keeline visited the Keeline 4J Ranch occasionally. She invited her niece and nephew, Anna Jane and Phillip Orcutt Beaton, during their summer vacations, where they spent hours riding horses and exploring the ranch. After Jane (Orcutt) Keeline died in 1918, Anna Jane continued to visit Gillette and maintained contact with the Offutt family.

Anna Jane’s scrapbooks included several articles about the year she taught on the Offutt ranch with information about her activities and experiences. Weekend outings to scenic sites such as Sylvan Lake, The Big Horn, Devils Tower, the Bad Lands, and Lake Dome kept her busy on the weekends.

  • Scenes in the Big Horn Mountains – Campbell County School Yearbook 1938 – Ancestry.com
  • Big Horn Canyon – Campbell County High School Yearbook 1938 – Ancestry.com
  • A mountain lake in the Big Horns – Campbell County, WY High School Yearbook – 1928- Ancestry.com
  • Devils Tower- Campbell County High School Yearbook – 1928 – Ancestry.com

The school year commenced in September and ended in mid-May with a break over the Christmas holidays. School hours on the ranch were to be “observed strictly from 9 o’clock to the noon hour and from 1 to 3 o’clock in the afternoon.”[4] Anna Jane taught two students, 8-year-old Janey and 14-year-old Bob. In the Gillette school yearbook for 1928, one of the very few yearbooks available online for Gillette, I found a listing of the Campbell County Rural High Schools. The county High School served a territory about 103 miles long and 50 miles wide. Many of the eighth-grade students were too young to send away to school, so the county placed teachers in rural schools for the approximately 60 High School students. There were 28 rural teachers for the school year 1928 – that list included Anna Jane’s name.[5]

Gillette High School 1928 – Anna Jane Beaton photo album.
The CAMEL 1928, Campbell County High School Yearbook – Ancestry.com

Although I don’t know the specific subjects Anna Jane taught little Janey, the High School yearbook listed the subjects she was required to teach Bob for ninth grade: English I, Algebra I, World History, Community Civics, and Dry Farming; Business Spelling; and Advanced Penmanship.[6]

After-school hours were primarily spent on horseback. Bob and Jane each had their own pony, and Anna Jane always had a horse available to ride. With only two students, Anna Jane had plenty of time to participate fully in life on a remote ranch. She developed her skills as a trapper – trapping beavers, muskrats, and the occasional raccoon. [7] Nineteen-year-old Chuck Offutt, the older brother of Bob and Janey, a handsome young man, slim and 5’10” tall, with black hair and brown eyes, was an attentive instructor.

  • Janey and Bob Offutt, Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming, 1927
  • Jane Offutt, Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming, 1928. Anna Jane Beaton photo album.
  • Jane and Bob Offutt, Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming, 1928. Anna Jane Beaton photo album.
  • Bob and Jane Offutt, winter 1928, Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming- Anna Jane Beaton photo album.
  • Bob and Jane Offutt, Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming, 1927, Anna Jane Beaton photo album.
  • Chuck Offutt, Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming, 1927.
  • Anna Jane Beaton, Offutt Ranch, Gillette Wyoming, 1927.

“I appreciate my muskrat coat,” she writes to friends. In the country, a muskrat skin brings $1. She says it takes 128 skins for a woman’s coat, and the cost of making it is about $125. Muskrat coats can be bought for less in Omaha after Christmas than the cost would be to one who trapped for his owns skins and hired the coat made.”[8]

Anna Jane Beaton with a coyote – Offutt Ranch 1928, Gillette, Wyoming

Although she didn’t hunt herself, Anna Jane told the Omaha paper, “Antelope dinners are frequently given, and ducks are so thick that one could hunt them with a stick instead of a gun.”[9]

Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming – Probably Charles Offutt and Maurice Clark and Michael Elmore – 1927 (Handwriting on photos by Anna Jane Beaton)
Chuck Offutt, his two uncles Michael Elmore and Maurice Clark- Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming 1928. (Handwriting on photos by Anna Jane Beaton)

My grandmother shared a few stories with me about her experiences. According to statistics, the winter Anna Jane spent in Wyoming was the coldest in 30 years. It got so cold in the winter that she had to break the ice in the washbowl to rinse her face in the morning. Trying to stay warm while traipsing to the outhouse required extreme measures. The best way to try and stay warm was to take Tiger-Rose, the family cat, with her.

Tiger-Rose, Offutt family cat- Gillette, Wyoming 1927

Before Christmas, the heavy snow made driving a car into town impossible. Anna Jane rode horseback 16 miles from the ranch to get into Gillette. “The residents of the ranch lands were stormbound, practically since Christmas. Sever cold, or heavy snows or the bad roads resulting, kept the ranchers fairly isolated, according to letters from this young Omahan, who has only been into the town of Gillette three times since the holidays.”[10]

  • Gillette, Wyoming winter 1928
  • Jane Offutt playing in the snow, Offutt Ranch winter 1928
  • Maurice and Mary (Elmore) Clark ranch, Gillette, Wyoming winter 1928.

During the Christmas holidays, Anna Jane returned to Omaha, where she indulged in a busy social life visiting friends and family and hosting a party with her lifelong friend, Jean McGrath. The two young women gave one of the largest luncheons of the Omaha Christmas season at the Fontenelle hotel, with 85 guests in attendance

Omaha World-Herald, Jan 1, 1928

The day after the party, January 2nd, 1928, Anna Jane took the train back to Gillette to finish the school year, which ended in mid-May. After a year of roughing on the range, Anna Jane resumed her busy social life. I know she enjoyed her year on the ranch, but “pedagogy” did not appeal to her as a career. However, her love of nature and the west inspired her lifelong.

Anna Jane Beaton – Gillette, Wyoming – 1927

EPILOGUE

Robert (Bob) Offutt suffered acute cardiac failure at age 27 and died in May 1941; Charles Seymour Offutt died at age 62 in June 1941 from a cerebral hemorrhage; Marguerite Offutt died at age 66 in September 1948; Chuck Offutt died at age 74 in 1981; and Jane Offutt Rourke died at age 82 in 2001.

According to Jane (Offutt) Rourke’s obituary, she attended Catholic high school in Alliance, Nebraska, and then two years at Loretta Heights College in Denver, CO. She then lived with and traveled extensively with her maternal aunt, Mrs. Maurice Clark (sister to Marguerite). Finding this obituary clarified some of the photographs in my grandmother’s album, such as references to “Maurice”, “Michael” and the “Clark ranch.” Jane Offutt married Paul Rourke in 1955 and remained involved in ranching and working with livestock in Gillette, Wyoming.[12]

Offutt Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming – Anna Jane Beaton photograph album- 1927-1928

© 2022 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

ENDNOTES:

[1] Hyde, Anna Jane (Beaton). Scrapbook, ca 1907-1935. Privately held by Kendra Schmidt, Vienna, VA. 2022

[2] Wyo.History.org, Campbell County Wyoming : accessed 12 August 2022

[3] Anna Jane Beaton. “Teaching in the West.” The Signet, Vol VIII, May 1928, No.2, pg.63-65.

[4] Hyde, Anna Jane (Beaton). Scrapbook, ca 1907-1935. The Omaha World-Herald, September 28, 1927, Privately held by Kendra Schmidt, Vienna, VA. 2022.

[5] Campbell High School, The Camel (Paragon printing 1928), p.74. “U.S. School yearbooks, 1900-1999.” Ancestry.com (http:www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 August 2022).

[6] Ibid.

[7] Hyde, Anna Jane (Beaton). Scrapbook, ca 1907-1935. Privately held by Kendra Schmidt, Vienna, VA. 2022

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10]Hyde, Anna Jane (Beaton). Scrapbook, ca 1907-1935. The Omaha World-Herald, September 28, 1927, Privately held by Kendra Schmidt, Vienna, VA. 2022.

[11] Omaha World-Herald, (Omaha, Nebraska, January 1, 1928, Sunday, pg. 9, digital images, Genealogybank.com (https://genealogybank.com: accessed August 2, 2022)

[12]Gillette News Record, Jane Offutt Rourke – August 14, 2001. www.gillettenewsrecord.com, : accessed 12 August 2022.

Posted in My Family Ancestry | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

GILDED AGE GIRLS – THE ORCUTT’S GRAND TOUR OF EUROPE 1901 – PART V- ITALY

Posted on August 8, 2022 by treeklimber

Orcutt Travel Album – (L-R_ Anna Ri Orcutt, Clinton Delos Orcutt, Jane Clare “Jennie” Orcutt

The final leg of the Orcutt’s Grand Tour included at least three popular tourist destinations in Italy – Venice, Florence, and Rome. Their tour probably included some smaller towns, as evidenced by mystery photographs from the travel album.

From Switzerland to Italy, the Orcutts would have traveled by train. During the busy season, the express trains could be overcrowded. However, a group of six persons could secure a compartment, provided they notified the railway personnel half an hour before departure.[1]

“In Italian stations, two minutes before a train starts, which it usually does exactly on time, the train hands cry out, ‘in vettura!’ (all aboard), and all the doors of the carriages are closed, after which the conductor immediately appears and demands the tickets. A shout ‘Pronti‘ (ready) is then repeated from end to end of the station; next, a shrill pocket whistle is heard, and if everything is all right is answered by a distant horn with a fine operatic effect. Last of all, a short, sharp whistle from the engine means the real business, and the train draws out.”[2]

In Italy, each piece of luggage had to be weighed and paid for on the railway. The cost was about seven-tenths of a cent a mile for every hundred pounds.[3] Although it sounds minor, the price could add up. In most of Europe, a traveler did not have to worry about the safety of their trunks when they were out of sight. This was not the case in Italy. Every guidebook advised that the traveler secure their luggage with cording to deter theft of the contents.

“The train men there seem to have got into the unpleasant habit of spending their time between stations in exploring the baggage…The only protection is in cording the trunk, besides locking it (for they do not hesitate to break locks), and in sealing the knots in the cords; a leaden seal is preferable, but if this is not easily procured, sealing wax may suffice; usually the porter at the hotel will attend to the sealing wax when asked.”[4]

Most guidebooks advised against traveling to Italy during July and August due to the heat. The Orcutts visited Italy in August, possibly the hottest month. The average summer temperature of Venice was compared by one guidebook to that of Louisville, Kentucky, or Virginia. “endurable enough, but less comfortable than in spring…the canals get stale and sour.”[5]

“If you are thinking of travelling in summer and say to your friends that you intend to see something of southern France and Italy, they will assure you that you will suffer dreadfully from the heat and will probably die of sunstroke or of some terrible local fever. The reason for this widespread belief is that the original guide-books for use on the Continent were written by for use by Englishmen, who are usually uncomfortable if the thermometer goes over seventy degrees Fahrenheit.”[6]

VENICE

“Venice, Venezia, the capital of the province has its own name, a commercial and naval port…lies 2.5 miles inland from the mainland, in the Lugane, a shallow bay of the Adriatic…its 15,000 houses and palaces, chiefly built on piles, and about 6.5 miles in circumference, stand on 117 small islands, formed by more than 150 canals and connected by 378 bridges, most of which are stone. In winter, spring tides raise the level of the water about 8 ft. so that even the Piazza di San Marco is flooded and has to be transversed by gondola”[7] Baedeker, Northern Italy, 1899

Venice, Italy – Panorama from the Campanile S. Marco towards S. Maria Della Salute – Library of Congress

“If you stay more than two or three days in Venice, as you will certainly wish to do, you had better engage a gondolier to be at your service during your stay. the legal rate is five francs a day for a gondola and one man; if you want another rower for long expeditions, he is hired extra, and the gondolier expects a franc or a franc and a half for a day. For this modest sum, he will be at your service from early in the morning until late at night and will cheerfully tell you the name of every church and palace as you pass them. The Venetian gondolier is as simple and kindly a creature as the Roman or Florentine cabby.”[8]

Clarissa Sands, who explored Europe from October 1900-September, 1901, kept a journal of her travels. Her description of Venice might reflect what the Orcutts thought as they glided along the canals.

“It was so queer to see boats instead of buses. We all got in, and the gondolier stood up behind and piloted us safely through the small canals to the Hotel, and just as we were at the door, the full moon came up…we went all around to see the first of Venice in a flood of moonlight and no descriptions have been exaggerated, for it’s glorious with the light pouring down on the old Venetian palaces with their stories of open arched loggias.”[9]

Photographs of Venice

  1. Clinton and Jane Orcutt in a gondola with the Basilica di Santa Maria Della Salute in the background.
Clinton and Jane Orcutt – Venice, summer 1901

2. Clinton and Anna Ri in a gondola. Baedeker’s guidebook recommended that at least 3/4 of an hour be devoted to a trip on the grand canal to glimpse the principal palaces. [10]

Clinton and Anna Ri Orcutt – Venice, Italy – summer 1901
Rialto bridge, Grand Canal, Venice, Italy – Library of Congress

3. This photograph was taken from a gondola on the Grand Canal. The Palace of the Doges (Palazzo Ducale) is on the right, and the Marciana Library is on the left. Atop the two columns are the patron saints of of Venice. St. Mark the Evangelist is represented by a bronzed winged lion, and St. Theodore stands atop a crocodile on a marble column.

Orcutt travel album – summer 1901 – the Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

4-5 Anna Ri Orcutt is feeding pigeons in the Piazza de San Marco with the Basilica of San Marco in the background. According to Baedeker’s guidebook, an age-old tradition to send out pigeons from all the churches on Palm Sunday resulted in the pigeons nesting in the nooks and crannies of surrounding buildings.[11] Every visitor felt compelled to buy grain or peas from the peddlers to feed the pigeons. Both Jane and Anna Ri succumbed to the entertainment and had their photographs taken with the birds clustered about them.

Anna Ri Orcutt, Piazza de San Marco, Venice, Italy – summer 1901
Anna Ri Orcutt, Piazza de San Marco, Venice – summer 1901

6-7 Jane Orcutt feeding the pigeons in the Piazza de San Marco, Venice. She has them eating out of her hand. Notice how few tourists there are strolling around the Piazza.

Jane Orcutt, Piazza de San Marco, Venice, Italy – summer 1901.
Jane Orcutt, Piazza de San Marco, Venice, Italy – summer 1901

8. The final picture of Venice depicts a military band playing for the crowds. It must have been quite a thrill for the Orcutts to witness the pomp and ceremony.

“The Piazza of St. Mark is the grand focus of attraction in Venice. On summer evenings, all who desire to enjoy fresh air congregate here. The scene is liveliest when the military band plays (Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday 7:30-9:30 or 8-10) and possesses a charm all its own. Indeed, there is, perhaps, no more fascinating spot in Europe than this huge open-air drawing room.”[12]

Orcutt travel album, Piazza de San Marco, Venice, Italy, the military band- summer 1901.

FLORENCE

Cityscape view looking toward the Cathedral of Florence, Italy – Library of Congress

“Florence, Italian Firenze…formerly the capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany…while in ancient times, Rome was the grand centre of Italian development, Florence has since the middle ages superseded it as the focus of intellectual life…An amazing profusion of treasures o fart, such as no other locality possesses within so narrow limits…and lastly, the delightful environs of the city combine to render Florence one of the most interesting and attractive places in the world.”[13] Baedeker, Northern Italy, 1899.

Mary Cadwalader Jone’s guidebook voiced the following thoughts regarding tourists to Florence and Rome:

“Travellers may be broadly divided into two classes, Romans and Florentines, that is, those who distinctly prefer one city to the other. This often seems to depend upon which of the two they have seen first, but it is also the result of the radical difference between the two cities. Florence has practically one connected past, whereas, in Rome, there have been half a dozen periods of great historical value.

The picture galleries in Florence are glorious and have the great advantage of having all their treasures collected practically under one roof, while in Rome, a great number of masterpieces are still scattered in private collections and must be visited separately and on different days.

Florence seems much smaller than Rome and is therefore to many people more homelike…in summer, the heat is sometimes very great.”[14]

I don’t know if the Orcutts preferred Florence to Rome, as I do, but they likely visited Florence first. Unfortunately, their photograph album includes just two pictures taken in Florence.

  1. The first is the Battistero, or Church of San Giovanni Battista, originally the cathedral of Florence. The octagonal structure clad in white Carrera and green Prato marble slabs is one of the “finest specimens of the Tuscan-Romanesque style.”[15] There are three celebrated bronze doors with relief sculptures on the baptistry. The Orcutts photographed the south door, the oldest of the three. I determined it was the south door based on the figures above the door, which depict the beheading of St. John the Baptist.

Orcutt photograph album, Church of San Giovanni Battista, south entrance – Florence, Italy – summer 1901
The Baptistry, Florence, Italy – circa 1905 – Library of Congress

“The first door, the oldest of the three, on the south side, was completed by Andrea Pisano in 1336 after six years of labour. The reliefs comprise scenes from the life of John the Baptist and allegorical representations of the eight cardinal virtues, square panels with tastefully executed borders. The figures are full of life and simple charm…above the door is the Beheading of John the Baptist…”[16]

South doors of Florence Baptistry – Wikipedia

2. The second photograph taken in Florence depicts the Ponte Vecchio bridge, one of six bridges connecting the Arno River banks. The bridge is said to have existed as early as the Roman period and consists of three arches.[17]

Orcutt travel album – Ponte Vecchio bridge, Florence, Italy – summer 1901.

Twenty-eight years after the Orcutts visited Europe, Clinton Orcutt’s granddaughter, Anna Jane Beaton (my grandmother), traveled to many of the same locations. Her photograph album includes a picture of the Ponte Vecchio bridge taken in the summer of 1929. I did not take a picture of the Ponte Vecchio bridge in 2006; instead, I purchased a postcard.

Ponte Vecchio bridge, Florence, Italy- Anna Jane Beaton photo album – summer 1929.

The Orcutts had a limited amount of time in each city they visited and spent perhaps two or three days in Florence. I am confident that they visited the Uffizi Gallery, a prominent art museum known worldwide for its collection of priceless works of art and sculpture, particularly from the Italian Renaissance.

I don’t believe that the Orcutts kept a travel journal when they visited Europe. I did. In April 2006, while living in Berlin, Germany, I traveled with my husband and son to Tuscany, including a trip to Florence. Following the advice of current guidebooks, I made reservations to visit the prominent museums, which wasn’t necessary for 1901. There was so much to see and remember that it was a bit bewildering. However, you don’t forget the wonder you felt when you gazed upon Michelangelo’s statue of David at the Galleria dell Accademia or the works by DaVinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Titian, and Botticelli at the Uffizi.

ROME

“Rome (Roma in Latin and Italian), known even in antiquity as ‘the Eternal City,’ once the capital of the ancient world, afterward the spiritual empire of the Popes, and since 1871, the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, with 489,965 inhabitants (31 Dec. 1897)…The city proper lies on the Left Bank of the Tiber, partly on the plain, the ancient Campus Martius, and partly on the surrounding hills. Modern Rome is principally confined to the plain, while the heights on which the ancient city stood were almost uninhabited in the middle-ages and the following centuries…these are the far-famed Seven Hills of Rome.” Baedeker, Central Italy, 1900.[18]

Although most guidebooks for 1900 advised against visiting Rome in July or August, the Orcutts were on a schedule that took them to the Eternal City during the hottest part of the year. Mary Cadwalader Jones stated in her travel guide that Rome in July and August “is not nearly so bad as Washington…”[19]I live in the Washington D.C. metro area, and the summers can be stifling due to the combined heat and humidity. When I visited Rome in May 2006, it was already hot, so August must have been quite intense for the Orcutts.

Baedeker’s guidebook advised caution on the part of the traveler if they visited Rome during the summer.

“In summer, the neighborhood of Rome, as well as parts of the city itself, are exposed to malaria, but even apart from that fact, the suitability of this season for the tour depends to a great extent on the constitution of the traveller. The scenery is then in perfection, and the long days are hailed by the active traveller, but the fierce rays of an Italian sun seldom fail to sap the physical and mental energies.”[20]

The Orcutts may have had four days in Rome based on Thomas Cook’s travel guides. Even if they had a month, they could not exhaust the sights of Rome, “with all its museums, its galleries, excelling even those of Florence, and its four hundred churches.”[21] When I visited Rome for five days, I trekked through the city from morning until evening and saw only a fraction of the sights. It wasn’t enough time.

Hopefully, the Orcutts relaxed in their hotel during the hottest part of the day. Many of the state-run museums closed after three o’clock. Most churches were open in the morning until 12 or 12:30 and then again from 4 to 7 p.m., while the important ones remained open the entire day.

When the Orcutts went shopping, they would have learned that only the department stores had fixed prices. While they were in Italy, Jane purchased a wooden framed Madonna; perhaps she bargained for it. “…you should never forget in Italy that bargaining is a custom of the country, generally looked upon by both buyers and shopkeepers as a reasonable recreation which it would be a pity to forego.”[22] My grandmother, Anna Jane Hyde, nee Beaton, inherited the small artwork and passed it to my sister who shared these images with me.

One of the pleasures of foreign travel is sampling different cuisines. The Orcutts would have experienced a variety of new delicacies. I hope they stopped at an Italian café to drink a Caffé Nero or a Caffé Latte in the morning. I hope they savored a gelato every afternoon at one of the cafes.

“Ices (gelato) of every possible variety are supplied at the cafes..Sorbetto, or half-frozen ice, and Granita, iced-water (limonata,of lemons; aranciatia, of oranges; di caffé) are other vaieties.”[23]

ANCIENT ROME

  1. The Triumphal Arch of Septimius Servus and the Temple of Saturn- the black and white photograph is from the Orcutt album. The colored print reflects a clearer image- courtesy of the Library of Congress.

2-3. Three figures walk amongst Roman Forum’s ruins, shielding themselves from the hot sun with umbrellas.

Forum Romano, Rome, Italy, ca1890-1905 – Library of Congress

4.Baths of Caracalla

Baths of Caracalla, Rome, Italy – Orcutt travel album summer 1901.

5. The Arch of Constantine is an ancient Roman gate outside the Colosseum.

Arch of Constantine, Rome, Italy – Orcutt travel album summer 1901.
“The Colisuem and Meta Sudans, Rome, Italy” – Library of Congresshttps://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001700939/

6. Roman Forum – temple of Faustine and Antonius Pius

Roman Forum, Rome, Italy – Orcutt travel album, summer 1901.

7. Colosseum – a sight where the Orcutts, Anna Jane Beaton (my grandmother), and I all photographed a similar image. Five generations stood and admired the same view at different times. Wouldn’t it be interesting to have a time-lapse to view our reactions- Clinton Orcutt, Jane, and Anna Ri Orcutt, Anna Jane Beaton Hyde, Kendra Hopp Schmidt, Alexander Schmidt?

Colosseum, Rome – Orcutt travel album, summer 1901.
Colosseum, Rome, Italy – Anna Jane Beaton photograph album, summer 1929.
Colosseum, Rome, Italy, Kendra Schmidt – May 2006.

MYSTERY PHOTOS

The Orcutts traveled to a few destinations where I could not determine the location.

Clinton Orcutt, Jane Orcutt, and Mrs. Martha Blackwell took a city tour in an unidentified location in Italy – the horse has a straw hat – Orcutt travel album- summer of 1901.

Italy – unidentified location – Orcutt travel album – summer 1901.
Italy, unidentified location – Orcutt travel album – summer 1901
Italy, unidentified location – the red arrows point to people in the water – Orcutt travel album- summer 1901.

RETURN TO OMAHA, NEBRASKA

On September 14, 1901, the Orcutts returned to Omaha, Nebraska. Based on a newspaper article I found one year after I posted the first in this series of articles about their European trip, I know where the port from whence they departed – Boulogne-sur-Mer. “The main body of the party will return to America in early September, sailing from Boulogne.” [23]

“Mr. C.D. Orcutt and daughter, Miss Jennie, returned Sunday from their European trip. Miss Anna Ri will remain in New York to visit friends. Address 683 West End Avenue.” [24]

EPILOGUE

Our connection to our ancestors extends beyond the obvious- DNA. The influences your ancestors had upon their descendants may have impacted your life. These threads that bind us together through the generations, often unbeknownst to us, intrigue me. Jane Orcutt Keeline preserved her photograph album until her untimely death at age 33 in 1918. She bequeathed an inheritance to her niece, Anna Jane Beaton Hyde, and several personal items, including the photograph album. I know my grandmother, inspired by her aunt’s travels, embarked on her tour of Europe in the summer of 1929. Like her Aunt Jane, my grandmother kept a photograph album of her adventures. She shared her experiences, enthusiasm, and her photographs with me. I have my grandmother to thank for inspiring me to study, travel, and live overseas.

© 2022 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt.

ENDNOTES

[1] Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company. Digital Books. Hathi Trust Digital Library. www.catalog.hathitrust.org. p. 206.

[2]Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company. Digital Books. Hathi Trust Digital Library. www.catalog.hathitrust.org. p. 206.

[3] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad?Some Advice. Boston, R&L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org p. 65.

[4] [1] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad?Some Advice. Boston, R&L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org p. 65-66.

[5] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R&L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org p. 14.

[6]Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company. Digital Books. Hathi Trust Digital Library. www.catalog.hathitrust.org. p. 5.

[7]Karl Baedeker (firm). (1899). Northern Italy: including Leghorn, Florence, Ravenna, and routes through Switzerland and Austria. 11th ed. Revised.Leipsic: K. Baedeker. P. 252-253. Digital Archives, Archive.org.

[8]Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company. Digital Books. Hathi Trust Digital Library. www.catalog.hathitrust.org. p. 229.

[9]Arnold, Clarissa Sands, Edith by Deborah Stewart Weber (2010). Four Girls in Europe My tour of England and the Continent, October 1900-September, 1901. Universe, Bloomington, IN. p. 104.

[10]Karl Baedeker (firm). (1899). Northern Italy: including Leghorn, Florence, Ravenna, and routes through Switzerland and Austria.11th ed. Revised.Leipsic: K. Baedeker. P. 290. Digital Archives, Archive.org.

[11] Ibid, p. 254.

[12] Ibid, p. 254.

[13] Ibid, p. 416.

[14]Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company. Digital Books. Hathi Trust Digital Library. www.catalog.hathitrust.org. p. 226.

[15]Karl Baedeker (firm). (1899). Northern Italy: including Leghorn, Florence, Ravenna, and routes through Switzerland and Austria.11th ed. Revised.Leipsic: K. Baedeker. P. 442. Digital Archives, Archive.org.

[16] Ibid, p.443.

[17] Ibid, p. 421.

[18] Ibid, p. 144-145.

[19]Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company. Digital Books. Hathi Trust Digital Library. www.catalog.hathitrust.org. p. 21.

[20]Karl Baedeker (firm). (1900). Central Italy and Rome.13th ed Revised.Leipsic: K. Baedeker p. xi. Digital Archives. Archive.org.

[21] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R&L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org p. 27.

[22]Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company. Digital Books. Hathi Trust Digital Library. www.catalog.hathitrust.org. p. 211.

[23]Karl Baedeker (firm). (1900). Central Italy and Rome.13th ed Revised.Leipsic: K. Baedeker p.xxii . Digital Archives. Archive.org.

[24]Sailing on Saturday, Muscatine News-Tribune, Muscatine, Iowa, June 5, 1901, pg. 5 Digital Images, Newspapers.com, (https:newspapers.com : accessed 1 May 2023.)

[25]Our Card Basket, The Excelsior, (Omaha, Nebraska, September 21, 1901, Saturday, p.14. Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 6 June 2022.)

Posted in My Family Ancestry | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

GILDED AGE GIRLS- THE ORCUTT’S GRAND TOUR OF EUROPE 1901 – PART IV -FRANCE AND SWIZTERLAND

Posted on July 23, 2022 by treeklimber

Orcutt family travel album – (L-R) Anna Ri Orcutt, Clinton Delos Orcutt, Jane Clare Orcutt (Jennie)

My 2x great-grandfather, Clinton Delos Orcutt, and his two youngest daughters, Anna Ri (age 19) and Jane Clare (age 16), traveled to Europe in the summer of 1901, accompanied by their family friend Martha Blackwell. Their photograph album is now 121 years old, and I have undertaken the mission of solving the mystery of the unlabeled photographs and writing about their travels. Part I covered their trip across the Atlantic; Part II was their visit to England, Belgium, and the Netherlands; Part III was their tour of Germany. This section will focus on the Orcutts’ trip to Paris, France, and their travels in Switzerland.

Avenue d’Ilena and the Eiffel Tower, south-west from the Arch of Triumph, Paris, France. 1903, Library of Congress

FRANCE

Language – “For those who wish to derive instruction as well as pleasure from a visit to Paris, them most attractive treasury of art and industry in the world, some acquaintance with French is indispensable.[1]

Expenses – The cost of a visit to Paris depends of course on the tastes and habits of the traveller. If he selects a hotel of high class, dines at the table d’hôte, or perhaps the ‘Dîner de Paris’ partakes of wine of good though not extravagant quality, visits the theatres, drives in the parks and environs, and finally indulges in suppers à la carte, he must be prepared to spend 30-40 fr. a day or upwards. Those, however, who visit Paris for the sake of its monuments, its galleries, its collections, and not for its pleasures, will have little difficulty, with the aid of the information in the Handbook, in limiting their expenditure to 15-20 fr. a day. It need hardly be observed, that, in a city where luxury is raised to a science, and where temptations to extravagance meet one at every step, each traveller must be his own mentor.”[2] Baedeker – Paris and Environs 1894

Fortunately, Anna Ri and Jane could speak French due to their education at Duchesne, Sacred Heart Academy in Omaha, Nebraska.

Sadly, there are no photographs in the Orcutt album that depict their travels in France. However, the Orcutts did have a chance encounter with friends while touring Paris. After the friends returned to Omaha, an article appeared in the Omaha World-Herald that recounted their meeting.

“Though Paris is much farther from Omaha than is Council Bluffs yet when Mr. Luther Drake and Dr. (Wilson Orton )Bridges were strolling down the street of the gay French capital, they met Clinton Orcutt and his two daughters and Mrs. Blackwell of this city in as much of just-so-happened manner as if the meeting had been on Farnam street during any afternoon. The Orcutts were then, about August 20, in the midst of their trip abroad.”[3]

“Nebraskans,” 1854-1904 – Library of Congress

PARIS

According to the travel guide by Richard Luce, written in 1900, the majority of foreign tourists found Paris to be the most interesting city in Europe, and no trip would be complete without a visit to it. “In the Louvre it has the finest art collections; in the Boulevards, the finest streets; in the Bois de boulogne, the handsomest park, in its cafes is the best cooking, its Opera House leads the world; at Versailles, St. Cloud and Fontainebleau, easily accessible suburbs, are the most magnificent of royal estates. Everybody knows it sets the fashions for the ladies of the globe.”[4]

des Champs Elysees, Paris, France – 1900-1910. Library of Congress

According to my grandmother, Anna Jane Hyde, nee Beaton, her Aunt Anna Ri Orcutt “was very extravagant and society minded.” With her fondness for buying beautiful clothes, I can imagine that Anna Ri enjoyed shopping in Paris and may have visited a dressmaker or two.

According to Baedeker’s guide, ladies would have had no difficulty finding suitable dressmaker shops or milliners. The advice was to reduce the price by bargaining a little.[5]

Perhaps Anna Ri purchased the luxurious gown in Paris that she later wore for her formal portrait. My grandmother inherited the richly embellished frame and the painting of Anna Ri. I recall seeing the painting hanging on the wall of my grandmother’s house for many years. It hung at the top of the staircase, and Anna Ri’s eyes seemed to follow me as I ascended the stairs.

Anna Ri Orcutt Jaques- portrait painted about 1901 Omaha, NE. Current owner unknown.

I wondered what souvenirs the Orcutt sisters may have purchased to bring back to their sister, my great-grandmother, Edith, who stayed in Omaha with her husband, Alfred Beaton, and their one-year-old son. While writing this article, I realized that Anna Ri and Jane probably purchased a small memento in Paris. It is a small hand-painted French Ivory miniature bust-length portrait of an 18th-century aristocratic lady in a pastel dress and flower-bedecked straw hat (7 x 6 cm). The detailed brass frame with a ribbon surmount and easel back can also be hung on the wall. I think the noble lady resembles Marie Antoinette.

Marion Haller, a family friend of the Orcutts, traveled with her grandparents to Paris during the World’s Fair in 1900. The fourteen-year-old schoolgirl shared her impressions of her travels in the Omaha, Excelsior.

“I never saw so many carriages before. The hack drivers are so mean to their horses it makes my blood boil. People dress for the streets as if going to a party, and you would think the clerks in the stores were the ladies of the land – so many pretty women driving and shopping. The fashion is for men to wear white shirts with tucked fronts and coats like preachers. People at the hotel dress swell for dinner; lots of pretty girls in evening dress while the gentlemen wear dress suits. Tally-ho parties from the hotel are all the rage. Each man has a horn and each lady a poodle.”[5]

Paris, France – the gardens at Luxembourg Palace – Ancestry.com

Based on Thomas Cook’s itineraries, the Orcutts likely spent three days touring Paris before departing for their following location. The Omaha World-Herald mentioned that in mid-August, the Orcutts were halfway through their trip. Although the photo album does not include pictures of their excursions in France, it does include images of their next destination- Switzerland.

SWITZERLAND

Language – “So many thousands flock annually over most of the routes described in this book that nothing save the mother tongue is absolutely essential. English is spoken in all the principal hotels, and interpreters may be met with at the principal railway stations. Of course, a knowledge of French and German will prove of great advantage, and those who explore remote regions will find it indispensable, but no one need hesitate to visit Switzerland on the score of not knowing anything save English.”[7]

Jane Orcutt devoted two pages and twenty-one photographs to record her memorable trip to Switzerland. The Orcutts may have felt the same wonder expressed by Robert Luce in his travel guide.

“Switzerland is incomparable. There may be higher peaks elsewhere, more stupendous glaciers, but nowhere else is so much mountain scenery so accessible, so conveniently, safely, and economically accessible. Most delightful lakes in the world, and the quaintest of Swiss cities.”[8]

According to Luther Drake, the friends whom the Orcutts encountered in Paris, “Switzerland is the playground of Europe and it is fast becoming the playground of America too. We found the mountains overrun with Americans and the valleys packed with them.”[9]

I used the Thomas Cook guidebook to determine where the Orcutts likely traveled in Switzerland, in conjunction with their photographs. The popular destinations included Lake Lucerne with an excursion to the scenic small town of Flüelen and Mt. Rigi, a carriage ride over Bruenig Pass to Interlaken and an excursion to Grindelwald Glaciers.[10] Based on the discovery in May 2023 of two articles that described the Orcutts trip to Europe, I know they visited the following towns in Switzerland: Interlaken, Lucerne, and Thusis.

PHOTOS

Photo #1 – Three women clustered in front of a hotel with three levels and balconies. Above the curtained windows on the ground floor, the hotel featured a billboard. Only one word is legible – ‘Déjeuner’ – (breakfast). Although their facial features are blurred, I can distinguish two of the women by their hats, Martha Blackwell and the unnamed friend, previously mentioned, whom the Orcutt girls met on their tour.

Orcutt photo album summer 1901 – Hotel with French signage – (L-R)unnamed friend, Jane Orcutt, Martha Blackwell

Photo #2 – Anna Ri, in the light-colored skirt and jacket, stood in front of the carriage. It isn’t clear who the additional two female figures are. The travel group seems to be preparing for departure from their hotel the “Gasthof Zum?” Unfortunately, the photographer failed to capture the entire name. However, above the portal to the hotel is the Swiss coat of arms that shows the white-on-red cross.

Orcutt photo album summer 1901 – Swiss hotel Gasthof Zum- Anna Ri Orcutt and Mrs. Martha Blackwell

Another clue the Orcutts are in Switzerland is the coach or diligence as it was known. The vehicle was a “huge, heavy, lofty, lumbering machine,” sixteen to eighteen feet long, and required at least four horses to pull it. There were four sections, the coupe, the interieur, the rotonde joined together forming the inside, and the banquette above the coupe. “Each compartment being covered so as to form a continuous roof for the luggage, and a station for passengers on a fair day, whence they have a fair view of the country.[11]

The carriage picture intrigued me so much that I searched the internet to discover more information and to find a similar image. Pictured below is a Swiss diligence with the vehicle enclosed as it would have been used during inclement weather.

Swiss Diligence – Stock photo

The first-class compartment just behind the driver had room for three persons, the interior or second-class compartment, had four to six seats, while the elevated banquette had room to seat two.[12]

Photo #3-5 –Clinton Orcutt presents a rather stout figure as he stands with his hands in his pockets in front of the diligence. It appears as if the travelers have made a rest stop. The driver is perched atop the large vehicle waiting for his passengers to continue their tour. Two additional carriages and horses prepare to follow.

Photo #6 – A view of the majestic Swiss mountains.

Orcutt photo album summer 1901- Swiss Alps

Photo #7-Jane Orcutt stands on the Alpen slopes holding large clumps of snow in her hands.

Orcutt photo album, summer 1901 – Switzerland-. Jane Orcutt holding clumps of snow in her hands.

Photos 8-9 –The Orcutts took a steamboat ride on Lake Lucerne. In the first photograph, Clinton, Jane, Anna Ri Orcutt, and Mrs. Blackwell posed with three additional women. A breeze softly blew the scarf Martha Blackwell tied in a bow around her neck indicating a breeze. In the second photograph, Jane Orcutt and her friend talk and laugh with joy.

Mark Twain in A Tramp Abroad wrote the following about Lake Lucerne.

“For some days we were content to enjoy looking at blue Lake Lucerne and the piled-up masses of snow-mountains that border it all around – an enticing spectacle, this last, for there is a strange and fascinating beauty and charm about a majestic snow-peak with the sun blazing upon it or the moonlight softly enriching it – but finally we concluded to try a bit of excursioning around on a steamboat, and a dash on foot at the Rigi. Very well, we had a delightful trip to Fluelen, on a breezy sunny day. Everybody sat on the upper deck, on benches under an awning; everybody talked, laughed, and exclaimed at the wonderful scenery; in truth, a trip on that lake is almost the perfection of pleasuring.

The mountains were a never-ceasing marvel. Sometimes they rose straight up out of the lake, and towered aloft and overshadowed our pygmy steamer with their prodigious bulk in the most impressive way. Not snow-clad mountains these, yet they climbed high enough toward the sky to meet the clouds and veil their foreheads in them. They were not barren and repulsive but clothed in green, and restful and pleasant to the eye. And they were so almost straight-up-and-down, sometimes, that one could not imagine a man being able to keep his footing on such a surface, yet there are paths, and the Swiss people go up and down them every day.”[13]

Burgenstock, hotel and lake, Lake Lucerne, Switzerland 1905 – Library of Congress image

Photo #10 –An image of the diligence as it slowly climbed the winding road. Two women can be seen standing in the center of the carriage. Two additional women in the banquette turn their heads to look up at the photographer, who is likely perched in a carriage further along the mountain road.

Orcutt photo album, summer 1901 – Switzerland – A Swiss Diligence on a mountain road.

As I read A Tramp Abroad, I wonder if the Orcutts felt the same awe expressed by Twain when he described his experiences as he traveled over the Bruenig Pass from Lucerne to Interlaken.

“We got away pretty early in the morning after a hot breakfast, and went bowling over a hard, smooth road through the summer loveliness of Switzerland, with near and distant lakes and mountains before and about us for the entertainment of the eye, and the music of multitudinous birds to charm the ear. Sometimes there was only the width of the road between the imposing precipices on the right and clear cool water on the left with uncatchable fish skimming about through the bars of sun and shadow; and sometimes in place of the precipices, the grassy land stretched away, in an apparently, endless upward slant, and was dotted everywhere with snug little chalets, the peculiarly captivating cottage of Switzerland.[14]

Photo #11– Swiss storefronts and a multistoried hotel with mountains looming to the right of the picture.

Orcutt photo album, summer 1901. Switzerland – small town

Photo #12 – The Orcutts prepared for another day’s journey. Clinton Orcutt, Jane Orcutt, and Mrs. Blackwell sat in the center of the carriage to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. They seemed to have called to the small dog who approached the carriage. The driver can be seen as he checked the harnesses before they departed. Once again, the photographer captured only a portion of the hotel’s name – Hôtel Boden?

Orcutt photo album, summer 1901- Switzerland, Hôtel Boden – Jane Orcutt, Clinton Orcutt, and Mrs. Martha Blackwell in the Swiss diligence.

Photo #14 – The travelers gazed off in the distance at a hotel, probably to admire the view. Clinton Orcutt raised his arm to point in the same direction as he conversed with a fellow traveler. I can almost hear him say, “What magnificent scenery!”

Orcutt photo album, summer 1901- Switzerland – Clinton Orcutt has his arm raised to point in the distance.

Photos 15 – Likely taken at the same hotel, Anna Ri Orcutt and a friend cheerfully posed in the garden.

Orcutt photo album, summer 1901 – Switzerland, Anna Ri Orcutt and a friend posed in the garden of a Swiss hotel.
Grindelwald Glacier and Chalet – Library of Congress
Grindelwald Glacier- Library of Congress

Photos 16-20 –Although I can’t be certain, I believe the Orcutts took these photographs at Grindelwald Glaciers. The group of women tourists included the following members: Mrs. G.M. Titus, Miss Belle Gilchrist, Mrs. Sarah M. Johnson, Miss Vivian Johnson, Miss Shammo, Mrs. J.P. Whitney, Miss Ada Hutchinson, Miss Mary Moon, Miss Leo Letts, Miss Helen Fernstrom, Miss Clem Gilchrist, Misses Carrie, Anna, and May Litchty, Miss Mabel Galbraith, Mrs. Martha Blackwell, Jane and Anna Ri Orcutt, and Clinton Orcutt. The group was conducted by Miss Florence Munson and Miss Delia Hutchinson. Most of the members were from Iowa, with the exception of the Orcutts and Martha Blackwell, who were from Omaha, NE.

Photo #21 –The final image for the Switzerland portion of the trip appears to be a border crossing to Italy. Every picture tells a story, and as I examined each photograph, I tried to imagine what the photographer tried to capture. In this case, there may be a bit of chaos in entering the country. An older woman watched as the customs official questioned a young man. The foremost gentleman seemed to express relief that he made it through the gauntlet.

Orcutt photo album, summer 1901 – possibly crossing the border to Italy.

After their exhilarating tour of Switzerland, the Orcutts commenced their tour of Italy, where they would experience La Dolce Vita as they explored Florence, Venice, Rome, Chiavenna, Milan, Pisa, Genoa, and Turin.

Part V – to be continued.

© 2022 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt.

 

Genealogy Sketch

Clinton Delos ORCUTT


Name: [Clinton Delos ORCUTT -1840-1905
Parents: Daniel Heath ORCUTT 1809-1864 and
Angeline PERKINS 1813-1887
Spouse: Anna Dorcas DUTTON 1842-1899
Children: Louis DeForest ORCUTT -1871-1891, George Dutton ORCUTT 1873-1886, Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON 1879-1964, Anna Ri ORCUTT JAQUES 1881-1942, and Jane Clare ORCUTT KEELINE 1884-1918
Relationship to Kendra: Great Great-Grandfather

  1. Clinton Delos ORCUTT
  2. Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON UTTENDORFER
  3. Anna Jane BEATON HYDE
  4. Jean HYDE HOPP EICHORN
  5. Kendra

 

ENDNOTES

[1]Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1894). Paris and environs, with routes from London to Paris: handbook for travellers. 11th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. xii Digital Images. Archive.org. (https://archive.org/details/02715142.5260.emory.edu/page/n15/mode/2up)

[2] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1894). Paris and environs, with routes from London to Paris: handbook for travellers. 11th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. xiii Digital Images. Archive.org. (https://archive.org/details/02715142.5260.emory.edu/page/n15/mode/2up)

[3] Nebraskans in Europe – Some of Those Who are Spending their Vacation Abroad, Omaha World Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, September 6, 1901. Digital images. Genealogybank.com (https://genealogybank.com : accessed 25 January, 2022.)

[4] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 23. (https://archive.org/details/goingabroadsomea00luce/page/22/mode/2up?q=%22cook%27s+excursionist%22&view=theater)

[5] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1894). Paris and environs, with routes from London to Paris: handbook for travellers. 11th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. 37 Digital Images. Archive.org.(https://archive.org/details/02715142.5260.emory.edu/page/37/mode/2up?q=shop)

[6] Impressions of an Omaha School Girl Abroad, Marion C. Haller. The Excelsior, Omaha, Nebraska, September 29, 1900, pg. 10. Digital images. Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com : accessed June 6, 2022.

[7] Thomas Cook (Firm). (1900). Cook’s tourist’s handbook for Switzerland: with maps and plans. London: Thomas Cook & Son. Digital Images. Hathitrust.org. (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822043012772&view=1up&seq=18&skin=2021)

[8] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 26. (https://archive.org/details/goingabroadsomea00luce/page/26/mode/2up?q=%22cook%27s+excursionist%22&view=theater.)

[9] Omaha Daily Bee, (Omaha, Nebraska, September 6, 1901, Friday, pg. 7. Digital Images, Newspapers.com (https: newspapers.com: accessed July 20, 2022).

[10] Cooks Excursionist and Home and Foreign Tourist Advertiser, (January 1892). Digital Books. Google Books. (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cook_s_Excursionist_and_Home_and_Foreign/FU5DAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1)

[11]Geri Walton Unique Histories from the 18th and 19th centuries, April 11, 2014. https://www.geriwalton.com/diligence-travelers/

[12] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 75. (https://archive.org/details/goingabroadsomea00luce/page/76/mode/2up?q=train&view=theater)

[13] Twain, Mark. A Tramp Abroad. 1880. Reprint 2021. P. 75

[14] Twain, Mark. A Tramp Abroad. 1880. Reprint 2021. P. 90.

Posted in Heirlooms, My Family Ancestry | Tagged , | Leave a comment

GILDED AGE GIRLS – THE ORCUTT’S GRAND TOUR OF EUROPE 1901 – PART III- GERMANY

Posted on July 5, 2022 by treeklimber

Orcutt family travel album – (L-R) Anna Ri, Clinton Delos, Jane Clare (Jennie)

By mid-July 1901, the Orcutts and their friend, Mrs. Martha Blackwell, had made good progress on their Grand Tour of Europe. Thus far, they had visited England, the Netherlands, and Belgium. You can read Part I and Part II if you missed the first two blogs. The next leg of their journey took the Orcutts to Germany, where they traveled up the Rhine River and then toured Heidelberg.

I created a google-map of the Orcutt’s trip, including photographs from their trip and postcard images from the Library of Congress and Ancestry.com. You can click on each location to view the images.

GERMANY

  • “LANGUAGE – A slight acquaintance with German is indispensable for those who desire to explore the more remote parts of the Rheinish Provinces. Tourist who do not deviate from the beaten track will generally find English or French spoken at the principal hotels and the usual resorts of strangers; but if they are entirely ignorant of the language, they must be prepared occasionally to submit to the extortions practiced by porters, cab-drivers, and others of a like class, which event he data furnished by this Handbook will not always enable them to avoid.
  • TRAVELLING EXPENSES the expense of a tour in the Rheinish Provinces depends of course on a great variety of circumstances…it may be stated generally that travelling in Germany, and even on the Rhine, is less expensive, and in some respects more comfortable, than in most other countries in Europe.” Baedeker, The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance, 1903.p. xiii.[1]
Map of Middle Rhine River- wikimedia

Nearly every traveler to Germany took a trip up or down the Rhine River between Cologne and Mainz.[2] It was a popular tourist destination because of its historic and legendary associations, castles, old fortresses, and cathedrals. The Orcutts were no exception. Page four of the Orcutt travel album included six pictures of their Rhine River trip where they captured the magic of the castles that beckoned from the hillsides.

“As the Rhine flows, so flow the national genius, by mountain and valley-the wildest solitude-the sudden spires of ancient cities-the moldered castle-the stately monastery-the humble cot. Grandeur and homeliness, history and superstition, truth and fable, succeeding one another so as to blend into a whole.”[3]

A Trip on the Rhine, Germany, circa 1907-1915, Ancestry.com

More than 100 steamboats and one million passengers went up and down the Rhine annually, according to Baedeker’s 1899 guidebook. The more powerful saloon steamers made the journey from Mainz to Cologne (downstream) in 7 1/2 hours. It took 12 hours to make the trip upstream.[4] Although, I’m not positive where the Orcutts commenced their journey or ended it, I assumed they began their trip in Cologne, a prominent tourist destination.

Cathedral of cologne and Pontoon Bridge, Over the Rhine, Germany. Germany and Austria Historical Postcard Collection, Ancestry.com

Fourteen-year-old Marion C Haller, a family friend of the Orcutts, toured Europe with her grandfather, George Washington Lininger, in 1900. Lininger established the Lininger Art Gallery in Omaha, where the Orcutt girls attended gatherings. Marion contributed two articles to the Omaha, Excelsior, and recounted her “schoolgirl impressions,” including her trip to Cologne. Her description may be similar to what 16-year-old Jane Orcutt might have written, as the two girls were close in age.

“Cologne is a quaint old city with narrow, crooked streets and horse cars. After visiting the great Cathedral, the ceiling of which looks a little like Trinity, we bought several bottles of cologne and took a large steamer up the Rhine for Frankfort. The scenery was beautiful; high mountains on one side and pretty little towns on the other. Nearly every mountain has a ruin on it. Even at night, the Rhine is beautiful with the different colored lights on the boats and on the shore.”[5]

Suppose you’ve never had the pleasure of a Rhine River cruise. In that case, you can view a six-minute YouTube video that highlights many of the historic castles, including a few that the Orcutts photographed while aboard the Rhine River steamboat.

The comfortable steamers had deck saloons with windows the entire length. While aboard, travelers could partake of the refreshments provided. Tourists who boarded the steamer early were encouraged to have breakfast on the ship instead of rushing through breakfast at their hotel. The table d’hôte was served at 1 o’clock, and wines were a special feature.[6]

The Orcutt’s first picture of their Rhine River cruise showed six people aboard the ship. Two young men smiled at the photographer, probably Anna Ri or Jane, while the bespectacled female friend of the Orcutt girls poked her head from behind. I recognize her large hat from the café picture in Belgium. Martha Blackwell wore her usual severe mien and her funny hat. Two men sat casually on a bench, one smoking a pipe and the other probably paged through a travel guide. Another picture is a similar scene, but Mrs. Blackwell is now missing from the photograph.

(Above: Two photographs from the Orcutt travel album taken on a Rhine River Cruise, July 1901.)

I believe the following photograph is the Marksburg Castle near Braubach. The imposing structure rises 485 feet above the river and is the only fortress on the Rhine which has escaped destruction. Please let me know if you have another suggestion.

Orcutt Travel Album 1901, Rhine River Cruise- perhaps the Marksburg Castle?
Marksburg Castle, Germany, Library of Congress Images

Below is a mystery picture. Do you recognize this town along the Rhine River?

Orcutt Travel Album summer 1901, Rhine River Cruise- exact location unknown. Photograph #4

My husband, whose father is from the Rhineland, identified the following picture as the Mausetürm (Mouse Tower), a 25-meter tower that sits on a quart-rock in the middle of the Rhine, near Bingen am Rhine. Once a custom tower, the original name was Mauthsthurm or Custom House. the name Mausetürm is said to be “derived from the well-known legend of the cruel Archbishop Hatto of Mainz. Having caused a number of poor people, whom he compared to mice bent on devouring the corn, to be burned in a barn during a time of famine, he was immediately attacked by the mice, which tormented him day and night. He then sought refuge on this island but was followed by his persecutors and soon devoured alive.”[7]

Mausetürm (Mouse Tower) on Rhine River, Germany -Orcutt photograph album, July 1901.

Images above include: Bingen am the Rhine with Mouse Tower in center of the Rhine River from Library of Congress; Modern image of Mouse Tower from Wikipedia; Postcard image of Mouse Tower from Library of Congress.

According to Baedeker’s guidebook, the true story is that the tower was erected as a watch-tower, and “the name was derived from the old German ‘musen’ to spy.”[8]

The imposing Castle of Stolzenfels, situated 310 feet above the Rhine with a pentagonal tower 110 feet high, captured the Orcutts attention. They took two similar pictures of the castle and quaint houses along the river. The castle was built in the 12th century and used as a fortress, a residence, and a prison.[9] I was fortunate to find a postcard on the Library of Congress website that depicts nearly the same scene as the Orcutt’s photograph.

Stolzenfels Castle- Orcutt travel album – July 1901.
Rhein-Schloss Stolzenfels mit Capellen– Stolzenfels castle and chapel, Rhine River, Germany – [between 1890-1900] Library of Congress

Once again, I relied on my husband’s keen eye and memory to recognize the castle. As a boy, his father took him frequently to the area. He had such fond memories of his trips that a Rhine River cruise was one of the first tours we made as newlyweds when we moved to Germany. I didn’t realize at the time that the Orcutts had traveled the same route gazing in wonder at the beautiful scenery and numerous castles.

After finishing their tour of the Rhine River, the Orcutts traveled to Heidelberg, located on the left bank of the Neckar River. Baedeker’s noted that “few towns can vie with it in the beauty of its environs and its historical interest.”[10] The photograph album included two pictures of Heidelberg Castle; Baedeker’s noted that the castle is “the most sumptuous example of German Renaissance.”[11]

Heidelberg Castle – Orcutt travel album – July 1901.
Heidelberg der Schlosshof- the Castle courtyard- postcard from Ancestry.com
Heidelberg Castle – notice the group of tourists, bottom left – Orcutt travel album – July 1901.

Mark Twain’s description of Heidelberg Castle from A Tramp Abroad, published in 1880, fills the reader with delight and awe, which is what I imagine the Orcutts felt when they gazed on the Heidelberg Castle.

“Heidelberg Castle must have been very beautiful before the French battered and bruised and scorched it two hundred years ago. The stone is brown with a pinkish tint and does not seem to stain easily. The dainty and elaborate ornamentation upon its two chief fronts is as delicately carved as if it had been intended for the interior of a drawing-room rather than for the outside of a house. Many fruit and flower clusters, human heads, and grim projecting lions’ heads are still as perfect in every detail as if they were new. But the statues which are ranked between the windows have suffered. These life-size statues of old-time emperors, electors, and similar grandees, clad in mail and bearing ponderous swords. Some have lost an arm, some a head, and one poor fellow is chopped off at the middle. There is a saying that if a stranger will pass over the drawbridge and walk across the court to the castle front without saying anything, he can make a wish, and it will be fulfilled. But they say this that the truth of this thing has never had a chance to be proved, for the reason that before any stranger can walk from the drawbridge to the appointed place, the beauty of the palace front will extort an exclamation of delight from him.

A ruin must be rightly situated to be effective. This one could not have been better placed. It stands upon a commanding elevation, it is buried in green woods, there is no level ground about it, but on the contrary, there are wooded terraces, and one looks down through shining leaves into profound chasms and abysses where twilight reigns and the sun cannot intrude. Nature knows how to garnish a ruin to the best effect. One of these old towers is split down the middle, and one half has tumbled aside. It tumbled in such a way as to establish itself in a picturesque attitude. Then all it lacked was a fitting drapery, and Nature has furnished that; she has robed the rugged mass in flowers and verdure and made it a charm to the eye. the standing half exposes its arched and cavernous rooms to you, like open, toothless mouths; there, too, the vines and flowers have done their work of grace. The rear portion of the tower has not been neglected, either, but is clothed with a clinging garment of polished ivy which hides the wounds and stains of time. Even the top is not left bare but is crowned with a flourishing group of trees and the shrubs. Misfortune has done for this old tower what it has done for the human character sometimes -improved it.”[12]

I used images.google.com to discover the location of the Orcutt’s photograph. You can see the resemblance between it and the Library of Congress postcard. Notice the group of tourists gathered at the tower’s base in the second picture. The image is too blurry to distinguish the Orcutt family members.

During their tour of Germany, I hope that the Orcutts had the opportunity to visit a “conditerei” or pastry shop, which Mary Cadwalader highly recommended in her travel guide from 1900.

“The conditerei or cake ship is not to be overlooked in German life. As dinner is at one o’clock, and supper not until nine or ten, by four or five it is necessary to take a light intermediate meal, corresponding to the English afternoon tea. Coffee is preferred as a drink, and the solid nourishment consists of all sorts and conditions of cakes.”[13}

I can attest to the fabulous display of delicate pastries that tempt you to indulge in the afternoon pleasure, which we did at every opportunity, wherever we traveled in Europe.

PART IV – The Orcutts tour Paris, France,; Lake Lucerne and the Grindelwald Glaciers in Switzerland.

© 2022 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

ENDNOTES

[1] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1903). The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance: handbook for travellers. 15th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. xiii Digital images. Babel.hathitrust.org. (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b263973&view=1up&seq=23&skin=2021)

[2] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 25. (https://archive.org/details/goingabroadsomea00luce/page/22/mode/2up?q=%22cook%27s+excursionist%22&view=theater

[3] Arnold, Clarissa Sand, Edited by Deborah Stewart Weber (2010). Four Girls in Europe My Tour of England and the Continent, October 1900-September, 1901. Universe, Bloomington, IN, p. 21.

[4] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1899). The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance:handbook for travellers. 11th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. xvi. Digital Images. Archive.org. Accessed on June 29, 2022. (https://archive.org/details/04250198.5281.emory.edu/page/n19/mode/2up?q=bingen+)

[5] Letters from a School Girl in Germany, Marion C. Haller. The Excelsior, Omaha, Nebraska, October 27, 1900, pg. 8. Digital images. Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed June 6, 2022.)

[6] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1903). The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance: handbook for travellers. 15th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. xvi-xvii. Digital images, Babel.hathitrust.org.(https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b263973&view=1up&seq=26&skin=2021)

[7] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1899). The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance: Handbook for travellers. 11th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. 115 Digital Images. Archive.org. Accessed on June 29, 2022. (https://archive.org/details/04250198.5281.emory.edu/page/n179/mode/2up?q=mouse+)

[8] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1899). The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance: Handbook for travellers. 11th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. 115 Digital Images. Archive.org. Accessed on June 29, 2022. (https://archive.org/details/04250198.5281.emory.edu/page/n179/mode/2up?q=mouse+)

[9] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1903). The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance: handbook for travellers. 15th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. 114. Digital Images. Babel.Hathitrust.org. Accessed: June 28, 2022. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b263973&view=1up&seq=207&skin=2021

[10] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1903). The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance: handbook for travellers. 15th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. 266. Digital Images. Babel.Hathitrust.org. Accessed: June 28, 2022.(https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b263973&view=1up&seq=424&skin=2021&q1=heidelberg)

[11] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1903). The Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance: handbook for travellers. 15th rev. ed. Leipzig: K. Baedeker. P. xxxiii. Digital Images. Babel.Hathitrust.org. Accessed: June 28, 2022. (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b263973&view=1up&seq=43&skin=2021&q1=heidelberg)

[12] Twain, Mark. A Tramp Abroad. 1880. Reprint 2021. P. 160.

[13] Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company, p. 184. Digital Images. Hathitrust.org

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GILDED AGE GIRLS – THE ORCUTT’S GRAND TOUR OF EUROPE 1901- PART II – ENGLAND, THE NETHERLANDS, AND BELGIUM

Posted on June 22, 2022 by treeklimber
Orcutt family travel album – (L-R) Anna Ri, Clinton, Jane Clare

The S.S. Australasian departed Montreal on June 8, 1901, bound for Liverpool, England. On board were three of my ancestors – Clinton Orcutt, my 2x great-grandfather, and his two youngest daughters, Anna Ri and Jane Clare. After ten days at sea, they arrived in Liverpool, England, where they began their 70+ day tour of seven countries. You can read a detailed description of their trans-Atlantic journey here.

However, the Orcutts left me with a puzzle to solve. What cities and sights did they visit? Although I have their photograph album, the 89 pictures aren’t labeled. How many of us are guilty of not labeling our photographs? My grandmother, Anna Jane (Beaton) Hyde, who inherited the album, noted two prominent cities (Venice and Rome) after she took her Grand Tour in the summer of 1929.

Most of the Orcutt’s photographs will be shown in the original black and white. However, I have colorized some of them to improve their visibility and appearance. It is very likely that the Orcutts, novice photographers, were unsuccessful with every image they took. The album includes no photos of the Netherlands or Paris, France. Perhaps, these pictures didn’t turn out?

I created a google-map of the Orcutt’s trip, including photographs from their trip and postcard images from the Library of Congress and Ancestry.com. You can click on each location to view the images.

As I researched for this blog, I read travel handbooks from Thomas Cook, Karl Baedeker, and several late 19th century authors who wrote travel books for the average tourist. I found their writing styles amusing, informative, and a pleasure to read; thus, I have included an assortment of quotes from their books.

ENGLAND

Library of Congress
  • “MONEY – Foreign Money does not circulate in England, and it should always be exchanged on arrival. A convenient and safe mode of carrying money from America or the Continent is in the shaper of letters of credit, or circular notes, which are readily procurable at the principal banks.
  • EXPENSES –The cost of a visit to Great Britain depends, of course on the habits and tastes of the traveler. If he frequents first-class hotels, travels first-class on the railways, and systematically prefers driving to walking, he must be prepared to spend 30-40s (shillings) per day or upwards.
  • PASSPORTS- are not necessary in England, though occasionally useful in procuring delivery of registered and poste restante letters.”[1] Baedeker, Great Britain, 1901.

The first image taken after the Orcutts arrived in England is depicted below; perhaps they were in Liverpool? Anna Ri and her companion, Martha Blackwell, posed on a wooden sidewalk. A group of women seated to the left seemed to be waiting for a carriage. As I mentioned in the previous article, I discovered new information about the Orcutt’s trip to Europe in May 2023. They were part of a group of women traveling for three months to Europe. Clinton Orcutt, who accompanied his two young daughters, was the only man in the group.

Previously, I was uncertain about what towns the group visited in England. However, based on their itinerary, they went to the English Lake District, Litchfield, Leamington, Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, Oxford, London, and Canterbury.

Martha Blackwell and Anna Ri Orcutt – perhaps they are in Liverpool, England? June 1901.

Before departing Liverpool, travelers could give notice to the Station Master and request a luncheon basket be brought to the main train carriage. A Cold Luncheon basket contained half a chicken with ham or tongue, salad, bread, cheese, butter, and half a bottle of claret, stout, or mineral water. The Hot Luncheon basket contained a steak or chop with vegetables, cheese, bread, and half a bottle of claret, stout, or mineral water.[2]

Based on Thomas Cook’s itineraries, the travelers probably toured a few sites en route to London. One guidebook stated that rural England was more delightful than the urban areas and advised tourists to take a trip through the English countryside.[3]

Page two of the album features nine pictures taken in the English countryside at one of the following locations: English Lake District, Litchfield, Leamington, Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, or Canterbury.

A somewhat ethereal image of Anna Ri in a castle garden. Four additional women are in the background. June 1901.

Clinton Orcutt at the top of the staircase. A group of unknown travelers and a horseless carriage wait below. June 1901

Four pictures were taken in the English countryside. Anna Ri Orcutt posed opposite a castle/manor house on a rock wall. This collage includes the only interior photograph taken on the trip.

Clinton Orcutt, Martha Blackwell, and Jane Orcutt – location unknown. Quite the hats Martha and Jane are sporting.

TRAVEL TIPS FOR TOURISTS

Cook’s itineraries generally advised three days in London. Unfortunately, the Orcutts’ trip to London coincided with the height of the “Season,” when hotels were crowded, museums and galleries thronged, and shopkeepers rushed. The must-see places included Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum, the South Kensington Museums, and the National Gallery.[4] One guidebook for 1900 offered the following advice for visitors to museums and galleries:

“…not to spend too much time at a stretch in a gallery or museum; an hour and a half or two hours should be the utmost limit of the visit; after that, the brain becomes like a soaked sponge, and although you may think you are noticing things, you will not remember them.”[5]

Top Left – British Museum, Bottom Left – Houses of Parliament and Thames River, Right – Westminster Abbey. Images from Library of Congress and Ancestry postcard images.

If the Orcutts and Mrs. Blackwell had done their homework, they would have read general works of art and history for each country they planned to visit. Guidebooks, such as those written by Thomas Cook Ltd or Karl Baedeker, provided travelers helpful tips to enhance their experiences abroad. They included recommendations for hotels and restaurants, learning a foreign language, financial matters (currency, going through customs, buying souvenirs), and advice for personal behavior, something every guidebook mentioned. Unfortunately, Americans did not have a good reputation for manners on the Continent.

“…unless travellers are willing to leave national prejudices behind them and ready to see whatever is characteristic and excellent in a foreign country, without finding fault because it is unfamiliar, they had better remain at home. Americans are among the worst offenders in this regard, and there is no greater nuisance than the man who growls because he cannot get buckwheat cakes or the woman who fusses when she has to do without iced water…while you are abroad, try to get all the pleasure and profit out of that visit.”[6]

Thomas Cook catered to American tourists and ensured that every detail enhanced the traveler’s comfort. However, Cook thought Americans were “…extroverted and outspoken, indulging in what he called ‘high airs and tall talk.’ A constant cause of friction was the Continental breakfast which seemed like an insult to people used to starting the day on steak. Another source of friction was the expectation of hoteliers that hotel guests would order wine with their meals and the American determination to drink iced water and coffee and not pay extra for it.”[7]

As young American ladies, Anna Ri (age 19), and Jane Clare (age 16), needed to be cautious in their interactions with strangers, both on the ship and while traveling on the Continent. Being courteous was acceptable, but a lady should not be too friendly, especially to men.

“The frank, level gaze with which the American girl, not thinking any evil, meets the eyes of men who are strangers to her is always startling to Europeans. Ladies in Europe, especially on the Continent, dress quietly when walking and wear very little jewelry in the daytime.”[8]

“A lady will be courteous to everyone out of self-respect, but effusiveness of manner is not thought in England to be an attraction…and by some classes of people, it may be misunderstood.”[9]

Dover, England, seafront – Library of Congress

After about three days in London, the Orcutts likely journeyed by train to Dover. From there, they could catch a ship and travel 3 1/2 hours to Ostend on the coast of Belgium.[10] I based my assumption on Cook’s itinerary and page three in the Orcutt photograph album. It includes six pictures of beach and town scenes, that after close examination, led me to believe that the Orcutts took the photographs in Ostend and Blankenberghe, two popular Belgian coastal towns.

BELGIUM

  • “The works of the painter and the architect are Belgium’s great attractions.
  • Passports are not dispensed with in Belgium, but they are frequently useful in proving a traveller’s identity, procuring admission to collections, and in obtaining delivery of registered letters.
  • Custom House formalities are generally very lenient. The traveller should always, if possible, superintend the examination of his luggage in person. In crossing a frontier, even the smallest articles of luggage usually kept in the railway carriage have to be submitted to inspection.
  • French is still the language of the government, the army, of most of the newspapers, of public traffic… and indeed of all the upper classes, as it has been since the time of the crusades.”[11] Baedeker, Belgium and Holland: including the grand-duchy of Luxembourg, 1901.

The Orcutt sisters had the advantage of knowing a second language, which would have facilitated their travels in Belgium and France. Anna Ri and Jane had to study French when they attended Duchesne, Sacred Heart Academy in Omaha. You can read about their studies here.

OSTEND

Ostend, Belgium. Library of Congress image

Cook’s tourist handbook noted Ostend as one of the principal avenues of passenger traffic between London and the Continent. It was also one of the most “popular and fashionable watering places in Europe.”[12] During the season, which lasted from June to October, 40,000-50,000 tourist visited Ostend for sea-bathing. Tourist could rent Bathing machines and tents on the beach for the day between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.[13]

When I examine the photographs in the Album, I ponder why the photographer (Clinton, Anna Ri, or Jane) took that particular scene. The first picture on page three depicts a street undergoing repairs; large paving stones are stacked in piles, awnings shade the storefronts, and horses and carriages wait for their rides. The Café de l’Empereur (founded in 1764) is on the far right of the image. I searched Baedeker’s travel guidebook for Belgium and Holland for 1901 and found a Hôtel De L’Empereur in Ostend that included a restaurant.[14] Perhaps, the Orcutts went to the cafe, or they found the street repairs interesting?

Possibly taken in Ostend, Belgium. Café de L’Empereur – Founded in 1764- Orcutt photograph album June, 1901.

A second photograph taken on a city street is too blurry to read the storefront signs, but perhaps Jane or Anna Ri took the picture in Ostend?

Belgium, possibly taken in Ostend. Orcutt photograph Album, summer 1901.

The third photograph featured a friend whom the Orcutts met while on their trip. Anna Ri and Jane seem to have become quite chummy with their new friend. The unnamed young lady appeared in eight pictures. In this photo, she is seated at a café under the shade of an umbrella. I recognize her by her hat; she usually wears glasses.

Belgium, possibly in Ostend. Orcutt photograph album, summer 1901.Traveling friend of the Orcutts.

BLANKENBERGHE

Blankenberghe, located 10 miles to the N.W. of Ostend, was a small fishing town of about 4,300 inhabitants and a rival sea-bathing resort. It offered lower rates than Ostend and was “freer and less conventional.”[15]. Did the Orcutts rent swimsuits and enjoy sea-bathing?

I discovered several postcards of Blankenberge pier, built in 1894, which strongly resemble the photograph in the Orcutt Album. Images are from the Library of Congress.

Blankenberghe Pier, Belgium. June-July 1901, Orcutt Photograph Album.

After the Orcutts toured Ostend, they likely traveled by train to Antwerp and Brussels. They may have taken the express train from Brussels to Cologne (Köln). This is where they probably began their tour of the Rhine (Rhein) River.

CUSTOMS and BORDER CROSSINGS

Each time the Orcutts crossed a border into a different country, they had to go through customs. The custom-house examinations were generally made at the station nearest the frontier. Every guidebook described the process as “one of the greatest drawbacks to the pleasures of foreign travel.”[16] Each country had different customs procedures, with the English being the most lenient and the French the strictest.[17]

“When landing in any foreign country, and whenever you cross the line between any two countries, you must go through the tedious farce of a customs house examination. It is tedious because it delays the journey from half an hour to two hours, at points utterly devoid of interest; and it is a farce for about all American tourists because they carry nothing on which duty is collected. Liquor, tobacco, and food are the things sought for more than anything else, and the traveler is likely to carry none of them in dutiable quantities.

The trunks are all taken from what we call the baggage car and what the English call the luggage van, placed on long tables, and opened when you produce the key. If you are good-natured and show no uneasiness, the examining official will make only the most cursory examination, often merely lifting the lid. If you claim two or three trunks, frequently you will be asked to open but one; don’t suggest which one it shall be, or the official will have another opened.”[18]

A fellow Omaha resident who traveled to Europe in the summer of 1901 described her frustrating experiences to the Omaha Daily Bee after returning home.

“Paying car fare and opening my baggage for inspection took most of the three months I spent in Europe. I guess they must have thought I was a diamond smuggler. Nearly every waking hour I was traveling, an inspector demanded that my luggage be opened. I became so accustomed to obeying orders that I sat with my keys in my hand, ready to open my trunk and traveling bag on a moment’s notice. Friends told me that if I would talk to the inspectors in an animated manner, they would pass my luggage without tumbling everything into a mess. The men who understood English seemed to grow more suspicious as I jabbered away at them. My German and French had no effect whatever on inspectors who speak only those languages. They only looked at me hopelessly and went on with their work of stirring things up.”[19]

The Orcutts and Martha Blackwell had completed their tour of England, Holland, and Belgium and were ready to visit the fourth country on their itinerary. A change of borders meant a shift in language and customs. Hopefully, they kept their travel guidebook at hand as it offered advice on every aspect of travel.

  • Chance acquaintances must never be made in the street, except under extraordinary circumstances.
  • “Before taking your place at a table d’hôte, you should bow slightly to the other persons at your table, and also when you get up to go away. People who omit to do this are thought very rude on the Continent, especially in Germany.“
  • If you are next to a stranger at the table, it is allowable and indeed polite to talk with him or her, and if your neighbor is a man, it is your place to speak first. (This advice was for a female tourist.)
  • In England, you don’t greet the shop people whereas on the Continent it is customary to say “good day” when you go into a shop in France, Italy, or Germany.
  • “In England, as with us, a woman bows first in the street, but on the Continent, the reverse is the rule, and men speak first to women.”
  • “The American custom that a man walking with a woman should always keep himself between her and the gutter is not known in Europe; a woman’s place is invariably on the man’s right hand, whether walking or driving.”
  • If you walk or sit on a man’s left in Germany, it amounts to an admission that you are of a decidedly lower class. An older woman always sits on the right of a young one.”
  • It is exceedingly bad form to be late at the table d’hôte.”[22]
  • Three health tips to adhere to while traveling: “Don’t get overheated and then chilled; Don’t go too long without eating; Don’t drink water unless you are sure it is good.”[22]

TRAIN TRAVEL

Boulevard Ornano, Paris – Station – around 1900. Wikipedia.com

Trains served as the most practical transportation from one city to the next. The railway cars differed from country to country but most offered first, second, and third-class compartments. Each railway car was divided by partitions parallel with the end of the car into compartments. The first class had eight seats (four facing front and four back) in a compartment, while the third class had ten, one more on each side. Some travelers felt the first-class compartments were superior to second-class. Still, Baedeker’s guidebooks stated there was no difference in Germany and very little in England, France, and Italy. An English proverb says that “only Americans and fools travel first-class.”[23] The comment was based on the sentiment that “there is more false pride in democratic America than in aristocratic Europe.”[23 If, as I surmise, the Orcutts booked a circular ticket through Thomas Cook or a similar agency, then they would have purchased first-class railway tickets.[24}

Dining cars were not as popular abroad as in the States due to the shorter distances traveled in Europe between cities. However, the Continental Express trains offered a restaurant and dining cars; otherwise, the passengers could procure food from the local station restaurant stops. Travel guidebooks recommended that the American tourists purchase an inexpensive hamper and fill it with picnic items to eat while underway. Since good water was not always available, a bottle of wine was a good addition. In Germany, beer was offered through the railway car windows at nearly every stopping place.[25]

PART III – to be continued

Join the Orcutts as they visit Germany, where they take a steamer up the Rhein River and visit Heidelberg castle. Then on to Switzerland, where they take an excursion on Lake Lucerne and drive from Interlaken to Grindelwald to see the glaciers. Their itinerary also included a three-day trip to Paris.

 

Genealogy Sketch

Clinton Delos ORCUTT


Name: [Clinton Delos ORCUTT -1840-1905
Parents: Daniel Heath ORCUTT 1809-1864 and
Angeline PERKINS 1813-1887
Spouse: Anna Dorcas DUTTON 1842-1899
Children: Louis DeForest ORCUTT -1871-1891, George Dutton ORCUTT 1873-1886, Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON 1879-1964, Anna Ri ORCUTT JAQUES 1881-1942, and Jane Clare ORCUTT KEELINE 1884-1918
Relationship to Kendra: Great Great-Grandfather

  1. Clinton Delos ORCUTT
  2. Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON UTTENDORFER
  3. Anna Jane BEATON HYDE
  4. Jean HYDE HOPP EICHORN
  5. Kendra

 

© 2022 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

ENDNOTES

[9] Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company, p. 132. Digital Images. Hathitrust.org.(https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t23b6jv19&view=1up&seq=148&skin=2021)

[10] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1901). Belgium and Holland: including the grand-duchy of Luxembourg; handbook for travellers. 13th ed., rev. and augm. Leipsic: K. Baedeker. Digital images. Hathitrust.org.

[11]Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1901). Belgium and Holland: including the grand-duchy of Luxembourg; handbook for travellers. 13th ed., rev. and augm. Leipsic: K. Baedeker. Digital images. Hathitrust.org

[12] Thomas Cook (Firm). (1901). Cook’s tourists’ handbook for Holland, Belgium: the Rhine and the Black Forest. London. Digital images. Hathitrust.org. (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x001492643&view=1up&seq=183&skin=2021&q1=blankenberghe)

[13] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1901). Belgium and Holland: including the grand-duchy of Luxembourg; handbook for travellers. 13th ed., rev. And augm. Leipsic: K. Baedeker. P. 10. Digital images. Hathitrust.org.

[14] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1901). Belgium and Holland: including the grand-duchy of Luxembourg; handbook for travellers. 13th ed., rev. and augm. Leipsic: K. Baedeker. P. 9. Digital images. Hathitrust.org.

[15] Karl Baedeker (Firm). (1901). Belgium and Holland: including the grand-duchy of Luxembourg; handbook for travellers. 13th ed., rev. And augm. Leipsic: K. Baedeker. P. 17. Digital images. Hathitrust.org.

[16] Thomas Cook (Firm). (1901). Cook’s tourists’ handbook for Holland, Belgium: the Rhine and Black Forest. London. p. 1. Digital images. Hathitrust.org (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x001492643&view=1up&seq=15&skin=2021&q1=%20rhine

[17] Holland, Evangeline. Edwardian England A Guide to Everyday Life 1900-1914. 2014 Plum Bun Publishing. Digital images. Books.google.com.

[18] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 192.

[19] Miss Tobit is at Home Omaha Librarian Returns from Extended Tour of Europe. Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, August 8, 1901, pg.7. Digital images. Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed January 16, 2022.)

[20] Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company, p. 13-15. Digital Images. Hathitrust.org. (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t23b6jv19&view=1up&seq=31&skin=2021)

[21] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p139.

[22] Jones, M. Cadwalader. (1900). European travel for women: notes and suggestions. New York: The Macmillan company, p. 7. Digital Images. Hathitrust.org.

[23] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 54.

(https://archive.org/details/goingabroadsomea00luce/page/54/mode/2up?q=train&view=theater)

[24] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 55.

(https://archive.org/details/goingabroadsomea00luce/page/54/mode/2up?q=train&view=theater)

[25] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 58.

(https://archive.org/details/goingabroadsomea00luce/page/58/mode/2up?q=train&view=theater)

[26] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org, p. 61

Posted in My Family Ancestry, Photographs | Tagged | 2 Comments

GILDED AGE GIRLS – THE ORCUTT’S GRAND TOUR OF EUROPE – Part I

Posted on June 3, 2022 by treeklimber
ORCUTT TRAVEL ALBUM (L-R Anna Ri Orcutt, Clinton Delos Orcutt, Jane Clare Orcutt)

I was about twelve when I first saw the Orcutt Family Travel Album. Many years have passed since then, and the album’s condition has deteriorated. Yet, it continues to fascinate me. After much research, I decided to reveal the stories hidden within.

Aunt Jane Keeline & Auntie Ri’s Trips with Grandfather Orcutt to Europe, Mexico Yellowstone Park (Label written by Anna Jane Beaton Hyde)

My grandmother, Anna Jane Hyde, nee Beaton, inherited the album from her favorite aunt, Jane Clare (Orcutt) Keeline. Around 1898, fourteen-year-old Jane Orcutt acquired a loose-leaf Morehouse scrapbook manufactured by the Heinn Specialty Co in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The album, 15.25″x11″x1″, includes 24 ash grey “leaves” or pages. The first two images posted in the book were taken circa 1899 when the Orcutt family traveled on vacation from Omaha, Nebraska, to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The following five pages of the album show Jane cavorting with her friends in the Orcutt family home.

The focus of this blog concerns the following ten pages filled with 89 small black and white photographs – the Orcutt’s Grand Tour of Europe. On June 8, 1901, Clinton Delos Orcutt, my 2x great-grandfather, accompanied by his two youngest daughters, Anna Ri (19) and Jane Clare (16), set sail from New York or Montreal bound for England. A long-time family friend joined the Orcutts on their excursion and acted as a chaperone for the girls. Mrs. Martha Blackwell was a widow whom the Orcutt family knew from their years in Muscatine, Iowa.

Clinton Orcutt, Jane Orcutt, Anna Ri Orcutt, Mrs. Martha Blackwell & unknown travel companions – Europe Summer 1901
  • 1 Clinton Delos Orcutt – 60 years old
  • 2 Jane Clare Orcutt – 16 years old
  • 3 Anna Ri Orcutt – 19 years old
  • 4 Martha Blackwell – 42 years old

“Mr. Clinton Orcutt, accompanied by his two daughters, Miss Ana Ri and Miss Jennie, will sail for England to be gone for several months. Their tour will include England, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, and Italy.”[1]

“Mrs. Martha Blackwell left Sunday for New York, where she sails today for Europe. The Misses Orcutt sail on the same steamer.”[2]

Although Jane did not keep a written travel journal, I reconstructed the Orcutt’s Grand Tour using the photograph album, newspaper articles, and travel guides/books. At the beginning of the 20th century, a lengthy tour of Europe became almost a rite of passage for upper-middle -class youth. Inspired by popular books and travel writings of American authors Nathanial Hawthorne, Mark Twain, and others, readers were encouraged to explore Europe[3]. For example, in 1869, when Twain published the Innocents Abroad, he wrote, “Everybody was going to Europe…The steamship lines were carrying Americans out of the various ports of the country at the rate of four or five thousand a week.” [4]When the Orcutts and Mrs. Blackwell set sail for Europe in 1901, steam powered sailing ships crossed the ocean in little over a week. In addition, the integrated train transportation network within Europe facilitated travel for foreigners across the continent. The advent of companies dedicated to organizing this travel facilitated and enhanced the experience. A novice traveler could rely on Thomas Cook & Sons of London to arrange every aspect of the trip.

BOOKING THE TRIP

Perhaps the Orcutt family members read some of the same books I used during my research. I discovered several travel books printed circa 1900, many now available digitally, that provided detailed descriptions. I started my research by reading “Four Girls in Europe,” written by Clarissa Sands Arnold, transcribed and edited by her great-granddaughter. This book recounts her tour of Europe from October 1900 to September 1901. Like the Orcutts, she began her travels in England.

Mary Cadwalader Jones wrote a travel guide specifically for women traveling to Europe, “European Travel for Women.” She strongly advised her readers to purchase a circular ticket through Cook’s or another travel agency to take advantage of benefits.[5]

“Not only can you tell exactly what your tour will cost, but you are taken care of everywhere by thoroughly efficient machinery, and if you know nothing of any language except your own, you will probably profit more by your trip than if you try to wander about alone. I strongly advise you to go to Cook’s offices, which are found in almost every city, for your railway and steamboat tickets.”[6]

Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, 30 March 1901, Newspapers.com

Margaret Addison, who wrote “A Diary of a European Tour,” published in 1900, traveled for a portion of her journey with Thomas Cook & Sons.

“The advantage of traveling with Cook’s – unique at the time – was that one could book and pay in advance for all travel on the differently owned steamship and railroad lines, hotel accommodation, and even meals. Tourist tickets and hotel coupons were issued to be exchanged for services as needed. Cook maintained uniformed officers at main railroad stations to advise travelers, as well as to vehicles to support them to their hotels.”[7]

Cooks Excursionist Home & Foreign Tourist Advertiser google.com/books

I found an 1898 digital copy of Cook’s Excursionist and Tourist Advertiser with tour itineraries and pricing. The tour selection changed through the seasons based on popularity. According to newspaper articles, I knew the Orcutts had departed on June 8, 1901, and returned to Omaha on September 15.[8] thus, they had 98 travel days. They likely allowed three days of train travel from Omaha to the East and back, plus ten days of trans-Atlantic travel in each direction. I concluded that the Orcutts had approximately 72 days to tour Europe.

Per the recommendations from the guidebooks, the Orcutts probably booked their trip several months in advance through a local Thomas Cook agent in Omaha. A deposit of 25% was required upon booking and the balance two or three weeks before sailing.

TOUR OF 59 DAYS – $615.00 per person ($20,917 in 2022) visiting England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, the Rhine, Switzerland, and France

TOUR OF 86 DAYS – $750.00 per person ($25, 509 in 2022) visiting England, France, Swizerland, Italian Lakes, Italy, The Tyrol, Bavaria, Austria, Germany, The Rhine, Belgium, England[9]

The fare included:

HOTELS – Hotel accommodations included simple breakfast, meat lunch, table d’hote [a dinner restaurant meal offered for a fixed price], plus bedrooms, lights, and service.

FEES – Omnibuses to and from hotels, stations, and piers while with the Cook’s Conductor. Tips and fees for servants, railway guards, porters, hotel servants, and sight-seeing while with the Conductor.

BAGGAGE – On the Atlantic 250 lbs, in England 150 lbs,, on the continent 60 lbs., free.

CARRIAGE DRIVERS, STEAMERS, GONDOLAS, AND EXCURSIONS – All the necessary expenses per program, including a qualified conductor’s services, who will act as guide and interpreter.[10]

PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

Guidebooks advise that the traveler should have a sense of purpose in their travel and be prepared by reading guidebooks and works of history or fiction relating to the various European countries. They should also be open-minded and look at things from the point of view of the local citizen. “Remember when you go to a strange country that its inhabitants have not sent for you; you go among them, presumably of your own accord, and their manners and customs cannot possibly seem stranger to you than yours do to them.”[11]

The most crucial matter for the traveler to decide was how much they could afford to spend on the trip. Once they set their budget, the Orcutt family could have purchased traveler’s checks from the American Express Company, Brown Brothers, or similar firms. They might have taken the advice from the guidebooks to acquire a Letter of Credit, which could be issued for a minimum sum of $500.00. [12]

Although a passport was not necessary, it was recommended for identification. It was good for two years and could be renewed for one dollar. Unfortunately, I have not found any records indicating whether the Orcutts or Martha Blackwell acquired passports.

RECOMMENDED TRAVEL ITEMS

1.Two smaller pieces of luggage rather than one large one as the luggage must be carried by hand up and down stairs at hotels. “Don’t try to drag about the huge arks with which some Americans advertise their nationality because they are inconvenient, as Europeans are not used to handling them.”[13] A safe size for a steamer trunk is thirteen inches to be stowed under the berth.[14]

2. “A large dark-coloured canvas bag, or ‘kit,’ for soiled clothes…A canvas cover with straps in which the rugs and shawls of the party may be neatly rolled will keep them from the dust of travel, and still, another canvas case is advisable for holding umbrellas and parasols, which otherwise soon get badly chafed and shabby looking.”[15]

3. Women – two tailormade cloth suits, one thicker and one lighter in a dark color, preferably serge or mohair, a good silk or satin skirt, and a few blouses or shirtwaists. If going to the theater, an evening wrap, a house dress or tea gown, or if the traveler stops to rest for a day or two. A silk petticoat and simple underclothes as they will receive hard usage from the washerwomen. Warm underclothes to wear aboard the ship as the Atlantic can be chilly. A thick gauze veil in case of excessive dust. For nighttime, a simple, think flannel dressing gown in “some quiet color, in order not to be too conspicuous when you go to the bathroom.” It can be worn over a nightgown at sea.[16]

4. “A handbag, and do not make the mistake of choosing it too small, or the leather which will easily become shabby; russet or black pigskin or morocco [soft leather made from goatskin] is very serviceable.”[17]

5. “For the feet, light-colored shoes are, on the whole preferable, because they look better with less care. Every healthy tourist is sure to do a great deal of walking, and many a night, the feet will ache. So only the easiest of shoes should be worn, and for the same reason, slippers will prove a big relief in hotels and pensions.”[18]

6. Men should wear a business suit. “Outing shirts for men are far the most comfortable, and they have the decided advantage of not yielding so quickly to the grim of railway trains and the perspiration of exercise, which the traveler cannot avoid.” [19]A white shirt and collar should be worn at the table d’hote and at any resort after dark.

7. Both men and women should wear a hat. For women, it should fit the head closely, be trimmed with ribbons or stiff feathers, and have a slight brim to protect the eyes from the glare of the sky and water. For men, a Derby was the preferred hat in the city streets.[20]

8. A camera to preserve memories. “The Daylight Kodak 5×4 is an easy size to carry, and in all large cities, you can get Eastman’s films or have them developed.”[21]

Basic Kodak Brownie Camera, Wikimedia Commons

TRAVEL ITEMS LIST[22]

RECOMMENDEDDESIREABLE LUXERIES
shaving brush bootlaces & hat stringaneroid barometer, and pocket thermometer
soapcathartic pills & quininepaper covered novels
pocket-knifeleather vial case containing vials of Jamaica ginger, cholera medicine, listerine, arnica, medicine for coughs, & colds, whiskey, toilet water, hamamelis, ink, paregoric.binocular glasses or opera glasses
comb & hair brushSeidlitz powdersflask
court plasterpocket looking-glasscompass
ink bottle with spring coverpieces of flannel & cottonpocket tool chest, tools inside handle
spongehot water bagsmall pillow for steamer chair & in trains
vaselineelastic bands & tags & labels
telescoping drinking cuppatent trouser buttons
steamer rug (a thick carriage robe serves in a pinch)playing cards
shawl strapthin linen & paper envelopes
clothes-brushtape measure & pocket rule
scissorsdiary
stylographic or fountain penfolding alcohol lamp
corkscrewtube of toothpaste
needles & threadfor women, smelling salts
pincushion & safety pins
toilet paper (in cloth case)
twine
visiting cards, recommended as “proof of respectability”
buttons
leather purse for coins
foreign currency both coins and bills
collar buttons and shirt studs
For women- glove & shoe buttons, sewing silk, tapes, hooks, eyes, hat pins & small pins, black & white
soap (hotels did not supply it)

ABOARD SHIP – THE R.M.S. AUSTRALASIAN

RMS Ruapehu also known as the SS Australasian, courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand

Finding the correct ship was not smooth sailing. I encountered a few waves that threatened to founder my research. Numerous searches for a ship’s manifest yielded no results, so I relied on newspaper articles for (what I thought) was accurate information; unfortunately, it conflicted. Four articles stated that the Orcutts and Mrs. Blackwell sailed from New York to England on June 8, 1901.

  • “Clinton Orcutt, the Misses Orcutt and Mrs. Martha Blackwell sailed from New York on Saturday for Europe.”[23]
  • “Mrs. Martha Blackwell expects to go east soon, sailing from New York on June 8, to spend some time abroad. She will be accompanied by her friends from Muscatine, Ia.“[24]
  • “Mrs. Martha Blackwell left Sunday for New York, where she sails today for Europe. The Misses Orcutt sail on the same steamer.”[25]
  • “Mr. Clinton Orcutt accompanied by his two daughters, Miss Anna Ri and Miss Jennie, will sail June 8 for England, to be gone several months. Their tour will include England, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, and Italy.”[26]

Two additional articles stated that the Orcutts sailed from Montreal to Liverpool; the first article had obvious errors.

  • “Mrs. C.D. Orcutt and daughter sailed from Montreal for Liverpool on Saturday. They expect to be away four months.”[27]
  • “C.D. Orcutt and his two daughters left last week for Europe. They sailed from Montreal and will travel on the continent for four months.”[28]

I concluded (erroneously) that New York must be the correct port of departure and conducted my research accordingly. After I found the ship that departed from New York for Liverpool on June 8, I amassed articles, photographs, and even a ship’s menu from the New York Public Library. As I typed the final edit of this blog, my ancestors whispered, “You’ve got the wrong ship.” One more time, I perused the U.K. and Ireland Incoming Passenger Lists. Gob smacked describes my reaction when Genealogy Serendipity struck! Finally, I’d found the ship’s manifest that listed the names Mr. Clinton D. Orcutt, Miss Anna Orcutt, Miss Jennie Orcutt, and Mrs. Martha Blackwell. They sailed on June 8, 1901, from MONTREAL to Liverpool.[29]

Ancestry.com UK and Ireland Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, Liverpool, England 1901 Apr-Jun

The manifest included the name of the ship, the Australasian, the summary of steerage and cabin passengers, and the master of the ship, Captain John Brown.

Ancestry.com UK and Ireland Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, Liverpool, England 1901 Apr-Jun

Back to the drawing board. Further research revealed two ships with the same name – the S.S. Australasian. The first vessel I researched was built in 1884. It sailed between England, Australia, and New Zealand and served primarily as a cargo ship. It took another couple of days to discover that the second Australasian ship launched in February 1901 under another name, the RMS Ruapehu.

http://www.ssmaritime.com
Allan Line Advertising Card c. 1886, courtesy of Norway-Heritage.com

“The Allan Line have taken over from the New Zealand Steamship company the SS Ruapehu, which has been renamed the Australasian and will make her maiden voyage on May 23rd [1901].”[30]

The RMS Ruapehu was built by William Denny & Bros at Dumbarton, Scotland, for the New Zealand Shipping Co. Ltd. She was 7,705 tons, 475 feet long, 58 feet broad, and 42 feet deep, and was intended for the Company’s trade between London and the Australian colonies.[31] According to a maritime website, “Her First- and Second-class public rooms were fitted out in a high quality and well furnished, whilst the cabins were known to offer from supreme to good comfort.” [32]The ship could transport 340 passengers, 40 in First Class, 50 in Second Class, and 80 in Third Class, plus space for 170 steerage passengers. The manifest for the June 8th voyage listed 202 passengers (192 adults, 8 children, and 2 infants). The passengers were either listed as steerage (71) or cabin (141), but the manifest did not designate which passengers occupied First-, Second-, or Third-class cabins.[33] A 1903 Allan Line publication described the accommodations aboard three of its newest ships as follows:

“The first- and second-class accommodations amidships where, of course, the minimum of motion is experienced, on the saloon deck. Above the saloon deck is the upper bridge deck, and above that again the shade deck. From the shade deck, a companion-way leads to the upper bridge deck below, on which are a number of staterooms, the first-class smoking room, and the bridge deck below on which are a number of staterooms, the first-class smoking room, and the first-class music room, while surrounding the containing deck house is a noble promenade well equipped with seat accommodation and sheltered from the weather by the shade deck above. The first-class staterooms are each fitted with a wardrobe in rich mahogany, a settee in red plush, and the most up-to-date of toilet equipment. At the after end of the passenger accommodation on the upper bridge deck is the first-class smoking room, an apartment which suggests both ease and solid comfort. The floor is of oak parquetry, the ceiling is decorated in rich cream and gold, while the oak panels of the walls are relieved by floral devices in maple. The lounges and chairs are upholstered in stamped leather with handsome mirrors, and last but not least, a commodious bar completes a tout ensemble which male passengers will not be slow to appreciate. The ladies comforts are specially catered for by an exquisite music room; the refinement and luxury which reflects great credit upon the builders. The piano by Steinway, the writing tables, and panels are in oak and maple, while the predominant tint in the flowered silk of the upholstery is blue, a color which harmonizes with the cream and gold of the ceiling and the curtains which screen the oblong ports, commanding views both to port and starboard as well as forward. From the upper bridge deck, a handsome staircase and entrance hall communicates with the saloon deck and the first-class dining saloon, a noble apartment well lighted and lofty and extending the full width of the ship. The furniture, organ, and sideboards are of walnut, while the upholstery is terra-cotta stamped velvet.”[34]

RMS Ruapehu also known as the SS Australasian, courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand

I was reassured I had the correct vessel when I found two articles that mentioned the RMS Australasian in conjunction with Captain Brown.

“The Allan Line R.M.S. Australasian, Captain Brown, arrived in port [Montreal] shortly before one o’clock yesterday with passengers and general cargo. This is the third trip of the Australasian to this port and already she has proved herself not only a good seaworthy vessel, but she has also become a favorite with the travelling public. Her present voyage was an exceptionally pleasant one to the passengers, the latter as they disembarked speaking in eulogistic terms of Capt Brown and his officers for the manner in which they had been treated during the trip across.”[35]

Allan Line Steamship Australasian and Captain Brown, Newspaper.com
Allan Line Wharf, Montreal, Canada, courtesy of Norway Heritage.com

Purchasing a first-class ticket entitled the bearer to one berth in a stateroom. Jane and Anna Ri Orcutt probably shared a stateroom. Clinton Orcutt either paid for a stateroom or shared it with another passenger. If the Orcutt family had followed the advice of the guidebooks, they would have chosen staterooms away from the pantries, the machinery, and the toilet rooms.[36] They probably selected good-sized cabins on the upper or middle of the deck, as there was less motion at either end.

The only images I found that depict the interior of Allan Line ships, show the second class cabins, music room, dining room, smoke room and the promenade. [37]

Passengers were advised to arrive early at the steamer and settle in their cabins by unpacking only the items necessary for the journey and safely stowing the remainder in their steamer trunk. Due to the salty spray from the ocean, women were advised to change into the “frock” they would wear for the voyage. [38]Next, one should ring for the cabin stewardess, make her acquaintance, “and ask her to send the bath stewardess. Say to her that you hope to take a bath each day and choose the hour which will suit you best.” [39]

Montreal, Canada – Allan Line Illustrated Tourist’s Guide to Canada and the United States, Archive.org

If the ship followed procedure, it departed at daylight from Montreal to Quebec on the magnificent St. Lawrence River and then into the North Atlantic. The weather forecast for the 8th of June was cloudy and cool, with rain later in the day. Perhaps the Orcutts and Mrs. Blackwell went on deck to watch as the great ship pulled out of the harbor.

Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers, St. Lawrence route Archive.org

An advertisement pamphlet for the Allan Line shipping company for 1907 provided more details about routine matters while aboard ship.

  • “Cablegrams and telegrams should be handed to the Purser or his assistant.
  • The Saloon Steward will, on application, supply Stamps, Telegraph Forms, Books of Reference, and Railway Time Tables of the principal companies.
  • An experienced Physician is attached to the Steamer. For medical attendance in case of sickness on board, no charge is made, medicines are also provided free of charge. But the Ship’s Physician is allowed to charge the usual fees to travellers who submit themselves to treatment for maladies not contracted during the voyage.
  • Questions relating to Baggage should be referred to the Third Officer, who is the Ship’s Baggage Master. Trunks or rugs which passengers may desire to leave in charge of the Company should be properly labeled to the Baggage master on the wharf at Liverpool or Montreal, and such articles will be stored entirely at the owner’s risk. It is necessary for passengers themselves to see all their Baggage passed by the Customs Authorities on landing.
  • Deck chairs can be hired from the Purser.
  • It is desirable that valuables or money should be placed in charge of the Purser for deposit in his safe. As no charge is made for carriage, the Company can accept no responsibility for loss or damage, however arising, but passengers can protest themselves by insurance.”[40]

Once the ship was underway, the passengers could contact the purser to inquire about the table where they would dine and express a preference to dine with friends. Life aboard the ship was regulated by bells, including mealtimes. Although I could not find a specific menu for the Australasian, I located one for an Allan Line ship from 1906. [41]

BREAKFAST LUNCHEONDINNER
Porridge with Fresh Milk or Maple SyrupGerman SoupCold Meats
Loch Fyne HerringRoast Veal, Lemon SaucePreserved Salmon
Beef Steaks and OnionsRoast Goose, Apple SauceFindon Haddie
Liver and BaconHaricot MuttonCottage Pie
Curried Mutton and RicePotatoesSalad
Irish StewParsnipsFresh Bread
Fresh RollsSago PuddingToast
ToastStewed Prunes and RiceSugar Buns
JamJam PuffsBiscuits
MarmaladeBiscuitsCheese
TeaCheeseJam
CoffeeTeaMarmalade
CoffeeTea
Coffee
The Allan Line: information for passengers, 1907 Archive.org

Every guidebook offered tips to combat seasickness. Fresh air was the best preventative, but if dry biscuits, cotton in the ears, a pinch of baking soda, powdered charcoal after each meal, sniffing ammonia before meals, drinking plenty of hot water, or a diet of well-masticated beef for the first three days didn’t cure you, then passengers could consult the ship’s physician.

PICTURES TAKEN ABOARD THE AUSTRALASIAN

While aboard the ship, the Orcutts took three photographs. When I examined the first image, I thought Jane had simply taken a picture of the ocean. After scanning and lightening the image, I realized she had spotted an iceberg, which is not uncommon when crossing the Atlantic in June. Look for the large white object in the photograph below.

Photograph from Jane Orcutt’s album of the Atlantic Ocean, the white object is an iceberg.

It may have taken the passengers a few days to get their sea legs and enjoy life on an ocean steamer. Sociability on board included playing games such as shuffleboard, ring toss, cards, chess, telling storytelling, or relaxing on a deck chair. The latter could be rented for a dollar for the voyage. The occupant could place their calling card into a little frame on the back and tie a colorful ribbon to quickly identify it and deter squatters. The joy of “plain straight loafing is accomplished with the utmost satisfaction when one is stretched out on a steamer chair, warmly wrapped, basking in the sun, on the leeward side of the promenade deck.”[42]

Three dapper men relaxing in deck chairs aboard the Australasian June 1901. Photograph in author’s possession

Jane’s final picture aboard the ship depicts an unknown woman and a crew member. Unfortunately, Jane’s photography skills needed some practice. Most of her photographs are rather dark and blurry.

Young woman and crew member aboard the RMS Australasian, June 1901, photograph in possession of author.

ARRIVAL IN LIVERPOOL

The average journey from Montreal to Liverpool was seven days, but on this trip, the Australasian took ten days to cross the pond. The ship’s manifest noted an arrival of June 18. The Liverpool Daily Post stated that the “Allan steamer Australasian, from Montreal and Quebec, arrived in the Mersey (Liverpool) at 3:45 p.m.” [43] The weather forecast for the day was “moderate northerly winds, slight rain in places, then clearer, brighter, but not settled.”[44]

The Orcutts and Mrs. Blackwell had arrived in England, a good place to commence their tour of Europe, a tip advised by Mary Cadwallader Jones. “Every American who leaves his own country should begin by going to England. In the first place, while the transition is marked enough, it is less violent than if one is suddenly pitchforked into a place where the language, as well as all the customs, are unfamiliar; and then, although we have become different in some ways from the English, we are many of us descended directly from them and have a common inheritance in their past.”[45]

Landing Stage at Liverpool, Ancestry.com

As the Orcutts and Mrs. Blackwell disembarked did they have the same thoughts expressed by Clarissa Sands Arnold upon her arrival in Liverpool?

“To think we are really across the Atlantic and have but to look around to find ourselves to be hurrying off the Steamer onto the tug to be brought into Liverpool!”[46]

[UPDATE – MAY 2023]

Family history research is never complete, as I have learned once again. Nearly one year after I wrote the first in a series of blogs about the Orcutt’s trip to Europe, and while working on a research timeline for Clinton Orcutt, I found new and vital information about their trip. The Muscatine News-Tribune (Iowa) printed an article about a party of twenty lady tourists who intended to spend the summer in Europe with details about their journey. Therefore, I will include the amendment to the Orcutt trip here.

The party, primarily of lady tourists, took a special train car from Chicago to Buffalo, New York, where they spent a day at the Pan-American exposition. From there, they proceeded to Montreal, where they took passage to Liverpool. The tour was conducted by Miss Florence Munson of Des Moines and Miss Delia Hutchinson of Iowa City. Included in the list of travelers were Mrs. Martha Blackwell of Omaha, Clinton Orcutt, and Misses Anna and Jennie Orcutt of Omaha.

According to the Muscatine News-Tribune dated 22 June 1901, The steamer Australasia landed at midnight at Moville, Ireland, on Monday, 17 June. The steamer then proceeded to Liverpool, where the three-month journey commenced.

The itinerary was as follows: English Lake District, Litchfield, Leamington, Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, Oxford, London, Canterbury, Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Cologne, The Rhine, Frankfort, Heidelberg, Interlaken, Lucerne, Thusis, Chiavenna, Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Genoa, Turin, Geneva, Paris, Boulogne. The party returned to America in early September, sailing from Boulogne.[47]

[UPDATE- JUNE 2023]

While researching information for a blog about Clinton Orcutt, I found another exciting newspaper article regarding the Orcutt family’s travel to Europe.

Iowa Ladies in Europe – A special cable to the New York Journal announces that fifteen American girls, all from Iowa, are startling the old world, the inhabitants of which are not accustomed to seeing women traveling without a male escort. The party referred to is the one chaperoned by Miss Delia Hutchinson of Iowa City and Miss Florence Musson of Des Moines, the latter having had five proposals of marriage from men of title so far on their journey. This is the first party of American girls who have visited Spain since the Spanish-American war. At the Fair of Seville they pretended to be English, as they thought they might be molested if it became known they were Americans. But a Spaniard exclaimed “Los Yankees!” and treated them with the greatest courtesy.

The dispatch from Paris of June 29th goes on to say Fifteen beautiful American girls, all from Iowa, are making a tour of Europe, and have startled Spanish duchesses, Italian princesses and French countesses out of their wits. the idea of young college girls traveling without a male through foreign lands is enough to make the great ladies of Latin countries lie awake at night.

The fifteen beauties went in a body last night to the Moulin Rouge and to Maxim’s. Their fascinating appearance stopped the dances at both places.

The members of the party are Miss Delia Hutchinson, Iowa City; Miss Florence Musson, Des Moines; Mrs. Sarah M. Johnson of Muscatine, Mrs. J.P. Whitney of Vinton, Miss Carrie Shammel, of Muscatine, Miss Ada Hutchinson and Miss Mary Moon, of Iowa City, Miss Leo Letts, of Columbus Junction, Miss Helen Fernstrom, of Lone Tree, Miss Cleme Gilchrist of Kearney, Neb, Misses Carrie and Anna Lichty, of DesMoines, Miss Mae Dichty, of Rockford, Ill, Miss Mabel Galbrath, of Des Moines; Mrs. Martha Blackwell, of Omaha, Mr. C.D. Orcutt and Miss Anna and Jennie Orcutt of Omaha.”

Iowa Ladies in Europe, Lone Tree Reporter, Lone Tree, Iowa, 19 July 1901 P. 1; digital images, http://www.seiowa.advantage-preservation.com, http://seiowa.advantage-preservation.com/search?k=orcutt&i=f&d=1/1/1849-12/31/1909&bcn=1&m=between&ord=k1: accessed 8 June 2023.

Part II – Gilded Age Girls – The Orcutt’s Grand Tour of Europe – to be continued.

 

Genealogy Sketch

Clinton Delos ORCUTT


Name: [Clinton Delos ORCUTT -1840-1905
Parents: Daniel Heath ORCUTT 1809-1864 and
Angeline PERKINS 1813-1887
Spouse: Anna Dorcas DUTTON 1842-1899
Children: Louis DeForest ORCUTT -1871-1891, George Dutton ORCUTT 1873-1886, Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON 1879-1964, Anna Ri ORCUTT JAQUES 1881-1942, and Jane Clare ORCUTT KEELINE 1884-1918
Relationship to Kendra: Great Great-Grandfather

  1. Clinton Delos ORCUTT
  2. Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON UTTENDORFER
  3. Anna Jane BEATON HYDE
  4. Jean HYDE HOPP EICHORN
  5. Kendra

 

© 2022 copyright – Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved

  1. Social Chit Chat, Omaha Daily Bee, (Omaha, May 5, 1901, p.6; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed June 5, 2021).
  2. Our Card Basket, The Excelsior, (Omaha, Nebraska, June 8, 1901, Saturday, p.14. Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com : accessed 5 June 2021)
  3. Arnold, Clarissa Sands, Edited by Deborah Stewart Weber (2010). Four Girls in Europe My Tour of England and the Continent, October 1900-September, 1901. Universe, Bloomington, IN. p. xi.
  4. Twain, Mark, 2018. The Innocents Abroad. Sea Wolf Press
  5. Jones, Mary Cadwalader, (1900). European Travel for Women Notes and Suggestions. Norwood Massachusetts, Norwood Press. Digital Books. Google Books. https://google.com/books. 2007. P.22
  6. Ibid
  7. Addison, Margaret. Diary of a European Tour 1900. Montreal, McGill-Queen’s University Press. 1900. Digital images. Google Books https://google.com/books. 1999. P. 5-7
  8. The Excelsior, (Omaha, Nebraska, September 21, 1901, Saturday, pg.14, digital images, Newspapers.com (http://newspapers.com: accessed January 21, 2022.)
  9. Cooks Excursionist and Home and Foreign Tourist Advertiser, (1898). Digital Books. Google Books. https://google.com/books.  P.11.
  10. Ibid
  11. Jones, Mary Cadwalader, (1900). European Travel for Women Notes and Suggestions. Norwood Massachusetts, Norwood Press. Digital Books. Google Books. 
  12. Ibid, p.2.
  13. Ibid, p.33.
  14. Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org  p. 216
  15. Jones, Mary Cadwalader, (1900). European Travel for Women Notes and Suggestions. Norwood Massachusetts, Norwood Press. Digital Books. Google Books. https://google.com/books. 2007. P.37
  16. Ibid, p41.
  17. Ibid, p.41.
  18. Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org  p. 226
  19. Ibid, p.227.
  20. Jones, Mary Cadwalader, (1900). European Travel for Women Notes and Suggestions. Norwood Massachusetts, Norwood Press. Digital Books. Google Books. https://google.com/books. 2007. P.53
  21. Ibid, p.38.
  22. Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org  p. 221-222.
  23. Social Chit Chat, Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, June 9, 1901, pg. 6. Digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed January 13, 2022.)
  24. Social Chit Chat, Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, May 12, 1901, pg. 6. Digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed January 13, 2022.)
  25. Our Card Basket, The Excelsior, Omaha, Nebraska, June 8, 1901, p.14. Digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 13 January 2022.)
  26. Social Chit Chat, Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, May 5, 1901, pg. 6. Digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed January 13, 2022.)
  27. Our Card Basket, The Excelsior, Omaha, Nebraska, June 15, 1901, p.13. Digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 13 January 2022.)
  28. Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, June 9, 1901 p.6. Digital images, Chronicling America Library of Congress, (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov: accessed 23 Jan 2019).
  29. The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 174; Item: 37. Digital Images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com :2008.
  30. The Nottingham Evening Post, Nottinghamshire, England, May 9, 1901, pg 3. Digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 31 May 2022.)
  31. Clyde Shipbuilding Gossip, Dundee Evening Post, Dundee, Scotland, March 2, 1901, p.5. Digital images, (Findmypast.com https://findmypast.com: accessed 31 May 2022.)
  32. http://ssmaritime.com/Ruapehu.htm
  33. The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 174; Item: 37. Digital Images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com :2008.
  34. Allan Line to Canada, Allan Line, Canada, 1903. Retrieved from Internet Archive website: https://archive.org/details/allanlinetocanad00alla/page/10/mode/2uphttps://archive.org/details/162037415682/page/6/mode/2up
  35. Marine Notes, The Gazette, Montreal, August 13, 1901, pg 10. Digital images. Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com: accessed 31 May 2022.)
  36. Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org  p. 41-42
  37. Allan Line to Canada, Allan Line, Canada, 1910. Retrieved from Internet Archive website :https://archive.org/details/allanlinetocanad00alla/page/4/mode/2up
  38. [1] Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org  p. 46
  39. Jones, Mary Cadwalader, (1900). European Travel for Women Notes and Suggestions. Norwood Massachusetts, Norwood Press. Digital Books. Google Books. https://google.com/books. 2007. P.75
  40. The Allan line: information for passengers, list of saloon passengers, Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal, Friday, April 27 1907. (p.2) Retrieved from Internet Archive website:  https://archive.org/details/allanlineinforma00alla/page/n1/mode/2up
  41. https://www.gjenvick.com/OceanTravel/VintageMenus/Daily/Virginian-1906-06-09-DailyMenuCard.htm
  42. Luce, Robert, Going Abroad? Some Advice. Boston, R & L Luce Publisher. 1900. Digital images. Archive.org https://archive.org  p. 46
  43. Mail and Ship News, Liverpool Daily Post, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, June 19, 1901, pg5. Digital images, Newspapers.com, (https://newspapers.com : accessed June 1, 2022.)
  44. Weather Forecasts, Evening Standard, London, Greater London, England, June 18, 1901, pg. 1. Digital images, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com : accessed 1 June 2022.)
  45. Jones, Mary Cadwalader, (1900). European Travel for Women Notes and Suggestions. Norwood Massachusetts, Norwood Press. Digital Books. Google Books. https://google.com/books. 2007. P.17
  46. Arnold, Clarissa Sands, Edited by Deborah Stewart Weber (2010). Four Girls in Europe My Tour of England and the Continent, October 1900-September, 1901. Universe, Bloomington, IN. p. 1.
  47. Sailing on Saturday, Muscatine News-Tribune, Muscatine, Iowa, June 5, 1901, pg. 5 Digital Images, Newspapers.com, (https:newspapers.com : accessed 1 May 2023.)

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