CHS Newsletter March 2020

Upcoming Events: March 24th, 7pm CHS Membership Meeting Speaker: Nina Dillon will

present “Love Letters of Governor Spague Mansion Chester & Mabel”

We added to our traditional Christmas Open House at the Joy Homestead and

Outside Lighting Sprague Mansion by having an outside Tree Lighting at the Mansion. The event was a collaboration between Councilman John Donegan (Ward 3) and the Cranston Historical Society.

Joy Homestead

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Katy Cabral (Social Media) Sandra Moyer Frank DelSanto (Bylaws) President Ed Garcia (Finance)

Tom Worthington David Griswold (Publicity) Vice President James Hall (Curator) Fred Joslyn (Ways and Means) Mary Mierka John Lonardo (Hospitality) Secretary Gregg Mierka (Property Management) Mary Mierka (Events and Rentals) Tristan Poirier Sandra Moyer (Endowment) Treasurer John O'Leary (Nominations)

Lydia Rapoza (Joy Homestead) Herbert Zakrison (Buildings and Grounds)

Directors at Large

Kathy Sprague-Cyr Eleanor Sasso

The Cranston Historical Society's mission is to protect, document, interpret and expand understanding of Cranston history.

1351 Cranston Street Cranston, RI 02920

(401) 944-9226 www.cranstonhistoricalsociety.org email: [email protected] facebook: www.facebook.com/cranstonhistoricalsociety

President's Note

By Sandra Moyer

Welcome back to our 71st year of the Cranston Historical Society. Our first meeting of the year will be on March 24th. Normally, we meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month which is really March 17th but we thought it would be unwise to compete with St. Patrick Day celebrations. Our speaker for the meeting will be Nina Dillion who produces a blog entitled Chester Loves Mabel. Both of these Cranstonians lived on Gladstone Street; Mabel, a music teacher, boarded at 116 Gladstone Street and Chester lived with his parents and brothers at 79. A romance developed between them. In the summer of 1907, Mabel went on a vacation with her parents to Alton, New Hampshire, leaving behind a heartsick Chester. He wrote her a series of impassioned letters that Nina later found. What makes the blog interesting is that Nina has added photos of the places and things that Chester mentions in his letters so you get an idea of life in 1907.

Since our speaker’s topic has to do with love letters, we made love the topic for this newsletter. Mary is writing on foods often associated with romance and Jim has written about the marriage of William Sprague (4) and his second wife Inez. Jan’s article is about a famous love letter in which a Rhode Islander in the Civil War writes to his wife back home. My article is on how courtship in our country has changed over the years.

On page 3, you will find a form for buying our latest Cranston book and the Sprague Mansion ornament. The proceeds from both of these items goes to the Society. Our thanks to Joseph Contreras who donated the custom made tree ornaments for this fundraiser. We encourage you to buy one for next year’s tree.

We would also like to thank Mayor Fung and the city of Cranston for the annual stipend they provide to the Cranston Historical Society. Gregg and I recently received the check from the mayor at City Hall. This money helps us to meet winter expenses such as heat at a time when rentals are few because of the weather.

Membership

New Members David Mannard-Cranston; Patricia Church-Providence; Joseph Tiburcio-Warwick

Membership Dues — Reminder If you have not sent in your dues for 2019-20, it is still not too late! A note though, we will be sending the 2020-21 Dues Notices out between April and May this year.

Thank You We greatly thank our December 2019 Holiday Open Houses Volunteers. Support our Fundraising Projects The Cranston Historical Society is offering a beautiful 2019 limited edition glass, full color Christmas tree ornament of the Governor Sprague Mansion. Each year, we plan to offer another ornament featuring a different city landmark. To order your ornament at a special rate of $12 plus 7% state tax for a total of $12.84 per ornament.

The Cranston Historical Society is pleased to announce the publication of another pictorial history of Cranston. Cranston Through Time uses vintage photos of Cranston contrasted with modern photos of the same sites today to show how Cranston has changed. This paperback book was co-authored by Sandra Moyer and Janet Cullen Ragno. You may order the book at a discounted price of $20 plus 7% state tax for a total of $21.40. This special discount from the cover price of $23.99 will be available for only a short period of time.   ______ Checks payable to: ATTN Book – or – ORNAMENT, Cranston Historical Society, 1351 Cranston Street, Cranston, RI 02920 (401) 944-9226 BOOK SALE: Qty ______Amt: $______($20 per book plus 7% tax, total $21.40 each) _____ I will pick up the book(s) when notified ____ Please mail the book(s) ( Add $5.75 per book)

ORNAMENT SALE: Qty______Amt: $______($12 per ornament plus 7% tax, total $12.84 each) _____ I will pick up the ornament(s) when notified ____ Please call to discuss shipping options

(please print clearly) Name:______Address:______City:______State:______Zip:______Telephone:______Email:______

The printing of CHS Newsletters is done by All The Answers, Warwick ~ Mailing, Printing & Design Services

Calendar

Meetings & Events

March 24 Tuesday 7:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion (note change of meeting date) General Membership meeting. Speaker Nina Dillon will present “Love Letters of Chester & Mabel”, a young couple from Cranston.

March 28 Spring Clean-Up Saturday 10am at Sprague Mansion. Join us from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Bring gloves, rake, and clippers. It is appreciated if you can donate leaf bags and bring a chain saw and leaf blower if you have one. Rain Date: April 4.

April 19 Sunday 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion Victorian Tea with Guest Speaker Maria Vazquez, owner of Royal Conservation & Restoration, who will present a lively talk: “A Shade Above: An Analysis of New England Parasols & Their Material Culture”. She will share her knowledge of parasols and umbrellas from different periods & purpose and uses. Maria states that parasols are a largely undocumented genre of fashion history for more than 5,000 years. Tickets: $30. Some tables of 4, 6 & 8 are available. Seating is Limited. To reserve, call 944-9226. Checks payable to Cranston Historical Society, 1351 Cranston St., Cranston, RI 02920. Let Mary know if you can lend a hand.

April 28 7:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion. Board of Directors’ Meeting.

May 2 Spring Clean-Up Saturday 10am at Joy Homestead. Join us from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Bring gloves, rake, and clippers. It is appreciated if you can donate leaf bags and bring a chain saw or leaf blower if you have one. Rain Date: May 9.

May 19 Tuesday 7:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion. General Membership meeting.

June 18 Thursday 6:00 pm at Joy Homestead. Rochambeau Strawberry Biscuit Tea celebration to commemorate Rochambeau and his French soldiers marching past the Joy Homestead on their way to Yorktown. Call 944-9226 to volunteer.

June 23 Tuesday 7:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion. Board of Directors’ Meeting.

September 15 6pm in the Sprague Mansion ~ CHS Annual Meeting Buffet. To reserve your place at $18.00, call 944-9226.

October 23 Friday 7:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion. Charlie the Butler Ghost Party will feature Jared the Magician & Mentalist ~ an all new show! Future readers will be on hand. Roam spooooky Mansion rooms if you dare. A ghostly good time! Light refreshments. $15.00. Call 944-9226 to reserve your place.

Curator’s

Triumph of Hope Over Experience By James Hall, Curator

The lady in the beautiful wedding dress is Inez Weed about to marry the Rhode Island Civil War Governor, William Sprague, on March 8, 1883 in West Virginia. Could love triumph over the tawdry ashes of their previous marriages?

Inez was the beautiful daughter of a West Virginia cobbler, Isaac Weed, and Sarah Scofield. When she was 18, in 1875, she married a dashing traveling salesman, Frank Calvery, and things went well for about a year before she met an even more dashing man, Civil War Governor and hero William Sprague at White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia. For her it was love at first sight. William Sprague, who had divorced his first wife, Kate Chase, only the year before in a messy divorce, was smitten also. What could she do but proceed with a divorce. Her husband Frank responded with a divorce of his own claiming adultery. The messy divorce was granted on March 5th and she married William three days later but only after several ministers refused to marry them. They found a clerk in the court who married them after hours. Frank died two years later, some say of a broken heart.

Inez and her new husband, twenty-four years her senior, moved into William’s Canonchet mansion at Narragansett and Inez commenced changing the décor from heavy furniture and dark paintings, which they sold to pay debts, to vivid colors and spring concerts which suited William who was depressed with his great financial troubles. Meanwhile, Inez had dreams of becoming a great opera singer and had her debut in Boston in 1896 but, alas, received only tepid reviews.

Corner

Inez brought her 17 year old sister Avice up from West Virginia to Canonchet to live with them and perhaps to add new life to the mansion. William Sprague’s only son, William, from his marriage to Kate, was living with his father as a result of the divorce decree with Kate, and somehow ended up marrying his Aunt Avice. They had a daughter together, Inez, and young William, having dreams of becoming a journalist out west, committed suicide while on his travels.

Sprague’s Canonchet

But even so all these tragic happenings the marriage between Inez and William seemed to take. Shortly after a fire destroyed the Canonchet mansion in 1909 Inez and William moved to Paris France in a large apartment on the Rue de la Pompe. The couple converted their apartment to create a hospital for wounded soldiers of WWI. When the Germans threatened Paris the couple fled to the Normandy coast with William wrapped in an American flag and later trailing it on the back of their car knowing the Germans did not want to provoke America.

Time moved on and the couple lived peacefully for many years until William died from natural causes on September 11, 1915. Inez returned to live in Narragansett a couple of years before she died on January 22, 1938 and was laid to rest with her husband at Swan Point.

Inez gave a goodly part of her estate of over $110,000 to the poor of Narragansett and continued a tradition of giving toys to disadvantaged Narragansett children stressing that the toys must be what the child wanted, not what they needed.

It may be supposed that Inez and William did triumph “Hope Over Experience” as suggested by a kindly journalist at the time and in a way it could even be called a love story.

Lifestyles

Courtship in Years Past By Sandra Moyer

Courtship has always been a period of time when a couple determined if marriage was desirable. In some cultures, the ‘courtship’ was really between the families and the decision about marriage was made by the fathers of the couple who may not have even met.

In America, however, the typical couple did have some say and the courtship period was a time for them to get to know each other, even though families often had a veto over the arrangement. Romantic love was not always that important in colonial times. In wealthy families, finding a suitable match that would bind two prominent families together was the main concern. The bride’s dowry and the groom’s inheritance triumphed over mutual attraction. With couples of more modest means, it was often the case of who was available in the immediate area. Division of labor between the sexes was so strict that a single man or woman needed to marry in order to survive. Especially in second marriages, the widow and widower might remarry after a very short courtship.

When younger couples still lived at home, courtship could take a little longer and its structure often depended on class. Wealthy families chaperoned their young ladies closely to protect their reputations and thus their ability to attract a proper suitor. ‘Flirting’ took place at fancy balls and dinners and later courting was done in the girl’s parlor under the watchful eye of an older relative. With working class couples, the ‘getting to know you’ part may be at barn dances and church suppers and subsequent meetings might be ‘walking out’ together. Poor transportation often made it necessary for the young man to stay overnight at his intended’s house. This brought about the traditional of ‘bundling’ where the courting couple would share a bed although they would be separated by a plank or the girl sewed into her clothing. It didn’t always work as intended and by the late 1700’s, about 1/3 of brides were already pregnant at marriage. As long as a wedding eventually took place, society did not seem to object.

By Victorian times, romantic love became more important. Bigger towns increased the number of possible suitors, so to be successful a man had to stand out by wooing his lady friend with flowers and gifts. Reciting poetry and writing love letters could also help his cause. Love letters were even more important in times of war when the couple might be separated for years.

The 20th century saw many changes in how men and women determined whom they should marry. Today even the word ‘courtship’ sounds very old fashioned to young people using social media to find mates. Sadly, the beautifully written, impassioned love letters of days gone by have been replaced by hastily written texts and emojis. of Long Ago

A Victorian Love Recipe Poem, 1888 By Mary Mierka Although Valentine’s Day has passed, this unique poetic 1888 Victorian Valentine Cake Recipe depicts the love of a mother for her young daughters by sharing a lovingly made cake. It was quite an ordeal for a young lady to offer a “Courting Cake” to impress the young man who was fond of her. The cakes and cookies were also known to be favorites of Queen Victoria. Try this cake recipe to win the heart of your gentleman.

BESSIE’S VALENTINE CAKES From an 1888 recipe that appeared in Good Housekeeping 19th Century Heart in Hand Cookie Cutter

Fast as her little feet can go, RECIPE. Comes tiny Bessie, her face aglow, Take a pound and a half of flour so white. And with almost tears In her bonny eyes, Shake it and sift it till smooth and light, “Mamma, sweetest,” the darling cries, Then make a hole where, well, you know, “Nellie, Bell, May and Pauline— A teaspoon of baking-powder must go. Every one have a valentine; *’ Sweets to the sweet,” or, to make it plain, And mamma, dearest, they all make fun Take a pound of sugar, like frozen rain; Because I want just a tiny one. Sift this in, and make no mistake, “And all of them say I am too small, Then into the pan you must four eggs break. And will have to wait till I’m big and tall. Take a silver knife, and, with greatest care, I can’t wait, mamma, and so please make Stir it together till light as air. For your little Bessie a Valentine cake. Of butter at least three-fourths of a pound, “Put in it raisins, citron and spice; Then chop it and stir it round and round. Make it sugary, sweet and nice.” A handful of currants, some raisins nice, “I’ll see,” and mamma, bending, sips Of citron, translucent as amber, a slice. Honey from the sweet red lips. Now over this all you must slowly pour In the kitchen Bessie without a care Of milk just half a pint—no more. At the table sits in her tall ” high-chair,” Then stir it and knead it, so and so, And eagerly watches while mamma makes Till you make of the mixture a pretty stiff dough. For her some wonderful “Valentine cakes.” Roll it lightly—it can’t be tough— Perhaps some other mamma to-day An eighth of an inch will be thick enough. For another Bessie would know the way Next step, you’ll see, is a work of art, To make these cakes, then listen to me, Each cake must be cut like a little heart. While in rhyme I give you the recipe. Then into the oven—don’t let them burn, But bake them all till done to a turn. Next ice them over—don’t mind the cost, Let each one look as if touched by Jack Frost.

In the Kitchen: From “Book of Agnes Marshall (1855-1905), a British Cookery 1888” by Agnes B. Marshall celebrity cook & queen of ice cream Tea glace: ¾ lb icing sugar and 1 ½ recipes, was the inventor of the ice tablespoonfuls of strong tea and 1 ½ cream cone making machine. She tablespoonfuls of warm water; just mix also championed 19th century food together, and warm, then use at once. hygiene standards.

Century. Yarns of

A Civil War Love Letter By Jan Ragno

The most famous love letter from the Civil War has its roots in a soldier from Rhode Island, Sullivan Ballou, writing to his wife, Sarah. Further, Governor William Sprague of Rhode Island searched for the body of this soldier, killed a mere week after the date of the letter. Sprague is also purported to have brought the letter to Sarah with her husband’s effects. The story of Sullivan Ballou and the letter has many questions associated with it, but it remains a lovely collection of thoughts written at a terrible time in history. Sullivan Ballou was a 32-year-old attorney in Providence, Rhode Island who enlisted in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry and was elected major. On July 21, 1861 he was leading his troops at the First Battle of Bull Run when he was shot and killed.

Governor Sprague went to Washington after the battle to recover the bodies of the fallen Rhode Islanders. He found that Ballou’s body had been desecrated. The remains were brought to be buried in Rhode Island and the letter from Sullivan’s trunk was given to Sarah Ballou. Sarah never remarried and died in 1917 at age 80 and is buried beside her husband at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. Questions swirl around the true author of the letter and will probably never be answered. But the letter and its importance as a communication that many soldiers would like to have shared with their loved ones makes it the iconic Civil War love letter.

Headquarters, Camp Clark Washington, D.C., July 14, 1861 My Very Dear Wife:

Indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps to-morrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write a few lines, that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine, O God be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battle-field for any country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American civilization now leans upon the triumph of government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution, and I am willing, perfectly willing to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government, and to pay that debt.

But , my dear wife, when I know, that with my own joys, I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with care and sorrows, when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it, as their only sustenance, to my dear little children, is it Yesteryear weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country.

I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death, and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country and thee.

I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in this hazarding the happiness of those I loved, and I could not find one. A pure love of my country, and of the principles I have often advocated before the people, and "the name of honor, that I love more than I fear death," have called upon me, and I have obeyed.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless. It seems to bind me with mighty cables, that nothing but Omnipotence can break; and yet, my love of country comes over me like a strong wind, and bears me irresistibly on with all those chains, to the battlefield. The memories of all the blissful moments I have spent with you come crowding over me, and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you, that I have enjoyed them so long. And how hard it is for me to give them up, and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our boys grow up to be honorable manhood around us.

I know I have but few claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me, perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, nor that, when my last breath escapes me on the battle-field, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears, every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot, I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth, and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the garish day, and the darkest night amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours always, always, and, if the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air cools your throbbing temples, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dear; think I am gone, and wait for me, for we shall meet again.

As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care, and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers, I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.

- Sullivan

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Next Meeting is Next March on 24 Nina Letters Dillon “Love Mabel”Chester&of President’s Message UpcomingCalendar ofEvents Courtship Over the Ages RecipeVictorian Poem~1888 Sprague’sWilliam Second Marriage LoveCivil A War Letter        Cranston Historical Society CranstonSociety Historical Street 1351Cranston 02920 Cranston,RI Inside: