Every summer, six servants arrived with John Ellis Roosevelt’s family from Manhattan and lived at Meadow Croft, the home of John Ellis Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt’s cousin and personal lawyer, thus the famous tie-in. The servants at the time were kept busy, sometimes 24/7 hours if needed, via call buttons in each room in this Sayville mansion off Middle Road.
Mary Lou Cohalan kicked off “Through the Eyes of Servants” at Meadow Croft’s Carriage House, then led a tour in groups, as did Bayport-Blue Point Heritage Association president Mary Bailey and Meadow Croft historian Frank Giebfried last Saturday, with over 40 attentive people in tow, espousing fascinating insights about this turn-of-the-century family and the employees who kept the beautiful mansion ticking.
The original farmhouse (Croft means “farm” in Dutch) was built around 1850, now in the mansion’s rear. It was added on with a substantial new addition in 1891.
“At first, servants’ bedrooms were in the attic; then John Ellis decided they’d have to pass personal bedrooms and family members in the hallways, ascending and descending and private conversations might leak out,” Cohalan explained. “So he built a separate wing.”
Architect Isaac H. Greene Jr. procured the esthetically graceful Colonial revival addition. With it evolved the servants’ wing, John Ellis made six beds, mattresses and blankets available. The rooms, with nice-sized windows, as witnessed during the tour, were attractive.
“The agency training stressed not to enter a room unless summoned, only speak when spoken to,” explained Cohalan about the mores of the time. “You never crossed that boundary. A head servant could earn as much as $30 a week; scullery maids made $2 or $3 a week. Servants got a half day off each week.”
Not a decent amount of time to relax; even socializing together was hard, as they took their meals in shifts. But Barney Loughlin, the caretaker’s son, who purchased land for his popular vineyard in the back, now run by his daughters, described the Roosevelts as ideal employees.
Cohalan explained that in 1891, as Nannie Roosevelt was about to give birth to her daughter Jean, “She would have a nurse, a nanny for the older children, a cook and probably another servant for her mother, Mrs. Vance. John Ellis did not have a butler, like Mr. Carson in ‘Downton Abbey.’ They had a Useful Man or Necessary Man.”
The Useful Man served as a butler and valet.
“England had titled land aristocracy, so there were no immigrants,” she said. “Carson was an English citizen and had a class distinction above the wretched poor. They had their jobs over generations.”
All the servants at the time were young Irish immigrant women, without children or husbands. “By 1900, Ireland was the poorest island; it was devastating. The women were the main part of the labor pool,” explained Cohalan. And, as all new immigrants are, they were discriminated against.
The BBP Heritage Association talk and tour evolved after the servants’ quarters were redone, said Bailey. “Mary Lou suggested a talk,” she added.
The hope, said Cohalan, is that this gorgeous historic Suffolk County mansion isn’t just a one-off, referring to occasional tours and their fabulous Christmas at Meadow Croft, their annual open house. (This year on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8; “A Candy-Coated Christmas,” is the theme.)
Future programs are in the works about other aspects of Meadow Croft. (Cohalan’s was thoroughly in-depth and comprehensive. There was lots more we couldn’t cover; the tour wound down just after two hours with most attendees still riveted.)
How frequent? This one turned out quite a crowd, in cooperation with the Bayport-Blue Point Library.
“Well…” Cohalan said, “I envision one a year.”
Bailey, ever the enthusiastic BBPHA cheerleader, countered with “one a month!”
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