Hi All,
Through no fault of mine
I was born and raised on Long Island among the wealthiest and most powerful
people in the US and my father worked for one of them. Kelly has
suggested that I put down some recollections of them, so here goes.
In 1913 my mother
emigrated from Ireland (Mayo) and my father emigrated from England
(Hertfordshire). Their reasons were the same as millions of others - lack
of opportunity at home and the streets of NY were paved with gold. In my
mother’s case some of the Stauntons and Sweeneys had preceded her and her
Uncle, Jim Sweeney met her at the boat. He was a NYC policeman.
This was the usual route for Irishmen to start the ladder. He did well
and later even had a summer home in upstate NY.
My father headed for
Mansfield Ohio where a friend from home had suggested that he could find a
job. This didn't happen so he headed back to NY. I don't know where
he lived but he soon got a job on the estate of one of the Pulitzer publishing
family and my mother was hired in the mansion. English gardners and Irish
maids were well regarded by the new rich in America at that time. The
English and the Irish outgrew it.
I don't know which
Pulitzer it was but it was one of the sons of Joseph Pulitzer (1886-1911) who
had owned the NY WORLD and established the Pulitzer Prize.
They worked there until
1920 during which time they met and married. In 1920 the Pulitzer couple
divorced and they were both laid off.
So one day in 1920 Pa
was driving along Powerhouse Rd in Roslyn when he saw a greenhouse under
construction and drove up to it. A well dressed man (, chairman of
Anaconda Copper)) was standing there so he went up to him and said that he did
that kind of work and was there anything available. They talked for
a while and then Ryan said "well let's go up to the house and I will call
Mrs Pulitzer"
He did make the call and
hired him on the spot and Pa stayed there with Ryan and his widow for 40 years.
Ryan was born to a
middle class family in Michigan in 1864. With his partner Percy
Rockefeller he was one of the great stock manipulators of the 1920's. A
Senate banking committee called these manipulations the greatest of frauds and
one of the leading causes of the stock market crash in 1929 and the depression
that followed. Ryan and Rockefeller managed to pump Anaconda shares up to
$175 but they had dropped to $4 by 1933 and Ryan dropped dead in church.
So now what. Mrs
Ryan had to decide what to do with Derrymore (130 acres) and the Collins family
and the staff of 16 that maintained the rose gardens and lawns and roads.
Most of them were laid off into the Depression
From 1933 until 1960
when she died, Mrs Ryan stayed in Derrymore only one summer, in 1936.
The estate across the road was owned by Mrs Nicholas Brady who was the widow of
the chairman of Consolidated Edison and was also a Papal Duchess because of her
generous gifts. Among other things she gave every Pope a Cadilac
limousine for Christmas
In 1936, Cardinal
Eugenio Pacelli the Vatican Secretary of State visited the US to meet the
American cardinals. The Pope was elderly so I suppose Pacelli was
campaigning for the job (three years later he was elected Pope by the College
of Cardinals) The wealthy American Catholics fell over themselves to host
his visit and Mrs Brady won. She allowed Mrs Ryan to have him for one
night so a dinner party was arranged and all the wealthy Catholics were invited
Pa went to great lengths
to decorate the driveway (1//4 mile) and made sure to be present when Mrs
Brady arrived. She said "oh Collins it looks like a fairyland"
That was enough for him
and he went off to have a few drinks with the chauffeurs. I managed to hide in
the bushes and got a glimpse of the cardinal as he went in. My
mother in the meantime was in the kitchen helping the cook prepare the
dinner. It was a pretty loud walk down the hill that night.
I was in Catholic school
at the time and the nuns were excited to hear that I had seen the cardinal
There were two hills on
Derrymore and in 1926 Ryan built a beautiful second mansion for his only son
John Carlos Ryan. However his wife refused to live next to her in-laws
and the house stood vacant until 1938 when Grover Whalen appeared on the
scene. Of all the people in this narrative he was the most likeable and had
been described as the best salesman in the country. He had held a
variety.of jobs: He had been Police Commissioner of NYC, president of
Wanamakers, president of Coti perfume and had been elected president of
the 1939 NY Worlds Fair. The world was just recovering from a depression,
there were war clouds all over Europe (Hitler)
and there were doubts
that 60 countries would invest the millions needed to build an exhibit.
But he pulled it off and even managed a second year in 1940
Whalen rented the Carlos
Ryan house in 1938 and hired Pa to do some work on the grounds. One day I was
up there with him when Whalen came out and said
"Walter go around
to the kitchen and the cook will give you a drink" I was 10 years
old and astounded. Why would he bother with me and how did he know my
name?
I read later that he
knew 5000 people by name and face. I guess it was just an instinct with
him. At any rate it's 73 years later and I still remember it clearly.
Another estate
nearby where they had close friends (Walter and Ermini Hobbs) was that of
John Hay (Jock) Whitney. This was a very distinguished American
family. Jock's grand father (John Hay) had been Lincoln's secretary
during the civil war and later was secretary of state. Jock at the time was one
of the ten richest men in America. Whitney was a supporter of
President Eisenhower who appointed him Ambassador to Britain. This
was at the time of the worst relationship between the US and Britain because of
a dispute over the Suez Canal. Whitney as ambassador is credited with
repairing that special relationship
.
The story was that in
1920 Walter was standing by the tennis court where Jock's father was playing
tennis. He had a heart attack and Walter was credited with saving his
life. As a result the Hobbs lived quite well for the rest of their lives.
They had a fine apartment in the swimming pool building and I recall we
had Thanksgiving dinner with them several times and we were waited on by a maid
and butler. Later they had an apartment at the yacht basin where the
APHRODITE was moored. We visited them once and some of us went aboard.
School for me was part
public and part parochial. Through the eighth grade I went to St Mary's
in Manhasset, and for ninth grade I went to St Dominic's in Oyster Bay.
That meant a train ride. It also meant a coat and tie even on the hottest
days of the year. At the end of the year I went home and said "I
won't do it" So I transferred to Roslyn High School and I had a much
happier existence. I was even elected class president in senior year.
When I graduated in June
of 1945, World War II was still underway with no end in sight. Knowing
that I would be drafted I enlisted in the Army for 18 months and got to
spend some quality time in the Aleutian Islands (Adak) off the coast of
Alaska. This was one of the most unpleasant places in the Northern
Hemisphere. However this entitled me to the GI Bill of Rights
which in turn enabled me to attend Cornell which has been very helpful
over the years
Then there has followed
in unbelievably rapid succession: a happy marriage of 57 years and counting; 6
children and 15 grandchildren of whom I am very proud; the opportunity to live
in many parts of the US and Canada and traveling all over the world except
Africa.
This is the end game now
and as I look back I think I have experienced most of what is offered I
have had love aplenty but no hate that I am aware of. I have had war that was
real...but mostly peace-time. I have lived in comfort mostly but
sometimes in squalor (Aleutions and Korea) I had a chance for education
at one of the best universities.
I regret that we
couldn't do more for education for the six of you. However I congratulate
you on making the very best of what you had and building happy and comfortable
lives.
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