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| Mount Vernon, N.Y., 1910 |
It’s pleasant to imagine her chasing bubbles from out of the shadows near the deep porches where adults, including her mother’s patron, spoke quietly.
The city’s first treasurer
who subsequently became postmaster and vice president of the First National
Bank of Mount Vernon, Clarence S. McClellan served as co-administrator of
Daniel Hickey’s estate because Hickey died without a will. Claiming “no
business experience,” Hickey’s widow petitioned the court for McClellan, a calm
man with a large mustache, to join her.
As guardian of her underage
children, Ellen Hickey would provide to the Surrogate’s Court an annual report
of expenses made on her youngest daughter’s behalf until Nellie turned 21 in
1908.
In the meantime, the
pince-nez’d Reverend Flynn, who had presided at Daniel Hickey Sr.’s funeral, watched
over Nellie at the Sacred Heart Convent. There she struggled with catechism. Nellie
had distractions.
Records of Surrogate’s Court show
that Nellie sought medical attention at least twice monthly. Ellen Hickey must
have felt both stricken and annoyed each time Nellie visited the doctor, which
necessitated hiring a carriage. One can’t help but imagine Victorian-style
woman’s troubles.
Robert Howe, M.D. $ 6.00
Wm. Stump, M.D. $ 3.00
Jos. J. Sinnott, M.D.
Services at
Hospital $157.14
Visit 15.00
Visit 6.00
Visit 40.00
Dr. J.J. Higgins
Visit $ 5.00
Visit $ 10.00
J.J. Thomson, M.D. $ 5.00
It’s fair to conclude that Dr.
Joseph John Sinnott – a young surgeon who graduated from Columbia College of
Physicians and Surgeons in 1903 – performed an operation on Nellie when she was
21 years old.
Dr. Sinnott might have made a
good husband for Nellie but her mother likely hoped for a man who would amass
greater wealth. To that end, Ellen Hickey invested persistently in her
daughter’s appearance and social standing:
Mrs. H. Fowler, dressmaker $
6.00
1.50
1.00
A.S. Clark, dressmaking $ 55.19
Rosen & Yale, tailor $ 2.00
M. Jenks, dressmaker $20.47
B. Altman & Co. $35.45
8.70
5.30
2.22
M. Kereng, dressmaker $ 7.25
$22.95
R.H. Macy, dry goods $
4.44
Stern Brothers, trimmings $ 2.04
Ufland Millinery Co. $22.00
3.00
The Manhattan hat shop owned
by Moe Ufland was known widely for its extravagant creations: crown of French-blue fancy straw, having the
side-crown covered with black poppy leaves, two black spires upstanding at the
left back, as described in the Millinery
Trade Review in 1914.
Trimmed up and unchaperoned,
Nellie was sent off to mingle in places where she might find a husband. In
Larchmont, N.Y., she stayed at the stylish Bevan House one block from the beach
along Long Island Sound; at Lakewood, N.J., she luxuriated at the
Laurel-in-the-Pines Hotel, a winter resort where trains purportedly arrived
every 20 minutes from New York City.
She wasn’t a gold-digger – the term came into use in 1915 to describe working-class women and showgirls who sought wealthy husbands – but it’s easy to imagine Nellie dressing for dinner, lounging in the lobby, hoping to catch someone’s eye.
She wasn’t a gold-digger – the term came into use in 1915 to describe working-class women and showgirls who sought wealthy husbands – but it’s easy to imagine Nellie dressing for dinner, lounging in the lobby, hoping to catch someone’s eye.
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| Hotel Laurel-in-the-Pines, circa 1900 |
That person would be Bernard
H. Ridder, the newly-divorced son of the publisher of the Staats-Zeitung, the nation’s largest German language weekly
newspaper. Bernard and Nellie Hickey eloped on December 31, 1915, two months
after the death of Ridder’s father.
The old man did not leave his
sons in a good spot. The company had lost money through risky investments in
typesetting equipment, although Bernard and his brothers would get it back on
track and build it into the large newspaper corporation, Ridder
Publications.
Meantime, back in Mount
Vernon, Nellie’s mother moved to the nicer side of town. Eventually Daniel
Hickey, Jr. followed their deceased father into politics, becoming a ward
supervisor, supervisor of elections, and State Tax Appraiser. He and his
siblings continued to live at home.
So the question is: how did Nellie
and Bernard come to know each other?
Very likely they met in 1915,
through efforts to create a nationwide organization called Friends of Peace,
which opposed U.S. entry to World War I. Its immediate demands were that the
U.S. stop exporting ammunition to England and that England lift its blockade
of German boats. Bernard Ridder and his father were among the group’s
organizers.
In September 1915, Friends of
Peace held its first big meeting, a two-day convention, in Chicago.
Many who attended – including Nellie – were Americans of German and Irish descent who opposed any alliance between the U.S. and England. Labor unions considered joining in, but were scared off by the anti-U.S. rhetoric.
In this way, Friends of Peace differed from pacifist groups like the Woman’s Peace Party.
Many who attended – including Nellie – were Americans of German and Irish descent who opposed any alliance between the U.S. and England. Labor unions considered joining in, but were scared off by the anti-U.S. rhetoric.
In this way, Friends of Peace differed from pacifist groups like the Woman’s Peace Party.
One wonders what lesson
Bernard Ridder took away from World War I, after which the family fell under
suspicion for publishing pro-German propaganda. Two decades later, he would be
drawn to Germany after Hitler rose to power, going so far as to meet and
publish a sympathetic interview with the Fuhrer.
By that time, Bernard had divorced
Nell.
https://www.throughthehourglass.com/2016/01/mr-mrs-bernard-h-ridder.html
See January 20 + January 24, 2016 posts.
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