Servant Shortage

Back in the day, when huge mansions were the norm in the Grosse Pointes, it took large, dedicated staffs to successfully run the estates and look after its inhabitants’ needs.

We have an idea of who worked for the Alger’s and lived at “The Moorings” using information from letters Josephine Alger left and info compiled from three U.S. censuses. The servants we are unclear about were those who lived outside of the home and came in daily to provide services. Josephine advised that there were about 17 servants on average during her childhood here, 1910 – 1916, so there was a good deal of both live-ins and outsiders.

Just after the Alger’s moved in, the spring 1910 U.S. census showed less names than expected. There were three names – one man and two women - listed as servants, plus a British butler, and a cook from Virginia. There is a very good chance that there were gardeners, chauffeurs, and other employees who lived locally, and that the Alger’s were not yet completely staffed up. The servants who were represented on the Census were all single and in their late 20’s and early 30’s.

There were seven servants’ rooms on the 2nd Floor, each equipped with a corner washing sink, twin bed, and dresser, plus one snug 7’ x 8” square servants’ bathroom (sink, toilet, bathtub) for them to share. These were all in the north wing surrounding the narrow and treacherous back staircase. This horseshoe-shaped grouping of rooms was a total of six steps down from the level the Alger’s rooms were on, and two steps further down from where the Governess’ Bedroom was located. The Servants’ Dining Room, Servants’ Hall, Back Porch, Kitchen, Butler’s Pantry, Valet’s Room, and service/utility rooms were all grouped on the 1st Floor and Lake Level in the north wing.

By the 1920 census, more of the positions had filled in with servants’ ages listed as 26 – 43 years old. There was a British servant with a live-in, unemployed Michigan wife, an unusual arrangement. There were also a gardener and a butler, both from Ireland; both a kitchen maid and a cook from Finland; and a laundress from Belgium.

One interesting position that was never filled was a personal or ladies’ maid for Marion Alger, who was not interested in this usually mandatory role. Marion preferred to attend to herself, unheard of for a woman of her stature, busy social schedule, and frequent travel.

Josephine also reminisced about the weekly Sunday sporting activities on the back bowling green with refreshments served to visiting family and friends. The butler was always formally attired in tails and gloves no matter how hot the weather. His dapper second man, who doubled as Russ’s valet, always wore hunter green livery with a striped green and yellow waistcoat and gloves.

She had a few more recollections: A cook named “Patty” had no kitchen maid to assist her. Unlike the two Finnish women, cook Lyda Karela had Anna Kalavan for kitchen help. An older woman from Scotland named Agnes Mack was the upstairs chamber maid, who eventually retired and moved South. The Alger’s longtime houseman, Irish immigrant Patrick Downey, danced the jig while doing his daily chores much to the children’s amusement.

Oddly, she did not mention their governess’ name, who shared a bathroom with younger sister Fay and held a very important role in watching the three Alger children. Josie did mention devilishly that the woman had both a terrible fear of horses and was prone to great bouts of sea sicknesses, both sacrilege around the Alger’s! The family were frequently around or astride horses, and they travelled frequently and extensively on yachts and ocean liners. While the governess was invariably laid up ill below deck, young Josie explored the huge ships and amused herself completely unchaperoned. Somehow, she escaped unscathed from these frequent “solo” ocean explorations.

There were multiple gardeners and chauffeurs employed simultaneously. Marion was very busy with her planting, tours, and flower shows, so the gardens had to be maintained in immaculate shape. Landscaping legend Ellen Shipman was an occasional house guest, putting even more pressure on the gardeners. The very busy family were also in need of being driven to wall-to-wall meetings, clubs, and Liggett School so various Packard’s and drivers were deployed when they were in-residence.

Although the three children had all moved out and started families by 1926, there was still plenty for servants to do at the estate between visitors and Marion’s preoccupation with nursing Russ through his paralysis. In 1929, Josephine divorced her first husband, Henry Chaney, and moved back to “The Moorings” that December with her three children in tow: Henry (13), Alger (6), and Diane (3). Russell passed away in January of 1930 leaving the two women and his three grandchildren heartbroken.

The spring 1930 U.S. census showed servants ranging from 27 – 48 years old, with most of them in their late 30’s or 40’s. Patrick Downey was still the dancing houseman and Agnes Mack the upstairs maid, with two more female servants from England and Lithuania listed. The cook was now a Norwegian woman named Anne Jernberg, and an American R.N. named Mildred Snyder came in handy dealing with emotional family members and active kids.

July 5, 1930, Josephine married her second husband, D. Dwight Douglas, in a low key wedding at the Alger summer home in York Harbor, ME. After the honeymoon, the kids returned to Grosse Pointe to their parents new home.

Following her Maine summer stay, Marion travelled extensively then returned to “The Moorings” alone to plot her next chapter. She commissioned Charles Platt to build her a new, but smaller home on Provencal and her friend, Ellen Shipman, was hired for the gardens. She intended to still have wonderful garden tours, host lots of meetings and parties, have visitors stay over, and the like in her new place.

Of course, she would need to have some good servants there.