Her Ladyship
Some Memories of
Cara Leland Rogers Broughton
The first Lady Fairhaven
Material Researched and Integrated
by
Mabel Hoyle Knipe
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
March, 1984
- THE HOME -
The children of Henry Huttleston Rogers and Abbie
Gifford Rogers were far more than vacation habitues of Fairhaven.
Their roots were deep in the soil of the town, and the traditions
of the area were native lore to all of them. Their maternal grandfather,
Captain Peleg W. Gifford, who lived with his wife at 36 Green
Street, had a large circle of friends, and as shy but distinguished
raconteur, he loved to discuss his former career as a very successful
ship-master.
Their paternal grandmother, Mary Eldredge Rogers,
reached the ripe age of ninety in her cozy home on 39 Middle Street,
where her rich son telephoned her every night on one of the town's
first telephones. It was on her premises that A. D. Bourne and
Son completed in 1879, "an addition to the house and a stable
for the accommodation of four horses belonging to her son's children."
It is obvious that a very loving relationship between
the young people and their grandparents brought steadiness and
normality to the lives of the son and daughters of Henry H. Rogers,
as his shrewdness, persistence and intelligence carried him to
the pinnacle of spectacular success and to the management of a
great fortune.
THE FAIRHAVEN STAR reported the frequent comings
of the children to the town, when, often without adults, they
stayed for vacation visits with their grand-parents. It is notable
that the grandchild who visited most often with the old people,
and who is mentioned over and over again in warm relationship
to the town is young Cara Leland Rogers, who, indeed, had been
born in Fairhaven in 1867.
At last, when Cara was seventeen, her father decided
to acquire a permanent vacation and summer home for the family
in Fairhaven. He purchased a solid two storey house of fine proportions
on Fort Street near Cedar. This home had been built some years
before by Edmund Allen. It had latterly been occupied by John
B. Tarr who had effected a meteoric career as an inventor of improved
car wheels. Upon Mr. Tarr's death, the old house with its fine
stone barn was sold to Mr. Rogers in a foreclosure of mortgage
by the Fairhaven Institution for Savings.
Straightway, upon acquisition of the home by its
new owner, a flurry of activity in re-building and repair ensued.
The STAR, noting excitedly all improvements of the new home owner,
reported:
1884: "H. H. Rogers Esq. has had the roof of
his barn on Fort Street tinned, and carpenters are making alterations
in the dwelling house."
1886: "Mr. H. H. Rogers on his return from Europe
recently bought a number of choice ornamental trees which have
since been set out on the grounds south of his house on Fort Street.
1887: "Three ornamental boulevard lantern posts
have been placed in the grounds of the H. H. Rogers place on Fort
Street. The house and grounds are lighted by a Naptha Gas Machine
of the Springfield Gas Company."
1888: "The stable of H. H. Rogers is nearly
completed."
1889: "Mr. Henry H. Rogers intends building
a residence for the man in charge of his summer residence on Fort
Street. It will be 23 by 27 feet in size one storey high with
a mansard roof. It will be situated at the north of the stable
near the Cedar Street gate. Mr. Arnold G. Tripp is the carpenter."
So the spacious home, continuously expanded and beautified,
became proper symbol for a native son in the prime of his achievement
- and beginning to relish the power of his immense stature and
reaching influence. With the acquisition of the new dwelling,
the young people of the family came more than ever to accept Fairhaven
as home turf. It seems clear that this was exactly the way their
father wanted it.
The STAR tells us:
June 1, 1882: "A coachman with a span of horses,
a pony, and a goat, with appropriate carriages for each, arrived
in town this week. They belong to Mr. H. H. Rogers of New York
who sends them here to be used by his family who are spending
the summer in town."
December 2, 1882: "Mr. H. H. Rogers and the
Misses Anne and Cara Rogers spent Thanksgiving Day here."
September 25, 1886: "Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Rogers
and Misses Cara and Millie Rogers arrived from Europe on the
UMBRIA last Sunday and are now at their country seat
on Fort Street."
April 2, 1887: "Mrs. H. H. Rogers was in town
yesterday to direct a landscape gardener from Boston in the laying
of the grounds at her summer residence on Fort Street."
Meanwhile, as the Fort Street home grew in grace
and utility, Mr. Rogers watched his first great gift to Fairhaven
rise, and corner stone ceremonies for the Rogers Elementary School
were held on May 15, 1884 - with Miss Anne E. Rogers, aged nineteen,
sealing the stone while gratified town dignitaries stood watching.
1890's
-DECADE OF THE RAVEN'S WING -
The Rogers children were again introduced into town
benefactions when the library was erected. Still mourning the
passing of Millie, the little sister who had died in 1890 when
only seventeen -the young people quietly and reverently laid the
cornerstone of the building dedicated in 1893 in Millicent's name.
It seems apparent that Mr. Rogers intended that his children should
remember their humble beginnings and learn early the responsibilities
of great wealth, together with the virtue of generosity. In this
instance, the lesson seemed well assimilated, as the STAR reported
soon thereafter that young brother Henry H. Jr. was seen with
his pony and cart busily loading fill to be used around the foundations
of the new library!
Another family member and native town girl was even
then preparing to engage in exercises connected with the dedication
of a splendid Town Hall. Abbie Gifford Rogers, wife of Henry H.
Rogers, had been assigned the role of honor and was to present
this latest Rogers gift to the town. The celebration attending
the dedicatory days of this fine civic building were planned with
extraordinary care. The actual dedication was set for February
22, 1894 - with a splendid ball on the evening of February 23d.
Amid these exciting preparations, the Rogers family
was required again to face personal disaster with typical cool
courage,
for on February 18,1894, while most of the family
were in New York, and four days before the actual dedicatory ceremonies,
the lovely Fort Street home caught fire and was almost completely
destroyed. Proudly sustained by personal courage, and happily
cushioned by great wealth, this remarkable family cheerfully carried
out their plans for two days of magnificent panoply as the new
Town House was dedicated.
Abbie Gifford Rogers tranquilly presented her lovelygift to her townspeople. There were gaiety, speeches, music and
dance. Yet, the Raven's Wing had not yet withdrawn its shadow
from the family. Just three months later, the shy and gracious
donor lay dead, and the bells in Fairhaven tolled at her passing,
while black crepe draped the facade of the magnificent building
she had offered!
Almost as if ill fortune must be exorcised - theburnt-out home on Fort Street with its warm hopes was quickly
demolished, and during the remaining months of 1894, a splendid
mansion arose on the site. The young people, now in their twenties,
knew the grace and ease of the famous "Children's Wing."
They returned often to their mother's town, and Mr. Rogers, with
the loss of his wife -seemed to find refuge in the environs of
his home place where his dear mother still lived.
- THE CHILDREN -
There were five Rogers children, four girls and a
boy. Another little son had died at birth. Anne (1865), Cara (1867),
Mai (1875), Millicent (1873), and Henry H. Jr. (1879) were all
well known in town. Indeed, Mark Twain, the family friend, was
most fond of the Rogers children and particularly of young Harry.
In 1897 he dedicated his new book - FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR - with
the following quipping preface:
"This Book Is Affectionately Inscribed
To My Young Friend,
- HARRY ROGERS -
With recognition of what he is and apprehension of
what he may become,
unless he form himself a little more closely
upon the model of -
The Author"
Young Harry and his older sisters were all fond of
horses. There is a delightful anecdote involving Cara, aged twenty-two,
hostess at a party in the renovated old Fort Street house in 1889.
We are told that "dancing was held in the carriage room of
the new stable which was finely decorated with flowers and plants.
The horses were turned around in the stalls facing the guests
as the young people danced to the music of Sawin's orchestra."
The startled beasts must thus have furnished a sort
of equine decoration!
It is at this dance that we first make note of young
Bradford Duff who was listed as one of the guests, and in 1890,
it was announced that Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Rogers had returned to
New York on a certain Thursday to be present at the marriage of
their daughter Cara, aged twenty-three, to Mr. Bradford Ferris
Duff, a grandson of Josh Billings, writer of ludicrous editorials
and essays. This marriage of two very young and sensitive people
was to end in tragedy when, a year later - in 1891, the new husband,
aged twenty-four, died of a lung ailment at the Fairhaven residence
of his father-in-law, and Cara was a widow at twenty-three. Moreover,
she was soon to become grievously absorbed in those other great
family misfortunes of the dark decade which desolated the family
CARA and URBAN
During those sad years of the 1890's, Mr. Rogers
had begun to consider a sewer and water project for the town.
After much consultation with experts, he had chosen to adopt a
sewerage plan known as the Shone Sewer System. To manage the project,
a young English engineer, Urban H. Broughton, was sent to town
by the Shone executives to explain procedure and direct the actual
work. During his stay, Cara Duff had become acquainted with the
young Englishman. By 1895 the sewer work was well on the way to
completion, and Cara Rogers Duff and Urban Broughton had decided
to be married. On Christmas day they sailed on a honey-moon trip
to Europe.
Cara's wedding, a suitably quiet affair, had taken
place at the residence of Henry H. Rogers at 2026 East Fifty-Seventh
Street in New York City. The bride unattended wore "a gown
of changeable pompadour silk, the bodice trimmed with point lace,
and a small
capote of lace with a jewelled crown." A few
intimate friends witnessed the marriage rites, and Mr. Rogers
entertained at a large dinner in the evening.
This marriage was to be one of great felicity - a
healing relationship after the personal disasters which the family
had suffered in the death of little Millicent in 1890; of Bradford
Duff in 1891; and of the gentle mother, Abbie Gifford Rogers,
in 1894.
The Broughton's first child, a son, was born in Fairhaven
in 1896, and was named Huttleston. A second son was born in 1900,
and was called Henry Rogers Broughton. Although Urban Broughton
was by birth an English subject, he spent more than twenty-five
years in America - many of them in Chicago. He, therefore, knew
this country well. Of his American father-in-law, he once said:
"I have more admiration for Mr. Rogers than
for any man I have ever known. I am glad he is remembered here
(Fairhaven), and remembered so thoroughly and sincerely. I doubt
whether any man would be remembered so long in England. It is
a beautiful tribute."
There is no doubt that his father-in-law contributed
in influence and sagacity to the business career of Urban Broughton,
and in 1901, he had become president of Utah Consolidated Mining
Co., and was chosen a director and a manager of the United Metals
Selling Co., the selling agency for Amalgamated Copper. He was
also a director of the Atlas Tack Co.; the Santa Rica Mining Co.;
and the Butte Coalition Mining Co. He had become a vastly wealthy
man.
Yet, by 1912, strong ties in this country had been
greatly reduced by multiple family deaths. The loving grand-parents,
Peleg Gifford and his wife were gone by 1888. Grandmother Mary
Rogers had died at ninety years old in 1899, and, as we know,
the gentle mother, Abbie Gifford Rogers, had been taken in 1894.
The final catastrophic blow occurred when Henry H. Rogers himself
-prime mover in all their lives - had expired quite unexpectedly
in 1909. His great fortune divided between his second wife, his
children and other relatives, had left them very wealthy but decimated
as a family.
The Urban Broughtons decided now to return to England
and left America permanently. They took up residence in Mayfair,
London, just in time to find Britain tragically caught
up in the intricate preliminaries of World War I. The two sons,
now living as thoroughly oriented British subjects, entered military
fields the older (Huttleston) serving through the war as a member
of the First Life Guards, and winning several medals. Urban Broughton
himself was used by the English government in many ways. He published
a strong brochure entitled THE BRITISH EMPIRE AT WAR, designed
to appeal to the good will of America.
Recognized in his native land for his business skill
and considerable affluence, Broughton decided to turn to a political
career, and was accepted by the Unionists of York as a candidate
for Parliament. Just after his announcement, a vacancy occurred
in Preston representation, and Mr. Broughton was offered the post.
He found pleasure in this new career, becoming a close personal
friend of Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law, in whose memory he
later bought and bequeathed the beautiful estate of Ashridge to
the Conservative Party for use as a political training college.
This gift of estate worth more than 3,000 pounds demonstrated
a desire to preserve for the entire nation a significant historic
site, while furnishing also to the general public, enjoyment by
free admittance to the magnificent gardens.
In the meantime, wife and mother Cara Broughton devoted
herself to family matters and other domestic duties. During the
great war, she offered all her efforts to the good of her adopted
country, sponsoring many types of war work. She was deeply interested
in the well being of Bethnal Green Military Hospital; and in contemporary
English newspapers, we read of hospitable parties given for wounded
soldiers at the family home in Broadoaks, Byfleet. Quickly, Cara
Broughton became a warm and well-organized social hostess. The
role was not an easy one for her since she had a shy and retiring
nature, but her several English homes were beautifully managed,
and a great fortune allowed her to develop her natural artistic
leanings.
In 1934, Miss Anna Trowbridge of Fairhaven, old family
friend and teacher in town schools, visited England. She was invited
to spend a day at the London home of the Broughtons. Her diary,
extant, contains description of 37 Park Lane. She writes:
"In the dining room were pillars of blue lapis
lazuli with lapis lazuli for the mounting of the clock. The carpet
was blue and the large oil paintings which filled
in the panels were framed (outside gold frames) with blue to match
the lapis.
"The house six stories high was a collection
of rooms and suites with lifts and many staircases (a corner house
front and sides on two streets.) Most wonderful throughout
- lovely oil portrait of Lady Fairhaven; of Mr. Broughton; Of
Lord Fairhaven.
"Then on to Surrey to the Broughton summer residence,
'Engleside.' Such magnificence I never expect to see again! Flowers
everywhere! Swimming pool with tiled floor, granite steps leading
into it; pergolas with climbing vines different at each support!
Lovely summer houses and sunken gardens!"
Miss Trowbridge returned to London laden with dahlias
from the gardens at 'Engleside,' and before she boarded ship for
home, she received a "lovely little suitcase filled with
all sorts of gifts as a parting gesture."
It is not generally known that Cara Broughton was
an expert needle-woman, and had in her collection some really
exquisite pieces of embroidery. As a young girl, she had found
relaxation in the traditional handwork of a gentlewoman, and had
turned out some quite extraordinary samplers.
A charming story tells of her concern - when the
pastor of the church in the parish of her country seat in Surrey
at Englefield Green - made known his need for church vestments.
Cara Broughton, caught up in his anxiety, embroidered with her
own hand, the needed vestments, and added beautifully conceived
altar accessories. The handsome garments were first used for Christmas
services, and a "grateful prayer went up from the parishioners
for the generous American who was celebrating that Christmas in
her far away native Fairhaven."
As Cara Broughton lived through the terrors of World
War I, and assumed the maturity imposed by her station and her
great wealth she became introspective and thoughtful. Her impulses
seemed to embrace a growing desire to use her material advantage
for the good of others. Her charity was extensive and discriminating,
and it is obvious that her giving was often directed by her heart.
Through all the developing years of her English residence, she
was ever mindful of her native country and especially of her home
town in Massachusetts. She was very good to Fairhaven.
Fairhaven Methodists, trying to renovate their little
church, received a check for $1,000. The Congregational Church
members rejoiced in a $1,000 gift sent for church improvements,
and trustees spent it to install a warm church vestibule and a
re-building of main church doors. Inmates of the King's Daughters'
Home (now the Bradford-Russell Home) were completely surprised
one day to receive a draft for $1,000, and after the trauma of
the 1938 hurricane -another $1,000 check was received for hurricane
relief of Fairhaven sufferers.
Mrs. Broughton remembered and visited a piece of
land she owned on the south-east corner of Green and Union Streets,
and made it into a small park to set off to better advantage her
father's church across the street. The little lot was seeded,
planted and endowed with a stone seat of old English design. The
entire comer was paved in the well-known red brick herringbone
pattern.
One of Mrs. Broughton's warmest and most significant
gifts to Fairhaven was her purchase of Fort Phoenix as a memorial
to her father, and to be used for park purposes. Her old friend,
Selectman John I. Bryant, had written to her and told her of an
Act of Congress of March 24, 1923. Authorization for the sale
of several military reservations at public auction had been announced.
The Secretary of War was given authority to dispose of all unused
government reservations. Included in this list was Fort Phoenix
which was offered for sale to the town. If the town did not buy,
the reservation would be sold at public auction.
Greatly distressed that the historic fort might fall
into the hands of developers unmindful of its history, Mrs. Broughton
wrote to Bryant:
"I am quite sure that my father with his love
for Fairhaven would not wish to feel that Fort Phoenix with its
traditions should go to anyone outside the town. I am relying
on you to secure Fort Phoenix for me.
So old Fort Phoenix was saved for the town, and members
of a joyful town meeting accepted the gift and promised to repair
the damaged walls and decaying gun mounts. In April of 1926, Mrs.
Broughton arrived most dramatically for dedication ceremonies,
and the STAR told us the story:
"Mrs. Urban H. Broughton of London, England
spent this week a few delightful days in Fairhaven - her girlhood
home after an absence of many years.
"With her husband and son Huttleston, she came
in the palatial yacht SAPPHIRE, which anchored in the 'deep hole'
at 11 o'clock. Three blasts of SAPPHIRE's whistle announced her
arrival, and as she steamed up the harbor, the Memorial Church
chimes pealed forth the tunes: GOD SAVE THE KING, HOME SWEET HOME
and AULD LANG SYNE. Mrs. Broughton and Huttleston came ashore
in the launch at 11:15. They were driven in an automobile to Riverside
Cemetery and visited Mr. Rogers' grave. They returned to the yacht
at 12:30 for luncheon. During their stay, the formal transfer
of Fort Phoenix to the town was made."
The formal presentation took place at four o'clock
of a Tuesday afternoon in the Selectmen's office in the Town Hall.
Mrs. Broughton said:
"To the Citizens of the Town of Fairhaven:
In accordance with my previously expressed intention,
I do now present to the town of Fairhaven the sum of $5,000 to
cover the expense of securing to the town a conveyance from the
United State government of the Fort Phoenix property, to be held
and used for park purposes forever.
"I make this gift in memory of my father, Henry
H. Rogers. It is my hope and expectation that the people of this
vicinity will get rest and recreation and inspiration from the
enjoyment and privileges of this park."
Privately Mrs. Broughton confided in a letter to
Selectman John I. Bryant:
"I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have
the property belong to the town, for since my childhood, it has
been a spot which I have always remembered."
It was a magnificent gift and a gracious gesture.
The townspeople were warmly grateful, and the school children
decided they would do the generous donor pleasure at her departure.
When Mrs. Broughton and her party left in SAPPHIRE, it was the
first time in over a hundred years that the British flag was admitted
to Fort Phoenix. Six hundred Fairhaven school children marched
to the Fort behind the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes carried
side by side. They lined the parapets, the breast-works and the
rocks below in a tremendous demonstration while cheer4eaders led
their school cheers, school buglers sounded TAPS and the great
yacht SAPPHIRE dipped the royal ensign at her stern in the traditional
nautical acknowledgment.
The STAR editorialized:
"If this beautifully situated plot had fallen
into the hands of the usual run of real estate operators, there
would probably have been little to be proud of and very likely
much to regret.
"With Fort Phoenix as town property and under
the supervision of the Board of Selectmen, the sturdy old embankments
will continue to stand as a reminder of the defiant challenge
once sent out to the invader, and as we clamber over the ledges
we shall again and again feel the thrill that comes with the remembrance
of brave men and their deeds of valor."
Continue to Part Two
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