Mrs. Pullman in Washington, D.C.

In last week’s article, we noted an excerpt from the June 28, 1915 Chicago Tribune about Mrs. George Pullman departing Chicago to spend the season at her summer estate in Elberon, New Jersey.  The article also noted, “Mrs. Pullman has another mansion in Washington, which she did not occupy this winter.”  That reference was to her largest home of all, which she had actually already sold by 1915. 

The Pullmans’ daughter Florence was united in marriage to Frank O. Lowden in 1896.  Lowden was actively involved in the Republican Party, and rose in stature when he campaigned for William McKinley in 1900.  From 1906 to 1911, Lowden served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and lived in Washington, D.C. during that time.  Lowden had high aspirations for political office, including the Presidency, so Mrs. Pullman took steps to ensure he and his family would have an appropriate home in the nation’s capitol.

In February 1909, Mrs. Pullman purchased a lot at 1125 16^th Street NW, just three blocks from the White House.  She hired the prominent architect Nathan Wyeth to design the 64 room house, which cost over $350,000 to construct.  Wyeth had just designed the new West Wing and Oval Office of the White House, and would soon be hired to design a home in DC for Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh (a Chicago friend of the Pullmans).

The exterior of the four-story Pullman house was clad in limestone on the ground level, with Roman brick facing the second and third stories.  

The fourth story was set behind a massive slate-covered mansard roof.  The interior was grand on a scale that far exceeded the Pullman house on Prairie Avenue in Chicago.  

The imposing entrance hall was designed for the large and elegant receptions Mrs. Pullman envisioned for her daughter and son-in-law. 

The oak paneled dining room was among the largest rooms in the house.  As construction was proceeding, she made trips to Europe, bringing back large quantities of antiques and decorative arts to furnish the massive home.  

The grandest space of all was the enormous gold and white ball room or grand salon, reminiscent of her own Chicago drawing room. 

But alas, Mrs. Pullman’s plans for her son-in-law didn’t come to pass.  Frank Lowden was taken ill, and didn’t run for reelection, leaving Washington, D.C. at the conclusion of his second term in the House in March 1911.  Mrs. Pullman had also been ill, and ultimately no one in the family ever lived in the mansion.

In May 1913, she sold the house and furnishings to a buyer who within a few months sold it to the Imperial Russian government for use as their new embassy.  Most of the original furnishings were removed in 1917 when the Ambassador fled to Paris.  

In the 1930s the house was redecorated by Eugene Schoen & Sons of New York, who refused to alter the grand salon, “down to the last hair of the last cupid.”  It remains in use as the Russian Embassy to this day.

Note:  Frank O. Lowden went on to serve as governor of Illinois from 1917 to 1921.  In 1920, he was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president, but ultimately lost to Warren G. Harding.  He declined the vice presidential nomination in 1924. 

Mrs. Pullman and her Summer Estate

Exactly 100 years ago, the Society and Entertainments column of the Chicago Tribune led with a short article about the coming and going of one of Chicago’s queens of society – Mrs. George M. Pullman.  Dated June 28, 1915, the column was filled with information about Chicago’s elite quickly abandoning the city for their summer estates in locales ranging from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to various towns along the Atlantic seaboard. 

Regarding Mrs. Pullman, the article read:

“Mrs. George M. Pullman left the city yesterday in her private car for Elberon, N. J., where her favorite of four beautiful homes is located.  Her town house on Prairie avenue is closed for the season, having served but a few weeks for her residence on her return from Pasadena, where her western home is located.  Mrs. Pullman has another mansion in Washington, which she did not occupy this winter.”

Interior of Mrs. Pullman's private railcar

The Pullmans’ primary summer residence was named Fairlawn and was located on Ocean Avenue in the town of Elberon, in the fashionable Long Branch area of New Jersey.  They had first visited the area in the summer of 1871 when they stayed with President and Mrs. Grant.  In September 1873, they engaged the services of architect Henry S. Jaffray, (then actively at work on their Prairie Avenue home), to design their new summer house in Elberon.  Nathan Barrett, the designer who later undertook the master landscape plan for the Town of Pullman, did the landscaping for the expansive grounds.  Through Pullman’s influence, Barrett was ultimately given the commission for the design and landscape plan for the town of Elberon itself.

The house was completed by June of 1874 and the family typically arrived each summer in time for the Fourth of July holiday.  During the summer of 1897, the Pullmans discussed the remodeling and enlarging of Fairlawn with Solon S. Beman, the architect of the Town of Pullman, who had also undertaken a number of additions and improvements to their Prairie Avenue home. 

George Pullman died that October, and the rebuilding, in the Colonial Revival style, was not completed until 1900.   By that time, the house was generally recognized as the most spacious and attractive summer estate along that section of the Jersey coast.  Mrs. Pullman continued to travel to her beloved summer estate each year through the 1920 season. 

Raymond Hotel, Pasadena

She died on March 28, 1921 in Pasadena, California, where she maintained an extensive suite at the Raymond Hotel, one of the most exclusive winter resorts in the country.  Residents included members of the Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan families.

Next week:  The Pullman house in Washington, D.C.

The Pullmans of Prairie Avenue

One of the legendary lost houses of Prairie Avenue was the mansion of George M. Pullman, located at 1729 S. Prairie Avenue.  Located on the opposite corner from Glessner house, its stately Second Empire style façade was the height of fashion when it was completed.  However, the house stood only 45 years before falling victim to the wrecker’s ball. 

George M. Pullman and Harriett “Hattie” Sanger were married in 1867, and the following year they purchased a 100-foot wide lot at the northeast corner of Prairie Avenue and 18^th Street, paying $500 per front foot, the highest amount ever paid up to that time in the city.  Pullman hired architect Henry S. Jaffray, who had previously worked in the offices of New York architect Richard Morris Hunt, to prepare the plans.  Construction began in earnest by 1872 and the family was able to move into their home in January 1876 although another year would pass until the interiors were complete. 

The massive house measured 70 by 108 feet, containing more than 7,000 square feet per floor.  The entire exterior was clad in Connecticut brownstone, including the large porte cochere along 18^th Street.  No expense was spared in its construction and only the finest woods and other materials were used in its decoration.  Huge public rooms were constructed to house the elegant and large-scale entertainments the Pullmans planned.  Amenities included a 200-seat theatre, billiard room, bowling alley, pipe organ and much more.

Newspaper accounts of the house and the events which took place there routinely referred to the house as the most beautiful on Prairie Avenue and in the entire city, lavishing praise on its interiors, said to be “more beautiful than the Gardens of Cashmere.”  The Pullmans entertained frequently in their “palace” and it was not uncommon for 400 or more people to attend receptions, musicales, and theatrical entertainments.

In preparation for the wedding of the Pullmans’ daughter Harriet to Francis Carolan in 1892, a huge addition was built onto the northeast corner of the house, and the entire interior was redecorated.  The addition included a new library and billiard room, a huge palm room with a 40-foot leaded glass dome, outdoor terraces set with marble mosaics, and an enlarged and remodeled coach house.  Across 18^th Street, a huge conservatory was set into a private “park” with unobstructed views of Lake Michigan.  The addition and remodeling, designed by architect Solon S. Beman, cost in excess of $100,000.

George Pullman died in 1897, but his widow continued living in the home until her death in 1921, splitting her time between Chicago and residences in New Jersey, the Thousand Islands, and Pasadena.   In November 1921 a three-day auction emptied the house of its priceless collection of artwork, rugs, antiques, and other items.  The house was demolished during the summer of 1922, a reflection of the decline of the neighborhood.    The property remained vacant until 1941 when a huge, but non-descript brick bus garage was built on the site.  That too was demolished in 2000 as the area gentrified, and today, town homes and a condominium tower occupy the site of one of Chicago’s greatest Gilded Age mansions.

Frances Glessner and the Daughters of the American Revolution

On Saturday March 19, 2011, the museum hosted the 120^th anniversary celebration of the Chicago Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.  It was a most appropriate choice of venue, for Frances Glessner was one of the charter members of the Chicago Chapter – the first chapter formed after the National Society was organized.

Not surprisingly, a number of ladies living on Prairie Avenue were active in the Chicago Chapter NSDAR in its early years.  The chapter was formed in 1891, allowing both the chapter and National Society to have a significant presence at the World’s Columbian Exposition two years later.   Among the local residents to join during the 1890s were the following:

-Miss Margaret Beekman Meeker, 2117 S. Calumet Ave.

-Mrs. William (Caroline) Reid, 2013 S. Prairie Ave.

-Miss Mabel Wheeler, 1812 S. Prairie Ave.

-Mrs. Nathaniel (Helen) Fairbank, 1801 S. Michigan Ave.

-Mrs. Charles (Susan) Hamill, 2126 S. Prairie Ave.

-Mrs. George (Hattie) Pullman, 1729 S. Prairie Ave.

-Miss Jessie Spalding, 1637 S. Prairie Ave.

-Mrs. James (Alia) Walker, 1720 S. Prairie Ave.

Mrs. John A. (Mary) Logan was an honorary member, having previously resided at 2119 S. Calumet Ave.  John A. Logan was a celebrated general during the Civil War, and later served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, running unsuccessfully for vice-president of the United States in 1884.  He is best remembered today for issuing the order for the first nationwide Decoration Day in 1868 (now known as Memorial Day) while serving as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic.  A large equestrian statue of Logan, designed in 1897 by the great 19^th century sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens, stands today in Grant Park at the foot of 9th Street.  After his death, Mary Logan became the editor of the Home Journal.

Mrs. Willard T. (Anna) Block, 1628 S. Indiana Ave., was among the most active members, eventually chairing the committee that helped fund Memorial Continental Hall, the NSDAR headquarters in Washington D.C.  In 1922, she was elected vice president general of the National Society.  She died in 1924.

Hattie Pullman was an active member of the chapter, as was her mother, Mary Catherine Sanger, and her daughter Florence, who married future Illinois governor Frank O. Lowden in 1896.  In Mrs. Pullman’s obituary, published in the Chicago Tribune March 29, 1921 the following mention is made, “The last notable occasion on which Mrs. Pullman was hostess in her Prairie Avenue residence was during the Republican convention last June, when, with Mrs. John A. Logan as the guest of honor, she held a reception for the DAR.”

Frances Glessner was eligible for membership in the DAR through the lineage back to her Revolutionary War ancestor Robert Whitehill.   In 1885, Frances Glessner received a Christmas gift from her mother and sister that served as a tangible link to that great-grandfather - a beautiful hand-stitched handkerchief case featuring scraps of fabric from the dresses of his wife, Eleanor Reed Whitehill (1734-1785) and their daughter, Rachel Whitehill Macbeth (1764-1846).

Another interesting relic of the Revolutionary War was owned by Fernando Jones, who lived at 1834 S. Prairie Ave.  Many years before moving to the street, he had received a small glass vile containing tea leaves from the Boston Tea Party, directly from one of the men who had participated.  When Jones completed his home, he had the vile placed inside the newel post in the main hall.  (What became of the treasured relic when the house was demolished in 1942 is unknown).

The Chicago Chapter NSDAR continues to thrive today, continuing the proud tradition established by Frances Glessner, her neighbors, and other prominent women throughout the city 120 years ago.