Ted Wight's St. Louis Style

A Picnic @ Our Farm in the 60's

Here is another wonderful family photo that was recently rediscovered. It is my grandfather, aunt and late uncle having a picnic in the woods at our farm in Pike County. I love that my grandfather is in a jacket and tie.  Do you remember the days of the thermos?

My Grandmother in Nantucket

My brother found some photos on my late father's computer that he shared with us this Christmas. This one is of my paternal grandmother on Nantucket sometime in the 60's. So stylish! She died shortly after I was born. Notice the large Nantucket basket next to her.

Salem, MA

We spent the last two days visiting colleges in Boston for my son who will be a Senior this year.

Visited Salem, MA today to look for ancestor's graves. Found the Osborne plot!

4 Clermont Lane, Ladue, MO 63124 FOR SALE

Yesterday I took my Aunt Bunny over to see 4 Clermont Lane in Ladue that is for sale. She had lived in the home as a young girl when she was attending Mary Institute. She said that it was unsettling through a house 70+ years later that has occupied her dreams for so long. From her stories, I can tell that she was a handful....and still is!  She said that she put ribbons in my father's hair and paraded him down Clermont Lane, introducing him as her sister.

"Colonial farmhouse cape beautifully appointed with charm and character throughout. This home was carefully crafted over the years with a floor plan offering great utility while retaining a gracious flow of generously sized rooms. First floor center hall design offers a living room, sunroom, bar room, 3 season porch, gorgeous dining room, kitchen, large family room & 4th bedroom w/full bath. Completing the 1st floor is a large mud room w/laundry & charming powder room tucked under the main stair. All rooms with the exception of beds and baths have hardwood floors. Included throughout are beautiful windows, and many rooms with chair rail, crown molding, wainscote and original millwork. This is a striking house with beautiful patios & walkways surrounding the house, large drive with plenty of parking and pretty lawns with many flowering trees. This is a wonderful opportunity for a Buyer to live in one of the original residences of Ladue in a home with heart, character, grace and charm." $1,050,000

Listed by Meg Couglin, Dielmann Sotheby's International Realty, 314-607-5555

 

5 Brentmoor Park, Clayton, MO

The other day I was contacted by someone who was selling an old plate on E-bay from The Brickbuilder magazine.  It was printed in 1913.  The house was built  in 1911 by Howard Van Doren Shaw for my great grandfather, Ira Edward Wight.  My real name is Ira Edward Wight also....I get "Ted" from the Edward, though most people can not figure that out.  I even named my son Ira Edward to keep the name alive.  Ira was "in" about 1900 and has been losing popularity ever since.  We think that my great grandfather knew Howard from Yale.  Howard graduated in 1890 and my great grandfather in 1893.  Click HERE to see a current of view of the house from one of my previous posts. Someone was feverishly bidding against me to get this picture.  If it was the current owner of the house, contact me and I will make you a copy.

The Quest For Birch Island

My recent family vacation to Maine started with two poems that we had hanging in our farmhouse.  They were drafted and given to my great grandfather when he was there on a hunting/fishing trip in 1909. I knew that we wanted to go to Maine again this year and thought ....why don't we go to the same place our great grandfather went. On each poem the place of record was Birch Island, Maine.  I googled Birch Island and found it.  I also found a wonderful lodge to stay- Attean Lake Lodge.  The lodge brochure mentioned that people had been coming to the lodge since the late 1800s. I thought...this is it and my great grandfather must have stayed in the same lodge.  Well we arrived at the remote lake, located only minutes from the Canadian border, and arrived at our lodge.  That night at dinner we were speaking to one of the other guests and he told me that we were at the wrong Birch Island.  This Birch Island was on Attean Lake and our Birch Island was on Holeb Lake.  Oops...after so much work to get there.  Well it turned out that Birch Island on Holeb Lake was just the next lake over.  There are some hunting cottages on it, though not a lodge to stay.  The next morning I spoke with the owner of the lodge and he put us on course to see the other Birch Island.  We motor boated across our 7 mile lake....hiked 1.5 miles through the woods and arrived at the shore of Holeb Lake.  Our lodge hides two canoes in the woods for guest to use on this lake.  We pattled 5 miles and finally arrived at our destination....Birch Island!  Two construction guys greeted us at the shore.  We were the first people they had seen on the island in 3 weeks.  Birch Island on Holeb Lake used to be a fancy destination owned by an exclusive Boston country club for its guests.  My great grandfather lived in Kansas City and was in the cattle business.  He must have had a business associate that invited him.  Birch Island has seen better days and was a little run down...though enchanting.  Sorry for the long post....though look at the pictures and descriptions below for an illustration of our journey. (This is my last vacation post....sorry to my readers who are bored by this and want more local St. Louis posts.)

The poem below was printed on birch paper. My grandfather's last name was Forrest...thus the cute way of incorporating the last name into the poem.

 

Another poem....

 

Traveling to our destination....

And canoeing in Holeb Lake to Birch Island... being chased by storms periodically

 

And then Birch Island!....finally!

 

 

 

Out Houses

 

Burying Your Father

Last November my father died after a long struggle with colon cancer.  He got it back in the late 80's when colonoscopies were not standard. Over the years he had a little bit of his colon and intestines snipped here and there.  The last five years were bad...the last year was sad.  He was no longer able to eat solids and as we say..."had a bag going in and out". The day or two before his final hospital stay for problems, we found receipts for meals at Steak and Shake, Popeye's and a Chinese restaurant. I think I would have binged at Niche, though his mix was more of a killer for the tummy.

On Sunday morning when it was raining and cold, I went to Calvary with my mother and son to pick out a plot and decide on a gravestone. (He was cremated...that is why we could take our time.)  We scoped out the Berthold/Ewing plot where my father's side of the family is buried. See the pics below...a cold, rainy day was perfect to be in a cemetery.

I told my son that if this plot ran out of room, we had a nice mausoleum in New Orleans that had room for twelve and only two spots were filled!  See a pic HERE.

 

 
 

Birch Island, Maine

Our farm is a great place to hang special family items for everyone to enjoy. When I was at our farm yesterday, I took special notice of some framed poems written on birch bark.  Imagine spending the summer on an island in Maine and having the time to write a poem.These were written by a friend to my great grandfather.  Notice that in the rhyme below they misspelled "forest"....my great grandfather's last name was Forrest.

 

 

Mont Clair, Vincennes, IN

A highlight of my recent trip was visiting one of my ancestor's farm, Mont Clair. Mont Clair was built by Nathaniel Ewing around 1806 and was fancied-up in 1911 when the neo-classical columns were added.  The 500 acre farm has been in the Ewing family for seven generations and was recently put in a land trust to preserve it in its present state.

Mark and Becca Ewing were so gracious to receive us and give us a tour.  

My sons, Teddy and Nicholas, giving a drink to the massive great danes

 

The top hat owned by former St. Louis mayor, William L. Ewing, Sr.  He left St. Louis after losing his reelection and returned to the family home at Vincennes, IN.  Many of his possessions are still at the house.

 

Gracious hosts and current owners of Mont Clair, Mark and Becca Ewing

 

New Orleans Notes

Before swinging into St. Louis for Easter, my brother made a visit to New Orleans for a little family pilgrimage.  After the Civil War, when the South was rebuilding, my great great grandfather moved there from Maine and started a successful shipping hardware business.  Although he was probably first viewed as a "carpet bagger" from the North when he showed up in town, he became an important citizen of New Orleans.

Here are some interesting pics from my brother's trip"

This is my great, great grandfather's house on Prytania street. Believe it or not, his name was Pearl Wight

Here is a plaster model of the Wight mausoleum located at Tulane University.

Here is the architectural diagram located at Tulane.

This lovely window is in the back of the mausoleum.  You can see some of the damage to it from the hurricane.

Here is the actual mausoleum.  I understand that there are eight spaces in it and only two used. I think it would be fun to be put here....though no one would visit me.