Lizzie's servants

[Harry]

Lizzie when she lived at Maplecroft was blessed with close-mouthed servants. Without a lot of digging does anyone know if any of the female servants were Irish?

Just wondering if they were and whether Lizzie ever called them "Maggie". Or was that term used only for our Bridget?

It was said that they referred to Bridget as "Maggie" because that was a name of a former servant. There is no known source for that and is most probably untrue.

[KT72]

I study Gaelic, and my teacher said she has heard of servants being called "Maggie" or "Mary" as a generic term.

Since there's very little documentation for social history, we might never find a primary source that testifies to this.

My teacher did say, though, that she would do some research on the subject and get back to me.

[Audrey]

My husband has an aunt who is named Marguerite. Although they are not Irish she has always been called 'Mick' which I believe is an Irish slur.

The Irish have faced prejudice in the past, being typecast as servants or policemen...

I tend to think the 'Maggie' thing was not meant to be unkind or prejudice but that perhaps the girls thought of it as a some sort of joke and Bridget never told them it offended her-- if it indeed did.

Didn't Alice also refer to her as 'Maggie' in her testimony? Was this deliberate or a habit picked up from having heard her referred to as that?

[RayS]

My husband has an aunt who is named Marguerite. Although they are not Irish she has always been called 'Mick' which I believe is an Irish slur.

The Irish have faced prejudice in the past, being typecast as servants or policemen...

I tend to think the 'Maggie' thing was not meant to be unkind or prejudice but that perhaps the girls thought of it as a some sort of joke and Bridget never told them it offended her-- if it indeed did.

Didn't Alice also refer to her as 'Maggie' in her testimony? Was this deliberate or a habit picked up from having heard her referred to as that?

You seem to grow younger with each new picture! What does this mean?

[Kat]

That's a good question, Harry!
I hadn't thought of that. It's a wonder that never came out. I wonder if Gramma knows anything about that?

In the 1910 census, Lizzie has 2 people working for her- 2 females.
One is Mary Boucher, Housekeeper, who is 35 and Divorced. She is from New Jersey.
The servant is Mary Reynolds, who is single and 32, and English.

[bruceaddison]

Harry:

In Lizzie's will, she makes provisions for her housekeeper "and each one of my servants who shall have been with me for five years". Later in the will, she makes a further bequest to her housekeeper whom she identifies as "Ellen B. Miller always called Nellie". My guess is that at Lizzie's death, there were probably two servants "indoors" at Maplecroft, the housekeeper and a 2nd maid, as there was in the 1910 census. Lizzie also left money to her Chauffer, Ernest Alden Terry, his wife and daughter.

In terms of Lizzie referring to Brigit as "Maggie", my guess is that Victoria Lincoln got it right in her book "A Private Disgrace"- Maggie was an affectionate name used by Lizzie during an era when Irish servants were looked down upon (apparently, help wanted ads for domestic servants during the era would regularly end with such phrases as "Irish and coloreds need not apply". Brigit was the generic name of the Irish serving girl (much as "Rastus" was used disparagingly for blacks), so Lizzie substituted another. Certainly, Lizzie seems to have always enjoyed excellent relations with her servants (and I think their silence even after her death is a testament to this), and it does not seem in keeping with her character that she would have called Brigit "Maggie" simply because she was too lazy to learn another name in the two years or so that Brigit had worked for her family. Of course this is all speculation, but I guess that's the best that can be done.

[1bigsteve]

Could it be that Bridget asked to be called "Maggie?" Perhaps it was a nick name Lizzie tacked on Bridget with no slight intended.

I have nick names for all of my friends but most are just variations of their names, like "Peggsy" and "Pegs" for Peggy or "Dorth" for Dorothy, etc.

I like to think "Maggie" was just an affectionate nick name for Bridget. Maybe "Maggie" is a variation of "Sullivan?"?? Any takers?? I'm no expert on names.

-1bigsteve (o:

[snokkums]

I never knew she had servants. It would be interesting to see how many she had and if any one of them left because of the live style she was leading

[Kat]

I was surprised to find one who was Divorced! That implies tolerance on Lizbeth's part, IMO.
But Gramma tells us that Lizbeth liked her servant females single. If they married they had to leave. I'm sure there's a good reason for that.

BTW: I've seen ads for servants in lots of old papers of the day and have never seen one that asked that "Irish or 'coloreds' need not apply."
Can we see one? What kind of a date/year would that be?

[augusta]

There was a servant by the last name of "Smith" - first name possibly Anne - who worked for Lizzie at Maplecroft in 1900.

Gertrude M. (Russell) Callow worked for Lizzie from 1912-1913. Russell, I believe, is an English name.

Miss Ellen "Nellie" Bennett Miller worked at Maplecroft. Lizzie named one of her dogs "Laddie Miller". She was English. (Rebello, p. 338)

Hannah B. Nelson worked for Lizzie from 1903 to 1908. She died in 1908.
Lizzie named one of her dogs "Royal Nelson".

Mary A. Reynolds worked for Lizzie in 1910.

Ernest Alden Terry was Lizzie's chauffeur within five years of her death. I think his wife worked for Lizzie, too.

Joseph H. Tetrault was a barber, then worked for 'the girls' from 1899-1908.

Florence Pemberton worked for Lizzie from 1922 until Lizzie's death in 1927. (Rebello, p. 328)

Matilda Anderson was Swedish. (Rebello, p. 328)

The above, unless noted otherwise, comes from Rebello, "Compilation of Names", pages 511 - 542.