November1881October

October

Newport, R.I.
October 1st 1881
1st Sat.
Not out in daytime. Dined at Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, no one but her 2 sisters, Misses Endicott & a Miss McAllister? Afternoon to party at Ida's. Mrs Craig Wadsworth, Miss Dehones.

Marshall Owen Roberts (1814-1880) was a capitalist and politician who, among other things, managed many government mail steamship service contracts. These businesses were severely damaged by competition from Cornelius Vanderbilt. Roberts gained notoriety as a profiteer from his steamship dealings during the Civil War. He was an anti-Seward Whig and a Republican. He was one of the group that financed Cyrus Field's first cable venture. Mary Endicott was the daughter of the Secretary of the Navy and a friend of Victoria's who married the British Diplomat Joseph Chamberlain after his successful negotiation of the British-American Fisheries Treaty. Mrs. Craig Wharton Wadsworth is the former Evelyn Willing Peters, 1845-1885. She would later be Amy's neighbor on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington.

2nd Sun.
Not out. Mrs Calvert cd. Mrs. Sturgis & Rita & Susie tea with us.

The abbreviation "cd." stands for "called." The custom of calling is well described by Tehan in Henry Adams in Love [23], p. 24:

The paying of calls was governed by iron-clad rules. Any lady who was or wanted to be in society must first leave her printed calling card before making a visit. Her footman presented it to the servant of the house, and if the corner was turned down it signified that the lady had come in person. The lady for whom she left the card must, within seven to ten days, leave her card in return. This ritual use of the engraved bits of pasteboard was a means of testing the social temperature before entering the water. Next came the exchange of formal calls. One etiquette writer declared, "You cannot invite people to your house (however often you may have met them elsewhere) until you first call on them in a formal manner and they return your visit. It is a safeguard against undesirable aquantances. If you don't wish to continue the friendship, you discontinue to call and no further advances are made. But it is bad manners not to return a call in the first instance."
3rd Mon.
Arthur Carey, Mrs. Hopkins cd. Drove with Mr. Warren. Misses Endicott & McAllister.
4th Tues.
Dr. Brackett filled tooth up. left. Mr. Atherton Blight, Arthur Rives, Miss Dehones. To see R. Sturgis, Mrs. Rob. Cushing.
5th Wed.
To see Mme Outrey. Dr. Brackett general polishing. Mrs Parkinson sent us her carriage. Cd. on Phimneys, Wales, Perkins, Parkinson. Mrs. J. C. Gray, Miss Frick cd.

Mme Outrey was the "winsome" wife of the French Minister to Washington. Mrs. John Chipman Gray was the wife of the brother of Russell Gray, later to become Amy's husband. John C. Gray was a Professor of Law at Harvard and founding partner of the Boston Law Firm of Ropes and Gray. Another brother (actually, a half brother) Horace was then a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. In her letter to her father of 15 January 1882, Mrs. Henry Adams writes of Judge Gray that

Last Sunday Judge Gray to dine. Has not gained in charm of manner in the years since we last met.
6th Th.
To see Mrs. Roberts, Endicotts, Miss McAllister. Mrs. Edw. Potter cd.

Possibly Edward Potter is the sculptor (1857-1923) who created statues for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, did several equestrian statues, and did the lions for the New York Public Library.

7th Fri.
Rita Sturgis, Mrs. A .A. Low, Miss Low, Mrs. H. Pierrepont Jr, cd. Dr. with Mr. Warren.

Abiel Abbot Low (1811-1893) of Salem was a merchant and the clerk and partner (837-1839) of Russell & Co. in Canton China, the company founded by Samul Russell of Middletown, Conn., following his arrival in China in 1824. Amy's father's uncle Augustine Heard had been a partner of Russell & Co. (1831-1836) before founding his own company, Augustine Heard & Co. [16][26][10] Russell & Co. was the largest and Augustine Heard & Co. the second largest American trading firms in China. A. A. Low formed his own company A.A. Low & Brothers and eventually became the leading China and Japan trader in silks and tea. He also shared in in financing the first Atlantic cable and in the building of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad through West Virginia. Rita Sturgis is possibly either the wife of Russell Sturgis of Boston, who also was a partner in Russell & Co. (1842-1844) or of Robert Shaw Sturgis of Boston, another partner (1850-1857).

8th Sat.
Papa came in the night. Mrs. Wetmore, Miss M. Whiting, Ida Decon, Mrs. Cunningham, Miss Hurd cd. I on the Providence. Smith's, M. Griswold, Ida where several girls came to aft. tea. Maud Legdard drove me home.
It is possibly coincidence, but there was also a partner of Russell & Company named John N. Alsop Griswold, possibly a relation to Minnie Griswold.
Oct 9th
Ch. Papa to N.Y. by night boat.
10th Mon.
Revd Potter, Min. Griswold, Emily Upton, Miss Gray, Mrs Kenuce

Miss Gray is likely one of Harriet or Elizabeth (Bessie) Gray, (half) sisters of John Chipman and Russell Gray.

11th Tues.
Large girl's lunch at the Russells. Cd on Whitings, Mrs Boit, Eyre, W. Wadsworth, Sands. The misses Mason cd.
12th Wed.
Mamma to lunch at the Rodmans. Mrs Livingston, Woodsworth, Endicotts cd.
13th Th.
To see Mrs. W. Forbes at Mrs Pomeroys. out. Cd. on Mrs Dr. King, Mrs Rich. Willing here & Mrs. Terry & Daisey! To see Mrs. J. C. Gray after dinner.

The name of Forbes also enters through Russell & Co., John Murray Forbes of Milton, Mass.,was a partner (1834-1838) as were Robert Bennett Forbes of Milton (1839-1844), Paul Sieman Forbes of New York (1844-1873), and William Howell Forbes of New York and Paris (1861-1880), Frank Blackwell Forbes of New York (1863-1880), James Murray Forbes of Milton (1869-1872), John Murray Forbes, Jr., of New York (1871-1880), and Henry De Courcy Forbes of New York (1872-1880). Russell & Co. was clearly a family affair, as was Heard & Co. Many of these men made fortunes while still young and some, like Amy's father, lost most of it during the recession of the 1870s. Mrs. J.C. Gray was Anna Sophia Lyman "Nina" Gray. She became a close friend of Oliver Wendell Holmes.

14th Fri.
Mr. & Mrs. Forbes & Miss Pomeroy cd. Dr. with Mr. Warren. Cd on Miss Madeleine Mixter.
15th S.
Mrs. Griswold & Miss Derby cd. Boston Mr. & Mrs. Gray came today, J. C. after din. Papa & Mama dined at the Pomeroys. I at the Griswolds. Afterwards to Commerce Party at Ida's.
16th S.
Ch. cd. on Mrs. & Miss Minot, dined 1.30 at the Pomeroys. Walked with Miss Erving. aft. tea. at Miss Howard's. Papa left by night boat.
17th M.
Mamma to join Papa in N.Y. & go on to Washington & hunt houses with him. Mrs & Miss Minot cd. I on Mrs. Rich Willing & the Russells.
18th Tues.
Drove to Paradise & Purgatory
19th Oct.
Mrs & Miss Phinney, Min. Griswold here. Drove with Miss Phinney.
20th Th.
Cd on Smiths & Mrs. Stanard.
21st Fri.
Mr. Crawford, Maud Ledyard, Mr. Morgand. Drove with Mr. Pomeroy (Tandem). Mamma back fr. Washington. Aug. fr. Quincy to see Brachdt.
22nd Sat.
Drove with Mr Warren.
23rd Sun.
Not out. Mr Arthur Rives cd.
24th M.
Aug. back to Quincy. Began packing.
25th Tues.
Miss Ida Mason & Perkins Cd.& Mrs Russell Forsythe.
26th Wed.
Miss G. King. Mme de Vaugrigneuse cd.
27th Th.
Mrs Buchler & B. sailed for Havre in "Lessing." Mrs. Edw. Potter cd. Not out since Saturday nor seen anyone. Hair washed.

The Lessing was a ship of 3,496 gross tons, length 375.1ft x beam 40ft, one funnel, two masts, iron hull, single screw, speed 13 knots, with accommodation for 90-1st, 100-2nd and 800-3rd class passengers. It was launched in 1874 by A. Stephen & Sons, Glasgow for the Adler Line, Hamburg. she started her maiden voyage from Hamburg to New York on 28th May 1874. In 1875 she was purchased by Hamburg America Line and continued Hamburg - Havre - New York sailings.

28th Fri.
29th Sat.
Papa home. Mrs and Misses Austin, Miss Smith cd.
30th Sun.
Ch. to say gbye to Miss Jane Stuart, Griswolds. Mamma dined at Mrs. D. King Sr. (French deb)
30th Mon.
Robert M. Gray, September 23, 2005

November1881October