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I’ve
been thinking about Thanksgiving since it is- well
November - and trying to figure out who I’ll be inviting
to dinner this year. Then I got to thinking, if I
suddenly found myself in the Cape May version of
Valhalla (the hall for slain heroes), who would I invite
to share Thanksgiving dinner with me?
First off, where would we host the event? I think it
would most definitely have to be held at
Congress Hall
because it was built in 1816 and the heroes/heroines
would know where to come. Besides, it has that nice
ballroom which would be perfect for seating such a
distinguished gathering. Which brings us to the next
question, (which, if you’ll remember, was actually the
first question) who to invite?
Then
I thought, who cares what I think, why not ask someone
who knows a little something about the history of Cape
May? I immediately thought of Robert E. Heinly, aka Dr.
Emlen Physick and the Museum Education Coordinator for
the
 Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC). He very
promptly sent me his guest list. I, in turn, issued the
invitations. So, please come along with me while we
time-travel to an imaginary Thanksgiving with some folks
from the past who had a vision of a future which forever
changed Cape Island.
The
guests start entering the Ballroom at Congress Hall
around 7. I’m a bit nervous but everything is in order.
The table is set. All the servers are at their stations.
The drinks are simple – Mulled Cider, Eggnog, and a
Holiday Punch – I think that’ll cover most time zones.
The
dinner menu will consist of five courses:
Pumpkin
Bisque served with Sweet Potato Biscuits
Kentucky Cornbread Salad
Traditional Stuffed Turkey with Southern Cornbread Dressing
Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes,
Cranberry Relish, Creamed Corn
Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie served with coffee or tea.
A
snifter of brandy. Cigars optional.
Once
we are all seated, I tap my glass. “Lady, (I nod to our
only female guest Dr. Anna Hand) and Gentlemen? Before
we start serving dinner, I want to thank you for
accepting CapeMay.com’s invitation to come back to Cape
May and share Thanksgiving with us. You probably all
know each other, but I thought we might go around the
table and introduce ourselves. If you don’t mind Mr.
President, I’d like to start with Dr. Hand.”
“Ladies first of course,” said President Benjamin
Harrison.
The
diminutive lady’s skirts rustled as she moved forward.
She clasped her hands on the table and looked at
everyone around her before speaking. Then, she smiled
and shrugged her shoulders.
“There’s not much to tell really. My name is
 Anna Hand.
I began my practice here in Cape May in 1892 following
completion of my studies at the Women’s Medical College
in Philadelphia. Afterwards, I took post-graduate
courses in the Philadelphia Polyclinic. Then, two years
more of practical experience (residency) in the
Maternity Hospital and Nurse School of Philadelphia. I
was very happy to come to Cape May, having been born in
Cape May Court House. I enjoyed a long and fruitful
practice. I was a proud member of the Women’s Christian
Temperance Union (WCTU) but sadly had to leave the
group. I’m a suffragette you know. How we did celebrate
that August in 1920 when the states ratified the 19th
amendment and women won at last the right to vote. Oh,
excuse me. I didn’t mean to talk so long.”
 “Thank you Dr. Hand. Mr. President? Would you like to go
next?”
“Women won the right to vote? Preposterous,” said
President Harrison and there was a general murmur of
disapproval around the table.
“Oh,
I didn’t mean to stir the pot,” said Dr. Hand.
“Not
to worry,” I said but let us continue our introductions.
They’re about to start serving the Pumpkin Bisque. Mr.
President?”
"President Benjamin Harrison here. 23rd
president of these United States. No need to say any
more than that. Women voting. My word.”
“And
don’t forget Civil War hero and summer resident of Cape
May Point, Mr. President,” said John Wanamaker. He then
leaned into the table, looked at everyone, leaned back
and said, “My name is John Wanamaker. I am a summer
resident and founding member of Sea
 Grove later renamed
Cape May Point. I opened the first department store in
the United States on Market and Chestnut streets in
Philadelphia. I had the great honor of serving as
postmaster general under President Harrison’s excellent
stewardship.”
The
president smiled and modestly waved aside the
compliment.
“Why, sir,” said President Harrison, “My contributions
are small, indeed compared with those of the
distinguished hero to your right. How are you Colonel
Sawyer?”
“Just fine Mr. President,” Colonel Sawyer also looked
about the table. “My name is Henry W. Sawyer. Thank you
Mr. President, I did have the honor of serving the union
during the Civil War.”
“Tsk, tsk man,” said Joseph Leach. “ Some men serve, you
sir, nearly lost your life in the service of the Union.
Imagine those Confederate blackguards putting up a
Lottery of Death. Why if it wasn’t for President
Lincoln’s intervention, you’d have been hanged and we
would never have had the pleasure of seeing that
Southern Belle – The Chalfonte Hotel added to our fine
roster of hotels. What’s that? Oh yes. Joseph Leach,
editor and publisher of The Cape May Ocean Wave, the
city’s first newspaper.”
“And
let us not forget a leader in the community. Without
your excellent editorials urging Cape Island to bring
the railroads to town, this fine city of ours may have
languished in obscurity. My name is John C. Bullitt. My
partner, Frederick Fairthorne and I built several hotels
in town. Among them, Columbia House and the Stockton
Hotel. Although I do not see my partner here, I would
like to acknowledge that none of our projects would have
been possible without the creative talents of the
distinguished architect sitting across from me – one
-Stephen Decatur Button. At the age of 71, Mr. Button
designed the Lafayette Hotel for that chap – what was
his name Button?”
“Victor Denizot,” said the quietly spoken Mr. Button.
“Ah, Stephen Decatur Button” he nodded to the group and
to me, “I wonder? Are any of my buildings
 still
standing?”
“Many of them are still standing sir,” I said. "Columbia
House, as you know, burnt down in the great fire of
1878.”
“Yes, thanks to you, you arsonist,” charged John C.
Bullitt pointing his finger across the table to Samuel
Ludlam.
Ludlam simply stared back at Bullitt with stony
indifference.
“I’m
sure I do not know that to which you are referring.”
“You
were seen leaving the Ocean House. You were seen
boarding the train that fateful morning and the
conflagration started not long after the train left the
station. And you were seen cashing the insurance cheque
some weeks later.”
“None of those charges held. I was and, am still,
exonerated. If you have any further proof, my dear sir,
hold forth, by all means.”
“Proof?
Here’s the proof – 11 acres of prime property
from Perry Street to Gurney Street. From Washington
Street to Beach Avenue destroyed. You did it and we all
know you did it.”
“Well then my good man, prove it.” And he sipped his
cider, snapping his fingers for the server to fill up
his glass.
“Why
you scoundrel, I ought to give you a thrashing.”
“Settle down Bullitt,” said Colonel Sawyer. “Don’t be so
disagreeable. After all, there are ladies present.” He
then, nodded toward Dr. hand and me.
“Out
of respect to you Colonel and of course to the ladies.”
And he sat down.
“I
wonder if you could tell me a little something more
about my buildings,” said the Button in a voice so soft,
everyone grew very quiet.
“The Stockton Hotel,” I said, “was demolished in 1911.
A movie theater, a bistro,
 an ice cream parlor, and
several retail stores facing Beach Avenue are at the
site now. As to the Lafayette Hotel, the pillars and
overhanging roof were demolished in the 1920s, although
that change actually highlighted your design. However,
the hotel was demolished in 1970 to make room for a new
hotel which they called the
Marquis
de Lafayette Hotel.”
The
architect looked rather sad and began to sup his soup.
The
others all started talking at once. ‘What does the town
look like now? Is the hunting still good?”
“Fair questions,” I answered “and ones which I’ll be
happy to answer, but please, first, let us finish our
introductions. Some of you may not be acquainted with
Mr. Ford.”
Henry Ford looked a bit puzzled but I stayed quiet. I
didn’t think it polite to remind him that many of the
guests had already died by the time he brought his great
invention to Cape May for speed trials.
“Henry Ford. Not from Cape May but owned about 1200
acres of land on the other side of the bridge (where
the Garden State Parkway now begins) along with my
friend Dr. Physick. I invented the Model A horseless
carriage in 1903 and brought the Model A to race and
conduct speed trials on the expansive beaches of Cape
May that same summer.”
“What in tarnation, sir, are you talking about?” asked
Peter Paul Boynton, aka The Pearl Diver.
“Watch your language you scallywag you,” shouted John
Bullitt. Looking at me, he continued in a very
accusatory tone. “What are these arsonists doing at a
table filled with such distinguished personages?”
“I
will call you out for that man,” said Boynton. “I was
not to blame for that 1869 fire. No charges were ever
laid upon me.”
“Oh
yes. And I suppose you never fired your pistol at that
poor unfortunate woman’s head a month later down at the
train station?”
“That was an accident. I lost everything in that
conflagration. I was distraught. The Oriental Shop was a
credit to the community.”
“Distraught from guilt. Credit to the gambling
community. The United States Hotel
 was one of the
grandest dames of our city. An entire city block from
Ocean Street along Beach Avenue up Jackson Street gone.
Some of our oldest and most distinguished residences and
properties burnt down in a matter of minutes. The United
States Hotel, the New Atlantic and the American hotels
gone. All because of you. Everyone here knows you had
gambling markers all over town. You skedaddled pretty
quickly once you collected that insurance money. The
Pearl Diver indeed.”
“I
risked my life to save unfortunate bathers who could not
swim well against the currents. How do you think I
arrived at the nickname The Pearl Diver? Who else here
can say they saved as many lives as I?”
“You
saved them for a price. Sea bathers paid you to watch
them. The hoteliers paid you. I paid you. Do not paint
yourself a hero here at this table.”
“Why
I will not break bread with a man who so sullies my
name.”
“Gentlemen,” I said, fearing things had gotten a bit out
of control. A little too much mulled cider I suspect,
“Please stay seated,” I urged all the guests and most
particularly messieurs Bullitt and Boynton. “Look. The
Kentucky Cornbread Salad is about to be served and we
still haven’t heard from Dr. Physick.
“Oh
I guess I could describe myself as a gentleman farmer,”
said Dr. Physick. “I had the good fortune to buy Eliza Stites Cresse’s plantation on the bay side of Town Bank
a ways back. 1868 I think it was. Then, of course,
mother and auntie lived with me on the plantation here
in Cape May. You know, when I died, I was negotiating
with the city. They wanted to buy that beachfront
property tract to build a convention hall. What ever
happened to that?”
“Your heirs completed the sale. A convention hall was
built and still stands there today. As to your Town Bank
property. That is now known as North Cape May and Town
Bank. It was subdivided in the 1930s. That venture
failed but a revival one after World War II was quite
successful.”
“You
mean there were 'World Wars?'” asked Henry Ford.
"World
war? The whole world at war?"” asked the Colonel.
“Yes. We’ll save that story for another time shall we?
Maybe during dessert.”
“Tell me,” asked Mr. Wanamaker, “Is my cottage still
standing? And my lovely Sea Grove, still as lovely as
ever?”
 “Oh
yes Mr. Wanamaker, Cape May Point is still alive and
well. The Wanamaker cottage, previously the Harrison
Cottage is still standing but was moved in 1916 to the
corners of Yale and Cape Avenues.”
“Yes. I was still living at the time when we moved it,”
said Wanamaker. “We had quite the publicity about that
cottage didn’t we Mr. President? Imagine anyone thinking
our gift of a summer cottage to the president and his
fair wife would in any way constitute a means to
encourage investors to buy land. Preposterous! Well, of
course we were land speculators. Why wouldn’t we be? We
would be remiss in our fiduciary responsibilities to the
community if we had not taken care to see to it that Sea
Grove, excuse me, Cape May Point, continues as a
productive community and a religious retreat.”
“Here, here,” several of the men, Leach, Bullitt and
President Harrison said.
“Well, well,” I said, “Look they’re bringing the Tom
Turkey out. I wonder, Mr. President, would you be so
kind as to carve?”
“I
would obliged if you would carve the turkey Colonel
Sawyer" Harrison replied. "You didn’t bring your sword with you,
 did you?”
he asked with a wry smile.
“As
a matter of fact I did. I didn’t know quite what to expect
when I got here. I always like to be prepared. I’d be
honored sir. Bring ol’ Tom on over here. And Madame, the
Kentucky Cornbread Salad was a marvel. May I ask? Thanksgiving? So the holiday stuck?”
inquired
Colonel Sawyer looking up from the turkey as he cleanly and
very scarily sliced the leg off that turkey like a man
who knows his sword or his turkey.
“Oh
yes. The last Thursday in November.”
“That Lincoln,” said President Harrison, “he sure knew
how to play the crowd, didn’t he John?”
“Yes, sir, he did.” Looking at me and seeing my quizzical
expression, Mr. Wanamaker explained, “You see George
Washington actually proposed we have a Thanksgiving in
honor of the pilgrim’s landing but his Thanksgiving came
at harvest time in October. President Lincoln made his
Thanksgiving proclamation right after his speech Nov. 19th
in honor of the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery.”
“Now
some say,” added Colonel Sawyer who was nicely slicing
the breast of the bird, “that he made the proclamation
to divert attention from the war. Some say that he
shrewdly changed the date knowing his reelection was in
peril. And some say that woman Jessica Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady Book, pressured him into it.”
“I
heard,” said President Harrison laughing, “That s he
had been
trying to pressure presidents to make the day a national
holiday for some 20 years. I guess Abe finally bowed to
pressure.”
“Well, Dr. Hand and gentlemen, whatever the reason, I am
thankful he did it and am thankful to share this day
with you. A toast to all of you. Know that your
contributions continue to be felt here where the citizens of Cape Island are forever in your
gratitude. Cheers!”
“Cheers!"
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