Memories of Alice Fern

Transcription

1 Memories of Alice Fern By Alice s Family

2 Copyright Alice Fern Family 2003

3 Dedicated to:

4 Blank

5 Memories of Alice Fern By Alice s Family

6 Alice, Edmund, and Robert

7 This is our grandmother, Alice Fern, with her brothers Robert and Edmund. Alice was born in Ensenada, Mexico on Mexican Independence Day in Her brothers thought that the September 16 th fireworks celebrated the birth of their new baby sister! Alice s brothers always teased her about being born in Baja California, Mexico, since they had been born in Upper California, which was part of the United States. Because of that teasing, Alice never learned Spanish, even though she spent a lot of time in Mexico. The children s father, Herman, was the foreman of a fruit cannery in Ensenada. The company canned apricots, pears, and peaches and sent them north by ship to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The children and their mother traveled to Ensenada by boat. In a letter, Alice s mother, Florence, describes going through the foggy marshes near San Diego. Six-year-old Edward and fouryear-old Robert were frightened during the all-night journey. In the morning, they were met at the dock by Mrs. Bennett, the English owner of the fruit ranch. She greeted the travelers with a bouquet of heliotrope, roses, and carnations.

8 Tragedy struck. Alice s father, Herman, died. He was only thirty years old and left behind his wife and four young children. Alice wrote:

9 Alice, Edmund, Robert, baby Leslie, and their mother just after their father s funeral

10 Cousin Dorothy s doll

11 Being the poor relations after the father s death was difficult for Alice and her family. The mother was left with little means to rais her four young children. In contrast, cousin Dorothy s family was well off. They lived on a ranch on Pico Avenue and raised vegetables and fruits. Alice especially liked the dewberries, a cross between blueberries and raspberries. Dorothy, who was Alice s age, was beautiful with long sausage curls. She had her own dressmaker and took music lessons. This is a photo of her doll. Alice was humble and ashamed of her situation. She had to wear hand-me-down clothes from Dorothy. Alice s Uncle Artie, who worked in the bank of London, tried to help Alice feel better about herself. He painted her bedroom blue and bought her an expensive hat and doll. Maudy was Alice s beautiful aunt who was engaged to Bundy, the tennis star. She got appendicitis and died. In her grief, Alice buried her doll. Alice s extended family enjoyed camping in Topanga Canyon, where there was a tent village. They took a stagecoach drawn by six horses to Topanga. In nearby Venice, they rode on Italian-style gondolas. The gondoliers sang Italian songs. The canals were lit by electric globes that reflected in the water.

12 When Alice was older, she spent time at the ocean in Santa Monica. In those days, people set up tents along the beach and wore modest bathing dresses. This is the Arcadia Hotel right on the oceanfront. Alice wrote of happy times spent at this hotel.

13 Alice s notes from the beach

14 The family home of Vernon, Alice s husband

15 When Alice grew up, she married Vernon, man sixteen years older than she. He was an organist at St. Augustine s Church and especially loved to play the music of Bach. This is a photo of Vernon s family home in 1910 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His family came to the United States from England. Vernon is standing near the front door, while his parents, Walter Charles and Christina, and brother, Lynn, are on the steps. When the family moved to Hollywood, Walter Charles built a Victorian mansion. It had a turret and a long driveway that curved around the back of the house through an orchard. Walter Charles was an organist and a builder of organs. He had a gigantic pipe organ in his house. The pipes ran up the wall by the staircase. The dining room had a fancy rococo ceiling and the table was set with the best bone china. Every Saturday the family bought a big roast of beef and invited many guests for a big Sunday dinner, followed. Afte the meal they played croquet on the front lawn, then had high tea. The meat lasted all week long, cooked into hash and stews.

16 St. Augustine s Church

17 Constructed in 1885, St. Augustine s Church was the second church built in Santa Monica. Alice and her extended family attended church here and had a family pew. On August 22, Alice and Vernon were married in St. Augustine s. A bouquet of pink amaryllis lilies graced the end of each pew. Many years later, Alice s daughter, Winnie, was married here.

18 Alice and Vernon s brother, Lynn

19 This is a photo of Alice and Lynn, Vernon s brother, at the beach in Santa Monica. Behind them stands someone in a bathing dress. For a year after their wedding, Alice and Vernon lived with Vernon s parents in the Victorian mansion. A year later, they moved to a Craftsman-style house on 4 th Street in Santa Monica. Alice began to teach elementary school and soon her daughter, Winifred, was born. Later, they traded the house in Santa Monica for a piece of land in the elegant Brentwood Heights neighborhood. They spent $8,000 building a large house with Greek columns along the front. Alice worked at Brockton School in the Los Angles School District. She taught music and was well-known throughout the city for the musical productions starring her students. Vernon worked for the Union Pacific Railroad as an accountant.

20 Winifred Lillian

21 Winnie, is sitting in cousin Dorothy s rocking chair. Winnie was cared for by Alice s mother, whom she called Donny. Donny liked to wheel Winnie in her perambulator along the Santa Monica cliffs. After the move to the Brentwood Heights house, Donny continued to care for Winnie, because Alice and Vernon were busy working hard to pay for the big, expensive house. Vernon sometimes worked six days a week and Alice gave music lessons after school. On the Saturdays when Vernon worked only half day, he brought home fresh bread and butter from downtown Los Angeles. After the family ate lunch, they worked together in the garden. Winnie remembers the moment that Alice learned of her mother s death. She had been looking at the borders of lobelia at the Brentwood house and was thunderstruck by the news.

22 Alice had a long and successful teaching career. She taught music and was well-known throughout Los Angeles for her musical productions starring her students. Her Christmas performance of Las Posadas was especially popular. When Winnie married, she moved to Mexico City with her husband. Alice traveled to Mexico during school vacations to visit her two grandchildren. She lived throughout southern California in the coastal towns of Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Santa Barbara, Ojai, Del Mar, and La Jolla. After Vernon s death in 1958, Alice lived with Winnie s family. Alice loved gardening and, in her later years, created a beautiful tropical display at her home in La Jolla. Also, she loved to paint flowers. Alice lived to be ninety-nine.

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24 As a young boy, I was fascinated by the stories my grandmother, Alice Fern, told. They were rich in historical information and reflected the moral and cultural traditions of a special era now long gone. Alice grew up in poverty after losing her father. Her mother toiled to raise the four children. Alice was fortunate to have a large extended family who embraced her. But the contrast between her own meager home and the lavish surroundings of her relatives was a constant source of pain. As an adult, Alice was determined to have the security and comfort that had eluded her in childhood. She and her husband built a fine family home and filled it with music. Alice had a long career as a music teacher. Her gift for education and musical production touched many lives. Alice lived well into her nineties, creating beauty with her gardening and painting