Down the Rabbit Hole
Following a Trail to a Possible Truth
Release Date: August 27, 2024
If Mary Martha Parker had a different plan for her illegitimate daughter, Aimee Henry, what might it have been? Here’s what I think.
When Amelia Wright approached Rev. Bruce before Aimee's birth outside St. Johns, New Brunswick, I think she asked for more than just a promise to christen the newborn into the faith; I believe she sought his assistance in finding a permanent home for Mary Martha's child.
Everything up to that moment suggests Mary Martha planned to return to Boston childless — not only had she gone out of her way to hide her pregnancy, but she'd also adopted an alias to conceal her identity, traveled nearly 500 miles from her Boston home, and crossed an international border to give birth to her child far from the prying eyes of proper New England society and inquisitive newspaper reporters.
So, to keep Mary Martha's secret, Amelia approached her former pastor and family friend for help.
It's likely someone — I believe it was Mary Martha's father — had given Amelia a list of requirements for the people who would raise his grandchild. They should be stable, reputable, well educated, and of a particular social class and character that would make sure the child had a good life and education.
And they needed to be discreet.
Luckily, Rev. Bruce knew just the couple.
Thirty-year-old William Ewing had been the organist at Rev. Bruce's church before becoming a prominent barrister in St. Johns. By June of 1891, he and his wife, Sarah Grace Pitalbo Ewing, had a nine-month-old son who was still nursing. Sarah had grown up in Boston, where her widowed mother still lived and was active in various charitable endeavors, including The Cooperative Society of Visitors Among the Poor—an organization to which Richard Parker was a frequent and generous patron. 1
And both Sarah and William came from honorable families. In short, William and Sarah met all of Richard’s requirements and then some.
That they would provide Mary Martha's child a loving and safe permanent home and upbringing must have seemed a sure bet.
So, when Aimee was born, Amelia took her to the Ewing home, where, if I'm right, all the adults involved believed she would remain.
Yet Aimee didn't remain in New Brunswick.
So, what happened between Aimee's birth in June of 1891 — between the time Mary Martha walked away from her newborn for what she thought was forever — and her visit to the Byers home two years later?
I have some thoughts about that, as well.
Records indicate that a few months after Mary Martha gave birth to Aimee and returned to Boston childless, she boarded the French steamship La Gascogne in New York and embarked on an 18-month tour of Europe. Her father and Amelia joined her on the journey. 2
The three spent the first part of their 1892 journey in Paris and, by April 6, were firmly established at Hotel du Jardin overlooking the centuries-old Tuileries Garden and the Louvre. 3
About that same time, Sarah Grace Ewing — the woman I believe had taken in Mary Martha's child — visited Dr. Murray MacLean complaining of shortness of breath, fatigue, and swollen ankles. Sarah had probably been experiencing the symptoms for a while. Still, she and her husband, William, had written it off as simply the exhaustion that comes with caring for — and nursing — two small children.4
Dr. MacLean thought it was something more, and he was right. At just 26, Sarah was diagnosed with what today is called congestive heart failure. It would be half a century before an effective treatment was discovered, so in 1892, Dr. MacLean could offer Sarah little hope. He suggested she get her affairs in order.
Sometime after that, I think William tried to contact Richard Parker, and, in his absence, was directed to family friend and Mary Martha’s personal attorney Archibald Taylor.
William explained the situation to Archibald — his wife was dying, and the burden of taking permanent custody of Mary Martha's child had become too heavy. New arrangements needed to be made. And made quickly.
Archibald completed a passport application in June before traveling to Germany, where he had business to conduct — I think that business was Aimee's future. 5
Over the next three months, I believe Archibald and Richard worked together to come up with a new plan to deal with Mary Martha's illegitimate child. Given the immediacy of the need, their options were few: place the child in an orphanage, go to court and establish a guardianship, somehow convince Mary Martha to step up and raise the child herself, or some combination or hybrid of those options
I think the first option was unacceptable. Both Richard and Archibald were generous and frequent contributors to social programs and services aimed at bettering the lives of orphaned and neglected children. They were intimately aware of the shortcomings of those institutions, and likely would have wanted more for any child, especially one with Parker blood.
The second option was to go through the probate courts and have them appoint a legal guardian who would be responsible for the child's physical and emotional well-being, including decisions about education, health care, and living arrangements. Guardianship was not unheard of among New England’s blue blood families with a child to hide. It provided a high level of discretion and maintenance of social standing for the family, while also ensuring the child was educated in distant boarding schools far from prying eyes and awkward questions.
Convincing Mary Martha to take responsibility for Aimee was the third option available to Archibald and Richard, but it may have been a nonstarter. I think Mary Martha had made the decision to sever all maternal ties with her child well before she’d left Boston for Rothesay, NB., and certainly by the time she’d deposited her child with William and Grace Ewing.
Given the options, establishing a temporary guardianship must have seemed like the best choice, especially if the same requirements were still in play — and I think Richard was adamant that they were. That his grandchild would be raised in a proper home and afforded a good education would have been non-negotiable to a Boston Brahmin like Richard. Even if that child was illegitimate.
Time was an issue, however, so I think Archibald suggested a compromise. What if he could find a good home — not a great home, but a good enough home — willing to take the child in just until she was old enough to enter boarding school? They'd require compensation, of course, and he would provide any oversight if needed, but it might just work.
And it could be accomplished quickly, discreetly and without going through the probate court.
It was agreed. Archibald would find a family.
Just one obstacle remained — to whom would the child belong? Under whose name would she be enrolled in those boarding schools, for example, and how would that be accomplished without raising suspicions or revealing Mary Martha's secret.
Again the best option was a permanent guardian, and I think Richard Parker made that call. Whether to punish his daughter for tarnishing the Parker name, to make her accountable for her actions, to teach her responsibility, or in hopes she would develop a genuine attachment to her child over time, I think Richard insisted Mary Martha serve as guardian.
When Archibald returned to Baltimore, he set about finding a family willing to take in a small child. And he found one in Orrin and Etta Byers. Orrin was a clerk in the office of a prestigious Baltimore builder who was known to Archibald professionally and socially, and he and Etta had two small children around the same age as Aimee.
When Archibald approached them with the idea, I think they agreed. Some sort of financial arrangement was set up to pay for Aimee's boarding and care — my guess is Richard provided the funds — then Archibald or someone else traveled to New Brunswick to collect and then deliver one-year-old Aimee to her new home.
It's likely everything was done by the time Sarah Ewing passed away on October 18, 1892.
As for Mary Martha, Richard, and Amelia, they finished out their extended tour of Europe as if nothing had even happened, perhaps giving Mary Martha time to adjust to her new role.
Records indicate they spent the winter of 1892 on the Italian Riviera, traveling to Florence, Italy, and Monaco. In July of 1893, they were outside Prague, where they attended the funeral of Philadelphia attorney Axel Drexel. 6
Later that fall — nearly a year after Sarah Ewing’s death and the changes in Aimee's living situation it precipitated — Mary Martha, Richard, and Amelia sailed into New York harbor.
Shortly after, Mary Martha walked into a simple two-story house across the street from the ballpark where the Baltimore Orioles played and introduced herself to her own child as her guardian, “Aunt Martha”.
Copyright 2024 Lori Olson White
So, what do you think? Was something like this the original plan? What would you find in the rabbit hole? Share your theories, conspiracies and thoughts in the comments!
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Chapter Endnotes
1 “Cooperative Visitor’s Network,” Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, April 12, 1890, P.2.
2 “Sailed for Europe”, The New York Times, New York, NY, April 17, 1892, P. 20.
3 “Table Gossip”, The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, November 27, 1892, P. 17.
4 Death Record, Sarah Grace Ewing, Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages, CO1828, Schedule C, St. Johns, NB, CAN, 1892
5 U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925, No. 40891, Issued June 9, 1892, Archibald. H. Taylor.
6 “Drexel’s Last Hours: The Eminent Banker was Quite Alone when Death Came: Found By a Servant: His End was Quick and Painless – Funeral Services Held at Carlsbad – the Body Expected to Arrive at Home about July 18, Accompanied by Mr. Harjes, the Paris Partner of the Drexel House”, The Philadelphia Times, Philadelphia, PA, July 4, 1893. P. 3.
This scenario sounds very plausible. The extent to which families would go to keep these types of secrets seems endless.
Ooo intriguing!