Miss Alice Austen and Staten Island’s Gilded Age
by Bonnie Yochelson

In old age, Alice referred to the social whirl of her young womanhood as “the larky life.” Her many self-portraits confidently present her in the latest fashions. But her scrapbooks reveal the relentless pace of merriment, and letters from her friends divulge their anxieties about clothing, body image and reputation. Among Alice’s oldest and often photographed friends were Julia Marsh Lord, Gertrude Eccleston Barton, Julia Bredt and Julia Martin, who are profiled here.

Julia Marsh Lord

South Beach, with its boardwalk, carousel and beer gardens, was not far from Clifton and was one of the first places that Alice took her camera. In this photograph, Julia Marsh sits at left, and Alice, using a remote shutter release, kneels at right.

Julia Marsh was Alice’s lifelong friend. She lived close to Clear Comfort and until age fifteen, they attended Miss Errington’s School for the daughters of socially prominent Staten Islanders. Julia was a competitive tennis player and accomplished equestrian. Her father Nathaniel Marsh was the President of the New York and Erie Railroad but died when Julia was a little girl. Her mother, Julia Townsend Marsh, was a respected hostess of social, athletic and charity events. After her marriage, Julia, too, assumed a leadership position in Clifton society.

Alice, Julia Marsh, Trude Eccleston, and another friend formed The Young Ladies’ Cooking Club of Clifton, which met in an empty house owned by Julia’s parents (from left to right: friend, Alice, Julia, Trude). In her scrapbook, Alice pasted a news clipping entitled, “They Took a Great Risk.” The article reported on a high tea the club served to young men, thereby putting their matrimonial chances at risk. “We were glad to learn,” the writer concluded, ‘that the cooking was excellent, and that as a consequence, no engagements were broken off.”

In December 1888, Julia Marsh was the first of Alice’s friends to marry, wedding George Osgood Lord, a Clifton neighbor who worked for the Morgan Steamship Company. Alice and Trude Eccleston were bridesmaids. On July 4th,1892, friends and family gathered at the Lords’ home to celebrate the arrival of their first child, Gladys. Alice’s friend and neighbor, Louise Scofield, took this photograph with Alice’s camera.

Trude was Alice’s neighbor and lifelong friend. Her father Rev. John C. Eccleston served for more than forty years as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, a prestigious congregation and center of community life. An accomplished singer, Trude enjoyed the spotlight and regularly performed in amateur theatricals. Alice was close with the Eccleston family and often vacationed with them at resorts in the Catskills and Adirondacks. 

Gertrude Eccleston Barton

In this portrait taken in the rectory parlor, Trude stands at center surrounded by her family. On the left stand her two brothers Jack and Sam. Seated, from left to right, is her sister Edith with her two sons and Jack’s wife Marie. Trude’s mother, Mary Louise Annable Eccleston, rests on the arm of a chair, at right.

Alice took photographs of her closest friends’ rooms, which served as “portraits” and mementos of their youth. A photograph of Alice is among the framed pictures on the mantel.

Julia Bredt

Julia Bredt, another childhood friend, lived across the street from Alice in a mansion called Beechwood. In 1882, when she was thirteen, Julia’s parents separated, and two years later, Julia’s mother moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with her five children. Alice and Julia remained close for years after the move.

Julia and Alice had tennis and photography in common, although Julia was less accomplished than Alice. Julia’s letters suggest that her true passion was the college men from nearby Lehigh University. In September 1889, she wrote Alice:

I have been having a most hard question to decide, it is whether to have a pale pink mull or a white and green for a ball dress. I have two whites so I rather think it will end in me getting the pink, which would you, if you were me. Just think there are 160 freshmen. . .

Julia was thrilled with Alice’s playful photographs taken during a week’s stay in Bethlehem in February 1892. She wrote, “Look here I want them all & O! the men are perfectly wild about them every time they come. . .” George Booth, a lawyer and Lehigh alumnus, had expressed romantic interest in Alice for a couple of years, but Alice preferred Percy Drayton, a Lehigh senior and tennis player. She sent him a poem and her photograph and asked him to reciprocate.

When Julia Bredt visited Alice at Clear Comfort, Alice invited two gentlemen for cards and orchestrated a humorous tableau for the camera. The men and Alice each hold a royal flush, but Julia “wins” with five aces.

The man at left is Henry K. Gilman, whose letters to Alice reveal a romantic relationship that began in 1889, when they met at her uncle Peter Austen’s summer house in Bay Head, New Jersey. In the early 1890s, Gilman became increasingly depressed as his family suffered a business scandal and several deaths. He confided in Alice, and they continued seeing each other. In December 1893, he died of asphyxiation, perhaps a suicide. After he died, Alice’s friends ceased mentioning him in their letters.

Julia Tabor Martin

Julia Martin was another childhood friend who grew up in Clifton. Her mother died when she was eleven, and five years later, her father married Sarah Schuyler, who belonged to a prominent Albany family.

In this early photograph taken at Clear Comfort, Julia and Alice hold the Austen dogs, Punch and Chico. Alice posed many sitters in this sumac tree, which was fitted out with benches.

The Bennington house was crowded with guests, and Julia, Alice and Mrs. Snively shared a bed.

In January 1891, Julia Martin’s secure future vanished. Her father went bankrupt and fled to Canada, leaving his family in disgrace. Having charmed Mrs. Snively, Julia was sent to Albany to care for Mrs. Snively’s mother. Her biweekly letters to Alice, which continued for years, painfully reveal her realization that she was now a servant without marriage prospects. In 1894, Julia seized the chance to move to Santa Barbara, California, where she established a successful boarding house for well-to-do travelers.

In 1896, Julia returned to Staten Island for the first time since her 1891 departure. When she visited Alice, she brought along her seven-year-old nephew, Kingsley.

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©2021 Text by Bonnie Yochelson