Person:Leland Chivvis (1)

Youth

Leland adventured throughout the Midwest and West in his canoe (1906 - 1909) and later in his car, with supplies and spare parts strapped every place available. The trunk was provisioned with cans whose labels had long since torn off, leaving every meal a surprise medley of chili, peaches, tuna, etc. He contracted malaria in the swamps of Arkansas or Louisiana.

He studied engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, where he met Mary Glasgow. She was adventuresome enough to spend their honeymoon canoeing down the Current River to the Mississippi where they flagged down a steamship for a ride back upstream. She made buttermilk pancakes for the crew to pay their way back to St. Louis.

The Great Depression

"Grandfather Chivvis was a civil engineer and found it very difficult to get jobs during the Depression, as nothing much was being built. Once he found a $2 bill in a pair of white flannels that he hadn't worn in a long time. In those days that was enough to buy a week's worth of groceries. Mother thinks they bought eggs, a great treat. Grandmother Chivvis' maid offered to work for free during the Depression. It was unthinkable for a middle class family in those days not to have a maid."

Old Age

"Leland Chivvis, 1887-1959, died age 72 had had a heart attack; died of cardiac arrest or of intestinal cancer."

"Buddy Holly's plane crash was the same day Father died. Feb. 3, 1959. I always remember that." -SGC told to SHC

Anecdotes & Quotes

"When you marry for money you earn every penny of it." -Allan Willcockson remembered this autobiographical quote from Leland Chivvis.

"I am glad you are tall, it is so much easier to be good natured!" - Cheves, L 4/10/1924 letter to Leland Chivvis

"He painstakingly records all monies spent on oil & gasoline for his cars, lunches, haircuts,travels, and poker losses, but fails to note Grandmother's pregnancy with Allen other than this cryptic entry Aug 5- "Mary acting strange"(Allen was born approx 9 months later on May 10, 1925.)" -Lee's comments about Leland Chivvis pocket diary

"Leland in some ways is a lot like Uncle Branch. He had read so much about Charleston and studied the map so thoroughly that he could go around like a native and reminded me of a regular European courier the way he would point out famous churches forts etc." -MBG letter to Ellen Glasgow Lane bef 1/23/1926

"Tig is playing Little Rock Getaway on the victrola, lying on the floor in a day dream, and has just said "This record reminds me of Grandfather, standing over there drinking his cognac saying 'I like this music'. I still have that picture of him in my head." - deep sigh - then "oh those lovely days!" Thought you would be highly flattered." -MEC letter 1953 Tuesday to Leland Chivvis

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} The Chaffee Genealogy. (Grafton Press, NY).

   558

2. ↑ 8 pages by Nancy Chivvis copy in files of SHC.

   drawn tree w/ letter to SHC 7/8/1986 gives year 1887

3. ↑ The Chaffee Genealogy. (Grafton Press, NY).

   handwritten note on p. 558

4. ↑ 8 pages by Nancy Chivvis copy in files of SHC.

   drawn tree w/ letter to SHC 7/8/1986 gives year 1959

5. ↑ Chivvis, Leland & Mary Glasgow Physical Genealogy Chivvis, Nancy.
6.   William R. Chivvis, St. Louis Lumberman, Dies, Ill Two Weeks St. Louis, MO 9/10/1917.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5} Photo album with handwritten notes:1903:"Antire Rd. '03 only now US66""Wash U. 1903 or 4, 1907 or 8"1905:"Big.
8. ↑ The Book of St. Louisans, 1906.
9. ↑ Mr. and Mrs. Chivvis paid Mr. and Mrs. Branch a brief visit, after their return, and then set up housekeeping.
10. ↑ Chivvis, Mary Ellen picture notations Pier Cove, MI.
11. ↑ Chivvis, Leland photo album.
12. ↑ Chivvis, Susan Ross Birth Record Registered No. 3529No. 17488, Health Dist. 23 3/25/1918 for birth on 3/9/1918.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} Leland Curtis Webster Groves, MO Susan Harker Curtis.
14. ↑ ^14.0 14.1 Glasgow, Mary Branch Glasgow, Ellen transcribed for Chaphe, Ada Mary bef 1/23/1926 Leland Curtis files; copy i.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7} MEC memory, told to SHC.
16. ↑ 8 pages by Nancy Chivvis copy in files of SHC.

    2, 5

17. ↑ Obituaries - 7 on Ada Chaphe Chivvis St. Louis, MO 8/10/1937 and 8/12/1937.
18. ↑ St. Louis City Directories 1877. (David B. Gould).
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1 19.2} Haiti, Spain.
20. ↑ Curtis, Mary Ellen (Chivvis) 2278 70th StreetFennville, MI 49408 Chivvis, Susan Harker (Curtis) 1/1999 - files.
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3} Mary Institute Alumnae Directory 1859-1985 125th Anniversary Edition.
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6} Curtis & Chivvis photo album photographs & captions Chivvis, Susan Ross question.
23. ↑ Chivvis, Mary Ellen Chivvis, Susan Ross & Thomas Bradford Curtis 9/10/1944 1437 McCausland Ave; St. Louis, MO.
24. ↑ ^24.0 24.1 Chivvis, Mary Ellen Wallace, Isabel 11/14/1946 Madrid, Spain MEC files; copy in SHC files 1999.
25. ↑ Charles J. Miller's 90th Birthday Celebration january 6, 1951 OR A NIGHT (mare) at 1437 McCausland Ave..
26. ↑ ^26.0 26.1 Curtis, Susan Harker scrap book put together by MEC.
27. ↑ Anniversary Dinner for C.J. Miller Society Section of question St. Louis, MO 1/18/1953.
28. ↑ Glasgow, William Jr. plot diagram of site, listing people and burial dates Bellefontaine Cemetery St. Louis, M.
29.   The Chaffee Genealogy. (Grafton Press, NY).
30.   Chivvis, Mary Ellen Chivvis, Leland 1953 Tuedsay Zurich, Switzerland MEC files; copy in SHC files 1999.
31. ↑ 1900 census St. Louis, MO Ward 19 E.D. 298 Sheet 7 microfilm 897:
    6/7/1900 at 4227 Pairie Ave dwelling 114 family 140 William R.
    Chivvis, gives age 12, birthdate Aug 1887, birthplace Missouri
32. ↑ Nancy Chivvis "Physical Genealogy for the descendents of Leland
    Chivvis & Mary Glasgow":
    "Leland Chivvis, 1887-1959, died age 72 had had a heart attack; died
    of cardiac arrest or of intestinal cancer."
    SGC told to SHC:
    "Buddy Holly's plane crash was the same day Father died. Feb. 3,
    1959. I always remember that."
33.   newspaper clipping William R. Chivvis, St. Louis Lumberman, Dies, Ill
    Two Weeks:
    "William Reinhart Chivvis, 59 years old, general manager of the
    Chivvis Wholesale and Retail Lumber Company, foot of Lafayette avenue,
    died at his home, 4232 West Pine boulevard, yesterday afternoon from a
    complication of diseases. He had been ill but two weeks.... He
    leaves a widow, Mrs. W. R. Chivvis, former state president of the
    Federated Woman's Clubs of Missourai, now a director in the national
    organization; a daughter, Miss Ruth Chivvis, and two sons, Leland and
    Norman. The funeral will be from the family residence to
    Bellefontaine Cemetery at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon."
34. ↑ ^{34.0 34.1 34.2} Chaffee Genealogy:
    "Early in life he [William Rinehart Chivvis] and Mrs. Chivvis united
    with the Hyde Park Congregational Church, St. Louis, and in 1906 with
    the First Congregational Church on Delmar Boulevard, having moved to
    that section of the city."
    Book of St. Louisans, 1906 p. 118:
    "CHIVVIS, William Reinhart, wholesale hardwood lumber; .... Began
    business career in the employ of Liebke & Schrage, lumber
    manufacturers, as bookkeeper, Oct. 1, 1883; when firm was
    incorporated, 1894, became secretary and so continued until Oct.,
    1901, then established himself in the wholesale hardwood lumber
    business on own account, which he still conducts. Independent in
    politics. Congregationalist. Club: congregational. Office and
    yards: Main and Lesperance Sts. Residence: 3627 Cook Ave."
35. ↑ 1900 census St. Louis, MO Ward 19 E.D. 298 Sheet 7 microfilm 897:
    "4227 Pairie Ave dwelling 114 family 140:
    Chivvis William R. Head W[hite] M[ale] [born] June 1858 [age] 41
    M[arried] 13 [years married] [born in] Tennessee [father born in] New
    York [mother born in] Ohio [occupation] Secretary "Lumber Co" 0
    [months not employed] Yes [can read] Yes [can write] Yes [can speak
    English O[wn home, not rent] F[ree, not mortaged] H[ome, not farm]
    Ada M Wife W[hite] F[emale] [born] Nov 1864 [age] 35 M[arried] 13
    [years married] [mother of] 3 [children] 3 [children living] [born in]
    New York [father born in] New York [mother born in] New York Yes [can
    read] Yes [can write] Yes [can speak English
    Leland Son W[hite] M[ale] [born] Aug 1887 [age] 12 S[ingle] [born in]
    Missouri [father born in] Tennessee [mother born in] New York
    [occupation] At School Yes [can read] Yes [can write] Yes [can speak
    English
    Norman Son W[hite] M[ale] [born] Feb 1891 [age] 9 S[ingle] [born in]
    Missouri [father born in] Tennessee [mother born in] New York
    [occupation] At School Yes [can read] Yes [can write] Yes [can speak
    English
    Ruth daughter W[hite] F[emale] [born] Dec 1894 [age] 5 S[ingle] [born
    in] Missouri [father born in] Tennessee [mother born in] New York"
36. ↑ Leland Chivvis canoe trip photo album notes:
    "Big Piney culbertson's Backhand Gasconade 1905
    canoe on Ferd Harold (boat)
    Rolla's Backhand 1905
    Autire Cave; Upper Antire Creek
    Autire Rd. (now US 66)
    Ill. River
    Arlington (Rolla Cul.)
    Rankon Tract"
37. ↑ Chaffee Genealogy p. 558:
    "educated in the St. Louis public schools; graduated from the High
    School in June, 1905 and is at present a student in Washington
    University..."
    MEC story to SHC 3/21/1999:
    "They all went to Wash U: my mother and father, Adelaide and Ed
    Cherbonnier all went together. And Isabel and EGC went there at the
    same time."
38. ↑ Leland Chivvis canoe trip photo album notes:
    "Wash U. 1903 or 4, 1907 or 8"
    Chaffee Genealogy p. 558:
    "educated in the St. Louis public schools; graduated from the High
    School in June, 1905 and is at present a student in Washington
    University..."
    MEC story to SHC 3/21/1999:
    "They all went to Wash U: my mother and father, Adelaide and Ed
    Cherbonnier all went together. And Isabel and EGC went there at the
    same time."
    MEC told to SHC 4/2000:
    "My father was on the track team at Washington University. I guess he
    was a runner."
39. ↑ Leland Chivvis canoe trip photo album notes:
    "Big River 1906
    Big River from bluff above mouth of Mammoth Cr. 1906"
40. ↑ Leland Chivvis canoe trip photo album notes:
    "Stone Mill 1907
    Houston Pond
    Meramec
    Pulltight"
41. ↑ Leland Chivvis canoe trip photo album notes:
    1908:
    "Lone Star Dam
    Big Piney at Houston
    First of the 1908 Malaria-Meramec
    Meramec Flood
    Piney 1908 me with Charlie Courson's party across the river from
    Shanghai
    [Spring] Branch
    Boiling Spring 'Every blow [of ax] made me dizzy. I had malaria.'
    '08 Freeman's bluff; Jones Bluff
    Upper Piney
    Pruitt's Sp."
42. ↑ Leland Chivvis canoe trip photo album notes:
    1909:
    "above Jot. Current River 1909
    Pulltight 1909
    Lower Mississippi 1909
    Lower Mississippi Below Memphis 1909
    Current River 1909
    Big Spring 1909"
43. ↑ Chivvis wedding clippings and handwritten notes:
    "Mr. and Mrs. Chivvis paid Mr. and Mrs. Branch a brief visit, after
    their return, and then set up housekeeping in the Botanical Apartments
    Vandeventer and Botanical Aves."
44. ↑ picture in MEC leather bound book does not specify baptism, but it
    might be:
    "Redeemer Church St. Louis; 2nd of May 1915
    Leland Chivvis
    Mary Glasgow Chivvis
    Charles J. Miller
    Mary T. Miller
    Wm. R. Chivvis
    Adelaide Le Baume [later Cherbounier]"
    [Adelaide lived in Ferguson and was Mary Glasgow's close friend.]
45. ↑ Leland Curtis re Leland Chivvis pocket diary:
    "Just remembered that I have Grandfather Chivvis' pocket diary from
    1924. (It was found stuck in a crevice in a wall in the basement just
    a few years ago by the family then living at 1437. They called us for
    a last "walk through" before they sold the house.) Chock full of
    meaningless yet interesting arcania. He notes his highlights of
    1924-"learned to skate...skating at Forest Park with Mary Ellen and
    Susan...took first dancing lessons with Mary..built swimming pool and
    bird bath...""
46. ↑ Leland Chivvis pocket diary:
    "Just remembered that I have Grandfather Chivvis' pocket diary from
    1924. (It was found stuck in a crevice in a wall in the basement just
    a few years ago by the family then living at 1437. They called us for
    a last "walk through" before they sold the house.)Chock full of
    meaningless yet interesting arcania. He notes his highlights of
    1924-"learned to skate...skating at Forest Park with Mary Ellen and
    Susan...took first dancing lessons with Mary..built swimming pool and
    bird bath..." He painstakingly records all monies spent on oil &
    gasoline for his cars, lunches, haircuts,travels, and poker losses,
    but
    fails to note Grandmother's pregnancy with Allen other than this
    cryptic
    entry Aug 5- "Mary acting strange"(Allen was born approx 9 months
    later on
    May 10, 1925.)"
47. ↑ Leland Curtis re Leland Chivvis pocket diary:
    "Just remembered that I have Grandfather Chivvis' pocket diary from
    1924. (It was found stuck in a crevice in a wall in the basement just
    a few years ago by the family then living at 1437. They called us for
    a last "walk through" before they sold the house.)Chock full of
    meaningless yet interesting arcania. He notes his highlights of
    1924-"learned to skate...skating at Forest Park with Mary Ellen and
    Susan...took first dancing lessons with Mary..built swimming pool and
    bird bath..." He painstakingly records all monies spent on oil &
    gasoline for his cars, lunches, haircuts,travels, and poker losses,
    but
    fails to note Grandmother's pregnancy with Allen other than this
    cryptic
    entry Aug 5- "Mary acting strange"(Allen was born approx 9 months
    later on
    May 10, 1925.)"
48. ↑ MBG letter to Ellen Glasgow Lane bef 1/23/1926 copied by EGL:
    "Dear Mrs. Chivvis: I copied Mary's letter - or should say - am going
    to, telling you every thing except messages for members of the family
    and about Ellenores baby. --- Mary writing: ---
    We got to Charleston about two, spent the afternoon seeing the town,
    and came here (to Ellenore's) about 6.30. Then yesterday we went in
    again very early and spent another day there, and now feel there is
    nothing left to be seen.... Yesterday we went to see What Adelaide
    would call his 'high born relative' - Mr. Langdon Chevis, as the name
    is spelled here. He was like a story book character. His clothes
    were shabby, he had holes in his stocking, he needed a haircut, yet he
    sat in his home and conversed with us with the unconsciousness that is
    the heritage of those who "belong." He was a mine of information, and
    told us lots of interesting things about Charleston. He lives on the
    "Battery" no, his house was not old it was built in 1800 (!). The
    hourse was cold, dirty, very delapidated, [sic] but filled with the
    most exquisite old mirrors, mahogany tables and chairs, and with
    family portraits as beautiful as any I have ever seen. In lots of
    ways he reminded me of Uncle Frank for he had dog chains and pictures
    of hunting dogs all around, and there seemed to be no subject on which
    he could not converse and give you information. hE walked up town
    with us and pointed out all the interesting old houses, giving us
    small bits of history connected with them, and leaving us at Broad St,
    declining an invitation to lunch with us, as he never ate at "those
    places" - these being hotels and restaurants. He was most cordial and
    begged Leland to call him up if he stayed over in Charleston but I am
    afraid we have seen the last of him as Leland stayed over a day to go
    on a deer hunt today, and will make tracks fro [sic] Florida
    to-morrow.
    This whole state is a mixture of beauty and delapidation [sic] that is
    hard to describe. The life here in the halcyon days of Chraleston
    [sic] must have been luxurious to an unheard of degree - no wonder all
    the famous visitors from Lafayette down wrote about their days here.
    All the houses have great verandas often three stories high, opening
    on the great side gardens, closed off completely on all sides, either
    by high brick walls or iron grille work. The most curious feature is
    a regular door, with a bell and knocker, when opened leads, not into a
    hall as you would suppose, but on to these verandas. If the proches
    [sic] do not have these doors but are open as at home, then the fence
    around the garden has a door and there is si [sic] a bell on that.
    Sunady [sic] night we stayed at a hotel in Orangeburg that made me
    think of the Colonel's Opera Cloak. We had dinner at Columbia and
    drove until 11, coming in to the hotel tired and cold. A colored
    retainer dashed out to meet us, seized out [sic] bags and escorted
    into this hotel as though it was the Ritz. It had a bare dirty hall,
    with a large pot-bellied stove - red-hot - in the middle and on this
    stove was a large, rusty can full of boiling hot water. We asked for
    a room with bath, after suspicious inquiries on my part as to whether
    there was hot water, and then were sent up two flights of steps -
    wider than those at Glasgow Place - to what Leland called the bridal
    suite. A huge corner room with six windows, delapidated shades, no
    curtains, and two large double beds. The latter spotlessly clean
    fortunately, I told the boy to turn on the water for me and after
    five minutes running produced only an icy trickle. Great wonderment
    ensued - "No'm - dey aint none! Dat sho am funny Ef you say so I'll
    go right down and fiah up." It was then about 11.30 and assured, by
    fervent protestations that there would be plenty of hot water in the
    morning, we went to bed, in woolen undershirts, socks and sweaters.
    Next morning we took our baths in water that was not stone cold only
    because it had been standing in the pipes all night, but were so
    amused by the sign on the door we could harbor no grievance. This
    read; "Ladies and gentlemen must not visit each others rooms unless
    the management is assured of their relationship. Under this a
    facetious drummer had written, "Sleep alone in this room and freeze to
    death!" Then we went down to breakfast and were served by another
    colored menial with the air of a Chesterfield, who flanked us on
    either side with portable coil-oil stoves, and then served us with
    grape fruit, salmon, grits, sweet potatoes, hot biscuits, hot toast,
    waffles and coffee! The china was cracked, the room stone-cold and
    huge, with tattered screen doors separating it from the corridor, yet
    the air with which the waiters dusted specks, (I am am [sic] afraid I
    can't say imaginary off the plates and rushed to anticipate your every
    need was worth every cent we paid, which was little enough. The .25
    tip re-acted on him like a ten dollar one would do in new York and he
    bowed us through the door as though we were Rockefellers. But Leland
    and I are still wondering what would have happened had we insisted on
    hot water - probably brought us the can off the stove.
    I got a letter from Mrs. Chivvis this morning; and am glad everything
    is alright at home. Will you send her this."
    (They got no deer I hear from Aunt Sarah's letter)
    With love,
    Ellen"
49. ↑ MBG letter to Ellen Glasgow Lane bef 1/23/1926 copied by EGL:
    "Dear Mrs. Chivvis: I copied Mary's letter - or should say - am going
    to, telling you every thing except messages for members of the family
    and about Ellenores baby. --- Mary writing: ---
    We got to Charleston about two, spent the afternoon seeing the town,
    and came here (to Ellenore's) about 6.30. Then yesterday we went in
    again very early and spent another day there, and now feel there is
    nothing left to be seen.... He was most cordial and begged Leland to
    call him up if he stayed over in Charleston but I am afraid we have
    seen the last of him as Leland stayed over a day to go on a deer hunt
    today, and will make tracks fro [sic] Florida to-morrow....
    I got a letter from Mrs. Chivvis this morning; and am glad everything
    is alright at home. Will you send her this."
    (They got no deer I hear from Aunt Sarah's letter)
    With love,
    Ellen"
50. ↑ MEC story to SHC 3/21/1999:
    "We went to Douglas when polio was bad. It got bad in the summer. We
    went the first year after Allan drowned in the swimming pool [9/1926],
    so Mother wouldn't have to look at the swimming pool."
    "Adelaide Cherbonnier was my mother's best friend from Wash U. She
    and Uncle Ed and my father were all there at the same time. Auntie
    Adelaide was quite a character. She was a handsome woman; she was
    French with a hooked nose. Not beautiful, but handsome. She was the
    one who "took care of the bills" by putting them under her mattress.
    Uncle Ed had told her that she couldn't go up to Douglas unless she
    took care of the bills first. She and my mother would go up to
    Douglas together. Adelaide took all the bills and put them under her
    mattress. She would have gotten away with it, except they were
    expecting company and the maid cleaned the sheets and was tucking them
    in when she found the bills. Uncle Ed was furious.
    Uncle Ed worked for Ralston Purina and became very wealthy. But
    Auntie Adelaide didn't manage money very well; she used to run out and
    then ask my mother to borrow $50. My mother said she was burnt when
    one time Adelaide borrowed $50 and said to her: "It must be marvelous
    to be rich." Here were my mother and father scraping to get by..."
51. ↑ SHC copied from TBC records:
    "9/29/1927 1:00 PM tornado across length of St. Louis (including
    McCausland Ave) from Southwest to Tower Grove; 300 ft wide 2 1/2 miles
    long. Caused 72 deaths, $10 million - $20 million damage; 2,000
    buildings destroyed in 6 square miles; 1,200 injured, 6,300 families
    suffered loss. Red Cross fund $1 million."
52. ↑ SRC obituary Fennville paper? "...summers in Fennville-Douglas since
    1920..."
    MEC story to SHC 3/21/1999:
    "We went to Douglas when polio was bad. It got bad in the summer. We
    went the first year after Allan drowned in the swimming pool [9/1926],
    so Mother wouldn't have to look at the swimming pool."
53. ↑ St. Louis, MO Directory 1929 NARA MF 434; 040428:
    "Chivvis Ada M. (Mrs. W. R.) Attorney-at-Law Suite 1122 Boatman's Bank
    Bldg 314 N. B'way Tel Chestnut 0867 r1437 McCausland...
    Chivvis, Dan'l S. parkkpr r3607N 11th
    Chivvis, Leland civ eng h 1437 McCausland av"
    newspaper clippings 8/10/1937-8/12/1937 Kate Moody Collection of
    Missouri Historical Society:
    "[P.D. 8-10-1937] Mrs. Ada C. Chivvis, Attorney, Dies in East... She
    resided alternately with her sons, Norman Chivvis, 116 Jefferson road,
    Webster Groves, and Leland Chivvis, 1437 McCausland avenue. She spent
    her summers with her daughter."
    "[Star 8-10-37] Mrs. William Chivvis, Lawyer, Dies in East.... Mrs.
    Chivvis, who lived with her son, Norman Chivvis at 116 Jefferson road,
    Webster Groves, had been visiting her daughter for two months."
    MEC memories:
    "Grandmother Chivvis lived four months with us, four months with Uncle
    Norman and four months with Aunt Ruth in the East. She would talk
    about how well Ruth's children colored; how they stayed within the
    lines. We hated them. And then years later we found out that she had
    bragged about us to them, and they hated us, too. Grandmother Chivvis
    was nice, and seemed very old to me. We used to stay up and play
    Russian Solitaire, a double solitaire game. I haven't played it
    since."
    Nancy Chivvis memories 8 pages
    p. 1:
    "We lived at 1437 McCausland Avenue because my father's job with the
    St. Louis Water Dep't required that he live in the city of St. Louis.
    The house was half a block inside the city limits."
    p. 2:
    "My grandmother used to live with us in those days. She went to a
    different church than we did. For some reason she needed help that
    Sunday getting to church on the street car, so I was detailed to see
    that she made it alright. I could not have been very old, 12?, but I
    walked up to the street car stop, helped her on, paid both our fares,
    saw to it that we got off at the right place (I had to help her with
    the step down) & then walk the block to her church. All I can
    remember of her church service was that they said the Lord's Prayer
    "forgive us our debts." Being an Episcopalian, I said "forgive us our
    trespasses" and was amazed at how the "S" sound carried all over the
    church."
    p. 5:
    "Our maid was Melinda. I don't recollect her last name. She stayed
    in the maid's room off the kitchen. Winter evenings we all sat around
    the grate [sic] fire (a coal fire) in the living room. My
    grandmother, who lived with us, taught Melinda how to knit, Mary-Ellen
    & I embroideried, and my mother would read to us."
    p. 8
    "When we were young, the second floor at the back of 1437 (McCausland
    Ave) was an unheated glassed in sleeping porch with the windows
    running from about two feet above the floor up to the ceiling. (It
    was probably that way when my mother and father bought the house. An
    odd arrangement.) My grandmother and I slept out there. I was always
    cold, in spite of comforters and blankets, so father bought me a hot
    water bottle at an Army-Navy store that sold surplus World War
    equipment. It was a metal one (to be sure it was durable or because
    rubber had not yet been perfected for hot water bottles?) When full
    of boiling hot water it had to be wrapped in a towel so it wouldn't
    burn me, but by the middle of the night it had cooled off and I would
    be waked up cuddling this icy cold piece of metal. I remember feeling
    sorry for the soldiers who couldn't just kick it onto the floor and
    creep in beside a nice warm grandmother."
54. ↑ Mary Glasgow Curtis "Stories about Grandmother and Grandfather
    Chivvis" 8/99:
    "Grandfather Chivvis was a civil engineer and found it very difficult
    to get jobs during the Depression, as nothing much was being built.
    Once he found a $2 bill in a pair of white flannels that he hadn't
    worn in a long time. In those days that was enough to buy a week's
    worth of groceries. Mother thinks they bought eggs, a great treat.
    Grandmother Chivvis' maid offered to work for free during the
    Depression. It was unthinkable for a middle class family in those
    days not to have a maid."
55. ↑ MEC story to SHC 3/21/1999:
    "Did you know that Sarah had polio? She had such a light case that
    nobody even knew it. When she was two or three years old, or maybe
    three or four, she wasn't learning to walk right, and my mother and
    father took her to the doctor. He couldn't see any reason for it, and
    asked them if she had ever run a high fever for no apparent reason.
    They said "Yes", they remembered that she had had a fever. He said
    that she must have had polio! None of the rest of us got it. Now you
    can see that when she walks she drags one foot a little bit, and one
    of her arms is shorter than the other."
56. ↑ MEC:
    2/27/99 Leland Chivvis' camping trips:
    "I was a counselor at camp when I was 16 or 17 in Green Bay Wisconsin.
    My father came and picked me up and we went canoeing in Canada.
    He used to go camping in the Ozarks. Leleand Curtis might know about
    that.
    When WWII was declared, Sue was visiting us in New Zealand. She got a
    job in Hawaii. I can't remember if she was on her way back, but WWII
    was declared and Father told her to come straight home. He drove west
    to meet her and on their way back they made a camping trip of it and
    visited Yosemite or whatever."
57. ↑ Mary Institute Alumnae Directory 1985:
    "Class List - 1933...CHIVVIS, Mary E. (Mrs. E. G. Curtis, Jr.)" [61
    girls in class]
58. ↑ Mary Institute Alumnae Directory 1985:
    "Class List - 1935...CHIVVIS, Nancy (Mrs. Arthur D. Quackenbush]"
59. ↑ Mary Glasgow Curtis 8/99 "Stories About Grandmother and Grandfather
    Chivvis":
    "One year Grandmother wanted to have a very modern Christmas tree.
    The family custom was to decorate the tree and put out the presents
    after the girls had gone to bed. When Sarah came down the next
    morning and saw the tree decorated with blue lights and silver balls,
    she burst into tears, because the tree didn't look like a Christmas
    tree should. I think they even redecorated the tree that year. In
    any event, no one ever decorated the Christmas tree in any but the
    most traditional manner again."
60. ↑ Mary Institute Alumnae Directory 1985:
    "Class List - 1936...CHIVVIS, Susan (Mrs. Thomas Bradford
    Curtis)...ELMER, Frances (Mrs. William S. Curtis)" [51 girls in class]
61.   newspaper clippings 8/10/1937-8/12/1937 Kate Moody Collection of
    Missouri Historical Society:
    "[G.D. 8-12-37] Funeral Today for Mrs. Chivvis Funeral services for
    Mrs. Isa [sic] Chaphe, member of the St. Louis Bar Association, who
    died Monday at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Parker Hayden at
    Brookline, Mass., will be held at 10:30 a. m., today, at the home of
    her son, Leland Chivvis, 1437 McCausland avenue. Burial will be at
    Bellefontaine Cemetery. Attending the funeral will be a committee
    from the St. Louis Bar Association composed of Mrs. Bernadine Cooper,
    Joseph T. Davis, Forrest C. Donnell, Anne Evans, Judge Ernest A.
    Green, Judge M. Hartmann, Miss Irene Krummel and King G. McElroy.
    George L. Stemmler, president of the Bar Association, will also
    attend."
62. ↑ MEC:
    2/27/99 Leland Chivvis' camping trips:
    "When WWII was declared, Sue was visiting us in New Zealand. She got
    a job in Hawaii. I can't remember if she was on her way back, but
    WWII was declared and Father told her to come straight home. He drove
    west to meet her and on their way back they made a camping trip of it
    and visited Yosemite or whatever."
    SHC copies from TBC files:
    "Leland and Sue drove and camped at:
    Sun. 8/13/39 Indian Flats Camp on Merced River below Yosemite.
    8/19/39 Clear Lake Col.
    8/21/39 Prairie Creek State Park
    8/26/39 Clarks Fork River
    8/28/39 North Shore Lake, McDonald, Glacier Park
    9/1-2/39 Indian Creek Campgrounds, Yellowstone"
63. ↑ MEC story to SHC:
    "I went up to St. Louis to have Tig and Isabel went to stay with Glion
    and Mary. I stayed a few months at 1437 [McCausland Ave.] I went
    back to Haiti after I had Tig. That was when my father told me to
    switch babies because the Zirvogel baby was looked like a better one.
    Zirvogel went to Catholic School and was a good athlete, and father
    used to send me clippings whenever he had done something grand and say
    "See? I told you so!" He was such a character."
64. ↑ MEC letter 9/10/1944 to Sue & Tom:
    "Weʾve been here about 10 days, the children are eating well and
    settling down nicely. The eating pleases Father no end as he thought
    Mary G and Frank looked thin and sort of washed out, as though they
    had been in the tropics too long. I thought they looked all right
    till I saw some of the specimens down at Bettendorfʾs one morning, and
    then I began to see Fatherʾs point. However, itʾs nothing that a
    couple of months wonʾt cure. The most wonderful thing as far as Mary
    is concerned is the milk, and Iʾm inclined to agree with her.
    Maryʾs reaction to the States was, "Iʾve never seen so many cars, so
    many buses, so many trees, so many peepul!" She was goggle-eyed
    trying to keep up with it all. She started to school down at Roe last
    week, which she loves, but when we ask her what she does the answer is
    always, "We sang and colored." And she has that Curtis voice! What
    the teacher must suffer!
    Gli is still down in Haiti, but I hope to get him up here in a couple
    of minths. Heʾs staying with Caleb Elliott who is also a temporary
    bachelor, so the two of them are company for each other, but I know
    Gli must miss the children. And boy, is it mutual! Father and Mother
    miss your two so much, and are all the time saying that they wish all
    the Curtis grandchildren could get together to see what the reaction
    to each other would be. They say that Frank and Leland would be ideal
    for each other, and they wonder how Mary and Liz would match up, who
    would win. Me, Iʾd put my money on Liz from what Iʾve heard of her,
    but it would be interesting to watch, huh?
    Well, all hell is breaking loose downstairs, the baby has just fallen
    down the back porch steps, so Iʾll have to rush down to see what I can
    do."
    Life in Madrid news clipping (aft 4/12/1945):
    "Their plane was winging its way to St. Louis on the last trip from
    Haiti when it hit an air pocket. Luncheon trays had just been placed
    in front of each passenger, including the three young Curtises � Mary,
    aged six; Glion III, three, and Frank, then 18 months old. Frank sent
    his food and milk sailing down the aisle, the others followed suit,
    and no one could do anything about it but the stewardess. The
    passengers, including Mrs. Curtis, were strapped in their seats."
    MEC to SHC 3/21/1999:
    "For home leave we only stayed at 1437 once. That was between Haiti
    and Spain. I went back to Haiti after I had Tig. It was winter and
    the kids didnʾt have any clothes, coming from the tropics. They had
    never seen snow. We were all cooped up in the house and it was cold
    and dismal outside. I think Frank and Tig were terrified of my
    father. I had grown up with him, so I knew how to take his fuming,
    but he was so tall compared to little kids, that he had them totally
    buffaloed.
    After that trip my mother offered to pay for all the groceries and
    everything if we would just take all the kids and stay with Sue at 462
    Florence!"
65. ↑ Mary Institute Alumnae Directory 1985:
    "Class List - 1945...CHIVVIS, Sarah (Mrs. William H. Willcockson)" [49
    girls in class]
66. ↑ SHC notes from TBC files:
    "Sat. June 23, 1945 Mary Institute party at Chivvis pool. Leland
    Curtis, Mary Glasgow Chivvis."
67. ↑ Mary Ellen Chivvis Curtis letter 11/14/1946 to Isabel Wallace Curtis:
    "Youʾve been sadly neglected of late, but what with Mother and
    Fatherʾs arrival and the consular conference, weʾve been so busy that
    Iʾve hardly had time to do the accounts and keep the house running.
    Tuesday, Wednesday, and tonight (for the last time, I hope) weʾve had
    cocktails and dinners afterward to attend; and Iʾm feeling very dopey
    and goggle-eyed at present. In addition to this, Father has just
    discovered that they have movies every Friday night at one Casa, so is
    rarinʾ to go tomorrow. I canʾt think why I didnʾt tell him about them
    the first Friday we were here, maybe we had something else to do, but
    heʾs now muttering about being kept in the dark about all these
    interesting things, the poor brow-beaten wretch!!! He usually spends
    his mornings prowling around town on his own, and I hope will soon
    know enough Spanish to be able to get on a train and see some Roman
    ruins on the East coast. Gli and I will be able to get them to
    Escorail and Segovia; but for the longer trips Iʾm afraid weʾll be no
    help at all. It doesnʾt look as though Gli will be able to take the
    rest of his vacation for this year, things at the office being pretty
    hectic�.. Am I glad that I heckled him so much about a week in
    Sanjenjo that he finally gave up and said heʾd come."
    Mary Glasgow Curtis Memories:
    "Grandmother and Grandfather Chivvis came to visit. One of my
    brothers, impressed by Grandmother's white hair, asked her, "Are you
    going to die soon, Grandmother?" While they were visiting, we all
    went to the Prado Museum. When asked what he had liked the most,
    Frank replied, "The red things in the corners." After some
    puzzlement, the adults realized that he was talking about the fire
    extinguishers."
68. ↑ Mary Ellen Chivvis Curtis letter 11/14/1946 to Isabel Wallace Curtis:
    "Ti Gli was in bed for his birthday, slight temperature and a cold; so
    weʾre putting the party off for another week to let him get back to
    normal. He had a very nice day, got an ambulance and a dump truck
    from Gli and me, top and another small toy from his brother and
    sister, a wallet from Father, 10 pesetas from Mother (she had sent a
    book over for his present and I made a mistake and gave it to him when
    it arrived instead of keeping it for the day), and the best of a 100
    pesetas from his Grandmother Curtis. He can hardly wait to get
    downtown and buy something with it, maybe a train. Youʾd love to see
    him take out his wallet and count his money; he always says he has the
    pesetas, looking at the three bills it all seems very simple to him;
    and Iʾve been trying to convince him heʾs a lot richer than he
    dreams."
69. ↑ SHC notes from TBC files:
    "July 1951 two permanent army tents on Pier Cove beach.
    July 20 - beach party. Leland's tent on beach washed out in storm.
    July 20-24, 1951 Leland in tent at Pier Cove next to path where wagons
    went to beach to get gravel."
70. ↑ Saga of Susie scrapbook of SHC by MEC:
    "Aug 11, 1951" pictures on steps of 1437 McCausland
71. ↑ MEC memory 3/12/1999:
    "Mother and Father went on a cruise to Egypt. Sarah and Harry went
    with them. They stopped in Switzerland on their way."
72. ↑ Society Section newspaper clipping 1/18/1953:
    "Hale and hearty at the age of 91, Mr. Charles Janney Miller will
    celebrate his birthday anniversary tonight at a dinner party at the
    home of his great-nephew and great-niece, Mr. and Mrs. J. Douglass
    Streett, 17 Wydown terrace. It is a postponed party, for a slight
    indisposition prevented Mr. Miller from observing the actual date,
    Jan. 7. Guests, all newphews and nieces of two generations, will
    include Mr. and Mrs. Leland Chivvis and their son-in-law and daughter,
    Mr. and Mrs. William H. Willcockson; Mr. and Mrs. George W. Lane and
    their daughter, Mrs. Mary Beall Kerwin; Mr. and Mrs. J. Clark Streett,
    parents of the host; their other son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs.
    J. Clark Streett Jr.; their son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs.
    Lindell Gordon Jr., and George H. Shields....Much of his family is out
    of town and hence will miss tonight's party. One of the Chivvises'
    daughters, for instance, lives in Switzerland, andother lives in the
    East, and a third, Mrs. Thomas Bradford Curtis, whose husband is a
    congressman from Missouri, is in Washington for President-elect
    Eisenhower's inauguration."
73. ↑ Saga of Susie scrapbook of SHC by MEC:
    newspaper article:
    "4D Wed., Jan. 27, 195[4]
    Social Activities...
    Mrs. Curtis's father, Leland Chivvis, 1437 McCausland avenue, plans to
    visit the family during a proposed trip to Europe. He will sail
    aboard the Queen Elizabeth March 20 and will be in Switzerland a month
    later, when his grandsons will be home on spring vacation. At the
    conclusion of his visit Mr. and Mrs. Curtis will accompany him to
    Rome, Naples and Sicily."
74. ↑ William Glasgow Jr. grave diagram Bellefontaine Cemetery:
    "15 Leland Chivvis (cremains) Feb 10-1959 space for one cremains"