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Detroit Historical Society
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Miller, Katherine Sproat (Trowbridge)
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- This 12-page letter was handwritten in black ink by Mrs. Sidney Trowbridge Miller on her personal stationery. Her address, "524 Jefferson Avenue," is printed in blue text near the upper right corner of each page. The text of the letter has been transcribed as follows: December thirty first, 1901 [1900] A travelled Englishman, writing in the London Spectator about three years ago, said that the most exclusive society that he found anywhere was in the large American cities outside of New York and Chicago. He gave as the reason for this that the leading social circles in the 'old mold' were kept together principally by cohesion, while in these American towns it was pressure from without their line that solidified them. In example, [if] a man pleads of bribes his way into society in this country, he usually attempts to force it. The latter method gives rise to resistance and hence exclusion. Be the reasoning true of false, it certainly is true that the leading social circle in Detroit is today, and has been for decades, hard to get into. It is possibly more true here than in most cities of this part of the country. The early leaders of society here, say from seventy five to a hundred years ago, were the families of French civil officials and army officers who had settled here, together with a few English and Scotch officers, and younger sons with their families, supplemented by the representatives of the American government as they were selected, and the American officers from the Fort. Withal it was a refined collection, which rated good breeding higher than wealth. It left its indelible stamp on the society of the town, and each successive generation has it impress, so that today the tone of society is good and the atmosphere has a sweeter fragrance than in many places more noted. It is of course a fact that there have been great changes in the personnel. The names of Godfroy, Beaubien, St. Aubin, Desnoyer, Van Dyke, and Campau of the French have many of them passed away from the social calendar, their descendants having intermarried with other stocks. And the same is true of some of the earlier Americans here, but the Brushes, Biddles, Sibleys, Stantons, Jones[es], Ledyards, and Trowbridges still have prominent representatives in society, and they are there not because of wealth. For most of them are not among the rich, but because of the conservatism already described. The days when the only carriages in Detroit were owned by General Cass and the Trowbridges are sixty years away; now the having of fine horses and handsome trappings is beyond description. To the older circle have been added families like the Lothrops, Millers, [?], Joys, Russels, Douglas' and others who have some from different places within the last sixty year, and have attained distinction in professional life. To them might be added the descendants of some gallant Irish gentlemen like the Georges and Lysters who have been welcomed long since. The descendants of these families are the arbiters of form today, and with them, the most prominent additions within the last years are perhaps the Miller, Newberry, Alger, Walker, and Palms families whose social power comes largely from business ability and great wealth, but who are cultivated and refined as well. So much for the leaders. The others are too numerous to mention, and the beautiful women and charming young men of their families with those of the older stocks already named suffice to make Detroit known through the country as a recognized social circle. Jefferson Avenue is par excellence the fashionable street of Detroit. There is a growing tendency toward the building of handsome homes far up the street in the neighborhood of Van Dyke and Seminole Avenues away from the dirt and noise of the factories and trains on the back streets, but the little portion of the Avenue between Hastings Street and St. Aubin Avenue is still the most highly prized and contains the very power of Detroit society. Woodward Avenue, the most beautiful of all the streets, has a distinct society of its own; although many of its residents and the residents of the innumerable pretty side streets that run from it are members of the more aristocratic Jefferson Avenue set. Fort Street and Lafayette Avenue which until recently have been popular residence streets, are now rapidly being deserted and left to the mercy of tailors, factories, and railroads. Social life here today is much as everywhere else in the civilized world. The forms of amusement are in Winter, the theatres, balls, receptions, afternoon teas, dinners, and card parties. for theatrical amusement there are three playhouses. The best of these is the Detroit Opera House on the Campus Martius where almost all of the best actors from New York and from abroad are seen during their times. It seats about two thousand and is gorgeous in internal coloring - too much probably for the taste of most. Here on gala occasions, all of the socialites are gathered. A theatre party of ten or twelve is a familiar mode of entertainment and on first nights, many are found. After the performance, such a party sups at the home of the hostess or perhaps at the Detroit Club or the Russell House Cafe. The other theatres are the Lyceum and Whitneys which are not so expensive and appeal more to the popular taste for sensation or extravaganza. The balls are seldom given in private homes nowadays as the list of eligibles is so long that few homes are large enough for this form of entertainment. They are usually given in public halls engaged for the purpose by the host. Of these, Strassburg Hall on Adams Avenue, Harmonie Hall on Wilcox Street, and the armories of the Light Infantry Guard on Congress Street and Larned Street are most in vogue. These halls are elaborately decorated by professional decorators and florists - the adornment sometimes costing several thousand dollars. Dances usually commence about half past nine and last until the wee hours! An incident, but not a feature is the supper - across the boundary in Canada it is the feature. There it consists of different salads, oysters, croquettes, frequently quail, ices, coffee and punch, and sometimes champagne. All prepared by a caterer - usually one who rejoices in the name of A. Hain. In Summer, the Country Club at Grosse Pointe to which a trolley line runs, is the haunt of the fashionables, here golf and steam yachting claim most of the habitants, though many ride and drive, and the automobile has just been introduced, a new diversion is offered. Various clubs of a literary and musical nature improve the taste, and add to the acquirements of the members. They are too many to mention and are very popular. Whist is the fashionable card game - bridge whist being the craze of this season. Taking it all in all, the society of Detroit today is attractive in the extreme and you will find many tributes to it if you read the letters or writings of visitors from other places. To say more might seem self laudatory, but I can only add that I hope the readers of this a hundred years hence will be as beautiful and charming and fine as my dear friends in its present social life. Lucy Trowbridge Miller"
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society