More Ogden Farm Family Heirlooms

Rococo Revival cast iron hall tree circa 1860 at Ogden Farm came from the estate of Annie Elizabeth Jackson Ogden, 136 West Main Street, Middletown. This hall tree also had a matching metal drip pan [not shown] which filled the long horizontal opening in its base and a round mirror in a matching cast iron frame [not shown]. This hall tree was sold at Mark Vail Auction

   Art Nouveau porcelain stork or white peacock pin tray circa 1900 from Ogden Farm.
 I once saw a vase in an antiques shop which was an exact match to this tray in design and
color which leads me to believe that this tray was probably initially part of a "toilette" or
dresser set with hair receiver, wash bowl and pitcher, etc.

    Top: Two door over one drawer "Country" Pine cabinet circa 1840 from Gumaer
 Manor belonged to Peter Louw Gumaer and Sarah Jane Mulock Gumaer.

    Bottom: Pine Chippendale blanket chest over three drawers made by my great, great,
great grandfather, Daniel Ogden [founder of Ogden Farm] circa 1820. As of this writing
I have managed to keep this piece within the Ogden family.

    I took this photo circa 1979 in my bedroom at Ogden Farm before I purchased a
Pentax K-1000 and completed a photography course at Manhattan's School of Visual
Arts on East 23rd Street.

    Painted walnut Renaissance Revival marble top dresser with mirror circa 1880.
Originally from Thomas Borland Jackson and Mary Jones Jackson's "Maple Lawn"
homestead, Town of Hamptonburgh, N.Y. Descended to George and Seward Ogden
for their childhood bedroomat the Albert Clark Ogden mansion at 136 West Main
Street, Middletown. It was probably moved to Ogden Farm circa 1940. This circa
1979 photo shows it at Ogden Farm in "The Little Room" also known as "Ingrid's
Room" after George and Lucile's ward, Dr. Ingrid MatsonWekerle.

    After it went out of fashion Many people painted old Victorian furniture white because,
after many years the shellac turned black. Adding white paint was a much easier way to
brighten up the dark furniture without going to the trouble of stripping the finish. After they
went out of fashion, High Victorian pieces like this were regarded by many in the 1900's
as gloomy, dust collecting "monstrosities".

   This piece was sold at the Mark Vail auction.

  

     Dr. Ingrid Matson Wekerle, 1981 in the main dining room. Ingrid lived in Manhattan where she was an actress and for many years the Dean of the Theater Department at Hunter College High School. Ingrid retired to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
    Ingrid was had mysterious origins. She was born in Germany of "High German" stock. Some said that she was the daughter of a very prominent anti-Nazi German political family and was allegedly smuggled out of the country by the Wekerles with the promise of returning her to her family after the war. Apparently her family of origin was permanently lost in the war.  She escaped Hitler's Reich when she left aboard the S.S. Bremen from Bremen to New York on October 17, 1936 escorted by Hedwig Wekerle and by adopting Hedwig's surname while posing as Hedwig's daughter. It is uncertain as to whether Ingrid had been kidnapped by the Wekerles or entrusted to them temporarily by her mysterious parents. It is unknown what became of Ingrid's birth parents. There were rumors in the 1940s that Ingrid was, in fact Adolf Hitler's illegitimate daughter; a rumor that both Ingrid and Lucile would never acknowledge or discuss.
    Eventually, to protect her welfare Ingrid became the ward of Lucile and George Ogden. She won a a Fulbright scholarship to the University of Vienna and graduated from other universities in the U.S. In the 1960s she became very close to famous the Colorado triad of Helen Smith, Portia Mansfield, and Charlotte Perry ["Kingo"], the founders of the Perry Mansfield Theater and Boys Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Ingrid studied at the theater camp with fellow aspiring thespian, Dustin Hoffman whom she knew as "Dusty".
    The painted rosewood Rococo Revival etagere in the background, circa 1865 was a wedding gift to George T. Ogden I and Emeline Clark Ogden. The "spooner" or "celery vase" circa 1860[?] on the lower shelf [Pittsburgh Glass Company?] was from Gumaer Manor at Guymard Lake, N.Y. The small Federal pine sewing stand reflected in the mirror was made by Daniel Ogden circa 1820 and is still in the Ogden family after nearly 200 years.