Discovery at Locust Grove

Interning at Locust Grove Estate in Poughkeepsie, New York, has given me the opportunity to uncover some fascinating stories about the property and those who lived there in the 20th century. The Young family owned the property until 1975, the year Annette Young, the last living member of her family, died. For my internship work, I transcribed primary sources diaries from the homeowners, to digital copies. During my internship, I read through and made digital copies of Annette’s diaries from the years 1901, 1908, 1909, 1910, etc. Annette was young at the time she wrote in those diaries, so I discovered a lot of information regarding adolescent women in the 20th century in Poughkeepsie.

Although her family was very wealthy, Annette actually spent a lot of time in her house, not mingling with many people, demonstrating she did not have a lot of freedom as a young woman. When she was young, she actually did not have many friends, so she was very concerned about the servants who took care of the mansion. She often wrote diary entries regarding the affairs between the servants and her family.

An interesting story I discovered in Annette’s diary from 1908 was a fight that occurred between two of the maids. Both of them were named Annie, and they were arguing bitterly because their personalities clashed. Annette had written prior to this specific entry, that the women often bickered, but this led to a serious fight between the two. In the entry, the Annies got into a fist fight. The next day, one of the women reported the other one to the police. This led to a small investigation, and both of them had to appear in court. The issue in the mansion was resolved when Annettte’s mother, Martha, discharged one of the maids, and the other one stayed in the Young family’s employment for several more years.