A Gaffe, A Paradise, and a Gift (cont.)

Jekyll Club Hotel

I have started this piece in the Short Stories Page. So to get to the beginning you will need to go to the Short Stories Page. Hope you enjoy



A Gaffe, A Paradise, and a Gift (cont.)

After that brief interlude I want to take you back to Gould Cottage. Jason "Jay" Gould (May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) made his vast fortune in the railroads and speculation. He has been referred to with Rockefeller, Carnegie, and JP Morgan as a ruthless robber baron of the Gilded Age. His son born in 1870s in New York was Edwin Gould.

​Edwin was not comfortable with being an heir to one of the great nineteenth century fortunes. He dropped out of his father’s alma mater Columbia University. This caused estrangement with his father. To further this fracture with his father he refused to join the family business. Instead he struck out on his own and quickly was worth over a million dollars. After this he made his grand return to the family business and at the age of twenty-seven inherited his father’s estate with this and his own fortune; Edwin was one of the wealthiest men in the United States.

But Edwin was a far cry from the stereotype of the robber baron. He recognized his wealth afforded a chance to help those who were not as fortunate as he. He was inspired by his mother-in-law Hester Shrady’s work with the Messiah Home for Children. Edwin began making contributions of various sorts to charitable organizations. Sheltering Arms Children’s Services was one of the first children’s homes to benefit from his involvement. He would often make surprise visits to offer tickets to the circus and ice cream during the hot summer months.

But as is often the case it was tragedy that struck his own life that caused a deepening of his commitment to helping children. His son Edwin Gould Jr. was staying at the family’s cottage at Jekyll Island. He was accidently shot while on the Island. He died from the gunshot. The family would never return to the island that had given them such great pleasure. Later during the funeral services, a basket of roses arrived from the children of Sheltering Arms, that he had so often as benefactor arrived, with one rose from each child at the home. This one simple act stirred the heart of Edwin Gould that he determined to devote his fortune and his time on the behalf of children. He established the Edwin Gould Foundation for Children to make this happen in perpetuity.

Gould Cottage here in Savannah dates to the 1930s when millionaire Edwin “Jay” Gould of New York City and his Gould Foundation for Children donated the land to the Savannah Female Orphan Asylum for a children’s nursery. As part of the gift he required an autonomous local group take charge of the day to day running of the facility accountable to the executive office of the Foundation in New York City.

 The cottage was built for $50,000 and as previously said designed by Cletus Bergen. It was operated locally by The Julia McLeod Chapter of The Kings Daughters & Sons for barely a year before the Gould Foundation took the reins and began managing the home. It was reported by the foundation in 1947 “continues to do a worthy piece of work without much trouble to us. Reports are received each month of their meetings and very little is ever requested. The Board consists of young, married women, who seem to take a keen interest in the home.”

The home in 1949 was closed and has been used by the former Parent and Child Inc., Union Mission and currently a private school, Habersham School. As for the foundation it continues to this day in New York City doing cutting edge children’s services.

As for me I continue to retreat to Jekyll Island which continues to prove there is never a bad time to be had at Jekyll. Also long ago I blasphemed the ‘Dean of Savannah Architects” at a dinner party. And finally today through all these wandering words I have wrote I hope I have made amends.
 
 

---

Jekyll Island Beach