Winslow Homer's Minerva
by Peter G. Mc Shane
The Story continued
I would be sorely remiss in my geographical review of circa 1860’s Minerva Township if I did not include the Hewitt Lake Club. The civic minded and highly regarded Mike Cronin, owner and operator of Aiden Lair 2 and 3, was involved in the sale of land to Dean Sage (founder of Russell Sage College for Women) for the establishment of the Hewitt Lake camps, located 1 mile southeast of Aiden Lair. The camp became “a frequent stop for writers, artists and upper class types” and had easy access to the Baker Farm/NWC Homer’s acquaintance, naturalist John Buroughs, while staying at the Hewitt camp, fished and jack- lighted for deer in the Nate Pond area close by the Baker Farm.(6) It is important to note that guide Frederick Loveland, who then resided with his wife and children in a log cabin opposite Aiden Lair, was selected by the early conservationist Sage to be the first Superintendent and guide at the Hewitt Lake Club circa 1894. Loveland’s wife, Mary Duel of Chestertown, was the club’s cook. Trustworthy and knowing only hard work, Loveland’s stay was short lived. He died at the club in 1896 from head injuries sustained from a falling tree. (7)
The early connections of the Loveland family to the Baker Farm and NWC are recorded in the Juliette Baker diaries. It is documented that Ida Loveland, Frederick’s oldest child, was age 15 in 1874 and working at the Baker farm during the time of Homer’s stay. (8). Town records state that Ida eventually bore three children out of wedlock. Family history claims that after losing a child, Ida Loveland left the Adirondack Mountains .with her son George and a man named Frank Holt.
He to work in the textile mills of Lowell and Ida to serve as a domestic, caring for an elderly gentleman in neighboring Billerica, Township of Cambridge, Mass. No doubt references would have been required. (8)The normal progression of Ida’s migration would have been south to the mills of Troy and Cohoes in the Albany area. Born and raised in Cambridge himself and a.friend of the Lovelands, Homer conceivably counseled Ida of the work opportunities provided in the Cambridge Township.
At one point Homer hired the guide , Monroe Holt to be led down the mountains from Keene Valley to the Baker Farm. Later Monroe Holt and Orson Phelps modeled for Homer’s “Two Guides” (1876). It would not be coincidental that Homer also knew Ida Loveland’s Frank Holt and for him to generously make them aware of a new future that the Cambridge area could promise.
Frederick Loveland, the rugged Adirondacker, wore many hats to support his family in a harsh and rugged environment. The Town of Minerva Historical Society Blue Book states that Loveland worked at times at the NWC(9) and also managed the Indian River Hotel for a short period. (10) S.R. Stoddard’s booklet Adirondack Guide has him listed as a registered guide at Aiden Lair from1881 through 1883.Essex county 1885 history book reports him as “Game Constable” for Minerva Township. Town highway records list Fred Loveland receiving money for road and snow maintenance in1876, 1878, and 1879. Leila Fosburgh Wilson’s “The North Woods Club 1886-1986” writes about the founding of the club. “The group of founders was led and helped on with their search by Fred Loveland, the best and most famous guide in the area. Establishing themselves at the Aiden Lair Lodge, they tramped around the woods until they settled on the Baker tract, the place so favored by the Century Club boarders.” (11)
Juliette Baker’s diary refers to ‘Bill’ carrying travelers to North Creek and up to the Loveland’s, thus indicating the Bakers also ran a livery service.. The diaries also record the ease of travel during fair weather and Juliette’s frequent trips to town, neighbors, and funerals. Often Rufus Wallace or other help from the Baker Farm would accompany her. Certainly, Homer would have availed himself of this livery service, as well. (12) It is apparent that no one in the Minerva area was so secluded as to be unknown to one another. Life was harsh and so fragile. As such a close sense of community was built.
Aside from all the guides working at the Baker Farm, Homer’s models/guides Rufus Wallace, Charles Lancashire, Frederick Loveland and Farmer Flynn all lived just a short distance from each other(13) ( 1876 resident partial map of Minerva). There was a great camaraderie and male bonding among them, which was recognized and greatly enjoyed by Homer. An example is his 1874 Loveland portrait, a most accurate representation of Adirondack reality. The buckskin jacket, homespun shirt, weathered face, and cocked Adirondack hat set aside, indicate Loveland’s pride as an Adirondack guide. ( see Willard Jenkin, Mike “Farmer” Flynn’s son-in- law and Charles Guides of the Adirondack’s, a History and Bromley on p57 for discussion of the Adirondack cocked hat)(14). Homer did not use or require any extraneous props in this portrait. It spoke for itself. In the Whitney Exhibition Catalog, page 33, Lloyd Goodrich wrote, “at the same time he was painting his feminine themes, Homer was discovering a new world of masculine subjects. As early as 1870, he visited the Adirondacks.” (14)
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©2008 Peter G. Mc Shane