Merry Christmas, Sad New Year

Today we pick up shortly after the birth of Sarah Eva Howe's little sister, Leonora. This Christmas, with a newborn in the house and Mama still "in her confinement" and unable to do her usual decorating, baking, and entertaining, is not as festive as usual. Papa takes the role of "Santa" as best he can and makes Christmas 1896 one of the most memorable for his daughter Sarah. The New Year brings a loss and stirs suspicion about some shady financial dealings within the family.

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Christmas 1896 came while Mama was still in bed, and therefore was not as gay as usual — no tree — but Papa filled my stocking, and as he couldn’t find the clean ones after I went to bed, and he didn’t want to wake Mama, he took one of the long black fleece-lined stockings I had taken off when I went to bed, and being a fastidious person, he wrapped up every piece of candy or fruit, even the nuts, he put in it! We had a good laugh together over it in the morning, and it is safe to say, that is one stocking I have never forgotten! (I didn’t hang one up, as I hadn’t expected “Santa Claus” to fill it, with Mama in bed.)

This was the Christmas Papa gave me the Prescott’s Conquest of Mexico and Conquest of Peru; on a previous Christmas, 1894 I think, Grandma Cost [Sarah Evaline Arnet, wife of Richard Henry Cost] had sent me John North in Mexico by “Fred A. Ober,” who turned out to be a learned professor at Yale or thereabouts, I learned afterwards, so the information was authentic. I hadn’t read it for awhile, but when I finally got around to it, I became such an enthusiast on the archaeology and folklore of Mexico as set forth in the book – and then, on my birthday, 1896, she sent me The Fair God by Lew Wallace. No, I am wrong – this was in 1897 and it was Christmas 1897 Papa gave me the Conquests. I have just remembered after writing the above, and will tell later what reminded me. Papa always loved to bring things from New York to put away for Christmas, especially books, and I get a little confused remembering just which year he brought which books.

David Arnet, c1806 - 1897

Early in 1897 Grandfather Arnet¹ died at his home on Baymiller Street, Cincinnati, nearly 92 years old. Grandma Arnet² had died in ’92 or ’93 (and after that Grandfather was very lonely and easily deceived by his grandson Ezra Cross, Mama’s cousin (Aunt Momi's³ son) who lived with him, managed his business (with considerable profit to himself – no one ever knew just how much money he got away with). Grandma Cost’s⁴ family asked to have a guardian appointed in 1895, and the court put in Mr. Hunt, whose reputation was a trifle shady, and whom they suspected (tho couldn’t prove) was “in cahoots with Ez,” as I used to hear some of the family say.

But no one could do anything about it; and when [Grandfather Arnet] died, he left a house and $10,000 each to his two daughters, the surviving children. That there had been much more money before Ezra & Mr. Hunt’s regime no one doubted – in this way too Ezra’s mother got exactly the same as Grandma, tho she and her family had lived on Grandfather’s bounty rent free, for forty years at least, her husband being a nice man but “shiftless” while Grandpa Cost was proud ...  and a “good provider” – wouldn’t even ask for an equal free rent tho he lived in one of Grandfather's houses. Grandma decided to sell the house on Court Street which was left to her, and the family moved into Grandfather's home on Baymiller St. She and Aunt Momi divided the furniture left from that which was sold at auction, and Grandma got a very large bedroom suit, which was later sold to Blanche, a cousin. They paid rent for the Arnet home, but they had been used to that and for the first time in years the family felt free & “well off."

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ENDNOTES

¹ Sarah's maternal great-grandfather David Arnet
² Sarah's maternal great-grandmother Elizabeth Voris Arnet
³ Mary Naomi "Momi" Arnet, wife of John Cross and daughter of David and Elizabeth
⁴ Sarah's maternal grandmother Sarah Evaline Arnet Cost, wife of Richard Henry Cost

Names and dates in this post came from the scrapbooks and the Howe Family Bible.