Terradell Family Papers

Thomas Mitchell Terradell

Thomas Mitchell Terradell was born to Joseph Francois and Catherine Maria (Hulse) Terradell on August 15, 1852, in Yardleyville, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Trenton, New Jersey, four years later. Terradell worked a variety of jobs before working for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, first as a fireman, then as an engineer for seventeen years. He left the railroad to set up a business supplying wood to local potteries. His other business enterprises included the Terradell Flats and Terradell Storage Warehouse, a grain elevator and wood mill. His charitable enterprises included the Terradell Temperance House in Hopewell, N.J., and Terradelphia, a workhouse for the homeless and unemployed in Trenton, which operated for a brief time in the 1890s. He was also president of the Pennsylvania Relief Department for three terms. He married Emma Loretta Leigh of Hopewell on May 28, 1874. Terradell died January 30, 1928, in Ohio, possibly having lived with his son Amigo Terradell and his wife.

The papers relating to Thomas include a letter from Emma Leigh in 1873, a 1926 newspaper article on Terradelphia in a series of articles on Trenton in the 1880s and 1890s, and some photographs of Thomas in his later years.

Emma Loretta (Leigh) Terradell

Emma Loretta Leigh was born to Benjamin Stout and Eleanor (Cutter) Leigh, the latter of whom was a constituent member of the Calvary Baptist Church of Hopewell (1871), on September 8, 1856. Emma was diagnosed with "cancer of the bowels" in 1918 and died on October 9, 1920. Emma's papers include CORRESPONDENCE, which is composed of letters, 1911-1919, from her son, Russell, one from Eleanor about Russell's death, and a telegram from the U.S. Army notifying her of Russell's death in World War I. (Letters written by her can be found in the CORRESPONDENCE of Mercedes and Eleanor.) The other series in her papers is FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS consisting only of a receipt, 1919, for payment of services rendered by a physician for her son, Reginald.

Thomas Mitchell and Emma Terradell had eleven children: Joseph Damon Am ego (Amigo), Eleanor C., Thomas M. (May 31, 1884-December 28, 1886), William Fancis (Frank; b. July 5, 1886), Edna, Thomas Maddock, Emma Loretta (Loretta), Streline Mercedes (Mercedes), Russell, Reginald Van Mater Cutter, and Richard Roger.

Emma Loretta (Terradell) Morris

Emma Loretta Terradell was born November 14, 1889. Before the U.S. entered World War I Loretta was a nurse. She worked with her sisters Eleanor and Mercedes in a convalescent home for soldiers in Chantilly, Oise, France. The home was founded and operated by Eleanor and her husband, Elliott F. Shepard and named "The Elliott F. Shepard Convalescent Hospital." The hospital was used for the Lafayette Escadrille and the American Field Service. The sisters continued their work after the U.S. entered the war, and they contributed to the evacuation of wounded during the battle of Chauteau Thierry. Fallowing the war Loretta spent three years traveling throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Upon her return to Trenton in 1922 she gave a number of lectures on these travels in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Loretta received a Medal of Valor from the Federated Club of Trenton in 1923. On September 17, 1925, Loretta married Gelston Bailey Morris at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity in Paris. Morris, born August 29, 1881, was a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was involved in his father's steel business, Morris-Bailey Steel Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. He died October 27, 1933. Apparently Loretta came to live with Mercedes and her husband in Princeton, N.J., after Morris' death. The couple owned homes in Briarcliff, New York (called "Boxwood," sold in 1946) and Miami Beach, Florida (sold in 1972). Loretta died of colon cancer on September 26, 1972, in Princeton, N.J., where she had lived with Mercedes for forty years, and was buried in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church of Ewing, N.J.

The papers relating to Loretta include a one-volume DIARY, December 28, 1917-September 18, 1918 and October 17-18, 1918, which she wrote while a nurse in France. Entries are regular and describe her voyage to France and back, her daily activities in France (which involved dining and having her hair coiffed in Paris, playing golf, cards, and the ukelele, talking to soldiers), her various love interests, and troop movements, artillery action, battles, air raids, and distribution of goods ( cigarettes, lemonade, coffee) to soldiers by her and her sisters. After her return to the U.S. there are two entries concerning Russell's death in the battle of the Argonne Forest.

Loretta's CORRESPONDENCE, 1919-1972 (with gaps), is small in quantity, concerning primarily family matters and the sale of her Florida home. A letter from her can be found in the CORRESPONDENCE of Eleanor. NEWSCLIPPINGS, 1922-1972 (with gaps), center on the period of her lectures on North Africa and her death. PRINTED MISCELLANY, 1922-1925 and undated, includes brochures advertising her lectures, her wedding invitation, and a "playlet" program. LEGAL DOCUMENTS, 1968, has only one item, a contract to have Loretta's Florida house painted. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 1972, contains an obituary written by Loretta shortly before her death. PHOTOGRAPHS, 1922-1972 (with gaps), represents the largest series of her papers and consists of photographs of herself and husband, an album of her trip to North Africa in 1918, a wedding album, 1925, an album and loose photographs of "Boxwood," ca. 1929 and later, photographs of her Florida home, and snapshots of her memorial markers, 1972. There are CERTIFICATES for her work with the American Field Service, undated, and her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1925. Her ESTATE DOCUMENTS, 1972-1974, contain an inventory of her estate and correspondence related to the estate.

Streline Mercedes (Terradell) Labatut

Streline Mercedes Terradell was born February 12, 1899. She graduated from Trenton High School in 1912. She served as a nurse in France with Loretta and Eleanor, in recognition of which she received a Medal of Valor from the Federated Club of Trenton in 1923. She was engaged to Jean Labatut of Paris on May 23, 1929, and later married him. Labatut (b. 1899) was a long-time instructor in the School of Architecture and Design of Princeton University. Mercedes lived with her husband in Princeton until her death in 1983 and was buried near Loretta in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church of Ewing.

Most of Mercedes' papers are from the time of World War I and shortly after. There is much information about her during this time in Loretta's DIARY. The bulk of Mercedes' papers is CORRESPONDENCE, mostly grouped by sender. Some senders are identified in Loretta's DIARY, including Mercedes' fiance Lester Beach Scheide (also represented in Eleanor's CORRESPONDENCE), a doctor at the convalescent home named P. Caquille, and a French soldier named Cuny Marcel. Another large segment of the CORRESPONDENCE is from various World War I servicemen. The remaining CORRESPONDENCE is from family members or concerns Eleanor's cemetery plot and grave marker. Mercedes' WRITINGS include notes on teaching kindergarten, 1913-1914, and notes, undated, for lectures on her wartime experiences, although there is no evidence that such lectures were ever given. The remainder of her papers are few in number. The PRINTED MISCELLANY, 1923, consists of a bulletin for the Clinton A venue Baptist Church which mentions her. There are two sketches, 1917, of her in PHOTOGRAPHS, with photographs and slides, undated, of her in the Terradell Family section. Her CERTIFICATES include her high school diploma, 1912, recognition for work in the American Field Service, undated, and membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1925. Documents regarding her memorial marker make up the ESTATE DOCUMENTS, 1983.

Eleanor (Terradell) Shepard

Eleanor Terradell was born in Trenton on November 13, 1882. She attended Trenton Academy. She organized with Elliott Fitch Shepard the "Elliott F. Shepard Convalescent Hospital" in Chantilly where she and her sisters Loretta and Mercedes worked as nurses. Eleanor married Shepard in London (by at least 1918). He was the son of Col. Elliott F. Shepard, publisher of the New York Mail and Express, and Margaret L. Vanderbilt, daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. For her work with the hospital she received the Medaille de la Reconnaissance Francaise and the Medaille d'Honneur des Epedemics. Shepard died on April 10, 1927. In 1922 Eleanor wrote on Algerian women and, like Loretta, lectured on them in 1932. Eleanor was very active in society circles throughout her married and widowed life

She was a member of many organizations, including L'Oeuvre des Meres et des Enfants de la Guerre, L'Oeuvre Anti-Tuberculeuse de Malakoff, the Daughters of the American Revolution (George Washington Chapter), Daughters of the War of 1812, the New Jersey Historical Association, Old Barracks Association of New Jersey, Pan American League (of which she was one of the founders and subsequently a director and the vice president for Florida), the League of American Pen Women, the Surf Club of Miami Beach, Florida, vice president of the Society of Arts and Science, vice president of the Women's Cultural Society, vice president of the Light House for the Blind in Miami, president of the Garden Club of Miami Beach. Eleanor died in Princeton on July 20, 1962, and was buried in the First Presbyterian Church of Ewing cemetery.

In Eleanor's papers are NEWSCLIPPINGS, 1921-1962 (with gaps), which largely cover her society activities, especially in Miami Beach and to a lesser extent in Trenton. Her CORRES- POND ENCE, 1918-1949 (with gaps), is primarily from family members. (Letters from her can be found in the CORRESPONDENCE of Emma and Mercedes.) Included in her WRITINGS are a poem on her brother's death, dated 1914 although Russell died in 1918, a monograph entitled "Veiled Women in Fascinating Algeria," 1922, with corrected typescript, undated, and a typescript on the history of her home, the Old Davis House, undated. The PRINTED MISCELLANY contains pamphlets pertaining to L'Oeuvre Anti- Tuberculeuse de Malakoff, 1919, and L'Oeuvre des Meres et des Enfants de la Guerre, undated; membership cards for The Women's Auxiliary of the American Legion, 1922, the Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club, 1932, and the Surf Club of Miami Beach, 1932; a bulletin for the Clinton Avenue Messenger (on the death of her husband), 1927; an invitation to a ball held by the Committee of One Hundred, of which Eleanor was the chairperson, 193 0; a pamphlet by the Riverside Garden Club of Miami for tours of local homes which lists the Shepard home, 193 3; and a leaflet and souvenir menu from the Pan American League, 1933. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 1938, contains a summary of her life for a "Social Directory." Her CERTIFICATES consist only of her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1925. PHOTOGRAPHS, almost entirely undated, compose the greatest part of her papers, consisting of photographs and sketches of herself, her homes in Lawrenceville ("the Old Davis House") and Miami Beach, a boar hunt in France in which she apparently participated, and a portrait of an unidentified foreign man with a dedication in French to her.

Other Family Member

The biographical information on the remaining family members is scant. Edna Terradell married Elmer Ewing Chatten. NEWSCLIPPINGS, 1935 and undated, refer to their son Jack (who later worked for Du Pont in Indianapolis, Indiana), a letter to the editor by Edna regarding her father and Terradelphia, and the Chattens' social activities. PHOTOGRAPHS consist of pictures of Edna. Included in the CORRESPONDENCE of Mercedes is a copy of Edna's certificate of membership in the New Jersey Society of the Colonial Dames of America. Accompanying this letter is a copy of the marriage certificate, 1853, for Benjamin Leigh and Eleanor Cutter and a copy of Edna's application to the Colonial Dames, 1940, which has an extended genealogy. (Other letters from Edna are found in the CORRESPONDENCE of Lore

Reginald Van Mater Cutter Terradell was born on July 15, 1902. He married and lived for a time in Hollywood, California. He had a plot and was presumably buried in the Ewing Church cemetery. His papers consist exclusively of a single letter from Russell. (Letters from Reginald appear in the CORRESPONDENCE of Loretta, Mercedes, and Eleanor.

Thomas Maddock Terradell was born on December 25, 1887 (although his birth is variously listed as 1886 and 1888), and died in 1976, being buried in Ewing Church cemetery. His WRITINGS, undated, consist of a poem; PHOTOGRAPHS include photographs of his gravestone, slides of his memorial markers and himself [?] in the Terradell Family section. SKETCHES of the Terradell Family include a sketch which is possibly Thomas Maddock and may be by Amigo. (There is also a letter from Thomas Maddock to Eleanor in her CORRESPONDENCE.)

Russell Joslin Terradell was born on July 5, 1895. He entered Swarthmore College in 1915 [?] and became a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, Pi Chapter, that year. He left Swarthmore to enter the army as a private in 1917, being assigned to Company 3, First Battalion, 153rd Depot Brigade, at Fort Dix, N.J. He was promoted to corporal on October 24 that year. Russell was sent to France and served in the 61st "M" [Militia?], Company G. He was subsequently transferred to Company K, 61st Infantry. He tried unsuccessfully to get transferred to an ambulance corps unit. Russell was severely wounded early in the battle of the Argonne Forest, between October 12 and 14, 1918, and died of his wounds at a dressing station on October 17, 1918. He was buried in the American Cemetery in Meuse, France. Eleanor had a bronze tablet in his honor made in France and sent it for display in the Clinton A venue Baptist Church; a memorial window in the church was also dedicated to Russell.

In Russell's papers are CERTIFICATES showing membership in the Kappa Sigma fraternity, 1915, and his promotion to corporal in the U.S. Army, 1917. His PRINTED MISCELLANY is composed of sheets tom from Swarthmore's 1918 yearbook, The Halcyon, taken from the section of the junior class with Russell's entry. The majority of his papers consists of PHOTOGRAPHS, ca. 1917-1918 and undated, ranging from boyhood to the service, including school pictures, and including pictures of the cemetery he was buried in and his memorial window in the Clinton A venue Baptist Church. (Although there are no letters to Russell, letters by him are located in the CORRESPONDENCE of Emma and Reginald.)

Joseph Damon Amego (Amigo) Terradell was born in Trenton on April 1, 1875. He married Inez Simpson in 1904. They lived for a time in Columbus, Ohio, and moved to Pismo Beach, California in 1928 [?]. Amigo was a businessman in Pismo Beach, where he had been president of the Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the county planning commission. He attended the Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles [in the mid- to late 1930s?]. He died after suffering his fourth stroke on June 1,

Amigo's papers are few, including NEWSCLIPPINGS, 1936 and 1949, on his travels and death, PRINTED MISCELLANY composed entirely of the program for his memorial service, 1949, and several PHOTOGRAPHS which appear to be of him. There may be a SKETCH of Thomas Maddock by Amigo in the Terradell Family section. (Letters from Inez appear in the CORRESPONDENCE of E

Materials regarding multiple family members or members not represented elsewhere in the collection appear in the subgroup "Terradell Family." This section begins with family CORRES- POND ENCE, 1918-1972 and undated (with gaps), which includes letters from and/or to family members. A family SCRAPBOOK, 1918-1926, follows. VITAL STATISTICS consists of a 1915 census record for Mercedes with family statistics on the back; correspondence, 1950-1953, to Thomas Maddock on obtaining a birth certificate and including a copy of a letter to Eleanor from the U.S. Army concerning Russell's death and a copy of Terradell family Bible records; two copies of corrections to Loretta's birth certificate, 1969-1970; and two death certificates for Loretta, 1972. There are GENEALOGIES, 1923 and undated, for the Dorset and Leigh families, with additional genealogical information in VITAL STATISTICS and Edna's letter to Mercedes, undated, in Mercedes' CORRESPONDENCE. SKETCHES, undated, are apparently by family members; they include three color sketches of the same subject and a pen sketch possibly of Thomas Maddock by Amigo. PHOTOGRAPHS, almost entirely undated, are of family groups (identified and unidentified); nieces and a nephew; slides of Mercedes and Thomas Maddock[?] and Thomas Maddock's memorial markers, 1976; and the house of Thomas Mitchell and Emma Terradell on Richey Place in Trenton. MISCELLANY, 1979 and undated, contains unidentified notes presumably written by family members.

REFERENCES: Most of the biographical information concerning family members derives from documents in the collection. Additional sources included History of Trenton, New Jersey by Francis Bazley Lee (1895) and A History of Trenton, 1679-1929 by the Trenton Historical Society (1929) for information on the life of Thomas Mitchell Terradell and Terradelphia. A History of the Calvary Baptist Church of Hopewell, NJ, 1871-1971 by J. Russell Riley provided information about the Leigh family and their relationship to the church.