Cornelia’s childhood drawing of “the well at Julia’s” + Cornelia’s childhood drawing of cottage where Julia grew up
Melissa
In one of her many sketchbooks, Cornelia Horsford captured images of a modest-looking cottage on the Sylvester Manor estate, complete with a gable roof, two chimneys, and small windows around its perimeter. She also depicted a tattered outdoor well, its wood panels chipped—perhaps rotting—next to a shabby bucket. These black-and-white pencil sketches are the only known images in Sylvester Manor’s collection of what is believed to be Julia Havens Johnson’s childhood home; they raise questions about her presence on Sylvester Manor, and particularly, her relationship with Cornelia.
In 1820, eleven-year-old Julia moved into the cottage on Sylvester Manor with her mother Dido and stepfather, Comus Fanning. Dido was an enslaved woman and continued working as a domestic servant for the Havens family, who were related by marriage to the Horsfords, after they freed her in 1801. Certain parts of Julia’s story suggest that she and her mother may have also had more personal connections to the family. For example, records from the archive reveal that the Sylvester Manor matriarch, Mary Catherine L’Hommedieu, paid for young Julia to be taught by a private teacher on Shelter Island. She also traveled with Dido and the Havens family between their various properties in New York City and Shelter Island, though it is likely that she and her mother were both expected to labor, in some capacity, on these trips. As an adult, Julia continued to work as a housekeeper in the Sylvester Manor house and at other properties on the estate. Her life was closely linked to Sylvester Manor and the different family members who inhabited the grand estate.
The family member whose relationship to Julia largely remains a mystery is Cornelia, who appears to have harbored a great fondness for Julia, despite their sixty-year age gap. Very little evidence exists to provide insight into Cornelia’s personal interactions with Julia, but her efforts to keep her memory alive through these sketches and other attempted memorial projects suggest that there might have been a level of affection between the two women. Perhaps Cornelia even viewed Julia as another maternal figure in her life. Despite the questions that remain about the nature of their relationship, it is clear that Cornelia recognized Julia’s deep ties to Sylvester Manor and Shelter Island.