Emily McMasters
by Allan S. Everest
Previously published in The Antiquarian 1995
Emily Alice McMasters, a native of Plattsburgh,
lived there nearly all of her life. She came from a long line
of New Englanders who settled in the Mohawk Valley. James, an
ancestor, was a private in the famous Clinton-Sullivan campaign
of 1779 which sought to break the power of the Iroquois Indians
during the American Revolution. From him she could claim membership
in the Daughters of the American Revolution, in which she became
active.
Daniel S. McMasters (1813-1889), her grand-father, was born on North Hero, Vermont. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1840 and gravitated to Plattsburgh to study law under Judge William F. Haile. He was admitted to the bar in 1844. Subsequently he occupied most of the public positions in town and county, including county and surrogate judge, village president, and superintendent of the common schools of Clinton County.
His son Charles (1862-1926) also practiced law in Plattsburgh and married Clara Bowen (1863-1926), daughter of Shepard Bowen, an iron magnate of nineteenth century Plattsburgh. They acquired a homestead and small farm of 40 acres on the north side of Route 3, about three miles west of the village. Among the numerous public positions occupied by Charles was that of county coroner. His children included four sons and two daughters, one of them Emily, who was born at the farm, where she spent most of her life.
Emily (1890-1972) maintained close relations with two other brothers, Hector and Norman.
Hector owned a retail shop in Cadyville which reputedly sold liquor during Prohibition. Never married, he willed his property to Emily. Norman McMasters of Canton, New York, was a telegraph operator for the railroad in the early years of this century .He and Emily outlived their brothers and sister, so that it was natural for them to grow closer together.
Emily worked in New York City for a number of years but returned to Plattsburgh in 1936, probably induced by her mother's gift to her of the deed to the farm, her birthplace. There she established Green Lawns, "a restful quiet spot that the name suggests" with dining rooms in the house and banquet rooms in the barn; she also catered afternoon teas and bridge parties.
She carried on this popular enterprise for many years. It was located near the intersection of Route 3, where the road to Morrisonville branches to the left and the road to West Plattsburgh veers to the right. During road construction in 1938, she deeded to the road builders the right of passage across her property.
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During the construction of the county airport, she did a lively business providing meals for the workers. One of them, A.J. Hennessy, caught her eye and soon they were married. The marriage proved short-lived, however. They were divorced and she resumed her maiden name. The time came when Emily felt she could no longer carry on Green Lawns. Instead, she filled several rooms of her home with books she acquired at auction and opened a business in old and not-so-old volumes. Released from the confinement other restaurant, she became active in the DAR and in the Clinton County Historical Association. When the Association used a meeting room on the second floor of the Public Library, with a small adjoining room for a museum, Emily took over the management of the museum and literally kept it alive. Between 1962 and 1967 she served as Curator and "Chairman of the Museum and Procurement Committee." Unfortunately the Public Library needed the museum's space, and the Association was for several years without a home, its collections in storage. By the time it reopened in City Hall in 1973 she was no longer living. Emily maintained an avid interest in genealogy and. in historical matters generally. She was perhaps the first to publicize the work of Joseph Ladue of Schuyler Falls, founder of Dawson City in the Yukon. She had a wide correspondence across the nation, including Alaska. As she obtained new information, she recorded it on scraps of paper which only she could interpret, but her knowledge and inquiries stimulated others to pursue new interests. A lovely lady ready to share others' troubles, hospitable and generous, she created a warm place in the hearts of people who knew her. Emily wrote her will in 1970 and asked her brother Norman to be the executor. She died two years later and Norman carried out the terms of the will conscientiously. For awhile he moved into her home to protect it from vandals and to oversee the sale of her homestead and adjoining acres (it sold for $100,000 although originally appraised for only half that amount). He also planned the auctions of the home's contents and of a smaller lot across the road. Her estate totaled $140,000 which, after high taxes and expenses, she devised entirely within the family. One-third was to go to Norman; one-third was to be divided between the two Duryea children of her sister, and one-third among three nephews, children of her brother Charles. |
Clinton County Historical Association| One of these nephews, Daniel McMasters of Los Angeles, who was eligible to receive one-ninth of her estate, or $2,190.41, decided to forego this inheritance. Probably after consulting Uncle Norman, he made over his bequest to the Clinton County Historical Association in 1974. The Board of Directors of that organization used it to establish a McMasters prize for the best historical writing about the three counties of Clinton, Essex, and Franklin. Thus, the annual McMasters Prize has perpetuated Emily's name since the prize was first offered in 1976. |
ALLAN S. EVEREST, a previous editor of both the Antiquarian and North Country Notes, has also written articles for the Antiquarian in 1988, 1990, and 1992. Dr. Everest is a retired professor of history from State University in Plattsburgh and the author of several books on North Country history.