Holyoke: The Skinner Family and Wistariahurst
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About this ebook
Kate Navarra Thibodeau
Kate Navarra Thibodeau holds a master�s degree in American history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is a public historian and curator of Wistariahurst.
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Holyoke - Kate Navarra Thibodeau
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INTRODUCTION
Good history is the history of everybody,
stated Ellsworth H. Brown, director of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Historians, educators, curators, and interpreters face the challenge of making history for everybody when researching and writing community histories and presenting them to the public in museums and historic sites. Above all, history is emphasized for the public, often in the form of local and oral history.
There are many ways to learn about the past. One can study the past directly through objects and writings, listen to what people who were there say about the past, and study the present to look for traces of the past.
Wisteria, a flowering vine, covers much of the 26-room mansion, a place where this particular story begins. Wistariahurst features parquet floors, vaulted ceilings, elaborate woodwork, and two marble lions that have guarded the entrance since the late 19th century. But it was not always in Holyoke. The story of the building and the family who lived there begins in Williamsburg in 1868, where the building was constructed for silk manufacturer William Skinner. Local architect William Fenno Pratt designed the house in the traditional Victorian Second Empire style. The house stood in the section of town that was known as Skinnerville, until it was damaged in the Great Mill River Flood of May 16, 1874.
After the flood, William Skinner moved his family and silk-manufacturing business to Holyoke. His home was dismantled and rebuilt at its present site, on Cabot and Beech Streets. In 1908, Belle Skinner and her brother William C. Skinner inherited the house from their mother, Sarah. Belle extensively remodeled the interior, exterior, and gardens. She incorporated several revival styles that dramatically changed the look of the house and grounds. The estate was kept in the family until 1959, when the Skinners gave Wistariahurst to the city of Holyoke for cultural and educational purposes.
Cities that sprang up before and during the Industrial Revolution like Holyoke and Lowell are as different as they are similar. Each city has its own story of colorful characters, financial successes and troubles, entertaining lore, and sometimes tales of woe. The wealth generated from this industrial period in Holyoke allowed the Skinners to rise to the position of local prominence they hold today. Wistariahurst Museum seeks to preserve the home, landscape, and material culture of the Skinner family and Holyoke. The author’s hope is that this book continues with that mission and promotes an appreciation of history and culture through these words and images.
Though no amount of research about an historic house is ever truly finished, it is important for the public to know what historians and museum educators know about the past, in this case Holyoke and Wistariahurst. Local history is an interdisciplinary field, and as such, this book utilizes several fascinating resources including documents, photographs, and oral histories. It is the hope of the author that readers of this book become as interested as she has in the process of understanding local history within the context of local, state, national, and international history.
One
THE SKINNER FAMILY
William Skinner (1824–1902) is best known as a prominent silk manufacturer. Skinner used his skill as a silk dyer with tremendous success. His story is one of hard work, dedication, and ingenuity. He is pictured here around 1878, surrounded by his immediate family. Pictured are the following: (first row) Ruth Isabel Skinner, Nancy Skinner, William Skinner, Katharine Skinner, and Joseph Skinner; (second row) Eleanor Skinner, Sarah Allen Skinner, William C. Skinner, and Elizabeth Skinner.
William Skinner was one of the many immigrants who moved to this country and took advantage of the rich resources America offered. He immigrated to America from London, England, at the age of 19. He had learned to dye silk as an apprentice to his father in London. Within about five years, by 1848, Skinner was operating his own silk mill.
Thomas Skinner (1831–1922) (left) followed his two brothers, William and George B. Skinner (1828–1891) (not pictured), to America. He worked as a superintendent in the Skinner Silk Mills in Skinnerville, later moving to Holyoke with his brother William. He was the oldest inhabitant of South Hadley when he died at age 91 in 1922. He is buried