Lillian Henrietta (Townsend) Snow (1873 - 1943)

Born 17 Jun 1873 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA

Ancestors

Wife of Frederic Elmer Snow — married 11 Feb 1896 in Boston, Massachusetts

Died 12 Jan 1943 at age 69 in Belmont, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

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Biography

Lillian Henrietta Townsend was born on 11 June 1873 at her parents' home on 45 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA. She was the daughter of Dr. Henry Elmer Townsend and his wife, Emilie Wilhelmina (Kaupe) Townsend. Her father was a medical doctor; he was a native of Boston; her mother had been born in Crefeld, Prussia (Germany).^[1]

Lillian Henrietta Townsend was born into privilege; her family was well known in Boston society in the 19th Century. Her father graduated from Harvard College, class of 1863, and Harvard Medical School in 1867; he was one of the founders of the Boston Daily Globe newspaper, among other business achievements.^{[2] [3]}

Lily was not recorded on the 1880 US Census because she was living in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England, UK, visiting her father's British relatives. She was, however, recorded as a "scholar" and "niece" on the 1881 UK Census.^[4]

Her father, whose affairs had suffered since 1873, passed away from "rheumatic gout," which had also afflicted his father, on 14 July 1891 at only 49 years old. It must have been a devastating blow for 18-year-old Lillian and her German-socialite mother. They moved out of Boston to Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts. Fortunately, Lillian's youth and beauty captured the heart of prominent Boston attorney and well-to-do businessman, Frederic Elmer Snow, perhaps a distant cousin. He was the 27-year-old son of Rev. Joseph Crocker Snow, a well-known New England Unitarian theologian. The couple were married in Boston by the Rev. Leighton Parks on 11 February 1896.^[5] Frederic and Lilly Snow had fraternal twins: a boy and a girl: Frederic & Dorothea Snow, born prematurely on 18 September 1896, but they died the next day. They were buried next to Lilly's father at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. ^[6][7]

On the 1 June 1900 US Census, the couple were recorded living at their summer home in Little's Point, part of Swampscott Town, Essex County, Massachusetts. Their household now included two young sons:^[8]

1. William F Snow, b: Sep 1897 in Essex Co., Massachusetts
2. Kitchell Snow, b: June 1899 in Essex Co., Massachusetts

Frederick Snow was a lawyer & businessman. His wife kept house along with 6 live-in servants, all foreign-born, ranging in age from 19 to 49 years old. It's interesting (and a bit strange) that the same 1900 Census enumerator listed Lilly's 54-year-old mother, Emilie W. Townsend, b: Germany, as a live-in "servant" in the Household. She clearly lived with them until her death in 1906.^[9] Their Essex County neighborhood was very affluent as all of their close neighbors also had live-in servants listed on the same Census. From 1900 to the 1930s, Frederic Elmer and Lillian (Townsend) Snow were among Boston's leading socialite couples.^[10]

Ten years later, as per the June 1910 US Census report, Frederick E. Snow and his wife Lillian had moved to Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, where he continued his legal practice. They now had 3rd son, Crocker Snow, born in February 1905, as well as their 2 older boys. On this Census, taken in Boston, they only reported one servant, a 35-year-old Nanny from Switzerland. They also had a summer home in Swampscott, on Buzzard's Bay, where their other servants were already preparing for the family's summer sojourn.^[11]

January 1920's US Census reported 55-year-old Frederick E. Snow, attorney, as living in Boston's Ward 8, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, with his 42-year-old wife, Lillian [Townsend] Snow. The couple now had 4 sons, adding Frederic Elmer Snow, Jr., born just after the 1 June 1910 Census. The household again boasted 6 servants, 5 women and 1 man; plus Lillian's 69-year old aunt, Sophie Townsend, born in Germany. ^[12]

In 1930, still living in Boston, Massachusetts, now in their $35,000 house on Bay State Road, 64-year-old Attorney, Frederick E. Snow, and his 56-year-old wife, Lillian [Townsend] Snow, had just their 2 youngest sons: Crocker Joseph Snow, 24, and Frederick E. Snow, Jr., 20, living with them. Son Crocker J. Snow was listed as an Aviator, running a flying school. Fred Jr. was in school. The family had 7 foreign-born, all-female, servants in the household but Aunt Sophie was no longer present, and presumably had passed away. The professions of their 7 servants included 2 chamber-maids; a cook, a laundress; a kitchen-maid, a washer-woman, and a nurse. ^[13]

Frederick Elmer Snow died in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, on March 5, 1935. He was 70 years old. He was interred at the Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory, Jamaica Plain, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA.^[14] His wife survived his passing. On the 1940 US Census, as Lillian H. Snow, she was listed as a "patient" in a private sanatorium (nursing home) in Belmont, Middlesex, Massachusetts.^[15] She died there on January 12, 1943, at 69 years old. She was interred next to her husband at the Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory, Jamaica Plain, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA.^[16]

Research Notes:

As can be seen from the 1930s commentaries below, Lillian (Townsend) Snow's final years were anything but peaceful. Written "between the lines" is the story of a love-affair or infatuation that was "dealt with" by Lillian's powerful and wealthy family, as she never remarried.

• The Morning News, Wilmington, Delaware, Monday, April 27, 1936; Page: 2:

April 26: "Mrs. Frederic E. Snow, dowager widow of a socially prominent and wealthy Boston lawyer, disclosed her engagement tonight to Baron Wilhelm Frary von Blomberg, 28, a press agent. The baron was known merely as William T. Frary of Lynn, until his legal adoption in 1933 by the Baroness Adelheid Maria von Blomberg. 77. of Boston. The baroness is promoter of a theory that cancer is caused by the confluence of underground currents, whose location can be determined by divining rods. She is a cousin of General Werner von Blomberg, German minister of defense. Prepared for Criticism She is an "old and dear" friend of Mrs. Snow. who said of her engagement:"

"I'm quite prepared for an avalanche of criticism when my friends and my friendly enemies learn of my plans."

Informed of Mrs. Snow's announcement, one of her two sons, Crocker Snow, an aviator, remarked.

"I don't believe anything about the engagement, and I can guarantee there'll be no marriage."

Said the other son, William T. Snow, executor of his father's large estate, which is held in trust:

"The family are very much opposed to it. If any attempt is made to get a license, it would be prevented."

Billy's "Great Comfort," Mrs. Snow, who maintains a town house on fashionable Bay State Road in Boston, and has a summer estate, "The Glaciers," at Bourne, Buzzards Bay, on Cape Cod, spoke freely about the background of her romance with the young publicity man.

"Frankly. I don't know whether it's love or infatuation on my part. I know that I've been very lonely this year and that truly has been a great comfort and solace."

The baron, a press agent for confectionery, ice cream and fish interests. and who lives in a cottage in Boston painted baby blue, commented:

"We are in perfect accord. Our interests are the same. Our different environments have contributed to dissipate any inequality in years. I have always associated with older people, and am, I am told, vastly mature beyond my years."

Lillian H. Townsend Snow ended by being committed to a "private sanitarium" for wealthy elderly persons, deemed by their close relations to be unable to make decisions or care for themselves. She passed away there on January 12, 1943, at 69 years old.

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FX43-9MX : 10 March 2018), Lillian Henrietta Townsend, 17 Jun 1873, Boston, Massachusetts; citing reference ID #49, Massachusetts Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,428,165 NOTE: Her mother's maiden name is listed on Lillian's marriage record, cited below; other information is from other Sources, cited below.
2. ↑ Review of Reviews and World's Work, edited by Albert Shaw; Vol. 4: Obituaries 1891, 14 July, pg. 19
3. ↑ Report of the Secretary: Harvard College Class of 1863: Henry Elmer Tucker Obituary, pp. 57-59 Lists life achievements and failures in the "Panic of 1873" and illness.
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27J-FHGZ : 13 December 2017), Lily Townsend in household of Thomas Townsend, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 52, Piece/Folio 2555/79, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,896.
5. ↑ "Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4N7-GDG : 22 May 2018), Frederic E Snow and Lilian H Townsend, 11 Feb 1896; citing Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,843,697.
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #150920978 retrieved 20 Jun 2019 - Dorothea Snow
7. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #150921017 retrieved 20 Jun 2019 - Frederic Snow.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9R6-XF9 : accessed 18 April 2018), Frederick Snow, Swampscott town (south part), Essex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 466, sheet 20A, family 467, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,648.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9R6-XF7 : accessed 21 June 2019), Emily W Townsend in household of Frederick Snow, Swampscott town (south part), Essex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 466, sheet 20A, family 467, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,648.
10. ↑ See Frederic Snow's profile.
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2KR-77N : accessed 18 April 2018), Frederick E Snow, Boston Ward 11, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1425, sheet 36B, family 655, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 618; FHL microfilm 1,374,631.
12. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF98-MCB : accessed 18 April 2018), Fredrick E Snow, Boston Ward 8, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; citing ED 241, sheet 1A, line 43, family 9, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 742; FHL microfilm 1,820,742.
13. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQ5B-G8S : accessed 18 April 2018), Frederick E Snow, Boston (Districts 1-250), Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 165, sheet 2B, line 74, family 36, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 946; FHL microfilm 2,340,681.
14. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #9578663 retrieved 18 Apr 2018 Frederic Elmer Snow.
15. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4FH-PCW : accessed 18 April 2018), Lilian T Snow in household of Elmer H Stotz, Belmont Town, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 9-53, sheet 3A, line 28, family 7, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1602.
16. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #9578678 retrieved 18 Apr 2018 Lilian Henrietta Townsend Snow.

• "Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FX43-9MX : 10 March 2018), Lillian Henrietta Townsend, 17 Jun 1873, Boston, Massachusetts; citing reference ID #49, Massachusetts Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,428,165.

• "Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4NQ-XQ5 : 22 May 2018), Frederic Elmer Snow and Lilian H Townsend, 11 Feb 1896; citing Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,843,696.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #124570301 retrieved 21 Jun 2019 - Dr. Henry Elmer Townsend (1841-1891). His wife's memorial is linked to his.