Iowa Heritage Digital Collections
State Library of Iowa

Notes from the past : recollections of Hazel Marshall, the early years: 1908-1917

Title

Notes from the past : recollections of Hazel Marshall, the early years: 1908-1917

Description

Page 3 of 6-page newsletter.

Date

1991-09

Contributor

Four Mounds Foundation

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without permission. For permission to use the digital image, please contact: office@fourmounds.org

Format

1 page : b&w ; 11 in
JPEG

Type

Still Image; Newsletters

File Name

FMQuarterlyFall91.jpg

Repository Collection

Four Mounds Digital Collection

Digital Reproduction Information

Document scanned using Ricoh Aficio 3238 scanner at 600 ppi, 24-bit depth.

Digital item created

7/26/2006

Notes

NOTES FROM THE PAST RECOLLECTIONS or HAZEL MARSHALL THE EARLY YEARS: f908-f9f7 One of the largest gaps we have in terms of historical information on Four Mounds is the years around 1908 when the Burdens first purchased the property. Thus we were very excited when we were recently introduced to Hazel Marshall. Hazel's father, Clarence Warren, was the original chauffeur and so Hazel lived on the Four Mounds property for much of the time between 1908 and 1917. The following information was taken from an interview recorded on September 23rd of this year. Hazel's earliest memories of Four Mounds are not of cars but rather of horses. Clarence Warren was originally hired to drive the horse drawn carriages used in 1908. She recalls the Burdens having at least five carriages and four horses to pull them. Thus what we now call the barn was originally the carriage house. About 1912 the Burdens got their first car, a Packard, and Mr. Warren was retained as the chauffeur, a job he held until 1917. Some of Hazel's fondest memories are of the Burden children, Billy and Viola. Viola gave Hazel her first piano lesson up in the Grey Mansion and Billy spent a large amount of time playing with the Warren children. Billy always held Halloween parties down in the basement of the Mansion and Hazel still remembers bobbing for apples there. Later in Billy's life Hazel was lucky enough to receive a ride in his first car, a ScrippsBooth. Other recollections of Hazels about the property include those that deal with the Grey Mansion. One gap that she filled in for us was who built the mansion. She recalls that Nick Schueller was the contractor and and that it took him nearly the whole year of 1908 to accomplish this task. One memory of the new mansion that Hazel affectionately recalls is the wonderful food that the Burden's first cook, Nellie O'Donnell prepared. Hazel remembers Nellie being very good at her trade and one of the main reasons that the dinner parties the Burdens often held in their new home on the hill were so successful. One of the best views of the property was from the mansions third story attic. Here Hazel lovingly remembers dressing up in the clothes that were stored there. Certainly the stuff that childhood memories are built upon. Hazel says the grounds have changed dramatically since her childhood days when things were much more open. She still recalls being able to look out her bedroom window in the chauffeurs house and see the old steamer "The Packet" making its way up or down the river. Hazel eventually married George Marshall whose father had sold part of the Four Mounds property to the Burdens and who had grown up on the other side of Peru Road. They moved into a home just down the road from Four Mounds but over the years lost contact with the Burdens. For our sake though, she had already stored up numerous memories of Four Mounds and those "missing" early years. A VERY SPECIAL THANKS: - To Kay Bourkney for bringing our attention to Hazel Marshall. - To Hazel Marshall for sharing her wonderful memories with the Foundation. -3-