The Last Day of March

- and the end of "Women's History Month."

I wish I had known ...

Anna Cleveland James

1875 – 1954

She had been born in New Orleans, but after the death of her mother, Kate Collins Cleveland, in1885, Anna was sent here, to Waterville, where her father, William Fiske Cleveland, had grown up.  Her grandfather was George Cleveland who, like his older brother, William, was a physician in the community.  Her father’s sister, Alice, and her husband, Hermon Clarke, took Anna into their home and the little girl went to school at the Academy on the corner of White and Academy (now Barton Avenue) Streets.

The Clarke home, which originally stood on Stafford Avenue, was moved to East Bacon Street in the late 1920s to make room for the new school building. It - or at least the front half of it -  is now the first house on the north side, the residence of the Carentz family.

After high school, Anna went on to college in the Midwest and studied dramatic performance and theater. She made her stage debut in Los Angeles. After spending several years on the West Coast she then moved back east to continue her career on Broadway.

Anna Cleveland c. 1919

She appeared as a leading lady in many stage productions including “So This is London,” produced by George M. Cohen.

In 1912,  during those years of her early success, she set an endurance record for the first woman to fly a Wright Brothers Bi-plane, staying aloft for 37 minutes.

In August, 1912,  the Waterville Times reported that “Mr. Harry Atwood, the world renowned air man, will be in Waterville about 1 October for the purpose of further instructing Miss Anna Cleveland and the art of aviation. Miss Cleveland arrived in Waterville on Monday to be the guest of her uncle, Hermon Clark. She’s here for only for a short time and expects to return to Boston to complete her engagement as leading lady with the Lindsey Morrison stock company, which has been playing a summer engagement in that city. At the end of six weeks the actress will return here for a few weeks’ rest and about October 1, Harry N. Atwood will come to this place with his biplane to complete the series of lessons which were begun in the spring in the vicinity of Boston. Miss Cleveland is said to possess wonderful nerve and her experiments in the air thus far have been delightful experiences. Mr. Atwood’s presence will attract a good deal of attention.  It is expected that the lessons will take place from the Waterville golf links. (Located on “South Street,” now Osborne Avenue.)

Harry N. Atwood.

(Might one dare suspect that Miss Cleveland's interest was not solely in flying?)

She later bettered her own record by another three minutes, but when she learned of the death of another aviatrix in an airplane crash, she gave up what she once thought might have been her new career.

In 1917 or 1918 she purchased what was then called “The Eastern Star Home” and renamed it “Illahee.”

Originally built as his residence by Col. William Osborn, it served as The Eastern Star Home for only eight years, from 1908 – 1916,  before the organization decided to establish a new facility at its present location in Oriskany, New York.

In July, 1918, it was reported in The Waterville Times that “the Sanger Cornell study club will hold its annual picnic on Thursday in the Grove at the Illahee, formerly the Eastern Star home, where one of their members Miss Dell Lyons, resides.” In addition to running a "rooming house" and entertaining many of her friends from the theater, Anna was the hostess at many popular charitable and community events and some of Waterville’s older residents may yet remember getting all dressed up to attend children’s picnics held in "the grove" every Summer.

In 1919 Anna was featured in the silent film, “Stream of life,”  which, The Waterville Times noted, “was shown in Waterville courtesy of Miss Cleveland." The editor wrote that "Miss Cleveland and her husband, Mr. W. W. Belknap, leave next week for Boston, where they will open a new theater for an engagement of several weeks. In January they expect to go to British Columbia, and possibly into Alaska, where films are to be made during the season of the deepest snow. Returning in the spring they will open a studio for making moving picture films, to be located in Oneida County.”

But the Belknaps were suddenly divorced and Anna then married Harry B. James in July of 1920.  He was well-known in shipping and banking circles, but died less than a year later. From his obituary in The Waterville Times, June 10, 1921: "Mr. James married Anna Cleveland of this village in July 1920, who, with a little son, Cleveland, and a daughter, Anna, survives."

In 1923, Anna was appearing on stage in Newark and entertaining  at Illahee when she was at home in Waterville.  From The Waterville Times, January, 1929, "Mrs. James has closed Illahee for the winter and moved into her apartment on  Stafford Avenue.” In 1929,  “…  friends from Long Island are spending summer visiting at Illahee.“ She also must have kept a residence in New York, because The Waterville Times noted that in December of 1932 she had “… returned from NY with her daughter to open Illahee for holidays. Her son, Cleveland, joins them for vacation from … Military Academy.”

Times were not always rosy, however, and it was announced in The Waterville Times that the Sheriff would hold a tax sale of land on Berrill Avenue belonging to Anna Cleveland James on May 1, 1934.

Somehow, obviously, funds were raised and the property continued to belong to Mrs. James (or her family) because in Sept 20, 1934, “Illahee opened as tea room. Mrs. James will be assisted by Mary Daniels.” A group of local ladies “met there for Contract bridge followed by a delicious luncheon.”

In 1937 Anna Cleveland James bought her childhood home, the former residence of her aunt and uncle, Alice and Hermon Clarke, on East Bacon Street. (Alice had died in 1911 and Hermon two years later.) In July of that same year, it was noted in The Waterville Times that "Mr. and Mrs. Baronig Baron and little daughter Baronette have opened their home, Illahee, for the summer."  The Barons were divorced in 1941.

Sometime around 1940, Anna took up residence in an apartment in what is now the Swanberg Home. Living there at the same time were the Fleischmann family, which included Paul and his sister Anne (Fleischmann) Ingersoll.  Paul remembered knowing Anna and that when her daughter came to visit she brought her children, Baronette and James, with her and that they were fun playmates.  He also recalled hearing beautiful music – young Anna playing the piano in her mother’s apartment.

Anna Cleveland James died in 1954 in Queens, New York, at the age of 79.

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The first reference to Illahee as “the Baron Apartments” is in 1947.
From The Watervillle Times, August 1947: "Baronig Baron, president of the Broadtop Mining Company, Riddlesburg, Pennsylvania, will be the guest speaker at the weekly dinner meeting of the Waterville Rotary Club. His topic will be 'The Future of Coal.' " He was then described as a "resident of Waterville and owner of large real estate holdings in this locality." 
The Baron Apartments were purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Patrick McDonnell in 1971. Since then, there have been several owners and it is now the residence of Rita and "Red" Mack.

During one of the recent summertime gatherings of “old timers”  -  “Once Upon a Time in Waterville”  -  Mr. Jack Youngs recalled that the daughter, Anna, “was a beautiful girl!” and Mr. George Kelley, who grew up on East Bacon Street,  said that he remembered Baronig Baron driving a long, open car and speaking with a Russian accent.

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Not long ago a Collins genealogist researching Anna’s mother’s family found my references to the aviatrix / actress on the internet and wrote: “Anna is really an intriguing person to research. She seems to have been a genuinely attractive, charismatic, talented person, but also somewhat of an adventuress -- and definitely had a tendency to glamorize and exaggerate her past!“

Fact or fancy, I still wish I’d had the chance to listen to her tell her stories - she must have had so many to tell!

Interesting note:  Anna’s daughter was also a pilot and flew for the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) in World War II. Her second husband had been a pilot in the Pacific for five years during the War.