Edgar’s Childhood
Edgar B. Grier Jr. was born on April 6, 1894 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was the only child of Dr. Edgar B. Grier and Fanny (Crane) Grier. Edgar’s family was rather affluent. His father and his maternal grandfather were both physicians. Edgar was an only child. His parents and grandparents doted on him. One indication of this is a large number of professional photographs of him as a baby and a child. Four of those are below.
Edgar with his Mother and his Maternal Grandfather, Dr. Job Crane
Edgar as a Baby
Edgar and his Grandmother, Helen Watkins Crane
Edgar at Age 7 at Birmingham, PA
Edgar Jr. grew up in Elizabeth and graduated from the Pingry School at the Central Baptist Church there on June 5, 1911. The Pingry School was a private boy’s school that aimed to provide its students with a strict classical education. (The Pingry School later moved to campuses in Millburn and Basking Ridge, and is today ranked as the best private school in New Jersey.) After he graduated from the Pingry School, Edgar attended the Pawling School, another private school in upstate New York.
Isabel’s Childhood
Isabel Halsey Brown was born on October 27, 1892 in Philadelphia. Her parents were Edward H. and Sarah (Runk) Brown. She grew up in Elizabeth, NJ. She was educated at the Vail-Deane School, a private prep school for girls in Elizabeth.
Military Service and Marriage
In 1913 Edgar went to work for Kidder-Peabody, a New York City securities brokerage firm. He joined the Essex Troop, an elite group of horsemen that was part of the New Jersey National Guard. In 1916 the Essex Troop was called to active duty to assist the regular army in defending the Mexican borer against incursions by Mexican revolutionaries led by Pancho Villa. The Essex Troop was activated again in 1917 after the U.S. entered World War I. Edgar enlisted on July 25, 1917 and served as a second lieutenant in the US Cavalry. He married Isabel H. Brown on December 13, 1917 in Elizabeth, NJ. At the time of his marriage he was stationed at Camp McClellan, Anniston, AL.
Edgar and Isabel lived in Anniston for a time after their marriage. On June 15, 1918 Edgar and other officers sailed from Hoboken, NJ to Europe on the ship S/S Finland. On May 6, 1919 Edgar sailed from St. Nazaire, France to Newport News, Virginia. Edgar was discharged from the service on June 11, 1919.
New Haven
After his discharge from the service, Edgar and Isabel moved to Pond Point Beach in Milford, Connecticut, near New Haven. Edgar went to work for Charles W. Scranton, a New Haven investment company. In the 1921-22 New Haven and West Haven City Directory, Edgar was listed as a salesman, living at 943 Elm Street in New Haven.
Edgar as a Young Man
Isabel and Edgar had four children. Virginia (“Jinny”) was born on September 22, 1918, Cathryn (“Katy”) was born on July 13, 1920, Isabel (“Izzie”) was born on August 4, 1921, and Frances (“Franny”) was born on May 9, 1924. The family belonged to St. John’s Episcopal Church in New Haven.
Two Photos of the Four Daughters of Isabel and Edgar Grier
Edgar and Isabel owned an old farm in Southbury, Connecticut, between New Haven and Danbury. I believe that they spent time there in the summer while their children were growing up.
The Farm, Southbury, Connecticut
By 1929 the family had moved to 39 Cleveland Road, down the street from the Yale Bowl. In the fall, people would park their cars in the Griers’ lawn while attending football games at the Bowl.
Edgar worked as a stockbroker. He and his wife Isabel took several vacation trips overseas in the late 1920s and 1930s. In the summer of 1929 they went to France, in the summer of 1931 they went to Bermuda, and in the spring of 1936 they went to Vera Cruz, Mexico.
During the great depression private schools such as the Grier School struggled to survive. At that time the Grier School was run by Thomas Grier, Edgar’s first cousin. Edgar felt that he should support the family business by sending his three youngest daughters to the Grier School. He may have paid for that with money which he inherited after his mother died in 1931.
In 1938 Edgar sold the farm and the house on Cleveland Road and bought a large house at 130 Davis Street in the suburb of Hamden. That house had been owned by Henry Seidel Canby, the first Editor in Chief of the Book of the Month Club. The house had a large living room with many built-in bookcases. In the late 1930’s, Edgar owned a Cadillac LaSalle automobile which he was particularly proud of. He loved golf, and he and Isabel belonged to the New Haven Country Club.
Edgar Grier Jr at Home
On January 1, 1952 Edgar was admitted as a general partner of Chas. W. Scranton, the stock brokerage firm where he had worked since moving to New Haven. He was also an avid fisherman. He and his wife Isabel were on a fishing trip in northeastern New Hampshire in June, 1952 when he died of a heart attack in Errol, NH. He is buried in the East Side Cemetery in Woodbridge, Connecticut.
Isabel’s Life After Edgar’s Death
Isabel’s first grandchild, Peter Trafton, called her “Dowie” when he was small, and the name stuck. All of her grandchildren and even some of her friends called her by that name. She enjoyed nature and watching birds. She also enjoyed fishing. She had a strong interest in American history, and enjoyed taking her grandchildren to reconstructed villages like Old Sturbridge Village and Mystic Seaport. During her visits to Mystic Seaport and other places, she sometimes bought pieces of antique scrimshaw. She accumulated a fair-sized collection, including some very nice pieces. After her death many of her grandchildren received a piece from her collection, and there was enough left over to make it worthwhile to auction off.
A Piece of Scrimshaw from Dowie’s Collection, a Whale Tooth
She was an avid reader, and accumulated a large collection of books during her life. She often gave books to her grandchildren for Christmas and birthdays. In the 1950s and ’60s she did quite a bit of traveling. She took a trip around the world on a freighter which had some accommodations for passengers. She also took trips with some of her children and grandchildren.
Dowie and her Four Daughters – Possibly on Dowie’s 75th Birthday on October 27, 1967
In the late 1960s she sold the house at 130 Davis Street and bought a condominium a few miles away. A few years later she moved in with her daughter Fran in Winchester, Mass. Later she moved to Clover Manor, a senior living facility in Auburn, Maine near the home of her oldest daughter, Jinny.
Probably the Last Photo taken of Dowie (1979)
She died in Lewiston, Maine on July 6, 1979. She is buried in lot 38B of the East Side Cemetery in Woodbridge, Connecticut.
