Once Aboard the Lugger - Annie Wainright Scott Strong

Biography

Annie Wainright Scott Strong (1859-1928)

Annie Wainright Scott Strong was born on 15 Jan 1859, to prosperous businessman and politician, William Lawrence Scott and Mary Matilda Tracy Scott from Erie, Pennsylvania.

On 8 September 1881, Annie became the wife of Charles Hamot Strong (1853-1936), a businessman in coal, electricity and the local newspaper. Annie's father built a beautiful 46 room mansion for the couple, which was completed in 1893. The home is now the Old Main administration building at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Charles was the grandson of Pierre Simon Vincent Hamot, founder of the Hamot Hospital in Erie. Charles and Annie continued to financially support the hospital and Annie became the founder of Erie's first nursing school, The Hamot Hospitals Training School for Nurses.

Annie was described by Fortune Magazine as “Erie's Social Dictator" (Fortune Nov. 1934), she adored the socialite scene and enjoyed hosting lavish parties in the mansion. In the 1910 Census, only Annie and Charles lived in the mansion, along with seventeen domestics: a private secretary, two butlers, a house-keeper, three chambermaids, three “servants”, a cook, a kitchen-man, two laundresses, a chauffeur, and two coachmen.

Charles and Annie welcomed three U.S. Presidents (Roosevelt, Cleveland, Taft) into their extravagant home. Legend has it that President Taft got stuck in a bathtub on the third floor.

It has been widely suggested that Annie and Charles' marriage was not a happy one, but they did have one child together, Thora Wainwright Strong.

Annie died of a cerebral hemorrhage on 19 May 1928 in Erie, Pennsylvania.

UPEI's Provenance copy of Once Aboard the Lugger is simply signed “Annie W. Scott Strong". Below her name is the stamp of St. Dunstan's College Library.

Sources:

1860 United States Census. Census Place: Erie, Erie, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1107; Page: 199; Family History Library Film: 805107

1870 United States Census. Census Place: Erie Ward 4, Erie, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1340; Page: 45A; Family History Library Film: 552839

1880 United States Census. Census Place: Erie, Erie, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1128; Page: 336D; Enumeration District: 153

1900 United States Census. Census Place: Erie Ward 4, Erie, Pennsylvania; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0090

1910 United States Census. Census Place: Erie Ward 4, Erie, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1342; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0091; FHL microfilm: 1375355

1920 United States Census. Census Place: Erie Ward 4, Erie, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1565; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 94

Atkinson Erie City Directory, 1927/28, 55th edition. Erie: The Erie Printing Company, 1927.

“Erie's Social Dictator" Fortune Magazine, November 1934.

“Old Main, Landmark Spotlight." Gannon University, accessed June 10, 2018,
http://www.gannon.edu/SpotlightDetail.aspx?id=958

Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA. Certificate Number Range: 050501-053500

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