The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 103, July 1999 - April, 2000 Page: 26
554 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Segregation carried over into work, mandating separate facilities for
domestic employees and employers. On the street behind the McFaddin
home stood the carriage house, an 8,ooo-square-foot structure with a
central area for vehicles and animals. On either side were two first-floor
rooms and small front and back porches for "live-in" employees. The
bathrooms opened out onto the back porch rather than into the living
areas, providing access for employees who "lived out," since segregation
usually prohibited their use of the bathrooms in the main house."
Life for those in the carriage house revolved around activities in the
McFaddin home, which followed a basic routine. The men ate an early
breakfast downstairs before leaving for the ranch or office. Ida and
Mamie rose later, often breakfasting in their bedrooms before they
bathed, dressed, and issued orders to the servants. They then spent the
rest of their day supervising household operations, shopping, or plan-
ning or attending social, civic, and charitable activities.'8
With such busy schedules, the McFaddins, like other prosperous
Southern families, depended heavily on their domestic employees to
keep the household running smoothly. While the McFaddins did not
possess what etiquette maven Emily Holt described as "the luxuries of
great riches" (meaning they employed at least twelve servants), they nev-
ertheless employed seven or eight: butler or downstairs maid (some-
times both), upstairs maid, cook, yardman, chauffeur for W. P. H.
McFaddin, chauffeur for Ida McFaddin, and laundress. Between 1900
and 1950 the family hired as many as 10 o6 men and women, virtually all
African Americans. While many McFaddin domestic employees worked
for only a few weeks or even a day, some stayed on for years; and al-
though they remained in the background, they were an integral part of
lifestyles and routine in the house.'9
Ida and her daughter Mamie trained employees thoroughly, and their
bookshelves held reference books on domestic operations, among them
The Cyclopaedia of Social Usage, Manners and Social Usages, and The Up-to-
Date Waitress. All employees were expected to work diligently and capably
17 Foy and Linsley, The McFaddin-Ward House, 25-26; Hermes Manuel, interview by Katherine
Krile, Aug. 6, 1987, Tapes 84-85, transcript pp. 7-8 (MWH).
18 Foy and Linsley, The McFaddin-Ward House, 15, 30, 34-35.
19 Emily Holt, Encyclopaedia of Etiquette (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1904), 417; Rosine
McFaddin Wilson, "Recollections and Retrospectives," typescript, Jan. 1986 (MWH), 12. Statis-
tics on McFaddin domestic employees were derived from Beaumont City Directories; U.S. Bu-
reau of the Census, 1900oo, 1910; Mamie McFaddin Ward (hereafter referred to as MMW) diaries,
1920-1950, MLMW Box 59 (MWH); W. P. H. McFaddin (hereafter referred to as WPH) check-
ing accounts, 1908, 1911, WPH, Box 1 (MWH); WPH personal ledger 1914-1922 (MWH); Ida
Caldwell McFaddin (hereafter referred to as ICM) accounts ledger, 1934-1946 (MWH); ICM
checking account, 1949-1950, ICM, Box 1 (MWH). Between 19goo and 1950 the only recorded
white domestic employee for the McFaddins is a woman on the 19go census.July
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 103, July 1999 - April, 2000, periodical, 2000; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101220/m1/52/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.