The Hotel Del Coronado, on Coronado Island just off San Diego, California is one of my favorite hotels.
It is classified (by people who do that sort of thing) as "one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: the wooden Victorian beach resort." If you are not familiar with the hotel or its history, Wikipedia is always a good place to start:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_del_Coronado
The hotel was almost sold last year to the Chinese, but the US government stepped in at the last minute and stopped the sale due to the hotel's proximity to US Naval installations in the San Diego area.
I was lucky to be able to stay at the hotel in May of 1989 when I served on a panel for the California Mortgage Bankers Association. Even though I was not able to stay in the older Victorian part of the hotel, it was a grand experience just to there.
Since my stay there I have managed to put together a small collection of Hotel Del memorabilia and check ebay on a regular basis to see if anything interesting turns up.
Recently on ebay I came across the following:
It is a bill presented to Mrs. Charles L. Tutt for her stay at The Del from October 23-30, 1909. The grand total for Mrs. Tutt and two additional guests was $168.65. Before we take a closer look at the charges she incurred at the hotel, let's see what we can "dig up" about Mrs. Charles Tutt.
Mrs. Charles L. Tutt was born Josephine Thayer on February 12, 1858 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Martin Russell Thayer (1819-1906) and Sophia Dallas Watmough (1831-1881). Martin Thayer was a lawyer, jurist and author, and was elected to Congress as a representative from Pennsylvania twice during the Civil War period as a Republican. Sophia Watmough was the second (of three) wives of Martin Thayer. They were married from 1850 until her death in 1881. In addition to Josephine, Martin and Sophia had six other children: Russell (1852-1933), Maria (1854-1879), Martha (Patsy) (1857-1884), Sophia (1859-1927), William (1862-1893), and Margaret (1869-1929).
Josephine Thayer made her first appearance in the 1860 US Census in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father listed his name as "M. Russell Thayer," a lawyer. He told the census taker that he was 40 years old, and that his wife Sophia was 26. Living with them were children Russell (7), Maria (5), Martha (4), Josephine (3) and Sophie (1). Also living with the family were Sophia's mother Maria Watmough (49) and sister Julia (28) along with four domestics. Martin Thayer said his real estate was worth $17,000 and personalty was worth $5,000.
Josephine's second appearance was in the 1870 US Census, still in Philadelphia. The family consisted of M.R. Thayer (50). Sophia (35), Russell (17), Maria (15), Martha/Patsy (14), Josephine (12), Sophia (11), William (8), and Margaret (1). Also included was Sophia's sister Julia (36) and three domestics. Unfortunately other than the names and ages, nothing else is filled in on the 1870 US Census sheet for the Thayer family.
I was not able to find the 1880 US Census for Josephine Thayer or the Thayer family. There was good news however, lurking around the corner for Josephine Thayer: her marriage.
Josephine Thayer married Charles Leaming Tutt in Philadelphia on December 29, 1885. The bride was twenty-seven, the groom was only twenty-one! Here's the story from the Philadelphia Times from December 30, 1885:
Who was the lucky groom? Charles Leaming Tutt was born on St. Valentine's Day, 1864 in Philadelphia to Charles Pendleton Tutt, MD (1832-1866) and Rebecca Waln Leaming (1835-1888). Charles P. Tutt was a noted physician and surgeon affiliated with the Philadelphia Hospital, and a personal friend of President Andrew Jackson. In addition to Charles the younger, his parents also had a daughter Rebecca Waln Tutt (1859-1928). History does not reveal when Josephine Thayer first met Charles L. Tutt, but both families were well-to-do and moved in the same circles. The bride and groom had probably known each other in some capacity all their lives. I was not able to find a photo of Josephine Thayer Tutt, but ancestry.com gives us this photo of her husband:
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| Charles Leaming Tutt |
Charles L. Tutt was president of the Colorado-Philadelphia Reduction Company, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Vice-President and a Director of the C. O. D. Gold Mining Company, President of the Cripple Creek Sampling and Ore Company, President of the Townsite Gold Mining Company, the Hayden Gold Mining Company, the Pennsylvania Gold Developing Company and the Annie Gold Mining Company, of Cripple Creek. He has been identified intimately with the development of the famous Colorado mining region, which, in 1897, produced one-fifth of the entire output of gold in the United States and one-twentieth of that of the whole world. In fact, Charles was living in El Paso, Colorado at the time of the marriage. I think it's safe to say that Josephine married well.
Josephine and Charles Tutt were blessed with four children: Sophia (1887-1903), Charles Jr. (1889-1961), Russell (1890-1891) and William (1893-1917).
The first census after their marriage - 1890 - is of course, lost, so we will have to look for the young couple in the 1900 Census. They were living at 12 W. Bijou Street, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A Catholic health care organization sits on that spot today. Charles Tutt said he was forty years old and was a "Miner."
Then Josephine and Charles got a little "creative" with the census taker. She said she had been born in December of 1862, when she had actually been born in February of 1858. He said he had been born in October of 1859 but had actually been born in February of 1864. I constantly warn people who do genealogy research, do not trust the census as a proof of a fact. People could (and did) tell the census taker anything without having to prove it was true.
They did both correctly state they had been married sixteen years, but then they gave the census taker incorrect information - again. They said that Josephine had given birth to three children, and that all three were alive in 1900. She had actually given birth to four children, and one, Russell Thayer Tutt died in 1891 when he was three months old. As his tombstone in Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs says, he was born on Christmas, 1890 and died on Easter, 1891:
They could not have forgotten him. Was it just too painful to reveal to the census taker? We'll never know. Living with the Tutts in 1900 was also Mary Murray, an Irish cook, and Edith Wisburg, a Swedish maid. They did tell the census taker that they lived in a house, and that they owned, not rented it.
Tragedy hit the Tutt family again in 1903 when their sixteen year-old daughter Sophia died. Here's the story from the Los Angeles Times, February 25, 1903:
Here's some more of the story:
While she was convalescing, Sophia Tutt stayed at the Hotel Metropole on Catalina Island, which had been owned by the Tutt family for quite some time. The Hotel Metropole burned to the ground in the Great Fire of 1915.
Sophia Tutt was buried next to her brother at the Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs:
Life went on for Josephine Tutt, as it tends to do. She lost her father Judge Thayer in 1906 at the ripe old age of 87. Josephine's mother had died back in 1881, before she was even married. She had also lost three siblings: Maria in 1879, Martha in 1884 and William in 1893.
That brings us up to 1909, the year of her stay at the Hotel Del Coronado. What had happened in Josephine Tutt's life in 1909 that could cause her to need an out-of town-vacation? The call came from New York on January 21, 1909:
Here's some additional information from the New York Times on January 22, 1909:
The Los Angeles Times had a different slant on Tutt's death from their edition of January 22, 1909 (note highlighted area):
Charles Tutt was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, Colorado near the son and daughter who predeceased him:
In Victorian times a widow wore dull black clothes for one year and a day after the death of her husband. She could not leave the house without wearing her mourning dress and she was also not allowed to wear any jewelry or ornaments. The Victorian era ended officially with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and was succeeded by the Edwardian period which ended in 1910. Some of the more severe Victoria mourning customs had been eased by 1909 when Charles Tutt died, but most widows of that era still chose to observe a one year period of mourning where they stayed in their home and did not venture out. Josephine Tutt was not one of these widows.
There is an old saying, "Money may not buy happiness, but it sure makes misery a lot easier to live with." This was certainly the case for Josephine Thayer Tutt. She found herself a widow at the relatively young age of 50. Charles Tutt had only been 44 when he died. If we check the newspapers of the day, we find that unlike many society widows of the era Josephine resumed the life she had before she was widowed - attending family events, parties and galas given by the other wealthy people who moved in her set - and many stays at a particular southern California hotel - NOT, as you might think, the Hotel Del Coronado.
On April 6, 1909, just seventy-five days after Charles Tutt's death, the Los Angeles Herald reported the following:
This was followed on September 20, 1909 with the following:
And on October 6, 1909:
The Van Nuys was a nice hotel, but it was very different from the Hotel Del Coronado.
The Van Nuys was downtown, the Del was at the seashore. The Van Nuys had no grounds to speak of, the Del had lawns, beaches, and even a polo field. Why, after staying at the Van Nuys in early October did Josephine Tutt decide to go to the Hotel Del Coronado for a week later that same month? History does not reveal the answer. Interestingly, on November 25, 1909, Josephine Tutt and party were back at the Van Nuys:
Before we move on, let's take a closer look at Mrs. Tutt's invoice from the Hotel Del Coronado:
We see that there were three people in the party, Mrs. Tutt and two unnamed guests. They stayed in Rooms 342-343. They were charged $112.00 for the use of the rooms for 7 days; that equates to a daily rate of $16.00. At that time, the daily rate also included three meals in any of the hotel's restaurants. They had wine or mineral water charges on the 23rd and on the 28th - $1.00 each time. Since the room was only $16.00 the $1.00 charge had to be a total charge, and not $1.00 for an individual drink. In my collection I have some menus from the Hotel Del Coronado during this period. Coffee or tea was included with meals, liquor was not. So the charges may have been for drinks with their meals or they had drinks sent to their rooms. Since the total was only $2.00 it does not look like Mrs. Tutt or her party were big drinkers.
Mrs. Tutt apparently got a cash advance against her bill twice, for $25.00 each time - once on the 23rd and once on the 27th. They didn't need cash for meals or drinks unless they chose to leave the hotel. It was probably just for what my Mother used to call "pin money," or my Dad called "walking around cash."
They did have bar charges of $.75 on the 23rd - they day they arrived. They probably needed a good drink after traveling to the hotel.
They also had newsstand charges: $.65 on the 25th and $2.00 for the San Diego Tribune to be delivered to them each day of their stay.
Lastly there was an "Express" charge from the hotel pharmacy on the 26th for a total of $1.20, making their grand total of charges for the week's stay $168.65. Notice - no tax. The government had not started taxing everything that moves (and many things that don't) in 1909. To put these charges into perspective, the average weekly salary per wage earner in the US during that period was $10.06. Adjusted for inflation, the total charge of $168.65 in 1909 would equate to a total charge of $4,759.70 today. That means almost $5,000.00 for rooms and meals for three people for one week. So you can see, Mrs. Tutt and her party were living very well at the Hotel Del Coronado.
Along with her frequent trips to California, newspapers reported her returning now and then to her home in Colorado Springs. There were many occurrences of Josephine Tutt either entertaining or being entertained during 1910 and 1911. That's why what happened next was such a shock to family and friends:
TUTT - (at) Coronado, California, March 6th, JOSEPHINE THAYER, widow of Charles Leaming Tutt and daughter of the late M. Russell Thayer.
Josephine Thayer Tutt died suddenly on March 6, 1912 at Coronado, California. She was fifty-four years old. More details were provided by the Los Angeles Times on March 12, 1912:
In all the mentions of the death of Mrs. Tutt I was able to find, the place of death was just listed as "Coronado." I was not able to find out whether she was staying at the hotel when she died or somewhere else on Coronado.
Josephine Thayer Tutt was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs with the rest of her family:
What about the rest of the family? William Thayer Tutt died on November 20, 1917 in Colorado Springs. He was only twenty-four years old.
Charles L. Tutt, Jr. was the only one of Josephine's children to make it to adulthood. He died November 1, 1961 at the age of 72.
The Tutt family had always been major contributors to Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Today on the campus there is the there is the Charles L. Tutt Library - a hub for research, learning, and intellectual community, providing welcoming and inclusive space for students to learn, grow, and thrive at Colorado College.
In addition, in 1959 Charles Tutt Jr, donated the Tutt family home at 1205 N. Cascade Avenue in Colorado Springs to Colorado College. It is now the Tutt Alumni House for the College:
Josephine Thayer Tutt and her family have all gone to their reward, but luckily we can still enjoy the Hotel Del Coronado today and for a long time to come.
May Josephine Thayer Tutt and her family rest in peace.
