A Gilded Age Love Story
Henry Clay Frick and Adelaide Howard Childs, known respectively as Clay and Ada to friends and family, were acquainted by April 1881. They were possibly introduced at a party by Andrew Mellon, Frick’s good friend and a Pittsburgher who would likely have known Adelaide through social events. (Interestingly, years later Henry and Adelaide assisted in introducing Mellon to his future bride, Nora McMullen, resulting in a much less happy and shorter-lived union than the Fricks’.)
Simple, charming notes from April 1881 from Henry to Adelaide show a quickly growing connection between them. Henry writes, “Miss Ada: It looked so very much as if we would have a storm this evening that I presumed you would not expect me – Unless I hear from you to the contrary I will call Thursday evening for the proposed ride. Sincerely, H.C. Frick.” In another, “Miss Ada: I thank you very much for the beautiful Easter card received from you on Saturday. I prize it very highly. Will you accompany me to see Emma Abbott in ‘Fra Diavolo at Opera House Friday evening 22nd inst? Hoping for a favorable reply I am sincerely H.C. Frick.”
Carriage rides, trips to the theater, and visits to a young woman at home were widespread and appropriate courtship activities in the late 19th century. Details of the rest of the courtship and engagement are unknown to us, but Adelaide becomes Mrs. Henry Clay Frick before the year is out. Although an engagement of a few months is brief today, in the late 19th century it was an appropriate length of time. A December wedding also meant that the celebration would be held during the height of the social season.
The marriage took place on December 15, 1881 at the Childs residence, where Adelaide lived with her widowed mother and beloved sister Martha, known as Attie. The family home stood just east of the city, at the corner of Forbes and Halket streets where Magee Hospital is located today. The elegant invitation, shown here, includes the interesting error of a misspelling of Adelaide as Adalaide – a mistake remarked on by daughter Helen in a scrapbook of family memories.
The Childs residence at the corner of Forbes and Halket, Pittsburgh
The wedding is described in the Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette the next day in the typical flowery language of the period: “Quite a large number of invitations had been issued to friends in the city and from a distance, and for an hour before five o’clock, the time set for the performance of the ceremony, a stream of carriages rolled into the grounds and up to the brilliantly lighted mansion. The scene inside was one hard to describe. The spacious apartments were tastefully decorated with choice flowers and foliage plants, and soft strains of music from a hidden orchestra served to beguile the time to those in waiting.”
A surviving photo shows Adelaide, who would turn 22 the next day, in a fashionable, fitted gown and long veil. According to the paper, “The bride was attired in a rich costume of brocaded cream-colored satin, and wore the customary long bridal veil. Her maids were dressed in white satin, wore short veils of Spanish lace, and carried in their hands large bouquets of natural flowers loosely tied with ribbon.”
Mrs. Frick's wedding photo
After a honeymoon trip to Boston and New York, Henry and Adelaide returned to Pittsburgh and received well-wishes from family and friends on two evenings at her mother’s home, Thursday, January 19 and Thursday, January 26. They then settled into married life in Henry’s apartment in the fashionable Monongahela House in Pittsburgh. In 1882, they purchased and remodeled Clayton, moving in in early 1883 before the birth of their first child.
We know now of course the story of the rest of their life together, one that included the birth of four children and the loss of two, a move from Pittsburgh to New York, several grandchildren, and a great art collection built and then opened to the public. In December of 1881, however, the words of Adelaide’s mother in a heartfelt letter to her daughter sent the couple off into their new life together, “It makes my heart glad to know that you are so very happy. I have trusted you to one, in whom I have great confidence, I know he will love and cherish you, we all love him. May the Lord send his richest blessing upon you both, is the earnest prayer of your devoted mother.”
Mr. and Mrs. Frick, Honeymoon photo
All images courtesy of The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives.
Carriage rides, trips to the theater, and visits to a young woman at home were widespread and appropriate courtship activities in the late 19th century. Details of the rest of the courtship and engagement are unknown to us, but Adelaide becomes Mrs. Henry Clay Frick before the year is out. Although an engagement of a few months is brief today, in the late 19th century it was an appropriate length of time. A December wedding also meant that the celebration would be held during the height of the social season.
The marriage took place on December 15, 1881 at the Childs residence, where Adelaide lived with her widowed mother and beloved sister Martha, known as Attie. The family home stood just east of the city, at the corner of Forbes and Halket streets where Magee Hospital is located today. The elegant invitation, shown here, includes the interesting error of a misspelling of Adelaide as Adalaide – a mistake remarked on by daughter Helen in a scrapbook of family memories.
The Childs residence at the corner of Forbes and Halket, Pittsburgh
The wedding is described in the Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette the next day in the typical flowery language of the period: “Quite a large number of invitations had been issued to friends in the city and from a distance, and for an hour before five o’clock, the time set for the performance of the ceremony, a stream of carriages rolled into the grounds and up to the brilliantly lighted mansion. The scene inside was one hard to describe. The spacious apartments were tastefully decorated with choice flowers and foliage plants, and soft strains of music from a hidden orchestra served to beguile the time to those in waiting.”
A surviving photo shows Adelaide, who would turn 22 the next day, in a fashionable, fitted gown and long veil. According to the paper, “The bride was attired in a rich costume of brocaded cream-colored satin, and wore the customary long bridal veil. Her maids were dressed in white satin, wore short veils of Spanish lace, and carried in their hands large bouquets of natural flowers loosely tied with ribbon.”
Mrs. Frick's wedding photo
After a honeymoon trip to Boston and New York, Henry and Adelaide returned to Pittsburgh and received well-wishes from family and friends on two evenings at her mother’s home, Thursday, January 19 and Thursday, January 26. They then settled into married life in Henry’s apartment in the fashionable Monongahela House in Pittsburgh. In 1882, they purchased and remodeled Clayton, moving in in early 1883 before the birth of their first child.
We know now of course the story of the rest of their life together, one that included the birth of four children and the loss of two, a move from Pittsburgh to New York, several grandchildren, and a great art collection built and then opened to the public. In December of 1881, however, the words of Adelaide’s mother in a heartfelt letter to her daughter sent the couple off into their new life together, “It makes my heart glad to know that you are so very happy. I have trusted you to one, in whom I have great confidence, I know he will love and cherish you, we all love him. May the Lord send his richest blessing upon you both, is the earnest prayer of your devoted mother.”
Mr. and Mrs. Frick, Honeymoon photo
All images courtesy of The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives.