This portrait of Elizabeth Parsons Edwards (1874-1943) is undated, but her life span allows us to estimate a date. Her attire is typical of fashions between 1890 to 1920, and her hat is similar to a style worn by Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt for an official portrait in 1902, when she was the first lady.
Elizabeth was the daughter of Julius Dayton Parsons (1841-1924), who ran the Springs General Store from 1864 to 1879, and Mary Elizabeth Schellinger Parsons (1841-1924). The two were married in December of 1867. Their eldest surviving child, Elizabeth, who was known as Bessie or Betsey, was born in 1874.
She married her cousin Merton H. Edwards (1866-1948) on Dec. 18, 1913, in Southampton. They had grown up on the same road in Springs. After marrying, they lived with her parents at 803 Fireplace Road. Merton, who worked first as a commercial fisherman, was elected as a town justice in 1915.
Elizabeth’s life revolved around domestic responsibilities at the farm, which had chickens, pigs, and horses, along with vegetables to can and preserve. Her daughter, Mary Louise, was born at the farm on Sept. 7, 1915. The farm didn’t get electricity until Mary Louise was in high school, and Elizabeth made everything from scratch, including hand-churned butter. Her cookies were a particular favorite, and the family provided meals for the “school teacher boarders” who rented rooms at the farm.
She also managed to make time for music. The East Hampton Star covered her playing the organ for the Springs Chapel when the organist was away. Mary Louise remembered her mother making clothing for the family, and The Star frequently referenced a sewing class or sewing group meeting at her house.
Mary Louise Edwards (later Dodge) spent summers at the property with her children and later moved there full time. After her death in 2008, her sons sold the property to the Town of East Hampton through the community preservation fund.
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Andrea Meyer, a librarian and archivist, is head of collection for the Long Island Collection.
