The Carnegie
Carriage When Lucy Coleman Carnegie ordered the most fashionable ladiesŐ carriage of her day, little did she know that it would tour the quaint Victorian Seaport of Fernandina Beach more than 120 years later. So, what type of carriage is this? How did it end up in Fernandina Beach? And, how can it actually be used here again a century later? "The genealogy of people is often hard to trace, but deciphering the timeline associated with an historic carriage can be even more difficult" says Rita Jackson, owner of the Old Towne Carriage Company in Fernandina Beach, and current owner of the Carnegie carriage. She has spent a great deal of time researching the history of the carriage; and while doing this she gained an appreciation of the strong ties the people of Fernandina have had with the Carnegie family who spent much of their time on Cumberland Island, Georgia. Lucy Coleman Carnegie's carriage was one of the best carriages of the day. It was built for her by the Brewster Carriage Company in New York. James Brewster started his company in 1810, and by 1878 he became the first and only American carriage builder to be awarded the prestigious Gold Medal at the Paris International Exposition, where he claimed the title of "finest manufacturer of carriages in the world." In fact, when Edward King, manager of New York City's National Horse Show was asked if he considered Brewster the "Tiffany" of carriage manufacturers, he replied "Rather, I would say that Tiffany is the Brewster of the jewelry trade."
Julie Dressler Kummer and David Dressler, the two great-grandchildren Lucy Coleman Carnegie's brother-in-law Andrew (leader of the American steel trade), bought a Brewster Landau carriage in 1887. And, other famous and wealthy people of the day did the same, including President U. S. Grant and the Rockefeller family. The Brewster "Victoria" carriage was selected by Lucy Coleman Carnegie for shipment to Fernandina Beach for use at Dungeness. According to the Carriage Association of America, this style was "one of the most elegant of all carriages and was extremely popular among well-to-do families." It is not a very large carriage. It has one seat which holds two passengers as well as a driver's seat supported by very intricate iron work and the elliptical springs. Its design is thought to have originated in England in the middle of the 19th century and is very similar in style to the carriage built for King George IV. Lucy Carnegie's carriage was painted in a traditional black color with the delicate gold monograms "LCC" inscribed on both sides of its body. It has a leather seat supported by hand-caning; the original candle-lit lamps made of brass and beveled glass; and metal wheels because streets were not paved as they are today. Lucy Coleman Carnegie's history is a fascinating one. She was born in Pittsburgh in 1847. Her father was William Coleman, one of the pioneers of the steel and coal industry. His company, Coleman Iron Works, manufactured the "Lucy Furnace" that he named after his daughter. Coleman did business with the Carnegies, and this resulted in Lucy meeting and marrying Thomas Morrison Carnegie (the younger brother of Andrew Carnegie, leader of the American steel trade) in 1866 when she was 20 years old. They had nine children; and her husband purchased the 4,000-acre Dungeness property on Cumberland Island from Confederate General William George Mackay Davis in 1881 as a gift to his wife and children. Just five years later in 1886, Thomas died of pneumonia at the young age of 43, leaving Dungeness to his wife, who continued to build and spend her winters there until 1915 - the year before her death. She was a yachting enthusiast and a keen hunter. She also rode horses with her children, drove carriages and played golf. The Carnegies often came to Fernandina to shop, and they sold Lucy's carriage to Patrick Rodgers Brady, who had owned a furniture store here since the late 1800s. Brady's wife, Eliza, used the carriage to ride about town and to the beach until her husband died in 1917, after which time it was stored by the family. Her daughter, Julia Brady, inherited the Carnegie carriage. She married Louis Stephen Chadwick, the son of Captain Stephen Chadwick, who owned three tugboats and built the elegant Chadwick family home at 121 North Sixth Street.
Dickson's first introdution to the Carnegie carriage. The Chadwick's first child, Elizabeth, recalled playing on the Carnegie carriage as a child. "Unfortunately, automobiles came into being so there was little market for the carriage," she said. When the store was sold and torn down, she and her brother brought the carriage to be stored at their home. Elizabeth Chadwick ultimately married Gordon Albert Dressler and taught school in Fernandina for many years. She loaned the carriage to the Florida State Museum at Fort Clinch State Park and it's authenticity was confirmed by the Florida Perspective Historical Society which assigned artifact number 104503 to it. In 1969, it was restored by the Florida State Museum in Gainesville; and at that time, it was estimated that the carriage was built between 1870 and 1885. More recently, Merri Ferrell, a leading authority on horse-drawn carriages in the United States, estimated that the Carnegie carriage was made sometime between 1875 and 1885 by James Benjamin Brewster. At Elizabeth's request, the carriage was returned to her family home in 1978. She and her four children (Gordon, David, John, and Julie) meticulously cared for the Brewster Victoria carriage; and fondly called it "Vicky" because it had been a part of their family for so many years. The carriage remained at the Chadwick house in Fernandina until November 12, 2007, when it was purchased by Rita Jackson. "My company caters specifically to people who want carriage tours reminiscent of the Victorian Era," explains Jackson. Because of this, she only uses real leather harnesses and hand-crafted wooden carriages rather than the imitation plastic harnesses and aluminum carriage reproductions that are commonly used in the industry today. Rita Jackson describes how she first learned about the Carnegie carriage. "In 1992, when I purchased the Old Towne Carriage Company," she says, "Mrs. Elizabeth Chadwick Dressler sat me down as if I was a student in her classroom. She told me all about the long and rich history of her family and the Carnegie carriage, and I have related this information to my customers since that time. My Belgian Draft horse, Dickson, has been with me for the past 15 years, and he has pulled his carriage past the Chadwick House thousands of times - but I never dared to even imagine that my horse would actually be pulling the Carnegie carriage one day!" "Mrs. Dressler spoke to me again about the carriage about 15 years ago when her daughter, Julie, was married in St. Mary's Georgia. "Dickson carried the bride and groom to the waterfront where they sailed off to Greyfield Inn - not to be seen again by me until last September when Julie told me that the family was interested in selling the carriage. She and her brothers really wanted it to stay in Fernandina Beach because they said 'it belonged here.' I had my carriage-maker look at it, and two months later I had the great pleasure of giving Julie and two of her brothers, along with their spouses, a tour of Fernandina with the same horse that did the wedding and had been carrying people past their house for so many years. We spoke about the Carnegie carriage, and the next day I was thrilled to learn that the family decided to sell it to me!" "The carriage was not immediately ready to be used in town when I purchased it," says Jackson. "It had to be brought to my carriage-maker, Dalton Dowdy, for the first phase of work which entailed some maintenance, a complete check for safety, and installation of detachable wooden shafts that both fit my horse and match the carriage." The biggest decision Jackson had to make pertained to the old style wooden dish wheels which were lined with steel rather than the rubber tires used on paved roads today. "I did not want to alter the wheels by adding rubber, and to replace the rare, unique wheels would have significantly impacted the appearance of the carriage," she explains. So she and Mr. Dowdy decided that it was best to keep the original wheels on the carriage which are in excellent condition. "Because it's truly an antique and it only holds two passengers and a driver - it's clear that the carriage cannot be used for our routine tours," she says, "so I've decided to use it only for weddings, parades, and other special events. This plan conforms well with the family's wishes to have the carriage used and viewed by the residents and visitors to Fernandina Beach; and it enables us to preserve the original character of the carriage as well." Watch out for Dickson as he pulls the Carnegie carriage around town for special events. To arrange for private viewings of the Brewster Victoria carriage, call 904-277-1555 or visit online at www.ameliacarriagetours.com.
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