The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1922-08-17

| gold, blue Verbena and gourdS
which she raises to please her grand
children. The rose garden is the
only bit of formal landscape. She
said one day while talking about her
flowers: Il cannot buy everything |
| crave. Like mother I have old
| fashioned pinks. I haunted florists
shops, old homes and cemeteries in
search of these tiny, red-fecked, spi-
cily scented plants. It was my
dressmaker's sister who, generously,
sent the basket of roots to form the
nucleus of my large BEDS
Gives Library Site.
Two miles from the estate can be
seen the twinkling lights of the little
village of Dearborn. To it she has
given a library site, and has built
and given to the Episcopal church a
large brick rectory; she is member
of the social service committee OF
her church. Greenfield, where she
was born and reared, is five miles
from Dearborn. In the summer Mrs.
Ford takes a family party for
cruise on their yatch. She has trav-
eled the world over, but, with the
exception of a small place at Fort
Myers, Florida, which Thomas Edi-
son persuaded them to purchase
next to his winter cottage, the Fords
have never owned a home outside
of Detroit or Wayne county. 1--WE
have lived here always" she says,
"and here we love to stay"
Persistent sightseers have made
it necessary to keep the gates of the
estate locked and guarded. All the
servants, both inside and outside the
mansion, have held their positions
many years. They have an air of
courteous consideration and soft
ness of voice which they seemed to
have caught from the owners of the
home.
The country and the wide out
doors hold for Mrs. Ford more at
fractions than the social life Of any
city, yet in her home she has enter
tained inventors, statesmen, capital
lists and titled visitors. John Bur-
roughs was a frequent guest. He
enjoyed the birds, flowers and native
trees which are under the care of
Longfeather, a southern Indian. In
the library is an autographed set of
Burroughs books; in a secluded
part of the, ground is rough
bronze statue Of him, and on the
drawing room table an exquisite
miniature of the great naturalist.
John Burroughs once sent to Mr..
and Mrs. Ford a carload of red
sandstone from the Catskill noun
tains of his beloved native state,
New York. These stones were
worked into a sort of shelter for the
bronze figure and for the bird pool
near it. This spot the Fords call
their Burroughs Nook" Many
rare birds including Kirkland's
warbler and other unusual members
of the feathered family, tarry at this
quiet retreat, and here Burroughs
himself, discovered several northern
birds, including the Bohemian wax
wing, which he had long hoped to
see, but had never been able to find
elsewhere.
Since his death Mrs. Ford and
Mrs. Edison have been made men,
bers of the executive board of the
Burroughs Memorial association.
They attended his funeral and
went to New York two weeks later
to formulate plans for preserving
Woodchuck Lodge, Slab Sides
(where Burroughs had his study and
where he used to write his books),
and Riverby, which was more pre-
tentious home near Poughkeepsie,
Just outside of the small town of
West Park, N. Y. Mrs. Edison and
Mrs. Ford are to be the only two
women on this executive memorial
board.
Home for Refugees.
At the beginning of the European
war Mrs. Ford leased Oughtrington
hall, in Chestshire township, Eng
land, short distance from Warwick
where her mother was born. She
equipped it as home for Belgian
refugees; one hundred at a time
were clothed, fed and sheltered
there. AS they found friends, rela-
tives or work elsewhere others were
secured from the London clearing
house. Teachers were employed for
the children: a school room was fur
nished; outdoor tennis courts we're