Employees of the Past

Boarding the Mallory Steamship Line in New York City and carrying luggage containing personal belongings needed for the next three months must have been a daunting experience for a young woman in the early winter of 1903.

Hired as a maid for the January through March season at the Jekyll Island Club, 20-year old Lydia Young rather enjoyed the three-day trip on the steamer, paid for by the Club, with many other employees who had been hired by the Club’s superintendent, Ernest Grob. Waiters and laundresses, cooks and cleaners, bellmen, coachmen, and a host of others who had made the trip south together, took the opportunity to become acquainted. It was an adventure. And, as they drew closer to Georgia, the passengers could feel that it would be a much milder winter than they would have experienced in New York.

The Mallory steamer docked in Brunswick where the Club’s new employees transferred to the Jekyl Island, a launch belonging to the Club, for the last leg of the trip. As they crossed the Brunswick River, they saw vast marshes stretching in every direction, and the cool, salt air smelled of the ocean. Lydia was a little giddy with anticipation of a new job, a winter with no snow, and the pretty sum of $25.00 per month for her efforts! This would be in addition to free room and board and laundry service. “What an opportunity,” she mused.

As soon as Lydia settled her belongings in the servants’ dormitory, met her new roommate, and refreshed her appearance, she would report to the head housekeeper. Although the dormitory was not heated, it might not be too bad most days. The room, although small and sparse, had a window looking out across the Club’s large vegetable and flower garden.

Being clean and neat had been stressed in New York when Lydia signed on for the season. Each day, the head housekeeper told her, she would be responsible for making beds, tending the fireplace, delivering linens, and general cleaning of the rooms assigned to her in the main Club building. She would also be required to make trips several times daily to the fourth floor, where trunks and luggage were stored, to retrieve clothing for the guests and their families.

Lydia settled quickly into the routine and was busy the entire day. She worked hard, sometimes 10 hours a day, and took pride in her work. Life was not all work, however. She and other employees could take their meals together in the employees’ dining room located near the kitchen or, in some cases, in the basement of the main Club building. Occasionally when she had her afternoon off each week, she could join other employees for walks on the trails or half days at the beach. Once in a while, there would be a weekend evening party in the dormitory for the employees where they would enjoy music and dancing. Now and then she would write a letter home to her family describing life on Jekyll Island.

It was an exciting season. Electricity had just been installed at the Club! How grand it was to use electric lights and not have to be cleaning and tending kerosene lamps constantly as her family did at home. And bicycles! The Club members and their guests had a number of them brought to the island this season, and everyone was learning to ride if they didn’t know already.

The island was like a small city in some ways, self-sufficient and well managed. In her explorations on her time off, Lydia discovered the laundry building, the newly erected power plant, and the wind mill behind the new Annex building as well as the carpenter’s shop. Many of the members were interested in hunting so there were a taxidermist’s shop and the gamekeeper’s quarters. Well removed from the Club buildings were several stables where members kept their fine horses and carriages. The gardens were well kept and were the source of fresh produce for the Club members and for the employees.

Managing all this was Superintendent Grob. A Swiss emigrant, he had a unique combination of management skills, personal charm, and an innate sense of what his clientele required before they knew themselves. He was highly regarded by Club members and employees alike. Arriving in October or November each season for 42 years, Grob would have everything in complete order by the time the first guests arrived in early January. He would provide a quality experience for J.P. Morgan, William Rockefeller, Joseph Pulitzer and other Club members, their families and guests throughout the season. At the end of the season in April he would see everyone off, close down the Club in the same magnificent manner in which he opened it, and then he himself would leave for the northern resort he managed the rest of the year. Often he would extend an opportunity to the very best staff members to join his staff at the other resort or to return to the Jekyll Island Club the next season. Lydia was one of these.

Today, most of the buildings that Lydia saw in 1903 are still standing but have been adapted for contemporary use. For example, the “new” power plant of 1903 has become the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, an inspirational story of community efforts and historic preservation. The location of the laundry facility “footprint” is defined with lines of bricks embedded in the parking lot behind the hotel. The wharf which serviced the Club launch has been preserved and is still in use today as the Jekyll Island Historic Wharf and Latitude 31 restaurant. Even the dormitory where Lydia stayed in 1903 and one other are still in use. One is a Jekyll Island Authority office building.

The high standards of excellence in service, set by Ernest Grob and carried out by Lydia Young and others in those early days, are fostered by the staff of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel today.