1920 J Grinnell, Audubon Park. OIQ 



managed the property and looked after the sale of the books. 

 The family had abundant land, which was more or less encum- 

 bered and quite unsalable, but its resources in money were small 

 and uncertain. I have a vivid memory of an occasion when my 

 father took me with him when he went to see Madam Audubon 

 to conclude the purchase of a piece of land, and of the great relief, 

 satisfaction, and even gratitude, that she expressed to him for 

 his willingness to make the purchase. The scene touched me, 

 even though for years afterward I did not understand its meaning. 



John W. Audubon was quite without business training, but 

 he worked hard and faithfully to relieve the family embarrassment. 

 He built several houses in Audubon Park, which were sold or 

 rented, and in a field east of what is now Broadway, built a large 

 frame house which for some years was occupied as a tenement 

 by workmen in the nearby sugar refinery. All these things brought 

 in some money, but there was always a heavy burden of debt. 



Madam Audubon was a most kindly, gentle, benignant woman. 

 She was loved and admired by everyone and — by most people — 

 I think a little feared, for she had the repose and dignity of a great 

 lady, and was not given to jokes or laughter. With the children 

 she unbent far more than with older people, and they loved her 

 dearly, and took their small troubles to her with the utmost con- 

 fidence. Yet the children too stood a little in awe of her, and in 

 her presence were never mischievous or playful at inopportune 

 times. Her grandchildren, of course, called her Grandma, and 

 she became Grandma to many other little ones of different blood. 



She lived with her son Victor and the school was carried on in 

 her bedroom, the southeast corner of the second floor of that 

 house. In the schoolroom she was tireless, passing from one child 

 to another, seeing that each was properly at work, helping, ex- 

 plaining, encouraging. During the hours of school ea?h child 

 received a personal supervision that was practically continuous. 



She was tall, slender, erect, always clad in black, and always 

 wore her white cap. I never saw her without her spectacles. 



The Audubon Park of that day was quite different from what 

 it became later. Except for the land about the Audubon houses, 

 near the river, and that immediately about two houses higher 

 up on the hill, it was a tangle of underbrush and saplings, above 



