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Top, a photograph of Mary Lyons White Gamble Emery from the archives of the Daughters of the American Revolution at the Lycoming County Historical Society, used with permission.
Mary Lyon White Gamble Emery had as many names as she had houses. Each of those residences still stands today, a witness to earlier times in Williamsport and Eagles Mere.
Mary Lyon White was born on February 17, 1854, at the home of her parents, Henry White and Catherine Grafius Anthony White. They lived in the magnificent home at 307 East Third Steet, now the Fraternal Order of Eagles Club. Her first husband, James M. Gamble (1845 -1888), gifted her the square, Italian villa-style home at 330 Mulberry Street in Williamsport when they married in 1875. He also built a home on Eagles Mere Avenue in Eagles Mere, which he willed to her at his death in 1888. When, two years later, she married lumberman William Emery (1844-1929), their home was the Romanesque-style 30-room mansion at 835 West Fourth Street, now the McCormick Law Firm.
But Mary White Gamble Emery was known primarily for her community service and social life. Her obituary in the Williamsport Sun when she was just 51 in 1906, reads:
“Mrs. Emery was one of the most prominent women in Williamsport. She was a leader in the work of the church, being a member of the Trinity Episcopal congregation, she was prominent in the social life of the city and was identified with the charitable institutions of Williamsport during her life, giving of her means to all of them and helping deserving poor cases, whenever they were brought to her notice.”
Her mother died when Mary was seven years old. Her father married Martha Covell in 1866 when she was 12. Like the daughters of many wealthy families in Williamsport, she was educated at a Williamsport private school for girls, Miss Wilson’s School, founded by sisters, Sophie and Jane Wilson.
Marriage to James Gamble
At 21, Mary married, and married well. James M. Gamble was a Yale graduate; he studied law with his father and practiced in Williamsport. They had five children: Martha, Matthew, Bessie, Isabel, and James Matthew. Sadly, Matthew and Bessie died when they were children.
Gamble was associated with various Williamsport businesses in addition to his law practice. Unfortunately, he suffered from ill-health most of his life and was advised to explore the climate in Eagles Mere for his health. Along with Robert Allen and John R.T. Ryan of Williamsport and Benjamin Welch of Philadelphia, he formed the Eagles Mere Syndicate and purchased the lake itself and a strip of land 100 feet wide all around the lake. Gamble died at the age of 44 in 1888. After his death, Mary took over the responsibilities of her late husband in managing the property, unusual for a woman.
Their Eagles Mere nine-bedroom cottage, “Altamont,” was built about 1885 and remained in the family for over 100 years. The family was not without help in maintaining their lifestyle. The 1900 census of Eagles Mere lists the following residents: William Emery, Mary, four of their children and seven servants–a cook, butler, housekeeper, a ladies’ maid, two house servants, and a day laborer. Mary’s older sister, Josephine Anthony White, who had married Williamsport man Cyrus Larue r Munson, built “Wyno,” an equally large cottage just down the main street in Eagles Mere.
Marriage to William Emery
In 1890, two years after Gamble’s death, Mary married the wealthy lumberman, William Emery. They had one son, William Emery, Jr. (1891-1941), and raised several children from Emery’s first marriage. Mary continued to be a community leader. She was founder of the Lycoming Daughters of the American Revolution and the first regent of the organization. She qualified for DAR membership as her grandfather was Col. Hugh White, who had served on the Committee of Safety and as captain of Northumberland County Associators. He was promoted colonel in 1778 and was the commissary to Washington’s starving army at Valley Forge.
Mary supported the work of the Home for the Friendless, a charity founded in 1872 by church women in Williamsport. The home provided a home and care for elderly women and needy children. Elderly women had to be over 65 years of age and have no other means of support. Children were admitted to the Home for a limited period of time. Although age guidelines changed over the years, children had to have either only one or no parents. The parent or guardian was to pay for board and shoes when they were able. Often the children returned to their families when their family situation stabilized. The Home on Campbell Street evolved into what is now the Williamsport Home. The building itself that housed the Home is now, The Stacks, an upscale apartment building.
Another charity in which Mary was active was the Williamsport Hospital Ladies’ Auxiliary. In 1892, they organized a charity ball that attracted not only Williamsport residents, but wealthy people from as far away as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Girls’ training school
Mary was a founder and Member of the Board of the Girls’ Training School in the Science of Housekeeping on East Third Street. Girls, mostly poor girls 10-16 years old, applied to the school, lived at the school, and often became housekeepers for wealthy Williamsport women.
The Clio Club was founded in 1897. Mary was a founder and the first president. Its mission was to foster the “pursuit of study as a means of intellectual culture and general improvement”. The club members initially met in the Red Room of the Park Hotel on West Fourth Street. The club was restricted to females and new members were admitted by invitation only. The club was active for over a century but disbanded in 2015. The club donated their papers to the Lycoming County Historical Society and are part of the Lycoming County Women’s History Project. (http: www.lycoming.edu/lcwhp)
Mary was also known for her “brilliant” parties. One party described in the Sun-Gazette had over 100 guests. The famous Stopper and Fisk orchestra played and “an elaborate repast was served at eleven o’clock, after which the dancing continued until an early hour.”
Death
Mary was visiting her daughter, Martha Gamble Voorhees, at Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks when she suffered an attack of appendicitis which proved to be fatal. She died on January 28, 1906. Her body was placed in the Munson Mausoleum in Wildwood Cemetery. She is remembered as “one of the most genial whole-souled women of the city.”
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