Hemingway-Pfeiffer, Stickley and The Gordon-Ritchie Saga

Gordon Cousins - Pam - second from left.  Jane - third from right.

     After loading up the Stickley settle (couch), rocker, and footstool and taking it to Rector, Pam and I decided that the best thing to do with the "parlor set" that had belonged to Ella Jane Ritchie Gordon and family was to donate it. That decision took 5 years. After all, sentimentality usually trumps logic when dealing with Banmama's possessions.

    We believe our relatives would be pleased with our decision. We take heart when remembering the lovely donations of sterling silver tea sets and punch bowls to Camden First United Methodist Church. Mother and our grandmother knew they'd never have a time or place to use these beautiful items and so, the donation was made.

     Last year, Marvin and I moved to a smaller home in Rector and Marvin built a workshop. The Stickley pieces lined up for scheduling so they could be refurbished. They needed to be made sturdier, a few pieces of underpinning were missing or broken. The set was generally in good shape for 100 year old furniture.


      We had to decide what to do, how to do it, what fabric to choose, and generally, how to make the three pieces worthy of use and display in a Mission style, Arts and Crafts home that had been restored to its original beauty. The home is the Paul Pfeiffer home that is now an Arkansas State University Heritage Site. Pauline Pfeiffer, Paul's daughter, was the second wife of Ernest Hemingway and the Pfeiffer family home is now part of the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center.

       For those interested in the Hemingway-Pfeiffer marriage and Hemingway's related career, I'd highly recommend the book Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow by Ruth Hawkins. Extensive research is written in a very readable style.

     Inside this home/museum are larger pieces of Stickley furniture: a couch, a rocker, a foot stool, and an upright chair - all the larger "Morris" style.

Living room with original Stickley pieces belonging to the Pfeiffer family.

     Our donated Stickley pieces are from Stickley Brothers of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are called "a parlor set," denoting a smaller size. The brand on the metal tag under the rocking chair indicates "Quaint" which was made exclusively between 1901 and 1907.

     Today, on our grandparent's 101 wedding anniversary, we gifted the Stickley parlor set to the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center. Mildred Gordon Horne and Claude Garland Horne were married on April 17, 1917.

Stickley settle under framed photos of Paul and Mary Pfeiffer

Karen Trout, HP Staff member, Marvin and Jane with parlor set.

       I also donated a copy of The House on Harrison Street, the Gordon-Ritchie saga, which details the lives of the owners of the furniture donated to the museum. A number of stories in the book were written while I attended several Hemingway-Pfeiffer writers' retreats. I have written inside the Pfeiffer kitchen, in Pauline and Ernest's bedroom upstairs, and in the Barn Studio where Hemingway wrote large portions of A Farewell to Arms.