Maude Adams
In the theatrical world she is still remembered as one of its great women. A star so big that Sir James Barrie rewrote one of his most famous plays with her in mind. Beautiful, gifted, a woman of integrity and artistic excellence who sought to keep the standards of the theatre of her day extremely high.
( as Peter Pan)
Ms. Adams spent a great deal of her private life pursuing rest and tranquility from the fame that followed her off stage. Much of this time was spent at her home in Lake Ronkonkoma. From the November 1903 Ladies Home Journal magazine....... "Maude Adams has a farm on Long Island to which she takes a special train after the theatre. Raises pigs and poultry: her own stock and truck, but guards the place so zealously from the public that no pictures have ever appeared about it."
Sandy Garth
(A view of the pond)
(Remains of the old water tower.)
In February 1922, Ms. Adams gifted the farm to the Sisters of the Cenacle. Although she never did give a definite reason why, she did leave notes regarding the "kindness and care" that was given to her by the sisters during an illness and "the great and loving work" of the sisters themselves.
Visitors and retreatants at the Cenacle in Ronkonkoma pass a boulder outside of her house into which is fixed a bronze tablet bearing the inscription:
TO MAUDE ADAMS
...it is twice blest;
it blesses him that gives, and him that takes.
...it is twice blest;
it blesses him that gives, and him that takes.
On July 17, 1953 Ms. Adams passed away and was buried on her 700 acre "Sandy Garth". The Sisters of the Cenacle, now living on what had been her farm, remember her often and pray near her grave in their own little cemetery.
Many thanks to Sister Mary Jane Laffan and the Sisters of the Cenacle for giving us a wonderful tour on such a beautiful day.
(c) Bygoneli.com 2011
(c) Bygoneli.com 2011
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