Baroness of Hobcaw , livre ebook

B ARONESS OF H OBCAW
B ARONESS OF H OBCAW


The Life of Belle W. Baruch
M ARY E. M ILLER
© 2006 University of South Carolina
Cloth edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 2006
Paperback edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 2010
Ebook edition published in Columbia, South Carolina, by the University of South Carolina Press, 2012
www.sc.edu/uscpress
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows:
Miller, Mary E., 1936–
Baroness of Hobcaw : the life of Belle W. Baruch / Mary E. Miller.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57003-655-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-57003-655-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Baruch, Belle Wilcox, 1899–1964. 2. Environmentalists South Carolina Biography. 3. Feminists United States Biography. 4. Pacifists United States Biography. 5. Horsemanship South Carolina. 6. Hobcaw Barony (S.C.) Biography. 7. South Carolina Biography. I. Title.
CT275.B47694M55 2006
975.7'89 dc22
[B] 2006016885
ISBN: 978-1-61117-211-9 (ebook)
C ONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
1 Paternal Pride and Future Hope
2 The Only Real Place on Earth
3 Life Lessons at Hobcaw
4 A Study in Determination
5 From Debutante to the World Stage
6 Henry Ford and Anti-Semitism
7 Resolution and Independence
8 Lois Massey
9 Travels with Edith Bolling Wilson
10 An Awakening
11 La Belle Équitation
12 Success and Romance at Home and Abroad
13 Triumphs with Souriant and Rumors of War
14 European Friends and a Fleeting Betrothal
15 Bargaining for Bellefield
16 Lois Massey and Prewar Europe
17 Varvara Hasselbalch’s American Sojourn
18 Life Stateside and War Abroad
19 Personal and National Turmoil in 1941
20 U-Boats and Spies along the Carolina Coast
21 Dickie Leyland at Hobcaw Barony
22 FDR’s Visit to South Carolina
23 War’s End and the End of an Era
24 Winds of Change in Postwar America
25 Philanthropy and Ecology
26 From Constable to Baroness
27 Paul Dollfus and Frances Milam
28 The Passing of Jean Darthez and Souriant III
29 Into the Twilight Epilogue
Appendix: Hobcaw Barony Today
Notes
Bibliography
Index
I LLUSTRATIONS
Following page 112
Infant Belle with her mother, Annie Griffen Baruch, 1899
Belle at Long Branch, N.J., ca. 1901
Belle in the pony cart, ca. 1905
Junior, Renee, and Belle dressed in Scottish kilts, ca. 1908
The Baruch cousins, ca. 1910
Belle and Renee, Hobcaw Barony, ca. 1910
Belle with bird dog, ca. 1910
Renee and Belle, ca. 1915
Belle winning the “Queen of the Bay” sailing cup, Great South Bay, Long Island, 1916
Belle’s graduating class from the Rayson School, 1917
Captain Ed Chamberlin, Mrs. Coster, and Belle at the American Cemetery, Belleau Woods, France, 1919
Portrait of Belle by Guith, ca. 1920
Munro Cuthbertson on the dock at Hobcaw Barony, ca. 1923
Belle with plantation children at Hobcaw Barony, ca. 1925
Belle and Edith Wilson at Hobcaw Barony, ca. 1925
Edith Wilson and Evangeline Johnson on tour with Belle, Paris, ca. 1925
Portrait of Belle, ca. 1925
Jim Powell and Belle in the yard of Old Relick, ca. 1928
Bathing beauties, Italy, ca. 1929
Edith Wilson crabbing at North Inlet, ca. 1930
Following page 152
Charles “Chita” Davila, 1930
Belle on Souriant III, Italy, 1931
Belle and Jean Darthez, France, ca. 1931
Fathers and daughters, ca. 1932
Annie Griffen Baruch and Belle, crabbing at Clambank, ca. 1932
Cartoon of Belle by Maurice Taquoy, 1933
Baroness Louise Hasselbalch, Belle, Varvara Hasselbalch, and Barbara Donohoe, France, 1936
Belle hunting at Hobcaw Barony, ca. 1937
Renee, Bernard, and Belle Baruch at Bellefield, ca. 1936
Bobbie Hamilton helping Belle corral an alligator at the Bellefield pond, ca. 1937
Belle in Rapallo, Italy, 1937
Barbara Donohoe at Bellefield stables, ca. 1938
Varvara Hasselbalch at Clambank, 1938
Jean Darthez near the Bellefield stables, 1939
Lois Massey, Belle, and Alison “Dickie” Leyland at Bellefield, ca. 1940
Ken Unger and Belle in the cockpit of her Beechcraft, ca. 1946
Roy Campanella, Dr. Howard Rusk, Belle, Edith Wilson, and an unknown child at Bellevue Medical Center, 1958
Christmas at Bellefield, 1962
Belle and Ella Severin with Deary-Deer, Christmas 1963
Bernard and Belle Baruch, Bellefield, ca. 1963
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
No biography is written without a great deal of help and cooperation, and I owe a great debt to many people who shared their memories of Belle Baruch.
Without Ella Severin, resident trustee and director of long-range planning for the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, this book could not have been written. Miss Severin shared her memories, letters, and memorabilia of her fifteen years as Belle’s companion and opened the archives of the foundation as well as the doors of Bellefield Plantation and Hobcaw House.
Belle’s younger sister, Renee Baruch Samstag, declined to be interviewed as such but shared her memories and admiration of her older sister, answered questions, verified facts, and did meet with me briefly in her New York apartment.
The staff of the Belle W. Baruch Foundation were invaluable in sharing information and suggesting avenues of exploration. George Chastain, executive director of the foundation, and Lee Brockington, historian for the property, were especially generous in exchanging information and resources.
Varvara Hasselbalch Heyd was endlessly patient and generous, speaking openly of her lifelong friendship with Belle Baruch, sharing letters, memorabilia, and invaluable insights. A professional photographer, Varvara also shared photographs of Belle, her family, and friends.
My thanks to Robert Darthez, Christiane Daoudi, and Yvette Bozigian, the children of Jean Darthez, Belle’s French groom and dear friend, for their recollections of life at Bellefield Plantation.
Lois Massey, now deceased, shared her diaries and letters and twenty-five years of memories, as did Nolan and Cynthia Taylor, Francena McCants, Prince Jenkins, and Elizabeth Navarro.
James Bessinger Jr. helped me to see the lands and waters of Hobcaw Barony through the eyes of Belle Baruch and introduced me to his father, James Bessinger Sr., who spun tales of Belle and Hobcaw as it was many years ago.
Thanks also owed to Paul Dollfus, Abe Fogle, Anne Johnston, Barbara Donohoe Jostes, Minnie Kennedy, Bill Landsman, Louise Milam, and Inez Alford Villafranca.
1

Paternal Pride and Future Hope
Belle Baruch could outride, outshoot, outhunt, and outsail most of the young men of her acquaintance not the most desirable attributes for a young lady in the polite society of 1918. For most of her growing years, Belle had been admonished to “act like a lady” and reminded that men did not like to be bested in competition by women. Belle, on the other hand, liked to win and to compete against the best, male or female.
Energetic and restless, she craved adventure and excitement. Not for Belle a sedate trot on a bridle path, but a thundering gallop through the moonlit woods in pursuit of a fox. Not for Belle stately dressage, but the thrill of jumping and the rigors of the steeplechase.
Today her slender height and athletic prowess would merit envy and admiration, but when Belle was introduced to society, her six-foot, two-inch height towered over most of her contemporaries. She moved with the elegance and grace of a perfectly disciplined body, but her solemn brown eyes acknowledged that society’s feminine ideal was petite, gentle, curly haired, and flatteringly in need of male assistance and guidance.
Nearly every aspect of heredity and environment created an insurmountable dichotomy in the life of Belle Wilcox Baruch. Her Jewish-Christian, North-South heritage dictated conflicting ethical and social values. Privileges of great wealth were tempered by strict admonitions of social responsibility. Even the era into which she was born in 1899 fostered a duality of spirit in its young women, who were expected to sublimate their independence and talents to the needs of men. For proud, independent Belle, society’s expectations were burdensome and frustrating.

Born out of her time, Belle would constantly challenge the strictures of a society that did not allow women to vote, to compete against male athletes, to govern their own destinies, or to live according to their own moral code. She would struggle with the duality of her nature, forging a place in society where she lived according to her own rules.
Independence and determination were the norm for her Baruch ancestors. Baruch is the Hebrew word for blessed, and certainly Belle’s father, Bernard Mannes Baruch, was blessed with more than his share of worldly goods, charm, and stunning good looks. Bernhard Baruch, Belle’s great-grandfather, claimed descent from Baruch the Scribe, secretary to the prophet Jeremiah, and author of the book of Baruch, one of the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible.
The first Baruch to reach American shores was Belle’s grandfather, Simon, a Jewish immigrant who became one of the most respected physicians of his time. Simon Baruch was born in Schwersenz (present-day Swarzêdz) near Poland in East Prussia. Immigrating to the United States in 1855, fifteen-year-old Simon went to the only person he knew there, Mannes Baum, who was from Simon’s home village.
The Baum family welcomed Simon, employing him as a bookkeeper in their small general store in Camden, South Carolina. So impressed were the Baums with the personable, industrious young man that they sent him to the South Carolina Medical College in Charleston and thence to Richmond to the Medical College of Virginia. Young Baruch graduated from medical college just after the Civil War began. Though he abhorred slavery, he was loyal to his adopted state, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Simon was quickly accepted by the C