Juliette Gordon Low loved animals. She tamed and owned a goodly number of them, from rabbits to horses to many kinds of birds and several breeds of dogs. In her early twenties she was very fond of a cow named Lilburn. She set herself the task of learning how to milk that cow by charming a cousin from Etowah Cliffs into teaching her.
Lilburn the cow was named after the home of a friend of hers, Elizabeth (Bessie) McKim Hazelhurst. It was a gorgeous mansion, just outside of Baltimore, in Ellicott City, Maryland. Bessie’s father, Henry Richard Hazelhurst, was a civil engineer who built Lilburn in the 1850s with the fortune he amassed in the railroad and iron industries. Lilburn was a large but comfortable house. It welcomed visitors from its perch atop a hill that was perfect for picnics. There were rooms for dancing and lovely nooks for long talks. The stables held riding horses for endless canters over the Hazelhurst acres. Young women with romantic dreams found the crenelated tower irresistible. Daisy and her sisters enjoyed many happy visits at Lilburn with the several Hazelhurst daughters.
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| Lilburn, the home |
It brought great joy to the Gordons when, in November 1882, nineteen-year-old Bessie Hazelhurst married Daisy’s 26-year old cousin, Beirne Gordon. Beirne was the son of Daisy’s father’s older brother, and would later go into business with Daisy’s father. The wedding happened at Lilburn, and the sun burst through the clouds just as the couple completed their vows.
Given how much time Daisy spent at Lilburn, it certainly makes sense to have named a favorite cow after the site where so many joyful hours were spent.
Or maybe the cow was named after Lilburn, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. There is also a Hazelhurst, Georgia, named for railroad baron George H. Hazelhurst. George Hazelhurst’s Macon and Brunswick Railroad was a feeder line of the Central of Georgia Railroad–and the Central of Georgia was started in part by Daisy’s grandfather.
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| A cow, but not Lilburn the cow |
This kind of information is the sort of thing that drives historians batty and adds to the years it takes to write a really excellent biography. Does is matter how the cow got its name? Not really. But such connections are pretty neat, and if I can prove them, they give us more of an idea of how Daisy’s mind worked. In this case, if Lilburn the cow were named after Lilburn the home, it would demonstrate the strength of the bonds between Daisy and her friend Bessie. It might also show how Daisy, by her early twenties, had worked through the fierce Southern loyalty she felt when she was younger.
Naming her cow after a northern manse could be evidence that she’d gotten past her instinctive feelings of dislike for Yankees…that is, if the cow truly was named after Lilburn in Maryland and not Lilburn in Georgia.
And what is the connection between the Hazelhursts of Maryland and the Hazelhursts of Georgia? This sort of question is what some historians call a bunny trail. Hopping down too many of them never gets a book written.
But here’s the interesting thing about Lilburn today: it’s haunted. A simple google search turns up stories concerning the scent of cigars, the sound of footsteps, and the sight of apparitions presumed to be long-dead Hazelhursts.
Daisy loved ghost stories–but if she were the one telling the legend of haunted Lilburn, she’d probably find a way to give her cow a starring role.
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Lilburn the house photo from www.hauntedhouses.com. Cow photo from thejewishstar.wordpress.com.
Stacy — things matter and don't but I love this post! Lilburn, MD is not far from Ellicott City, MD, where the Patapsco Female Institute was. After the Misses Randolph closed Edge Hill, this is where they worked. Anecdotal, but also interesting. As for "Northern" though, Maryland is dicey. John Wilkes Booth and the conspirators met after all in Clinton Maryland at Mary Surratt's Tavern, for which she was later executed. Definitely divided sentiment.
Hi, Katherine–Thanks for the tip about Patapsco. I don't suppose you know about the Hazelhurst relations, do you? ;-) And I thought twice about clarifying Maryland, too! Is it North? Is it South? It took such a long time for Savannahians to travel to Maryland that in the end, I tried to think of it that way, regardless of the Civil War. Thanks for the comments–I always love hearing from you!
I LOVE this! Chelsea was the only cow with any significant name in my life; the rest were mostly named after candy. Now that I think of it, I also had some named after fictional characters. I'm beginning to like Daisy more and more =)
Thanks, Paige! And you know I truly did look for a picture of a cow Chelsea's color…
Hi, Stacy — well, what do you want to know about the Hazlehursts? we do have some stuff in files. As for travel, another bunny trail might be the whole train/steamship company pass business. all i know is they all seem to have traveled a lot, and particularly Daisy. The PFI ruins are now a state owned park. As for MD, it is below the Mason-Dixon line, but it was not given a choice to secede in order to protect DC.
I am really enjoying your musings. Oddly, Jeb Bush form our staff is working on his thesis as we speak, about 5 natural disasters, but he has gotten really hung up on Bierne Gordon, and keeps having to really pull himself off that particularly Bunny trail to get that thesis done!
Kind of funny that DAISY might have named her cow LILBURN, after the home of her friend named…BESSIE.
Hah! I hadn't made that connection! Very funny! Thanks for commenting!
I have heard that Lilburn was haunted. There are some similar stories about tennessee haunted houses. This is a really interesting article.
Thanks, Richey–I appreciate your comments and the pointer about Tennessee haunted houses…but a warning to readers–the link in Richey's comment goes to some gruesome and scary pictures. Not for children.
My Late Uncle William F. Gassaway co owned Lilburn from 1965 to 1974. They had problems with the doors opening by unseen forces, he and his wife were going to live there but my Great Grand father Dr. William N. Gassaway who lived on Church Road behind Patapsco Institute in Ellicott city died and willed his house to my Uncle William so his stay at Lilburn was cut short. My Father John D. Gassaway loved that house. He took lots of pictures of it. I think it was the castle look that he liked so much!
I love the story about the cow . My Aunt & Uncle who lived their for a short time ,I was told that my Aunts family owned it prior to her & her Husband Dr. William F. Gassaway going and moving in their. The Cigar smoke could be from my Uncle Billy’s Ghost ! He loved cigars made of fine Imported tobacco. he also liked a good Ghost story ! Or story for that matter ! The old home has a lot of history ,I am not surprised their are a few Ghosts walking the halls . My Aunt had trouble with bats in the master bedroom. or some reason they would make them selves present in the one room , My uncle tried every thing to get rid of them ! Finally he used a shot gun to get rid of the Bats ! the damage to the ceiling really upset My Aunt funny part of it Billy missed the bat !