A Biography of Lucy Camp Armstrong Moltz – Part 1
Lucy Mae Camp Armstrong Moltz
We’ve mentioned Lucy Camp Armstrong Moltz on our pages before (most recently, in the three-part serialization of her nephew’s diary of a European Grand Tour)—and many in the Historic Toxaway area are familiar with at least her name, if not her story.
Truth is, there’s more than a few stories to tell about Lucy, including:
- Her two marriages to husbands well-known in the region:
- George Armstrong, a prosperous businessman out of Savannah
- Carl Moltz, a timber tycoon in Transylvania County
- Her famous residences
- The historic William Nelson Camp House in Ocala, FL
- The Armstrong House, a mansion in Savannah, GA
- Hillmont, her much-loved home on Lake Toxaway (now The Greystone Inn)
Most importantly though, perhaps, Lucy Camp Armstrong Moltz is remembered as a benefactress to many, and a beloved daughter, mother, sister, aunt, and grandmother to a score of her relations.
So who was she? Let’s find out.
EARLY ORIGINS
Lucy Camp was born in Suffolk VA, the second child and first daughter to parents William Nelson Camp and his wife, Texana (or “Texie” as she was more commonly known).
According to a recent retrospective in The Hernando Sun, Lucy was just eight years old when her family moved to Albion, FL, a small town near Gainesville, in 1891. Over time, several of William’s brothers had become quite well-known— as well as quite prosperous — at a number of family enterprises there, mostly timber- and milling-related.
William wanted to make his name, too, bringing his young wife and family with him, which then included son Jack (1880), daughter Lucy (1883), and their newborn sister Leta (1891).
With his brothers and on his own, Camp dabbled in several ventures, among them citrus and cattle raising, and even building a railroad in Florida and Georgia.
Eventually, he began a mining and manufacturing company, producing phosphate. Phosphate was then used primarily for agriculture, but Camp also found markets for it in sulphur matches, medicine, toothpaste and detergents.
A Dunnellon phosphate mine of that era.
By 1903, he had moved his growing brood to Ocala, closer to the phosphate deposits in Dunnellon. Two of the Camp children died young, but four others (Sallie, Billy, Cliff, and Clarence) were to follow in quick succession behind their older siblings.
The elegant William Nelson Camp home at 910 SE Fifth St in Ocala was once the crème de la crème of the historic neighborhood (it was fondly remarked upon by Frank Bennett, Leta’s son and Lucy’s nephew, in his 1930s travel diary), though the namesake house has since fallen on hard times, as seen below in a more recent photo.
With extensive phosphate sales, much of it to German firms, the family became quite wealthy. As a doting father to young Lucy, Camp often allowed her to accompany him on his sales trips to Europe, which no doubt contributed to her lifelong love of travel.
YOUNG ADULTHOOD
As a proper young woman of the time, Lucy graduated from Hollins College (now Hollins University) north of Roanoke, VA, an all-girls school, before meeting and marrying George Armstrong in 1905.
An early 1900s-era postcard shows the prosperous port of Savannah.
George was fourteen years older and a prominent Savannah, GA gentleman involved in many city affairs, especially renowned for developing the port there into a shipping powerhouse in the early 1900s. It’s worth noting that by 1905, Savannah’s exports, chiefly cotton and naval stores, are greater than the combined exports of all other south Atlantic seaports.[1]
Though well-suited as a couple, George and Lucy had somewhat differing views of where to live. He thrived in the city, where he began to plan the magnificent Armstrong House to shelter his family (their only child Lucy Jr was born within a year of their opulent Ocala wedding).
Though Lucy enjoyed Savannah (and in fact, later contributed much to its culture), she had other plans in mind. She eventually found what she was looking for after a visit to the prestigious Toxaway Inn, then in its glory days, and she unsuccessfully lobbied her husband to purchase 40 acres of land along Lake Toxaway.
In 1910, Lucy’s father (William Nelson Camp) passed away, followed by her mother in the following year. The “910” home in Ocala was left in the possession of newlyweds Leta Camp and Frank Bennett Sr., who would eventually have a son, Frank Jr, born in 1914.
Lucy had not given up on her desire to live at Lake Toxaway, so George, likely thinking to put off his strong-willed wife, suggested that she first spend a summer camping on the Toxaway-area acreage she had selected. She whole-heartedly agreed and proceeded to camp for several weeks in a large wood-floored tent with a small retinue of servants, in fairly replete style for those times!
In the face of Lucy’s determination, George relented and purchased the Toxaway land.
Hillmont in the 1960s
In 1913, work began on her pride and joy, the home she later dubbed Hillmont, a Swiss-chalet-inspired, 30-room, six-floor, 16,000-square-foot mansion fronting the still waters of Lake Toxaway.
Lucy took an active role in its design, both exterior and interior, and her personal style can still be seen in many of The Greystone Inn’s rooms, especially the library. Construction was completed in 1915, two years before the start of the massive Armstrong House being planned in Savannah.
George Armstrong with his wife Lucy Mae Camp Armstrong and daughter Lucy Armstrong.
Lucy, George, and Lucy, Jr., moved easily between their Savannah and Lake Toxaway homes. George was known to have a rather splendid boat and presumably, the couple would socialize with other rich and famous guests from across the lake at the Toxaway Inn when they were in town.
However, these idyllic times were not fated to last. When heavy rains pummeled the area for days, the Toxaway dam failed in the summer of 1916, and Hillmont, the Inn, and the few other lakeside homes of the time were left high and dry. It was in fact reported that George was in his boat on the lake at the time; perhaps, like others, he was interested in witnessing the events of the day first-hand, though fortunately, he was able to return to the dock at the Inn without incident.
According to J. Robert Ferrari, in his treatise titled A Grand Lady of Lake Toxaway and Savannah, “Despite the disappearance of the lake, Lucy still frequented the Hillmont estate, while continuing to lead an active social and family life in Savannah. In 1919, the Armstrong House, the talk of the city, was ready for move-in.”
Two views of the historic Armstrong House in Savannah GA.
The Armstrongs engaged in civic affairs in both locales and also traveled.
The eldest Camp sisters, Lucy and Leta, remained close despite their eight-year age difference. In 1920, Leta divorced Frank Bennett Sr.; when she remarried, to Norton Davis, an insurance agent, he became stepfather to seven-year-old Frank Jr. The junior cousins – Frank and Lucy – were close as well.
Armstrong Family Portraits
Images provided by Andrea Johnson, great-granddaughter of Lucy Armstrong Moltz.
George Ferguson Armstrong
Lucy Mae Camp Armstrong
Lucy Armstrong (“Lucy, Jr.”)
Sadly, George Armstrong fell ill with lung cancer and died in 1924 at age 55. He left an estate valued at well over $2M (approximately $30M in today’s dollars) to his 41-year-old wife and 18-year-old daughter.
This story continues in Part 2, here.
SOURCES
[1] History of the Ports in Georgia, Savannah Morning News, June 26, 2006
The Camp Family: influential in Hernando County and beyond, The Hernando Sun, 2017
Camp family legacy rests in good hands, Ocala Style,
