A Greystone Family Account—Part 1
In a series of blogs, we’ve recounted many stories of Lucy Armstrong Moltz and her Lake Toxaway homes, the Moltz Mansion (now The Gresytone Inn) and Robin Hill, sharing anecdotes and remembrances from those who knew her.
Among those previously referenced was Mary Lynne Arthur, the first wife of Lucy’s grandson, Walter Johnson, Jr. (born in 1935 to Lucy Jr and Walter Sr in Asheville).
A family visit to Hillmont, 1965
Left: L-R Mrs. Lucy Moltz with her daughter Lucy Armstrong Johnson, and her granddaughter-in-law Mary Lynne Arthur Johnson and children Christina, Walter Johnson III, and Andrea.
Right: Walter Johnson Jr. and Andrea.
In the spring of 2022, Ms. Arthur, then 83, and two of her children, daughters Christina Johnson Marchetti and Andrea Johnson, paid a visit to the Greystone Inn (snippets of this visit were included in our latest Sunday Night Stories feature film).
We were fortunate enough to interview her at about the same time, and later discovered a family memoir she authored, Children of Eden Glory (2020), some of which is source material here.
We think you’ll agree that—even beyond the charming details of our area’s past that she provides—the history of her own family is equally as compelling as her husband’s, especially given the repeating echoes of fate across its several generations.
A FAMILY TREE REFERENCE
Note: You can find more of the family history to the right side of this diagram in other Stories in our blog series.
The backstory begins in Puerto Rico in the early 1900s, when two seemingly unrelated events set the stage for the fateful meet-up of Mary Lynne’s maternal grandparents: The US military had recently established a base on the new territory, and at the same time, positions for schoolteachers there were being widely posted across the States.*
Frances Lytle, of an English-Irish family who had settled in Pennsylvania, was one of the young women who answered the call for the latter. For her, the opportunity was as much an escape as employment, as she had recently suffered several heartbreaking losses, the most recent of which was that a young man she had fallen for had been sent to war and killed.
She had been notified of his death in a letter sent by a fellow soldier, Edwin Griffith, a US Army captain from Indiana.
In an odd twist of fate, Griffith was eventually stationed at El Morro, Puerto Rico. The two would meet on the island and marry on April 3, 1903.
Over time, the couple produced four children: Frances, George, Helen and Mary Griffith (Mary Lynne’s mother).
This photo is featured on the front cover of the memoir, Children of Eden Glory. Back row: Edwin Griffith. Front row, L-R: Frances, Helen, George, Frances Lytle Griffith, with their youngest, Mary.
A view of San Juan harbor, Puerto Rico.
El Morro, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
When Edwin retired from the military in the early 1920s, he moved the family back to Puerto Rico and eventually he became one of the largest individual citrus fruit growers and shippers on the island. He was instrumental in introducing new and more cultivated varieties of oranges, grapefruit and pineapples—a fortunate occurrence since citrus had just recently become an exceptional export of Puerto Rico, with many groves commercially expanding.
According to Mary Griffith’s account in the memoir: “Shortly after our arrival in Puerto Rico, Helen and I returned to school. I was eleven and [both of us] went to the Anglican school, St. John’s.”
A few months later, Frances would leave for New York to attend secretarial school. Meanwhile, George remained at a military academy in preparation for an appointment to West Point.
When Mary was about to enter junior high school, she, Helen, and their mother returned to Bethesda, MD, where the family had purchased a home. Her father, Edwin, was now at liberty to spend time between his Puerto Rico groves and the DC suburb.
In 1924, Mary moved on to Bethesda Chevy Chase High School (Helen had just graduated and was now working In Washington, D.C., as a government proofreader).
According to Mary Lynne’s memoir, her mother told her: “I had been granted scholarships for very good schools, [but] I was homesick for Puerto Rico…[and] my parents wanted me to be close to home. I returned to the island in October, then took a year off from school before entering the University of Puerto Rico in the fall of 1931.”
In another odd coincidence, the first meeting of Mary Griffith and her eventual husband, Russell Arthur, follows a path similar in some ways to her grandparents’ meeting.
To start with, like Edwin Griffith, Russell was an Indiana native (and his middle name was Edwin!). Also, his steps somewhat echo Frances Lytle’s ‘escape through employment’ in Puerto Rico: His mother died, and finding himself a sort of “third wheel” in his father’s re-marriage, Russell felt at loose ends. When a fraternity friend alerted him to a teaching job in Puerto Rico, he applied for it and was quickly accepted, then found himself on a schooner out of New York.
He had barely begun his new teaching role on island when, after a series of encounters with a Puerto Rican national he had met on the voyage, he was offered a job with Singer Sewing Machine International. Of course he jumped at the opportunity.
Mary, meanwhile, had become fast friends with a former school acquaintance, Julie Bailey, while at university. She had just ended an engagement, knowing in her heart that her fiancé was not the one. Julie knew a group of male friends would be attending a post-Christmas party at the swank Condado Hotel [see sidebar] and invited Mary along to cheer her up.
After leaving their car to be parked by an attendant at the hotel entrance, the two women searched about the lobby for signs of Julie’s friend and his companions. As it happened, Russell Arthur was one of those men—though Mary’s first impression of him was not good: “One fellow looked up at the balcony straight at us, pointing in our direction. I thought how ill-mannered this fellow must be…ˮ
A subsequent introduction to the young man didn’t leave her feeling any differently: “He seemed impressed with himself, I thought, in addition to being both rude and arrogant. He ignored me the entire evening and danced with everyone else. All the while, he was drinking his way into inebriation. I resolved that I didn’t want to dance with him anyway, and sat at a table and watched him spin around the dance floor with Julie.”
However, it appears her
However, it appears her thoughts turned in a different direction later; when he finally asked her to dance, she was immediately taken by the ease with which he moved her around the floor, and in fact, she began to fall for him that very night.
The Condado Hotel
Around the turn of the 20th century, two brothers, Sosthenes and Hernand Behn, saw great economic potential in San Juan’s ability to become an incredibly popular tourist destination. They began pitching their vision to numerous investors from the United States, including Frederick William Vanderbilt of the powerful Vanderbilt dynasty, who eventually agreed to finance the project. [Editors aside: Yet another odd ‘twist’ in that another Vanderbilt, Cornelius, is forever associated with The Biltmore Estate near Historic Toxaway.]
Relying on the emerging trends of Spanish Colonial Revivalism, the trio constructed The Condado Hotel, a magnificent beachside inn that dominated the local landscape, with gorgeous white walls and red tiling that seemed to glisten with the natural light that radiated off the sea. French-inspired windows and lofty ceilings made the interiors feel spacious, yet warm. All the public spaces had unique motifs like ornate marble and intricate mosaics. A grand staircase extended up into the hotel’s upper floors as well, where 98 luxurious guestrooms came complete with their own private bathrooms and oceanside views.
When the hotel opened in 1919, patrons were awe-struck by the many amenities available on-site, as well as the wealth of activities that awaited them upon their arrival. The hotel quickly attracted some of the most influential people in the world, including renowned entertainers, businesspeople, and politicians [different eras, but echoes of the Toxaway Inn, anyone?]. The hotel’s guestbook was soon filled with illustrious names like Charles Lindbergh, Errol Flynn, Bob Hope, and Carlos Gardel.
The hotel was also a prominent fixture within the local community, as many residents hosted prestigious events in its meetings spaces such as the crowning balls of the Queens of the Ponce de León and San Juan Carnivals, as well as afternoon tea; the “Te-Danzant”—a combination of the British traditional tea infused with dancing and local flavor—a must for the ladies of society.
According to Mary Griffith’s recollections: “The Condado Hotel spoke of seasoned opulence. A long, elegant driveway lined by royal palms led to the entrance. Inside, a foyer featured circular, marble stairs leading to a ballroom that overlooked the ocean. Below, the pool area was lit by lanterns. Pale pink table linens, floral bouquets and fine china graced each setting. Waiters, or meseros, dressed in white dinner jackets tended diners in hushed politeness. A large circular bar divided the pool and dining room. Music from a piano on the terrace drifted through the rushing sound of ocean surf. The clientele was quiet and genteel, with an occasional outburst of boisterous laughter from some foreign guest not yet acquainted with local propriety.”
The couple was inseparable that winter and spring, until Russell was sent on a year-long business trip to South America in March 1932. However, he wrote to Mary faithfully; postmarks came from Curacao, Venezuela, British Guiana, Trinidad, Barbados, Costa Rica, Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, Guatemala, San Salvador, Cuba, Jamaica, Antigua, and Haiti.
She missed him and waited for him until he finally returned in late December of 1932. They were married soon after, on January 18, 1933, and for a number of years, Russell continued to expand his expertise in international business relations.
Watch for Part 2, coming soon!
