Tiffany Window - Layering of Glass, Ladybugs over leaves

Photo credit - JHC

“September 11, evening (Rye, 1863) - -The three families whom I loved the best, the V.R’s [Van Rensselaers], Mudges and Tracys have each lost one of their members and the number of people who have died …seems to me very great.”

From the Long Island Sound of Rye to Swampscott on the Atlantic Ocean, the friendship of the Jay and the Mudge families is detailed in the Civil War diary of Cornelia Jay. Cornelia Jay and Fanny were frequent visitors to each other's homes, at both their city residences and their waterfront summer estates, sometimes staying with each other for a month at a time. Their friendship would sustain them through the victories and tragedies experienced by fellow Union families in militias from New York to Boston, especially through Fanny's brother's death at Gettysburg. (Charlie Mudge was only 23 and a Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry when he was killed after obediently following an order to lead his men against the Confederates in an unwinnable charge. He was subsequently remembered for his bravery.)

""Are you sure that is the order?" Lt. Col. Mudge asked the messenger."Yes Sir!" came the reply. With his famous words, "It is murder but is the order," Mudge gave the order, "Forward, double-quick." Advancing as quickly as the swampy ground would permit, Lt.Col. Mudge cheered on the men, who were devoted to him. In the middle of the field, waving his sword to encourage the regiment behind him, this gallant Harvard grad and young man from Lynn fell to the ground mortally wounded." - www.lynnmuseum.org/exhibits_collections/vintage_postcards...

Sadly Cornelia's friend Fanny would die young too at the age of 42.

While the Mudge estates that the Jays would have frequented no longer exist, a memorial to the Mudge children can still be found in Lynn, Massachusetts - St. Stephens Church (1880) is a magnificent Romanesque Gothic gem containing the only known stained glass windows designed by American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens in the world. The church was designed by the architectural firm of Ware and Van Brunt - Fanny Olive was Van Brunt's sister-in-law.

Saint-Gaudens created his drawings for the Mudge memorial windows while working in the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York City. Other windows in the church exhibit emerging techniques used by the Tiffany Studios like "confetti glass" and layering of individual panes over each other to create greater depth of image. The range of artistry in this one building is truly superb and also features windows by Francis Davis Millet. While working on this commission for the the Mudge family, Tiffany and Millet were also collaborating on another extraordinary project, the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue in New York City through Tiffany's formation of a creative firm called Associated Artists (that would also work on Mark Twain's house and the White House.) Saint-Gaudens is believed to have had a hand in the decoration of the Armory's interiors as well and a comparison of the two projects is very worthwhile.

The teams at both historic sites are doing a tremendous job to preserve these national treasures.

To learn more about the restoration of St. Stephen's please visit

www.ststephenslynn.org/

To learn more about the restoration of the Seventh Regiment Armory please visit
www.armoryonpark.org/downloads/ArmoryInteriorsGuide.pdf

Jay Heritage Center
210 Boston Post Road
Rye, NY 10580
(914) 698-9275
Email: jayheritagecenter@gmail.com

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Taken on: July 12, 2011

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Sets appears in: • St. Stephen's Church, Lynn, MA - A Memorial to Jay Family Friends, Fanny and Charlie Mudge

Groups appears in: • Doors & Windows Project • Views: 3000

Camera: Canon PowerShot G10, f/2.8, 1/13 sec, 6.1mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot G10
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.077 sec (1/13)
Focal Length:	6.1mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
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