Editors note: Stephen Merrell Clement, III shares his thoughts on behalf of his family regarding Mr. John Yurtchuk's purchase and pending donation of the of the 786 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo home his great-grandmother, Carolyn Tripp Clement, donated to the Red Cross in 1941, and it's current use as home of both our Western New York Chapter and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra:
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| 786 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo |
The recent news
about "786," the former home of Carolyn Tripp Clement, is exciting
indeed. As a Clement Trustee of the Western New York Chapter of the
American Red Cross, I have followed closely the real estate transactions which
have culminated in today's announcement. I have communicated with over
fifty relatives and descendants of our great grandmother. One cousin put
it very well: "It sounds like a complete win-win-win for the Philharmonic,
the Red Cross and for the family."
The Clement family
has always referred to the Delaware Avenue property as "786."
Carolyn Jewett Tripp, born in Buffalo in 1861, grew up in a house on the
Red Cross site, and in 1884 married a young man who had grown up across the
street. Stephen Merrell Clement lived at 727 Delaware Avenue. The young
couple quickly produced a family of six children, and lived in a large house at
the corner of Summer Street and Oakland Place. Around 1910 they
commissioned Buffalo's most prominent architect, Edward B. Green, to design a
new Clement home on the old Tripp property. The most important feature in
the house was the Music Room, reflecting Carolyn's life long interest in music,
which she had studied in Paris for a year before her marriage. The two
storey space housed a pipe organ, two grand pianos, a harp, storage space for
instruments, and two racks for hymn books. The Music Room was used for
family gatherings, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, for debutante parties
and weddings, and funerals. Sadly Stephen M. Clement was laid out there for
viewing after his funeral at Westminster Church. President of the Marine Trust
Company, he died in 1912 of congestive heart failure before spending a night in
his new house.
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| Stephen Merrell Clement, III, in front of a portrait of his great-grandmother, Carolyn Tripp Clement. |
For nearly thirty
years Carolyn lived at "786," filling her home with family and
friends, and music. Family lore depicts Carolyn and her sister Emma Tripp
Frost in the Music Room at the nested dual grand pianos. They were
playing into the night by ear tunes they had just heard at the old Erlanger
Theatre. Composers included Victor Herbert, Sigmund Romberg, W.S. Gilbert
and Sir Arthur Sullivan. Sunday evenings were marked by Hymn Sings, with
the youngest child present choosing the first hymn.
Carolyn's
"musical gene" was passed on to many Clements. Her four sons
played banjos, mandolins and guitars, and at college some sang with the Yale
Glee Club and the Whiffenpoofs. Their wives were often good singers, and
especially song writers, and her birthday on July 19 was marked by clever
lyrics to popular songs. An important part of family history, these songs
can be sung by heart by many of Carolyn's great grandchildren today...
"It sounds
like a complete win-win-win for the Philharmonic, the Red Cross, and the
family."
--Stephen Merrell
Clement, III
