Suzanne Mayer Stein – Havemeyer Collection
COLLECTION: 2008.12
CREATOR: Various
EXTENT: Linear Feet: 1.5 linear feet, number of containers: 2 boxes
COLLECTION SUMMARY: Photographs of people, animals, buildings and land of Mountainside Farm. Some newspaper articles and correspondence. Shotgun.
RECEIVED FROM: Suzanne Mayer Stein, 2008–2010
LANGUAGES: English
PROCESSING ARCHIVIST: Debra Utko and Cathy Moran Hajo, November 2019.
Collection Details
Biographical / Historical Note: Suzanne Mayer Stein (May 9, 1994– ), Santa Barbara, CA, is the great granddaughter of Nathalie (nee Havemeyer) and John Mayer, and the daughter of Roland Mintern Mayer, Jr., and Charlotte Williams Mayer. Nathalie was one of nine children of Theodore A. (ca. 1834–April 27, 1897) and Emilie (nee DeLoosey, 1840–1914) Havemeyer. Theodore A. Havemeyer, a partner in the Havemeyer & Elder Sugar Refining Company, then the largest such company in the world, came to the Ramapo Valley in 1878 and began to build Mountain Side Farm.
Havemeyer, like Darling and Miller, two others who established farms during this era, had other income to develop and support their farms, sometimes called farm-estates. Here, as everywhere in those times, there was competition to breed the best cows to produce the most butter, to breed and race the finest horses and to build the best barns and have the cleanest dairies. Havemeyer’s herd of Jersey cows, worth $150,000 in 1933, yielded 6,450 pounds of milk per cow per year – twice the national average.
Theodore Havemeyer’s daughter Nathalie and her husband John Mayer, the Manager of Mountain Side Farm, married and had four children. In 1900, Nathalie died tragically at only 36 years of age.
The Mayers lived in a beautiful mansion at Mountain Side Farm, given to them as a wedding gift by Nathalie’s parents. The mansion, built between 1887 and 1890, later became the home of Stephen Birch, Sr., his wife, son and daughter. Birch eventually added a wing, which includes the York room. The mansion, now known as the Birch Mansion, is the administration building of Ramapo College.
Collection Description: The collection includes primarily photographs of several aspects Mountainside Farm during the Havemeyer, Mayer and Birch eras, including people, buildings, animals and landscapes. The undated letter from Suzanne M. Stein (presumed 2008) in the correspondence folder lists descriptions of several photographs. Architectural drawings, a Havemeyer genealogical chart, newspaper clippings about family events and a shotgun complete the collection.
Arrangement Description: Alphabetical by folder.
Separated Materials:
- Book: Butter Tests of Registered Jersey Cows, 1894. Separated to Mountainside Farms Collection.
- Book: Milk Register. Separated to Mountainside Farms Collection
- Shotgun: Separate box in the Suzanne Mayer Stein–Havemeyer Collection – 2008.12.001
Subject Headings: Photographs of family, Havemeyer House, Mayer/ Birch Mansion, Mountainside / Mahrapo Farm. Genealogical chart. Newspaper article about various relatives. Shotgun in separate box.
Using the Collection
ACCESS STATEMENT: Collection is open and available for use. If used in a publication, the Museum expects to be credited.
RIGHTS STATEMENT: The Mahwah Museum owns the materials, but researchers wishing to publish or reprint materials need to secure permission from the copyright holder.
PREFERRED CITATION: [ITEM DESCRIPTION], Suzanne Mayer Stein – Havemeyer Collection , Mahwah Museum, Mahwah, NJ.
Collection Inventory
Box 1: List of Folders:
- Architectural Plans, House of Mrs. John Mayer/ Birch Mansion
- Correspondence, 1885-2002. Includes some photograph descriptions.
- Genealogical Chart
- Key, Havemeyer House
- Newspaper clippings, family events, 1902 – 1984
- Photographs, Award from Bay State Agricultural Society, 1886
- Photographs, farm animals
- Photographs, Havemeyer Album, Mountainside Farm, ca. 1900 -1910
- Photographs, Havemeyer Family
- Photographs, Havemeyer House
- Photographs, Havemeyer road art, farm map, farm sketches
- Photographs, Hopper House
- Photographs, houses (other than Havemeyer, Birch) and gardens
- Photographs, house (unidentified) interior
- Photographs, lakes and rivers on or near Mountainside Farm
- Photographs, Mayer / Birch Mansion
- Photographs, Mountainside / Mahrapo Farm
- Photographs, people
- Photographs, shotgun – Suzanne Mayer Stein collection, 2008.12.001
Box 2:
- Shotgun, two major pieces, Suzanne Mayer Stein collection, 2008.12.001