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Mamah Borthwick

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Mamah Bouton Borthwick
Mamah Borthwick,c. 1911
Born
Martha Bouton Borthwick

(1869-06-19)June 19, 1869
Boone, Iowa,U.S.
DiedAugust 15, 1914(1914-08-15)(aged 45)
Spring Green, Wisconsin,U.S.
Cause of deathMurder
Other namesMamah Borthwick
SpouseEdwin Cheney
PartnerFrank Lloyd Wright
Children2

Martha Bouton"Mamah"Borthwick(June 19, 1869 – August 15, 1914) was an American translator who had a romantic relationship with architectFrank Lloyd Wright,which ended when she was murdered.[1]She and Wright were instrumental in bringing the ideas and writings of Swedish feministEllen Keyto American audiences. Wright built his famous settlement calledTaliesininWisconsinfor her, in part, to shield her from aggressive reporters and the negative public sentiment surrounding their non-married status. Both had left their spouses and children in 1909 in order to live together and were the subject of relentless public censure. In 1914, a disturbed member of the staff at Taliesin suddenly went on a murder-suicide spree at the estate killing Borthwick, two of her children and others. Wright was away at the time.

Early life and education[edit]

She was born as Martha Bouton Borthwick[2]inBoone, Iowa.She had two sisters: Jessie Octavia Borthwick Pitkin (1864–1901) and Elizabeth Vilitta Borthwick (1866–1946). Borthwick earned herBAandMAat theUniversity of Michiganin 1892 and 1893.[3]She later worked as a school teacher inPort Huron, Michigan.

Marriage and family[edit]

In 1899, Borthwick marriedEdwin Cheney,anelectrical engineerfromOak Park, Illinois.They had two children: John (1902) and Martha (1905).[4]Before their children, they adopted Mamah Borthwick's niece, Jessie Borthwick Pitkin, when Mamah's sister (Jessie Octavia Borthwick Pitkin) died during childbirth in 1901.[5]

Relationship with Wright[edit]

Borthwick met Frank Lloyd Wright's wife, Catherine, through a social club. Soon after, Edwin commissioned Wright to design them a home in Oak Park, now known as theEdwin H. Cheney House.Mamah's sister, Elizabeth Vilitta Borthwick, lived in an apartment on the lower level of the house.

In 1909, Borthwick and Wright left their spouses and traveled to Europe.[6]Wright returned to the United States around a year later in October of 1910.[7]Meanwhile, Borthwick remained in Europe so that she could obtain adivorcefrom her husband for the reason of abandonment.[8]During her time in Europe, she began translating the works of the Swedishfeministthinker and writerEllen Key,whom she admired. In April, 1911, Wright's mother purchased land in her family's valley nearSpring Green, Wisconsin[9]so that her son could begin designing a home in which to live with Borthwick after her planned divorce. He named the homeTaliesin(Welsh for "Shining Brow" ).

Borthwick returned to the United States in June of 1911.[10]She spent time with her children in Canada through the summer waiting to divorce Edwin Cheney, which she did on August 5, and legally returned to her maiden name.[10]Borthwick joined Wright at Taliesin that month, which was then being constructed.

The press became aware of the couple living together at Taliesin shortly before Christmas 1911.[11]The editor of the Spring Green newspaper (theWeekly Home News) condemned Wright for bringing scandal to the village. The press, which reported the European trip as a "spiritualhegira",called Borthwick and Wright" soul mates "and also referred to Taliesin as the" love castle "or" love bungalow ".[12][13]Chicago newspapers criticized Wright, implying that he would soon be arrested for immorality, despite statements from the local sheriff that he could not prove that the couple was doing anything wrong. Most of their friends and acquaintances considered their openclosenessto be scandalous, especially since Catherine had refused to agree to a divorce. The scandal affected Wright's career for several years; he did not receive his next major commission, theMidway Gardens,until 1913.[14]

Murder[edit]

Borthwick's grave at Unity Chapel Cemetery

On August 15, 1914, Julian Carlton, a male servant fromBarbados[15]who had been hired several months earlier, set fire to the living quarters ofTaliesinand murdered seven people with anaxeas they fled the burning structure.[16][12]The dead included Borthwick; her two visiting children, John and Martha Cheney; David Lindblom, a gardener; Emil Brodelle, a draftsman; Thomas Bunker, a workman; and Ernest Weston, the son of Wright's carpenter William Weston, who himself was injured but survived.[12][17]Thomas Fritz also survived the mayhem, and Weston helped to put out the fire that almost completely consumed the residential wing of the house.[18]In hiding, Carlton swallowedhydrochloric acidimmediately following the attack in an attempt tokill himself.[16]When found, he was nearlylynchedon the spot, but was instead taken to theDodgevillejail.[16]Carlton died fromstarvationseven weeks after the attack, despite medical attention.[16]At the time of the attack, Wright was overseeing work onMidway GardensinChicago.[19]

Borthwick was buried in the cemetery atUnity Chapelnear Taliesin. Wright was later buried there in 1959, but in 1985 his remains were cremated and reinterred atTaliesin Westin Arizona.

In popular culture[edit]

A detailed nonfiction account of the tragedy at Taliesin is provided inDeath in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murdersby William R. Drennan.[20]

Borthwick's time with Wright is the basis ofLoving Frank,a novel byNancy Horan.[21]Mamah is also a subject ofT.C. Boyle's 2009 twelfth novel,The Women.[22]

An opera,Shining Brow,covers the story of the Cheneys and the Wrights, from when they meet in Wright's office, through the aftermath of Borthwick's death. Music was composed by American composerDaron Hagenwith a libretto byPaul Muldoon.The death of Borthwick is described in the bookThe Rise of EndymionbyDan Simmonsin a back-story of the persona of Frank Lloyd Wright.

A song byConor Oberst,is named after Borthwick.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^"The Terrible Crime at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin".December 5, 2017.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  2. ^Hendrickson, Paul (2020).Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright.Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 156.ISBN978-0-8041-7288-2.
  3. ^Calendar of the University of Michigan for 1892–93.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. 1893. p. 189.
  4. ^"Frank Lloyd Wright".steinerag.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  5. ^Ron McCrea (June 12, 2012).Building Taliesin: Frank Lloyd Wright's Home of Love and Loss.Wisconsin Historical Society Press.ISBN978-0-87020-606-1.170, fn 81.
  6. ^"The queer view of marital life".Fort Wayne Sentinel.February 26, 1912. p. 12.RetrievedDecember 12,2016– via newspaperarchive.Open access icon
  7. ^Meryle Secrest (1998).Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography.University of Chicago Press.ISBN0-226-74414-0.,205.
  8. ^Meryle Secrest (1998).Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography.University of Chicago Press.ISBN0-226-74414-0.,207.
  9. ^Taliesin_(studio)#Early_history
  10. ^abRon McCrea (June 12, 2012).Building Taliesin: Frank Lloyd Wright's Home of Love and Loss.Wisconsin Historical Society Press.ISBN978-0-87020-606-1.,25.
  11. ^"Snow Bound; No Warrant. Story that posse of citizens left for Wright Cottage denied".Baraboo Weekly News.Baraboo, WI. January 4, 1912. p. 1.
  12. ^abc"Six are slain in love castle".Racine Journal News.August 17, 1914. p. 10.RetrievedDecember 12,2016– via newspaperarchive.Open access icon
  13. ^"Soulmate stunt loses its zest".Kokomo Daily Tribune.August 3, 1910. p. 1.RetrievedDecember 12,2016– via newspaperarchive.Open access icon
  14. ^"Midway Gardens - Data, Photos & Plans".WikiArquitectura.RetrievedMarch 19,2021.
  15. ^Paul Hendrickson (October 24, 2019).Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright.Alfred A. Knopf.ISBN978-1847923103..Carlton was born in Alabama as explored by Hendrickson in "Coming Before Him in His Dreams: Notes on an Alabama Native Son", 204-208.
  16. ^abcdBBC Newsarticle: "Mystery of the murders at Taliesin".
  17. ^"Carleton is held on murder charges".Racine Journal News.August 28, 1914. p. 4.RetrievedDecember 12,2016– via newspaperarchive.Open access icon
  18. ^"Mystery of the murders at Taliesin".2001.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  19. ^"The Massacre at Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Love Cottage'".History.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  20. ^William R. Drennan (January 18, 2007).Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders.Terrace Books.ISBN978-0-299-22210-9.
  21. ^"Novel Sheds Light on Frank Lloyd Wright's Mistress".NPR.org.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  22. ^"T.C. Boyle's 'Women' Recasts Frank Lloyd Wright Bio".NPR.org.March 3, 2009.RetrievedOctober 28,2014.

External links[edit]

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