Montgomery Clift
From RoyalWeb
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=Ethel Blair= | =Ethel Blair= | ||
| − | A dubious story is related by Patricia Bosworth in her biography of Montgomery Clift about his mother's birth. According to | + | A dubious story is related by Patricia Bosworth in her biography of Montgomery Clift about his mother Ethel's birth. According to Patricia's report, she was told that Ethel "Sunny" had been born from the union of Woodbury "Woody" Blair and Maria "Bobbie" Anderson. Maria had formed an attachment to Woodbury, but Maria's mother Elizabeth disapproved of the relationship. Maria and Woodbury continued meeting without her mother's approval and eventually married secretly. When her mother learned about the marriage, she either had it annuled, or forced Maria to do so. She then kept Maria a virtual prisoner, sometimes guarded by her sister Sophie. (This part of the story '''might''' have occured in Washington, D.C.) |
| − | Maria however had already became pregnant. When it came time for the child's birth, they moved in the Summer of 1888 to Philadelphia, [[Pennsylvania]] where | + | Maria however, according to this story, had already became pregnant. When it came time for the child's birth, they moved, in the Summer of 1888 to Philadelphia, [[Pennsylvania]] where Maria gave birth on 29 Sep 1888. The birth certificate, according to Patricia Bosworth, records her parents as "Sophie and Frank Adams". Her mother forced Maria to agree to give the child up for adoption. So far, this much of the story was told to Ethel, when she was 18, by Dr Edward Montgomery who had been the attending physician at her birth, and who had kept a watch over her, even though she was adopted by the Fogg family at the age of 1. |
| − | + | Sophia Anderson, Maria's sister is reported to have told Sunny decades later, that Woodbury Blair was never told of his wife's pregnancy or the birth of their child. The doctor who delivered the child, Edward E Montgomery, kept her for a year, and finally she was adopted by the Charles Fogg family of Germantown. In 1895 Charles Fogg is listed as a machinist, age 48, while his wife Elizabeth is age 40. Evidently they had no children of their bodies. | |
| − | Sunny never met her mother, although she | + | When Sunny was 18, she went to Cornell on a scholarship. It was then that Dr. Montgomery told her this story of her birth. The Blair family never accepted this story, at least they had not by the time of Patrica's book, published in 1978, calling it "hogwash" according to her report. Some of the Anderson family did accept the story. |
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| + | Sunny never met her mother, although she is quoted by Patricia as stating that she wrote letters that were never answered. Patricia states that Sunny learned that her mother "had recently died" in 1925/6, and at that time re-doubled her efforts to contact her family. The first odd question is that Montgomery Blair lived until 1933. So where is the evidence that she contacted him? Seven years is an awful long time. | ||
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| + | The second odd question arises when it's realized that Sunny's grandmother Elizabeth had died in 1905. This leaves on the table, why her mother and father, who outlived the supposed "evil grandmother" by 20 years, did not contact Sunny. Something about the story passed down, doesn't quite ring true. If Maria was being "held prisoner" this certainly ended by 1905. And in fact she was a co-executor of her mother Elizabeth's estate that year. | ||
Another rather interesting note, is that after I'd rapidly skimmed the list of contents of the "Patricia Bosworth papers" I saw no references to any member of the Blair or the Anderson family. I find that a bit too odd. If you, as an author, had heard such a bizarre story, wouldn't you follow it up to try to learn it's veracity? If you, as a mother were "determined" to be acknowledged by your relatives, wouldn't you actually simply go to Washington DC and pester them directly in person, instead of writing dozens of letters that go unanswered? Knowing that your father and mother are yet living? I'm fairly skeptical of something here... I'm just not quite sure what yet. | Another rather interesting note, is that after I'd rapidly skimmed the list of contents of the "Patricia Bosworth papers" I saw no references to any member of the Blair or the Anderson family. I find that a bit too odd. If you, as an author, had heard such a bizarre story, wouldn't you follow it up to try to learn it's veracity? If you, as a mother were "determined" to be acknowledged by your relatives, wouldn't you actually simply go to Washington DC and pester them directly in person, instead of writing dozens of letters that go unanswered? Knowing that your father and mother are yet living? I'm fairly skeptical of something here... I'm just not quite sure what yet. | ||
