Mary Grace Chess1

#634, (1878 - 1964)
FatherWilliam Edward Chess2
MotherAmelia Carley2
Pedigree
Charts5 Generations of Descendants of Charles Bonnycastle (1796-1840)

Family

George Avery Robinson (1878 - 1965)
Child

Life Events

BirthMary Grace Chess was born on 27 Dec 1878 in Kentucky.2,3
 
MarriageShe married George Avery Robinson on 18 Mar 1907 in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
According to his obituary, Mary's father was the founder of the Chess-Wyman Company, the largest cooperage manufacturers in the world.
Mr & Mrs Robinson spent four months in France, Italy, Switzerland, and England on their wedding trip.4 
1910 CensusAvery and Grace Robinson appeared on the 1910 Federal Census of Harrod's Creek Precinct, Jefferson County, Kentucky, at River Road. Avery Robinson was 32, married for 3 years, born in Kentucky, parents born Kentucky, and works for a cotton mill. Grace was 31, has had one child, still living, was born in Kentucky, father born Indiana, mother Ohio. They had one daughter, Grace Carley, age 11 months. They were all in the household of Grace's father William E Chess, a cooper. There were also three maids and a chauffeur.3 
Note.In 1917, the Robinsons took over William E Chess' home, Boxhill, in Glenview, Kentucky. They sold it in 1923. The Georgian Revival house is on the National Register of Historic Places.5 
1920 CensusAvery and Grace C Robinson appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California, at 216 East Mission Street, enumerated 16 Jan 1920. Avery was 41, born in Kentucky, and was an employer at a Cooperage Manufactury. Grace was 41, born in Kentucky, father born in Indiana and mother in Ohio. Their daughter Grace Carley was living with them, along with Grace's widowed father William E Chess. They rented their home and had a German cook with them.6 
Passenger List In the 1920s, there are numerous sightings of Avery, Grace, and their daughter Carley traveling between England and Montreal or New York. During this period, they gave their residence as England. Grace's elderly father and their maid Annie Plamp traveled with them. Avery's occupation on various lists was musical composer (1921, 22), director (1925), retired (1929).
In 1933 Richard & Carley Hawkins of Heath Farm, Walton Heath, Surrey visited the US. Richard was an author.7 
(Mentioned) ObituaryShe was mentioned in William Edward Chess's 1926 obituary as daughter Mrs. Avery Robinson. William had moved 10 years before to London to be near his daughters.8 
1940 CensusAvery and Grace Chess Robinson appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Manhattan, New York, at East 80th Street. They rented their home for $175 and had lived in New York in 1935 as well. They had a housekeeper from Kentucky who worked 68 hours the previous week and earned $840 annually. Avery was 62, had 3 years of college education, and was born in Kentucky. Grace was 61, had 4 years of high school, and was born in Kentucky. They were both executives in the Cosmetics industry - Grace an employer and Avery an employee. Each earned $5000 and had income from other sources.
The next household enumerated was that of their divorced daughter Carley Hawkins and her son Stephen.9 
DeathMary died on 11 Jan 1964 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.10
 
ObituaryHer obituary was published on 16 Jan 1964 in the Chatham NY Courier.

List Services For Grace Chess Robinson, Originator of Perfume
Mrs Grace Chess Robinson of New Lebanon, originator and founder of Mary Chess Perfumers Inc., will be memorialized in a special service in the Darrow School Chapel, New Lebanon, Saturday noon.
She died in Hillcrest Hospital, Pittsfield, Mass., Saturday at the age of 85. She had been a resident of New Lebanon since 1941.
Mrs Robinson started her multi-million dollar perfume business in her kitchen during the depression year of 1932 with the "determination," according in her surviving daughter, "that luxury products" had a place in the feminine world despite financial difficulties. Mrs Robinson was 54 at the time.
Married to Avery Robinson, musician and composer, she had travelled extensively before settling in New Lebanon. She was a native of Louisville, Ky.
Beside her husband and her daughter, Mrs Carley Dawson, of Washington, DC, she is survived by a grandson, Stephen Hawkins, of Wallingford, Conn.10
 
Last Edited22 Apr 2014

Citations

  1. Frederick A. Virkus, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy (n.p.: n.pub., 1925; reprint 1987), p.802, Robinson history.
  2. George Norbury Mackenzie, Colonial Families of the United States of America (New York: n.pub., 1907), vol. 5.
  3. Online image of the 1910 Federal Census for United States (Heritage Quest, www.heritagequest.com), Kentucky, Jefferson County, Harrods Creek, Series T625, Roll 483, page 58.
  4. Harvard College. Class of 1900 ed. Secretary's Third Report, Rockwell & Churchill Press (1910), digitized copy viewed on Google Books, June 2009.
  5. Website Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org), Boxhill (Louisville), accessed 13 April 2014.
  6. United States 1920 Federal Census, California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara, Roll T625_146, ED 99, Page 16B.
  7. UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 (images viewed at ancestry.com). Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Series BT26.
  8. Ancestry.com databases, Historical Newspaper Database. Image from Atlanta Constitution, 1 Aug 1926. (AP) William Edward Chess death.
  9. United States 1940 Federal Census, New York, New York, ED 31-1341, Page 9A.
  10. Obituary of Mrs Grace Chess Robinson in Chatham NY Courier, 16 January 1964. Image viewed online at fultonhistory.com.