by Anne Motto, F.M. Kirby Curator of Collections
June 3, 2025
In 1881, Miss Julia Crane of Acorn Hall may have been labeled a “spinster,” but some of her greatest adventures were just around the corner. Her first came that June when she sailed for Europe in the company of a prominent NYC lawyer’s family on an extended trip. As is unfortunately typical of MCHS archives where Julia is concerned, few documents from her journey survive, but those that do provide tantalizing snapshots of her international voyage.
She and her traveling party, formed of Mr. and Mrs. William Allen Butler and four of their children, set sail for Liverpool aboard the Cunard Line’s RMS Bothnia as “saloon” (first class) passengers on June 1. Before they had even weighed anchor, noted stage actress Miss Genevieve Ward, on her way to London, threw a reception onboard. The rest of the day, described by Julia as “a chatty perfect day in many ways,” was busy acquainting themselves with their accommodations and fellow travelers. Her list of the Bothnia’s saloon passengers bears marks not only next to her name and those of the Butler family, but also individuals she socialized with while on board, including her maternal aunt and cousin, the Butler’s extended family, Miss Ward, several other members of New York society, and Pittsburgh steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, who was accompanied by his mother, Mrs. Margaret Carnegie. However, the archives then fall sadly silent, one of many instances where Julia leaves inquiring minds desperately wanting more.
Arriving in Liverpool around June 10 according to newspapers, she and the Butlers made their way to London where a second document picks up the story. In addition to being a noted attorney (and later president of the American Bar Association), William Allen Butler was also a published poet. On June 23, 1881, in honor of Julia’s 31st birthday, he wrote a poem recounting all the sights she had seen in the week since her arrival in London, providing a detailed itinerary in lyrical form. While staying at the Buckingham Palace Hotel nearby the royal residence, he notes that in only a few short days “this damsel, so rare and unique” had “scoured” Piccadilly; “swept” through the Strand; explored Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, and British Museum; ridden a carriage through Hyde Park to soak in the latest fashions; attended service at Temple Church (“midst the Knight Templar’s bones”); shopped along New Bond Street; and attended a performance of Hamlet at the Lyceum Theatre.
After this very memorable birthday, it would be two years before the archives caught up with Julia again, leaving to the imagination all she saw and experienced before their return stateside that October. Always a mixture of mystery and tantalizing clues, we do know that she wasn’t done with excitement yet. For, in 1883, she would be invited to Alva Smith Vanderbilt’s legendary costume ball to open her new Fifth Avenue mansion and soon thereafter would marry an up-and-coming neurologist five years her junior. Go Julia.
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