Donna's interview with Judge Conley

Here's a copy of Donna's interview notes so that we don't have to dig through emails later:

I had a great visit with Judge Frank Conley, great grandson of Sanford F. Conley on Thursday, April 15th at his home on Glenwood. He was kind enough to give me some hand sketched drawings he and his wife compiled along with various notes about plants he remembered as a child on the Conley property during the 1940’s. He would affectionately refer to his grandmother for most of the conversation, but did have stories about his grandfather, Sanford F. Conley II. I believe his grandmother was Gertrude Broadhead Conley. I will double check all of that family history just to be sure I got it straight. I will be happy to share the sketches if you are interested in seeing them. They kind of hold a key to the preliminary plan I would like to propose for the Conley House.

Basically, most of the plant material Judge Conley remembers as a child include:

~Tulips; couldn’t remember the colors for sure but thinks they may have been red and yellow.

~Lots of Iris; his grandmother was quite proud of her blue iris.

~Jonquils These were along the driveway on the south side of the house.

~Purple lilacs were on the north side and the front of the house.

~Low cedars were in the front yard. The existing very large cedar tree on the northwest corner of the house seems to be one of the original cedar trees Judge Conley is referring to. He remembers when that cedar tree wasn’t even as high as the second floor of the home as a child. There were no trees planted for special occasions i.e., births, weddings, deaths, etc.

~Phlox was on the north side as well as forsythia.

~He remembers, quite vividly, a mound or raised bed of grass (bluegrass) about 3’ high on the north side of the house. There weren’t any trees planted on the north side so it was a very sunny area. The entire yard or area around the house was open and sunny he mentioned. In the middle of this raised area was a white metal urn that stood about 4 to 5’ high. It was a round planter with scalloped edges on top of a pedestal with a square base. Blue/purple petunias were planted in the planter during the summer. There was a second such planter in the back of the house (east side) with the same colored petunias. That garden area displayed old fashioned roses; not hybrid roses.

~The back yard area also had peonies, four o’clocks, and holly hocks by the garage. The drawing indicated a square pattern or symmetrical pattern of gardening with the urn in the middle, and pink and white old-fashioned roses along the sides. There was a walkway all around this garden area. The roses were more of a multi floral rose he remembers. The roses were soft and fell apart in your hands. The drawing will help visualize his words.

~Originally there was a vegetable garden south of the garage where the Turner Avenue Garage currently stands with a pool south of that. This was a small pool for holding fish. His vegetable garden memory of his grandmother was a small plot of weeds. He said she was about 65 years of age at the time and couldn’t garden any more.

~Orange trumpet vine grew along the back side (east) of the house.

~Spirea and honeysuckle were on the south side of the house.

~He remembers a white lattice fence in the back yard area; east side that had something growing/climbing up it; couldn’t remember what it was.

~The very large maple tree on the southwest corner (very close to the driveway) of the house is an original tree to the property. Judge Conley remembers that tree in addition to the cedar tree/s.

I do have more stories he shared with me that will make for some great interesting information to share during a tour of some sorts. I considered most of it oral history of the home and the inhabitants. Judge Conley had scarlet fever at the same time his three brothers had the chicken pox. He is the oldest brother. During that time, he stayed with his grandmother and grandfather for a month or so during that summer.

Judge Conley was quite proud of the fact that the brick for the house was made and burned right there on the property. When I asked him what he would like to see happen to the existing green area around the house he was quick to respond that he wished we could find the two white metal urns his grandmother had. And plant petunias in them. That would make him happy.

I would be more than happy to talk to you about any of this information in finer detail. By copy of this email, I am sharing all of this with other committee members working on the Conley House project. We haven’t had the opportunity to get together in a very long time but hopefully the information given here will prompt a meeting to be scheduled soon. I have a general idea of what I would like the gardens to resemble but I will wait to hear from the other committee members about their thoughts and suggestions before I submit a preliminary plan.

I look forward to hearing from you and/or committee members about my notes and future plans.

Thank you!
Donna J. Puleo