Mansions’ diverse stories tied to family, civic life

A circa-1909 postcard shows the side of George A. Helme’s mansion overlooking Helmetta Pond. Helmetta Club, which operated here from 1907-30, sat on a hill by the water tower. It was demolished about 40 years ago.

Three Helme family houses lined High Street;

only one is to remain

By joseph sapia

Correspondent

This circa-1980s photograph, likely taken from the snuff mill, shows Etta Helme’s house in the foreground and the mansion of her father, George W. Helme, in the background.

Author’s note: Because Helmetta’s history has not been consistently documented over the years, there are discrepancies. However, much effort has been made to assure the accuracy of this article, whose information was gathered from various sources. The author would appreciate corrections or additions.

At a time, there were three. Now, there are two. Soon, there will be only one.

These are the Helme family mansions in south Middlesex County’s snuff mill town, Helmetta, whose name was adopted from the surname of the mill family.

Soon, the George W. Helme–Margaret Appleby Helme mansion, the large house sitting — starkly, now, because the vegetation around it has been cleared — across from St. George Episcopal Church, will be demolished to make way for the Regency Walk senior citizen community. This will leave only daughter Etta Helme’s former house, the one to the left of the Helme–Appleby mansion. Son George A. Helme’s house, which sat to the left of Etta’s house on the high ground by the water tower, was demolished about 40 years ago.

An advertisement for the Williams Health Home (Etta Helme’s mansion) in the May 1906 Physical Culture magazine.

Although the three circa-1880s wooden mansions can be traced to the Helmes, each has individuality.

The Helme–Appleby house is the most significant house in the George W. Helme Snuff Mill District, placed on the state and federal Registers of Historic Places in 1980, because it was the home of the patriarch and matriarch of the snuff mill, for which the town is best known. However, because the Helme–Appleby house apparently has always been a residence, it does not have the varied background of George A.’s and Etta’s mansions.

George A.’s mansion, also known as Helmetta Club, served as a community center for snuff mill workers from 1907 to 1930. "The Club,’’ as it was commonly referred to, included a library, sitting room, card room, boxing room and bowling alley. After The Club closed, the building reverted to a residence.

The house of Olivia Antoinette "Etta’’ Helme Herbert, the oldest of George W. and Margaret Appleby Helme’s three children, probably has the most interesting history unrelated to the snuff mill. The mansion, also known as the Herbert House, served as a health home connected to Bernarr MacFadden’s nearby Physical Culture City, a house for homeless girls and as a convent for Episcopalian nuns. Additional significance is connected to the house in that the approximately 1-square-mile borough was named by combining "Helme’’ and "Etta.’’

This 1906 postcard shows Etta Helme Herbert’s mansion, which will be the only one to remain. Printed on the postcard is “Williams Health Home,” which was affiliated with famous physical culturist Bernarr MacFadden.

Years ago, the three houses sat in a row on High Street, which ran from Maple Street to Lake Avenue instead of dead-ending as it does today at the snuff factory.

George W. Helme–Margaret Appleby Helme mansion

On Tuesday, June 13, 1893, George Washington Helme, 71 years old, died unexpectedly at this house at 7:20 p.m.

"He was sitting in his library, giving directions to a new coachman, when he coughed violently twice and, then, sank back in his chair in a semi-conscious state,’’ according to Helme’s obituary in the Jamesburg Record newspaper. "The other servants came in haste and Mr. and Mrs. John W. Herbert [Etta Helme Herbert and her husband, John Warne Herbert] were sent for, arriving only in time to be feebly recognized by a hand-clasp and, then, the grand form was silent in death.’’

Helmetta Club, the snuff mill workers’ organization that used the former George A. Helme mansion, included a bowling alley. The bowler is James Deming, Helmetta’s police chief from 1923-41 and mayor in 1942-43.

Or, according to another version, "He was sitting on the porch of his home ..., and as an employee of the works stopped to talk to him, he complained of feeling ill and suddenly fell back in his chair dead.’’

Helme’s wife, Margaret Appleby Helme, and their son, George A. Helme, and George A.’s wife, Mary Townsend Buckelew Helme, had departed that morning by train for the World’s Fair in Chicago. These Helmes were summoned at Alliance, Ohio, turned around and arrived home 24 hours after George W.’s death.

George W.’s death ended a local history chapter. That chapter had begun in the 1850s when George W. married into the Appleby snuff manufacturing family. Margaret Appleby Helme’s father, Leonard Appleby, operated a snuff mill at Helmetta, then called Railroad Mills. George W. joined the Appleby family in the snuff mill operation in 1866 and became sole owner in the 1870s.

George W. was born in May 18, 1822, in Kingston, Pa., in the Wilkes-Barre–Scranton area, the son of Oliver Helme Sr. and his second wife, Sarah Pease Cist Helme. George W. was Oliver Helme’s 14th of 18 children, or Oliver Helme’s ninth of 13 children with his second wife.

George W., who had an impoverished youth, had a varied background: working for transportation baron Asa Packer in northeastern Pennsylvania; practicing law in New Orleans; serving as a major general in the Confederate Army; and being a real estate businessman in the New York City area. Locally, George W., a prominent Democrat, served on Helmetta’s governing body, built St. George’s Episcopal Church and served as president of the trustees of the Jamesburg Reform School in Monroe.

The funeral of George W. Helme, supposedly the richest man in Middlesex County when he died with an estate worth $5 million, was held at the mansion. Reports indicate 1,500 people attended the service. The funeral procession of almost 500, some in horse-drawn carriages, some walking, made its way to Fernwood Cemetery in Jamesburg.

Margaret Appleby Helme died Aug. 19, 1923, at 90 years old at the mansion. Presumably, she was the last Helme to live in the house.

From about 1960-68, the 10-acre property, which had been called Holly Farm, was the site of the Holly Manor day camp, which was run by the Leach family. The Leaches, whose late patriarch was Mayor John Leach and who are the last residents of the house, bought the property more than 40 years ago.

In 1993, 100 years after George W.’s death, the Helmetta mill ceased manufacturing snuff when the company consolidated operations with its mill in Wheeling, W.Va. And, now, the Helme–Appleby mansion is to be demolished.

Etta Helme’s mansion–

The Herbert House

Olivia Antoinette "Etta’’ Helme was the oldest of George W. and Margaret’s three children, possibly born in 1854. Etta founded or co-founded the St. George Episcopal Church, the Herbert House for homeless children, and the Gertrude Herbert Memorial Institute of Art in Augusta, Ga., named for her daughter, Gertrude Herbert Dunn.

Etta married John Warne Herbert Jr. on Nov. 10, 1885. Beside living in the mansion, they also lived in New York City and Augusta.

Herbert — whose father was associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Monmouth County, twice a Republican National Convention delegate and a member of Monmouth County’s Tax Board — was an interesting person himself.

Herbert played on the first intercollegiate football game, with his Rutgers University team defeating Princeton University in 1869, and was a Helmetta mayor, vestryman at St. George Episcopal Church, a lawyer in New Jersey and New York City, chairman of the New Jersey Highway Commission, a Rutgers University trustee, president of the Union League Golf Club in New York City, and an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress. Beside being an official in the snuff mill, Herbert also was an officer in the Freehold & Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad Co., the Herbert Oil Co., IBM and other companies.

From circa 1905-07, Bernarr MacFadden operated Physical Culture City along the boundary of Helmetta (in the area along Forge Road), Monroe (the Outcalt section) and Spotswood. The approximately 1,900-acre health community also included the no-longer-existing Lake Marguerite (also known as Helmetta Lake, not to be confused with Helmetta Pond), which was a dammed-up section of Manalapan Brook between Helmetta’s North Shore Boulevard and Outcalt’s South Shore Boulevard. Facilities connected to Physical Culture City spilled over into the snuff mill district, creating a strange combination of tobacco industry and those advocating healthy living.

The spillover included Etta’s Mansion. It became known as the Williams Health Home, which an advertisement in the May 1906 issue of MacFadden’s Physical Culture magazine called "a home for the healthy, a place to get healthy.’’

"A few weeks here will help you to establish right habits of living and, thus, teach you how to enjoy the best of health the rest of your life," the ad continued. "…Those who come here sick and run down will go away well and strong. We have a beautiful building and delightful grounds, with special conveniences for sun and air baths. Tents if desired. Your vacation will soon be at hand. It will pay you to spend it here. Our sunshine will do you good.’’

An advertisement in the September 1907 Physical Culture refers to the mansion as Physical Culture City’s Health Home No. 1, with a 30-patient capacity. Health Home No. 2, with a 100-patient capacity, was at nearby Physical Culture City. (Health Home No. 3, along with its annex for tuberculosis patients, was in Battle Creek, Mich.)

MacFadden himself may have lived in this house.

John W. Herbert died Aug. 26, 1934, at 81 years of age.

In July 1935, Etta Helme donated the mansion so it could be used as the Episcopal Home for Girls for the homeless. A 1937-38 report on the Christ Church Home or Herbert House, as it also was called, showed there were 14 girls, ages 4 to 17, in residence.

The report indicted that, while some parents were finding better care for their girls at this home, the "most difficult problem is to provide suitable training for the girls who leave school and must be fitted for a vocation.

"…A considerable amount of green vegetables needed for the house are grown on the place and it is even possible to do some canning for winter use," the report said.

By the time the girls’ home ceased its work in September 1948, more than 200 girls used the facility.

Etta Helme died Aug. 9, 1945, at her country home, Shady Lane Farm, in Ossining, N.Y.

On Oct. 3, 1948, the mansion was dedicated for use by the Order of St. Helena, an Episcopalian religious community for women.

"From the moment you set foot on the broad veranda and are admitted to the reception hall of the Episcopal Convent of St. Helena, you feel that here, at last, is genuine peace," according to the March 15, 1951, issue of The Freehold Transcript newspaper.

The convent had seven sisters living there in 1951, for example.

In the summer of 1962, the snuff company bought the approximately 11-acre mansion property from the Episcopal Church for $41,000.

Earlier that year, according to some correspondence regarding the property, a snuff company official "took the position that the company did not need the Herbert property for their own purposes, but was anxious that it not fall into the hands of someone who might use it for purposes disadvantageous to his company’s interests. He specifically mentioned a real estate developer who, by building a number of small houses, each with several school-age children, would greatly increase the school costs of the borough, most of which are borne by the Helme company. His thought is that, eventually, either his company would use the property or they would sell it for industrial purposes so that they could get some help with the tax load.’’ (This sounds similar to present-day Helmetta concerns.)

The snuff mill used the property as a residence for those affiliated with the mill until about 20 or so years ago. At that time, it went into private hands. It remains a private residence.

George A. Helme mansion

To those familiar with Helmetta history, George Appleby Helme’s mansion, sitting on the hill by the water tower until it was knocked down about 40 years ago, is still known as "The Club.’’ That is because the mansion served as Helmetta Club, a snuff mill workers’ community center that operated from 1907-30. The Club seems to be better remembered than the house’s previous occupant, George A. Helme (born Oct. 26, 1866; died April 29, 1931).

An undated map of the "Residence of George A. Helme, Esq., at Helmetta’’ shows the large house surrounded by lawn that appears to have sprawled to Maple Street, the snuff mill building and High Street. Off the front left of the house, in the depression between Club Drive and Erickson Avenue, was an orchard.

Gardens and greenhouses were along Etta’s property. Off the rear left of the house, at the corner of Erickson Avenue and Club Drive, sat the carriage house — known as "Club Hall’’ until it was razed in 1987. And the old two-family snuff mill house at 23-25 Maple St. appears to have been used as residences for George A.’s coachman and gardener.

George A. was snuff company president, vice president of the Hudson Valley Railroad, and owner of wholesale grocery stores. He was offered the Democratic nomination for New Jersey governor and to run for Congress, but declined each. By 1905, he was living at least part time in Greenwich, Conn.

A postcard dated November 1906 identifies George A’s mansion as "Bernarr Hall No. 2,’’ suggesting Bernarr MacFadden or his associates may have used this house, too.

On Oct. 4, 1907, the Helmetta Club’s Board of Governors adopted bylaws for the community center serving snuff company workers and their families. The Club had House (Buildings and Grounds), Amusement and Library committees. The Club opened about a month later.

It had a library with newspapers in the English, Polish and Slovak languages, along with four weekly and 14 monthly magazines and 200 fiction books. The parlor had a piano, couch and chairs. The card room had materials to play cards, checkers and dominoes. There was a room with a pool table, also. The basement had a boxing room.

"It has also been arranged that on Friday night of each week this Club will be set aside for the exclusive use of the ladies and, on these nights, no male members of the club are permitted to attend except upon invitation of the ladies,’’ according to a November 1907 snuff company announcement to its employees.

A bowling alley was eventually added, and Helmetta Club also had a baseball field.

The Club ceased operating in September 1930 because "very few people of the club took any interest in it," according to meeting minutes of the Club’s Board of Governors. The Club closed its last fiscal year Oct. 1, 1930, with a balance of $655.29, which it distributed to the snuff company.

After the Club ceased, George A.’s mansion served as a residence for mill workers. The snuff company demolished the mansion around 1963 because, being part of the mill’s central heating system, it was not considered economically feasible to maintain.

The Club Hall still operated as a borough community center until the 1970s. It was used by Helmetta Boy Scouts Troop 81, which hosted the Snuffy Hollow Camporee in nearby woods in Monroe, and basketball games, for example. The Club Hall, which was one of the buildings on the historic register, was demolished in 1987.

In late 1964 or early 1965, the Candid Camera television show recorded an episode at the Club Hall, filming the Fire Lassies, a twirling group sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Helmetta Fire Department.

"We didn’t know we were being filmed for Candid Camera," Rita Logan said years later. "What they told us is that we were being filmed to see if we were good enough to continue with lessons. That’s how I remember it."

Rita’s segment made it on television. She threw the twirling baton in the air, got conked on the head and rubbed her head. That segment later appeared in a Candid Camera commercial.

Donna Seminara did a split that she had trouble getting out of. About five Fire Lassies made the episode that aired on television.

Now, There Will Be One…

Since the George W. Helme Snuff Mill District was named to the state and national Registers of Historic Places in 1980, a few of the 117 buildings in the district have been demolished: among them the Club Hall, along with the old Borough Hall and American Legion building, both on Main Street. Now, the George W. Helme–Margaret Appleby Helme mansion is scheduled to be razed — resulting in another alteration of the historic district.

Because the snuff mill area is listed as a district, rather than individual buildings having significance in themselves, every time something in the district is altered, it affects the whole district. One wonders how long a district can exist with alteration after alteration.

Interestingly, George W. Helme’s gravestone reads, "In my father’s house are many mansions.’’

Joe Sapia, 45, has family roots in Helmetta, dating to about 1900. He lives in Monroe and can be reached by e-mailing Snufftin@aol.com.