Portrait of Camille Mason
by Rebecca J. Becker

Always More Mystery
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Rebecca J. Becker

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“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.”
Anaïs Nin

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After two years of tireless investigation, Crescent College History Project has found a remarkable number of stories to share with you.  You’ve met young women (and one young man) who went on to become composers, inventors, pioneers in many fields, scientists, politicians, ground-breaking theatrical entrepreneurs and educators.  We’ve loved bringing these alumnae into the light, and celebrating their many achievements with you.
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This month, we’re breaking the pattern. 

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This month we’ll share some of the darker, more troubling, fragmentary and tantalizing glimpses into lives that vanished, their secrets still unsolved.  This month we’ll present three mysteries, hoping that someone reading these words will get in touch and help us answer the many questions that still linger, even though a century has passed.
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We learned of today’s first mystery when listening to a series of four oral histories recorded forty years ago for the Frontier Nursing Service.  The four women being interviewed had all known FNS founder Mary Breckinridge between 1912 and 1918, while she was married to the president of Crescent College in Eureka Springs.  And in every interview, the women were asked, “Do you remember a person named Camille that was associated with Crescent College?” [1]
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The interviewer was trying to elicit information about Camille Mason, private secretary between 1910 and 1920 to Richard Ryan Thompson.
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Why was the interviewer so determined to uncover Camille’s story?  These oral histories were supposed to help illuminate Mary Breckinridge’s life while she was at Crescent - - what was Camille’s connection to Breckinridge, and why, sixty years after she’d left the college, was that story so intriguing?

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Crescent College

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Although some of the women remembered that Camille Mason had been Mr. Thompson’s secretary, none knew more than that.

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Intrigued, we decided to see what we could discover for ourselves.  One mystery led to another - - and another - - until we decided to share the stories we’ve discovered so far with you.

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WHAT WE KNOW:

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Six Sisters

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Camille Eunice Mason was born in September, 1883 in Delhi, Louisiana.  She was one of seven sisters and two brothers, all of whom seem to have been devoted and loving.  The family owned a hotel in Delhi, and the family seems to have been comfortably off. 

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Camille appears to have been closest with her older sister, Irene.  Irene married Dr. J. L. Woodall in 1901, and two years later, when she gave birth to a little girl, Irene named the baby Camille.  The Woodalls moved away from Delhi, but visits were frequent and the families stayed close.

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Irene, Camille's older sister, named her baby Camille, as well

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This peaceful life was irreparably shattered in 1909, a year before Camille appears in the pages of Crescent College documents. 

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Mert Abbington,[2] a wealthy 36-year-old businessman who owned a hardware store in Delhi, had been paying marked attentions to 25-year-old Camille - - even though Abbington was married, with two children.  His infatuation was no secret - - everyone in town appeared to have been aware of the uncomfortable situation.

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Camille’s younger brother, Jim, had warned Abbington to stop his unwanted advances, but apparently Abbington had refused. 

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Newspapers throughout the nation took up the shocking story on February 17, 1909:

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The Vicksburg American [Vicksburg, Mississippi]:

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“DELHI MERCHANT SHOT AT DEPOT THERE LAST NIGHT

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“M. J. Abbington, a Prominent Hardware Dealer, Is Shot Through Forehead and Throat by James E. Mason, a 19-Year-Old Youth - - Is Probably Fatally Wounded - - Vicksburg Physicians Attend Him.

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“M. J. Abbington, aged about 37 years and a well known hardware merchant at Delhi, La., was shot while reading a letter in the postoffice [sic] and depot at Delhi last night, by James E. Mason, a 19-year-old youth and son of the keeper of a hotel in Delhi.  After the shooting young Mason surrendered to the police.  Mr. Abbington was shot through the forehead the bullet shattering the bone on the whole top of the head, lacerating the brain tissue extensively and also received a slight wound in the throat.  It is thought Abbington is mortally wounded and may die at any moment.  It is the general talk in Delhi that the shooting was the result of compromising letters being addressed to a sister of Mason and written by Abbington.  Both sides have friends in Delhi and it is claimed there are two sides to the question which caused the difficulty.  Abbington is married and has two children…

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“The shooting created a great sensation in Delhi where the parties are well known.”

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Later stories added more details:  Abbington had been in the post office, reading a letter, when Jim shot him.  Jim then “left the room, but returned and fired three more shots into his body.  The first shot took effect in the head.” [3]

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Abbington died the next day.

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What was going to happen to Camille’s young brother? 

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He was confined in prison, awaiting a Grand Jury trial, but newspaper reports hinted that a Grand Jury might not find against him because of “the unwritten law” - - the custom that society tacitly condoned murder when that murder was committed to protect a woman’s virtue.

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Fifty friends accompanied Jim to Rayville, where he was incarcerated.  All protested to local authorities that “he should be excused for acting as he did, for Abbington had been warned to cease his marked attentions to Miss Camille Mason, the sister of James E. Mason, and instead of complying he armed himself and continued his attentions to Miss Mason, who was present when he was shot and one of the chief mourners at his death.”  [4]

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Of course, rumors and gossip were flying - - especially if, indeed, Camille had been one of Abbington’s “chief mourners.”

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But newspapers were quick to publish assurances:

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The Town Talk [Alexandria, Louisiana] 20 February 1909, Page 1:

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NOTHING DISCLOSED WARRANTING IMPLICATION OF IMPROPER CONDUCT ON HER PART.

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By Louisiana Press:

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Monroe, La., Feb. 20. - - Nothing has been disclosed warranting an implication of improper relations between M. J. Abbington, who was killed by J. E. Mason at Delhi, and Miss Camille Mason.  Later reports seem to indicate that Mason resented Abbington’s attention to his sister as Abbington was a married man.  Absolutely nothing is known warranting any reflection upon the honor of Miss Camille Mason.”

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What happened to Jim?

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We haven’t found any record of a trial - - not even of a Grand Jury hearing.  We know that he served in World War I, that he survived the war, and that he lived to be 80 years old.  He’s buried in Biloxi, Mississippi. 

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And Camille?

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Her sister Irene rallied around her - - two months after Abbington’s death, Camille is a house guest at the Woodalls’ home in Colfax, Louisiana.  In May, Camille and Irene are on a shopping trip to Alexandria. 

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But our next mystery is about to unfold…

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Crescent College (center top)

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When Crescent College opened, in 1908, its president was A. S. Maddox, founder of the Maddox Seminary for Young Women in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Most of the faculty and many students simply moved from Little Rock to Eureka Springs, and the Maddox family seemed quickly rooted in both local business and society circles.

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But by December 1910, Maddox was gone.  The Berryville newspaper hinted darkly of secrets:

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“A. S. Maddox, president of the Crescent College at Eureka Springs, has been superceded by another man, his first assistant, and the former president of the big college has shaken the dust of the resort from his feet.  The cause of the change has not been made public further than it was for the good of the school.” [5]

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Maddox’s first assistant - - Richard Ryan Thompson - - became president.  But nowhere in his unpublished autobiography does Thompson mention Camille Mason, who by the time he took over the presidency was already his private secretary, and would remain so for the next ten years.

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What brought Camille Mason to Crescent College?  How did she hear about Eureka Springs?  We have no idea.

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Camille Mason (highlighted) in Crescent College Chorus
(from 1914 Crescent College yearbook)

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But we know she was here, and that she was a vibrant part of college life.  Besides her duties as Thompson’s secretary, Camille was a member of the Crescent Conservatory of Music, and (as you see here) a member of the Crescent Chorus.  In later years, she also served as the college’s Registrar, and apparently taught classes in its Business School.

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Faculty page from 1914 Crescent College Yearbook
Second row, center, college president Richard Ryan Thompson
Third row, center, Mary Breckinridge Thompson
Bottom row, left, Camille Mason

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Camille made friends on campus: when summer holidays began in 1913, Camille traveled to Louisiana with Crescent College student, Constance Cheney. Constance had grown up in Michigan, but her family was living in Shreveport for a few years.  The Cheneys welcomed Camille into their home, entertained her and showed her about the city, after which Camille continued on to her family in Delhi. [6]

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Young Constance Cheney is at the center of another swirling mystery - - but first, let’s return to Camille Mason’s story.

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We get glimpses of Camille in Mary Breckinridge’s memoir of her son’s short life, Breckie: His Four Years 1914 – 1918.  After Breckie was born, “Camille,’ which was Breck’s name for my husband’s private secretary, [was] among his earliest and most devoted friends.” [7]  Or, “On the few rare occasions when I went out in the evening after he had gone to bed my mother or Juliette, or Florence or ‘Camille’ would sit in the study next my bedroom with closed doors between until I returned, in case Breck should awaken and need something.”  

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Crescent College president Richard Ryan Thompson and his son,
Breckinridge (Breckie) Thompson
from Mary Breckinridge Thompson's memoir of her son's short life,
Breckie: His Four Years 1914 - 1918

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The same year Breckie was born, tragedy befell Camille once again - - and touched the life of another little boy close to her heart.

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Irene, Camille’s sister, now living in Colfax, Louisiana, had an eleven-year-old son, Mason Woodall.  The local newspaper described the horror:

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“A Sad and Distressing Tragedy.

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“The town of Colfax was shocked on Wednesday, Dec. 2, by one of the saddest and most distressing tragedies that has ever occurred in this community.  Little Mason Woodall, aged eleven years, son of Dr. and Mrs. J. L. Woodall, in company with John Tumminello, another boy of about the same age… had secured a single barrel shot gun and started on a hunting expedition immediately after being dismissed from school.  As the two boys were passing down the street… Mason Woodall, who was walking a little behind John, requested possession of the gun, and attempted to lift it from John’s shoulder by catching hold of the muzzle with both hands.  In some way the gun slipped from John’s shoulder and the breach striking the ground it was discharged, the entire load of bird shot passing through his hands shattering them badly and entering the body on the right side about the lower rib, killing him almost instantly.

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“And so we add another tragedy to the long list of accidents that have saddened the lives of many fathers and mothers, caused by inexperienced boys carelessly handling firearms.” [8]

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In Eureka Springs, Camille’s devotion to Breckie grew deeper every day.  Breckie’s mother relates:  “Usually it was his dear friend Camille who finished supper first and got in the grounds to relieve Juliette [Breckie’s nurse] for the evening.  When I followed I found her with him in happiest companionship.  Breckie was sliding or swinging or climbing as a rule.” [9]

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Camille became ill, and “when she got convalescent I moved her to my apartments, where Breckie climbed up on her bed with his toys whenever he was in the house.“  When she was well enough, Camille went back to Louisiana for a few weeks of further recuperation.  She was gone over Easter, but sent Breckie a box of toys:  “rabbits and chickens with one long-tailed rooster.  He played with these happily for a few days and then I gathered them and put them away.  Several weeks later he suddenly asked for them.  ‘Dose fings I had, you know, what Camille sent me - - fings wid a Wooster…’ he said.”

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Camille gave Breckie a piece of chalk, and the boy used to use the bit of sidewalk in front of Dr. Ellis’s house to draw pictures that Mary would proudly copy into her own diary.

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But shortly after Breckie’s fourth birthday, he became alarmingly ill.  Surgery did little to alleviate his condition, and within days the boy was dying.  Mary Breckinridge recalled, “By his bed at the last besides the doctor and trained nurses and his father and me were his grandfather and grandmother, Aunt Jane, his nurse Juliette, his cousin Florence, and those loyal friends of his - - Camille and B.  These were the people on our side, the human group, all that we, restrained by the limitations of our senses, could perceive; but who shall say that a valiant host of the heroes he worshipped were not present also to welcome my Greatheart when he passed over to the other side?” [10]

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Poster for C. A. R. D. by Georges Capon

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Within a year, Breckie’s mother Mary was in France, spearheading war-relief efforts for C. A. R. D. (see last month’s story).  When she returned to the United States, she divorced Thompson and began her work creating the Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky.

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Camille stayed in Eureka Springs until 1923, when she made what a protracted visit with a sister in Texas.  And then - - for thirty years - - she seems to vanish. 

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She makes a surprising reappearance in 1953, but now let’s pick up the threads of another mystery we’ve alluded to - - that of Constance Cheney, who spent part of her 1913 summer holidays with Camille Mason.

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Constance Cheney
from 1914 Crescent College yearbook

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Constance was a preparatory student at Crescent College from 1912 until 1914.  She was one of the most active students on campus: photographs of her in china painting classes, life study art classes, on tennis, basketball, and bowling teams, in Physical Training class, as a member of the Expression (theatre arts) Club, the horseback riding club, the North Star club and more are found in dozens of pages in Crescent yearbooks.  

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Constance Cheney
in Roosters Basket Ball Team
from 1913 Crescent College yearbook

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Her most notable trait seems to have been her talkative nature:  her nickname in 1913 was ‘The Talker,’ and in 1914, ‘Still Talking’!  The quote by her name, in 1913, reads “If I chance to talk a little, forgive me.”  On a Jokes pages, the editors ask, “Say!  Just Imagine Constance Cheney - - Silent!”  

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Constance Cheney: "Talkative"
Second row, center
Crescent Belles
Crescent College 1913 yearbook

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But her fellow students clearly love the red-haired girl.  In 1914, they quote Browning’s poem:

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“She was active, stirring, all fire - -

Could not rest, could not tire - -

To a stone she might have given life.”

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In 1916, two years after she graduated from preparatory school, Constance married William Dale Mumby.  She was 21 years old.

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Four years later, the marriage seems to have failed.  Constance and her two children, her three-year-old daughter Mary Harriet (called Marriet) and one-year-old son, Charles Clayton Mumby, are living with Constance’s parents.

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That same year - - 1920 - - Constance suffered an unimaginable disaster:  her little boy, Charles Clayton, died.

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The next - - and, sadly, final - - appearance of Constance that we’ve found, in months of searching, may be the most bizarre twist of all. 

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The Bourbon News [Paris, Kentucky] 16 June 1922, page 1: 

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"SHOPLIFTER'S ESCORT SAID HE WAS FROM PARIS

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“Wednesday's Cincinnati Enquirer published the following:

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"'I don't know,' answered a young woman registered as Mrs. Constance Mumby, 27 years old, 634 Cornelius avenue, Chicago, Ill., when asked by Paul V. Ryan, of the Cal Crim Detective Agency, why she had stolen expensive wearing apparel from three downtown department stores.  Ryan and his assistants… apprehended Mrs. Mumby and a young man after they had left a novelty store on Fifth street…

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"The man asserted that a stolen silk shirt which he was carrying had not been taken by him.  The woman exonerated him and said she was responsible for the theft of the shirt and considerable womens' wearing apparel, according to the arresting officers.  Five charges of petit larceny were lodged against her.

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"Mrs. Mumby said that her father, a wealthy Detroit man, would come to her rescue, but she declined to discuss his identity.  Her escort said his mother owned several thousand acres of land near Paris, Ky…

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Constance disappears completely, after this.  Once so full of energy and promise, the talkative young Miss Cheney is silenced.

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Eight years later, her now thirteen-year-old daughter, Marriet, is living with Constance’s parents - - but there’s no mention of Constance herself.  Another five years later, and Marriet, now eighteen, is still a member of her grandparents’ household, with no hint of her mother anywhere to be found.

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We know that Marriet’s father died in San Francisco, aged 66.  He’d been living with his sister, and his death certificate states that he was divorced.  No mention is made of his daughter.

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Marriet herself lived to be 90 - - and she seems to have been a remarkable woman.  A National Director of the Insurance Women’s Association, one of the few women to become an official ‘Kentucky Colonel,’ Marriet left behind three children, nine grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. [11]

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We hope perhaps one of them will see this, and will be able to tell us:  What happened to Constance??

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And Camille Mason?  We promised a surprising return - - and here it is, with cookies.  But be warned: her life has another mystery still in store…

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In 1953, The Monroe News-Star published the following recipe, under the heading, “AFTER SCHOOL COOKIES.”

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1 cup shortening

1 ½ cups brown sugar (packed)

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups flour (cake flour)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

3 cups quick cooking oatmeal

½ cup chopped pecans

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Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, add beaten eggs and extract, beat well.  Sift flour once, measure and add salt and soda and sift again, add slowly to first part beating well after each addition, add nuts and oatmeal and mix well.  Shape in three rolls and wrap in wax paper and chill thoroughly or over night.  Slice ¼ inch thick.  Bake on ungreased cooky [sic] sheet in moderate oven 350 degrees for ten minutes.  Makes about 5 dozen if the rolls are not too large.

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The recipe had been submitted by “Miss Camille Mason, Hunt Hotel, Delhi, Louisiana.”

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Camille had come full circle. 

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Three years later, in March, 1956, Camille Mason died.  In fact, three of the Mason sisters died within weeks of each other.  But in Camille’s obituary, we find the final mystery:

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"She was born and raised in Delhi.  She spent most of her life there except for several years in Henderson, Texas.” [12]

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The mystery?  What happened to the ten years she spent in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, as a vibrant part of Crescent College?

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After Lunch Cookies
baked and photographed
by Marian Colleen Harris
Eugene, Oregon
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We didn’t want to leave you, or our story of Camille Mason and Constance Cheney, on such a sorrowful note, so here’s a rather charming coda.  In preparation for this article, we asked friends and relations if any of them were interested in trying out Camille’s cookie recipe.   Two of them very kindly did so: one in Oregon, and one in Colorado!  We are delighted to report that the recipe not only works, but the After School Cookies are actually very tasty.  You’ll see two pictures, here:  the first is the Oregon cookies, beautifully presented on a 1953 plate.  

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Our young friend Clark, in Colorado,
enjoys Camille's cookies
baked (and photographed) by his mother, Alice Ayres

 The second - - and we know that Camille would be so pleased, if she could see this! - - is of our young friend Clark, in Colorado, who pronounces the cookies “Delish!”
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If you, or anyone you know, is related to one of the Crescent College students or faculty, do please get in touch!  https://www.facebook.com/crescentcollegehistory

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And if you're in Eureka Springs, come to the Crescent Hotel and explore the Crescent College History Project in the 4th Floor Faculty Lounge.  The exhibit is free and open to the public daily, 10 - 5. 

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Notes

[1] From an unrehearsed interview with Florence McLaughlin for the Frontier Nursing Service Oral History Project.  The interview was conducted by Dale Deaton on July 16,1979 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

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[2] His name is sometimes spelled “Abington.”

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[3] The Times [Shreveport, Louisiana] 20 February 1909.

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[4] Tensas Gazette [Saint Joseph, Louisiana] 26 February 1909.

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[5] The Star Progress [Berryville, Arkansas] 02 December 1910

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[6] The Times [Shreveport, Louisiana] 1 June 1913

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[7] Mary Breckinridge Thompson, Breckie: His Four Years 1914 – 1918, page 50.

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[8] The Colfax Chronicle [Colfax, Louisiana] 05 December 1914.

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[9] Mary Breckinridge Thompson, Breckie: His Four Years 1914 – 1918, page 109

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[10] Mary Breckinridge Thompson, Breckie: His Four Years 1914 – 1918, page 188.

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[11] Tampa Bay Times [Tampa Bay, Florida],  July 26, 2007.

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[12] The Monroe News-Star (Monroe, Louisiana), Friday, March 23, 1956

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