Elsie Brooke Snowden, born March 4, 1887, at Ingleside in Ashton, Maryland, was the oldest child of Francis "Frank" Snowden and Frances "Fannie" Brooke Stabler. She had three sisters (Miriam, Anna, and Marjorie) and one brother (Edward). Her sister Marjorie was my great-grandmother. Elsie never married or had children. Instead she studied art at what is now the
Corcoran College of Art & Design in Washington, DC, and the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Elsie was awarded the prestigious Cresson Travelling Scholarship twice (I am trying to verify this info with PAFA archives) and used the prize money to travel to Europe in the summers of 1913 and 1914. Exhibiting regularly with the
Society of Washington Artists and
Washington Watercolor Association, and at the Corcoran Gallery Biennials, Elsie became known for her atmospheric landscapes and city scenes. Elsie Brooke Snowden died December 21, 1945, and was buried next to her parents in the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting Graveyard marked by a granite marker in Row L, Plot 3, Site 3.
What follows are excerpts from The Annals of Sandy Spring that provide snapshots of Elsie Brooke Snowden's life and career as an artist. They also reveal Elsie the avid gardener and Elsie the caregiver to her ailing widowed mother. Because most of Elsie's life, aside from art school and Europe, was spent at the family home in Ashton, Maryland, where she was born, I have also excerpted a section of the Snowden family history that describes Ingleside (or Engleside as Mr. Cook spells it). Throughout the excerpts my own notations are in brackets. You may click on the images for a larger view and more information about each. As always, I strive for accuracy--please notify me of any factual or typographical errors.
(This is a photo of art students at the Corcoran around 1890--not a photo of Elsie--but probably similar to her classes there 20 years later. I am surprised that the group is mostly women. From the Smithsonian collection.)
Excerpts from The Annals of Sandy Spring, Volume IV, 1909-1929:
p. 10 - May 28th [1909] Elsie B. Snowden finished a successful year at the
Corcoran Art School in Washington, receiving from her instructors honorable mention of her work and $25.00 in gold as a more substantial reward. Some time during the following winter she resumed her studies at this institution. [This entry appears to have been added a year too late. I found an article in the Washington Times dated May 29, 1908, about the award.]
p. 93 - [Early 1912] Elsie B. Snowden has again distinguished herself by having some of her work accepted at the water color exhibition in New York and by the
Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts where she is a student, at its exhibition in oil.
p. 151 - [June 1913] About this time Elsie Snowden who had been attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, went abroad with some of her artist friends to spend a number of weeks on the continent of Europe. [I believe this travel was because Elsie received the Cresson Travelling Scholarship for the first time.]
p. 187 - [June 1914] Elsie B. Snowden in early June won a $500 scholarship at the Art League in Philadelphia. This gifted young woman sailed soon after for Europe, where the skies, unclouded at the time, were soon darkened by the terrible war clouds. Her experiences there were both interesting and exciting, and her family were most anxious when all communication was cut off. Her safe return home without previous notice, was a great relief. [The award was Elsie's second Cresson Travelling Scholarship.]
p. 209 - [January 1915] Elsie B. Snowden won still another prize for a picture at the
New York Art League, the amount being $50.00. The subject given her was "Equal Opportunity", and her interpretation was given first place and first prize.
p. 216 - [May 1915] Again we record with pleasure the prize of $100 won by Elsie B. Snowden at the Philadelphia Art League, in the May competitions, giving Sandy Spring a thrill of pride that this one of her daughters continues to distinguish herself and honor her birthplace.
p. 442 - [Winter and Spring 1924] During the winter, Elsie B. Snowden received several more agreeable recognitions of her unusual talent as an artist. A picture hung at the Independent exhibition at the
Waldorf in New York was bought by Phelps Stokes, a well known connoisseur, for $100.00, and a French count who had seen some of her work in this country wrote for a French Art Magazine an article describing it in most appreciative terms. [The exhibition was the 9th Annual Exhibition of the
Society of Independent Artists. The "connoisseur" was most likely architect
Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes.]
p. 523 - [1926] Elsie B. Snowden's work at the Exhibition of Water Color Artists in Washington received high honor; hers was one of the only four paintings that sold and was bought by Mrs. John B. Henderson. Miss Leila Mechlin, prominent art critic of Washington, wrote of the painting as a notable work. [According to the
Corcoran Archives, this exhibition was either the 30th Annual Exhibition of the Washington Water Color Club from February 5 - 28, 1926 or the 31st Annual Exhibition of same from
December 18, 1926 - January 16, 1927. Mrs. Henderson was Mary Foote Henderson wife of the Senator from Missouri. At this time Leila Mechlin was art critic for The Washington Daily News, also known as The Star.]
Excerpts from The Annals of Sandy Spring, Volume V, 1929-1947:
p. 16 - Sept. 15 [1930] a large number of people visited the unusual and beautiful
detura
plants of Elsie Snowden at Engleside [sic]. During the night of bloom
two plants had 90 bell-shaped blooms, six inches in length and three
inches in diameter, and very fragrant. There was also a night-blooming
cereus
with fourteen blooms. The garden lovers of the neighborhood visiting
this unusual sight felt that this was the most beautiful display of
floraculture ever seen in Sandy Spring.
p. 207-8 - [Winter 1941-1942] Fannie B. Snowden and daughter Elsie again spent the winter at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Louis and Anna Bussler at Ashton. [Elsie's father Francis Snowden died September 11, 1936. And the latter years of Fannie's life were spent as a partial invalid, so mother and daughter wintering with "Doc" and "Nan" makes a lot of sense. The Bussler's home was located less than half a mile away from Ingleside. Elsie's mother died March 25th, 1943.]
p. 279 - Elsie Brooke Snowden passed away Dec. 21st [1945] after a brief
illness at
Garfield Hospital in Washington. The daughter of Francis and
Frances Brooke Snowden, she was born at Ingleside March 4th, 1887.
After training at the Corcoran Art School in Washington and the Academy
of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, she twice traveled abroad on scholarships
from the Philadelphia Academy. She received recognition in the United
States and Europe for her landscape and portrait paintings, and the
Corcoran School honored her with its Annual Gold Medal. Interment was in
the Friends Meeting House grounds at Sandy Spring. (E.T.S.) [Garfield Hospital merged with several other facilities to become present day
MedStar Washington Hospital Center. I had photographed Elsie's parents' headstone a few years ago; next time I'm in Sandy Spring I will photograph Elsie's marker. Elsie Brooke Snowden was 58 years old when she died.]
Excerpts from Montpelier & The Snowden Family by William G. Cook:
p. 52 -
ENGLESIDE [sic.] At 17720 New Hampshire Avenue in Ashton, Md. still stands Engleside, built after 1800. A sign post on the highway marks the lane leading to this delightful home that sits several hundred yards back.
William Henry Stabler built this home for his son William. Henrietta (Stabler) Snowden, the daughter of William, Jr., moved here wit her children after her father's death in 1867. She and her husband, Nicholas Snowden, had made their home at Avondale in Laurel, Md. until he lost his life fighting with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Henrietta lived at this place for forty years where she passed away in 1907. Her son Francis, who married Frances Stabler, took over his mother's home and lived there until his death in 1936. Elsie Snowden, who never married, was the last of the family to own the home place. She passed away in 1945. Engleside was sold to a Mr. McLaury who sold the place to William F. Bowling. Today the residence is occupied by the James P. O'Connor family.
Hand-hewn pine uprights were used in the building of this home in place of studding for the outside walls of brick. In some places the brick had been left exposed on the inside walls.
A large living room, hall, and dining room, library with a fireplace, and a kitchen made up the first floor. Many changes and additions have been made since the Snowdens have gone. A few have been made on the inside and several rooms have been added on the outside.
[More on Elsie Brooke Snowden is
here. Entry updated 3/5/2013.]
