The Domestic Staff: John Witt, Julia Bemis, Rosie & Emilie Breslin (1872-1912)
Prior to 1872, Mrs. Packer took care of the entire home by herself. By that time, however, Sarah was 65 years of age. With Asa being at the office in Philadelphia during the week, he decided to hire four servants, not only to help Sarah, but also out of companionship for her as well: John Witt, the butler; Julia Bemis, the maid; and Rosie and Emilie Breslin, the cook and assistant cook, respectively. These four Servants were on staff for forty years, receiving Christmas and Easter bonuses of $500 dollars. Their daily wage amounted to over $1.00 dollar per day, while the average pay per day for servants of the day amounted to $.20 cents.
Forty years service with the same family says quite a lot about how they were treated. The Servants also resided in The Mansion, their rooms a very good indication about how they were treated, as the rooms are very spacious and very comfortable. What is unique about this particular relationship was that there were no distinct lines between classes in the Packer home.
Mr. John Witt
John was the butler, the senior servant of the household. He resided in the Mansion during the week to serve as a male presence in the home while Mr. Packer was away at the office in Philadelphia. John was married with children. His family resided in town, and he did have weekends free to be with his family.
Mrs. Julia Bemis
Julia was a very young widow when she came to the Packer family, only 17 years old with no children. She never remarried. Consider her to be daughter Mary's maid, as she went everywhere with Mary, even on the 17 trips around the world. It was very common for wealthy ladies to have a traveling companion. She would later care for Mary in her last months.
Misses Rosie and Emilie Breslin
The sisters were the cook and assistant cook, respectively. Rosie was 20 years old and Emilie was only 8 years old when they came to the Packer family. Their parents had passed away, and Rosie was taking care of little sister. Rosie stayed with the family, while Emilie would later leave service to be married. Neither of the girls knew how to read when first coming to the Mansion. Through continued research, we discovered that Rosie thanked Mrs. Packer for teaching her how to read in her dairy.
Such diaries are evidence of the close relationship between the Packer family and their Domestic Staff.
John, Julia, Rosie & Emilie
Photographs Courtesy of The Asa Packer Mansion Museum
