Hudson's St. Winifred(s)

Because today is All Saints Day, the timing of this post, inspired by something that happened yesterday, seems appropriate.

Yesterday, for Hudson Halloween, the very creative and inventive Lisa Durfee of Five and Diamond took her St. Winifred costume out of storage. At some point in the afternoon, she posed with the statue of St. Winifred on Promenade Hill, and Rich Volo of Trixie's List took these amazing pictures of the two Winifreds together.

Photo: Rich Volo

Photo: Rich Volo

Durfee created the costume in 2002 for a Halloween party at Hudson River Theater, once upon a time located on the second floor of 521 Warren Street. The costume made another appearance in Fourth Down fashion show--Fourth Down being an organization dedicated, in the early years of the 21st century, to promoting the area of Warren Street before Fourth Street. 

The costume got its greatest exposure in 2005, when Durfee as St. Winifred was featured on the Friends of Hudson float in the Flag Day Parade. That appearance was documented in the film Two Square Miles. You can watch the film here. St. Winifred appears briefly at 1:26:43 and again, for a bit longer, at 1:27:26.

Attention to St. Winifred usually raises the questions of who is St. Winifred and why there is a statue of her on Promenade Hill. The story of St. Winifred, a 7th-century Welsh saint who was beheaded when she refused the advances of a suitor and whose head was miraculously reattached, can be found here. The story of how the statue came to be situated on Promenade Hill was told by Mrs. Marion C. Smith in her book, The Hudson Valley Sketchbook, self-published in 1964.

In 1795 when the city was young and a source of pride to its citizens, this section, then called the Parade, was granted to the Common Council, forever, as a public walk or mall, and for no other purpose whatever. About 100 years later, still recognizing it as a spectacularly attractive park, Hudsonians decided it should be beautified. By July 1896, eight flower beds had been laid out in the form of stars, crosses, crescents and four leaf clovers. Coleus and bright, blossoming flowers painted the hill with patches of gorgeous color. Still one thing was lacking. Such a charming garden was not complete without a fountain.

Consequently, C. H. Van Deusen was named to take subscriptions to provide something suitable. Although the response was good, those accountable for the welfare of the city's population were uneasy with the idea. The "Register" worried editorially because "engines at the pumping house are working night and day, seven days in the week" trying to supply barely enough of that important commodity, water. Planning to use it in such a frivolous manner was disconcerting. But a solution seemed imminent for "it is proposed," continued this article, "to put meters into public houses and manufactories and to charge for the water allowed to escape needlessly."

So the fountain project progressed unimpeded. A local architect, Michael O'Connor, was a personal friend of General John Watts de Peyster, a renowned philanthropist living in Tivoli. Knowing of his penchant for donating fine sculpture, Mr. O'Connor made known the yearning of the local people for a fountain. By a lucky coincidence, the general just happened to have one on hand. It had been intended for the Watts de Peyster Hospital and Invalid Children's Home, operated by the Women's Board of Domestic Missions of the Methodist Church near Verhank [sic], N.Y. Those good ladies, faced with the same problem that was plaguing the Hudsonians, refused to provide the water supply.

General de Peyster was more than glad to come to Hudson with his friend and inspect the possible site for his fountain. He found it most desirable, but wanted the approval of the sculptor, George E. Bissell of Poughkeepsie, before making his decision. Bissell, who also executed the statue of Abraham de Peyster, first mayor of New York City, which stands in Bowling Green, was "enraptured with the location," declaring that it overlooked some of the finest scenery he had ever witnessed. The general is said to have remarked facetiously that although Hudson had many saints, he thought they would use one more.

St. Winifred was not a fountain in the same way Venus which once graced the Public Square was. Rather the statue was surrounded by water that flowed out of the statue's base. The water created a pool around the statue that was stocked with goldfish. The image below shows St. Winifred in the early days, before the pool surrounding the statue was filled with soil to create a bed for planting.

 

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