Ralph Downey Shares Family Recollections
by Erin McCarthy Brick
Many of Ralph F. Downey Jr.'s memories of his grandfather's days as groundskeeper at Zenda Farm in the 1950s involve food, food generously, lovingly prepared and presented by his grandmother, the estate's cook for twenty years. And when Mr. Downey, Clayton’s water and sewer treatment plant supervisor, reminisces about his childhood, he recreates - vividly - a time and place in which landowner and caretaker shared an almost familial relationship.
As the 70th anniversary of Zenda Farm approaches, voices such as Downey's, those who experienced the farm in its prime, offer a glimpse of the glory days on the River and the people who were integral to the region's economy.
Shakespearean actor James Hackett purchased the property along Route 12 in 1915 from J. Herbert Johnson of New York. Hackett, who was born on Canada’s Wolfe Island and whose mother, Clara Morgan, was born near Cape Vincent, had close ties to the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence. One of Hackett’s earliest and most successful roles was in The Prisoner of Zenda; he was so fond of the role that he gave the farm its name in honor of the movie.
In 1936, New York industrialist Merle Youngs purchased Zenda farm. He built the steel Jamesway barns in 1939 and established an active dairy farm, and soon thereafter an expansive beef operation. In the 1940s, Mr. Youngs purchased additional acreage so that Zenda Farm stretched from the fields along Route 12E to several miles down Crystal Springs Road. The 800-acre farm was one of Jefferson County’s agricultural showplaces.
Melvin and Margaret Stage, Ralph Downey’s grandfather and grandmother, worked for Mr. Youngs as groundskeeper and cook, respectively, for twenty years. As a child, Mr. Downey considered Zenda his childhood "stomping grounds," shadowing his grandfather as Stage completed his various groundskeeping duties, errand-running, mowing, raking, trimming, planting flowers. Downey remembers, "I'd help him get things done in the summer. We'd get all the shopping done and get anything that had to be done picked up and weeded or whatever. My grandmother would pack a lunch, and we'd go fishing." At Zenda, Downey learned not only the boyhood pastime of fishing; he learned to swim, to hunt – and to run a mower as skillfully as his grandfather.
Downey digs through his collection of photos from the 1950s, pointing to and pondering over an individual here and a scene there. Several photos reveal an estate – the Youngs’ “place to relax” but Downey’s playground – whose focal point was not the distinctive silver barns we recognize today but a grand two-story waterfront house highlighted by a five-story turret, wrap-around porches on two levels, and other architectural details often imitated in new homes along the River today. Downey can still see Mr. and Mrs. Youngs as they used to “sit on the veranda in their rocking chairs.” The grounds they admired from the veranda showcased rock walls, flower beds, and a stand of white birches – an idyllic setting to which Downey would bicycle all summer and at the end of most school days.
Although Downey’s mother, Betty Stage Downey, insisted that he and his brother Ed “not bother” the Youngs, Downey referred to them as “Uncle Merle” and “Aunt Olive,” per the Youngs’ request. When Downey or his brother earned a grade better than 90 on a report card, Mr. Youngs would hand them each a dime to reward their efforts. Downey was at home enough at Zenda to open the door to the walk-in freezer, survey the contents, and “get all the ice cream I could eat.” From his childhood vantage point, Downey witnessed deliveries of fresh bread, fresh chicken, and, on occasion, lobster from Maine. He’d also accompany his grandfather to area markets to buy meats and vegetables, often riding in regal style in the Youngs’ Cadillac.
Margaret Stage created sumptuous dinners for the Youngs’ guests, often twenty people at a time. Guests would arrive by chauffeured limousine as Mrs. Stage worked “in the kitchen getting things ready.” She was, in essence, cooking for two families, the Youngs and the Stages, as the Downeys ate what the Youngs ate.
Downey remembers, "The meals that we had! If the Youngs had prime rib, we had prime rib. It was all fresh produce. We went and got peas, fresh peas. I remember [my grandmother] sitting there, shucking peas on the front porch. Peeling the carrots, getting the broccoli ready. One time [the Youngs] had a lobster dinner, and one of the plugs was out of the lobster. She reached and [a lobster] got her right across the fingers. I remember the grooves on her fingers. She just lowered it into the pot and it let go of her. She had the marks there for a few days." One time, Downey recalls, the Youngs ordered a vanilla custard ice cream “directly from France.”
But time and chance nudge us all along. Farms change hands. Stately homes burn to the ground. Boys grow up holding on to warm memories.
Upon Mr. Youngs’ death in 1958, his friend and business associate John MacFarlane inherited the greatest portion of the property. However, to acknowledge the Stages’ years of service, Mr. Youngs left them Zenda’s 161.75-acre Farm No. 1, a parcel on the southern side of Route 12.
John and Lois Jean MacFarlane donated an initial parcel of the farm to the Land Trust in 1997. TILT later acquired property on the south side of Rt. 12E, part of the original farm. Recently, the MacFarlanes donated 15 acres of Zenda forestland, creating a preserve that totals 403 acres.
Zenda Farm, under TILT’s stewardship, forms a scenic western gateway to the village of Clayton, also acting as a habitat for grassland birds such as Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, Savannah Sparrow, and Upland Sandpiper. The Land Trust will soon begin work on extensive public use trails on the Zenda property, making the property a focal point for community activities to be enjoyed by residents and visitors.
Since 2006, TILT has celebrated Zenda’s open spaces by holding a community picnic each spring. The picnic has become one of the area’s most anticipated early summer events. Friends and neighbors gather to enjoy the fields and farm buildings, features that make Zenda a beloved landmark. This year’s Zenda Community Picnic, a celebration of Zenda’s significance to the community for the past 70 years, will be held on June 12. TILT also has plans for a large community garden where area residents can plant and grow their own vegetables and herbs.
Ralph F. Downey recalls that he would "get out of school and we'd go up [to Zenda]. My grandmother made us fresh molasses cookies with raisins - every day just about - hot, fresh molasses cookies and a Coke. The refrigerator was a double-door refrigerator and there was always a case of Coca-Cola in the bottom of it. We'd go in there and get a Coke and have a warm molasses cookie with raisins. My grandmother, she knew we were coming. She did it so often, there was no measuring cup." Margaret Stage, he claims, could make a “table taste like prime rib” - her kitchen skills and his grandfather’s patient guidance resonate from Downey’s childhood, flavoring his adult years.