Servants' Call Box from the Lester S. Hubbard Home

A descendant of the Hubbard family, Dorothy Denig Shaw Speir, donated this servants’ call box, which was once in use at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lester S. Hubbard at 134 East Adams Street, to the Follett House Museum.

       

In this close up view, you can see the listings of the various rooms from which the family members could call on the household servants.

We can learn the names of some of the individuals who may have answered these call bells from the U.S. Census. In 1860, the names of the domestic servants residing at the Hubbard home were: Ann Maloy and Margaret Cavanagh, who were both natives of Ireland, and Susan Bass who had come to Ohio from New Jersey. In the 1870 U.S. Census, the names of the servants working at the Hubbard home included: Authy Harlb, from Germany, Minnie Schwine, from Ohio, and Ann Cora from Ireland. 

Mrs. L.S. Hubbard was the lady of the house in 1860 and 1870:

   

After the death of Mr. and Mrs. L.S. Hubbard, other members of the family lived in the Hubbard home. In 1920, their daughter Jeannie L.H. Denig lived there with her husband Robert. At this time there were no servants listed in the U.S. Census records.

Jean Livingston Hubbard Denig

   

While most of us have probably never had the opportunity to use a servants’ call bell, it was not unusual for prominent families who employed household servants to have such an item in their homes.