Posted 8 years ago
VintageVib…
(1 item)
My great grandfather was Warden Henry Wolfer, the last warden of the original state territorial prison in Stillwater, MN. I am planning on donating the chair to the Warden's House Museum, which was his residence during his long tenure with the prison, from 1880 to 1914.
This unique chair came from his house in St. Paul, MN where he lived after retiring as warden from the Stillwater Prison. He owned one of the lovely old homes on Summit Ave. and this chair would have been in his study or parlor. I have been to the Warden's House/Museum a number of times and am thrilled to be able to contribute something of his to the site. We have other items, and original photographs, that the museum doesn't have and rather than let them be sold or go to waste, they will be given to the museum whenever Mom passes away.
The rocker is made of mahogany but has no identifying maker's mark, brands, tags or stickers. It's likely that the chair originally came from St. Paul, but may have been sent up from Chicago, in the early 1900's. If anyone recognizes the manufacturer from the style, or knows anything at all about where this chair might have been produced or sold, I'd love to hear about it.
My Mom, who is 89, remembers this chair from her childhood and we all have the same memory of its place in our lives; if we were naughty, we had to go sit in the Devil Chair! Imagine that fierce face scowling at you, and the uncomfortable carving digging into your back, until you were freed from its clutches. :)
The Face on Back is AWESOME , a beautifully done rocker !!
Yep, the Satyr's head is so creepy cool and unique. I've been antiquing for 40 years and have never seen another one like it in all my travels. Just wondering where it might have been manufactured. :)
That's an amazing piece! I'm the current site manager of the Warden's House Museum and would love to hear any family stories about Warden Wolfer! (sean.pallas@wchsmn.org)
In fact, the museum only has one piece of original furniture from the Warden's families - a potty chair belonging to Winston Chambers (Wolfer)!
Thanks for sharing this online!
Sean, I believe we met this past Spring when I was up touring the house with my friend and her Granddaughter. If it was you I was talking to, you took us to tour the trustee's "residence", the cave under the overhang behind the carriage house.
I have spoken to my sister and brother about gifting the chair to the museum. It is the only thing of my Mom's that I wanted...I let them have everything else...and it should be with the museum and that's my intent when it comes into my possession. We also have a walking stick, an almost exact duplicate of the one you had in a display case at one point, that was made for him by whichever of the Younger brothers was the trustee in the house. Family legend says that he liked to say that he used it to "bust some hard noggins" and protect himself if any of the prisoners got out of hand. In any case, that is another piece I claimed and it will be donated as well.
Ten or so years ago my sister and I brought our Mom, Jean Hanson Wolfer McAndrew (Warden's Granddaughter) up to tour the house and we spent some extra time in the old back kitchen (office area) going through photos that you had and ones that we had brought with us. Copies were made of whichever ones your folks and Mom wanted. We have originals of quite a few pictures, including the ORIGINAL photo of Grandpa Don, his sister Ruth, and brother Chuck and a friend or cousin sitting on the sleigh behind the stuffed deer in the dining room. That was so cool to see!