Tenure with the Wylies

Lizzie carrying buckets, no date.

Lizzie came to work with the Wylie family between 1857-58 as a young teenager. She likely first came to know the Wylie family through a Sunday school class she attended, taught by one of the elder Wylie daughters.

Of course, Lizzie was a multifaceted human with relationships outside the Wylie home, personal interests, passions, concerns, preferences, and beliefs. Unfortunately, nothing written by her exists in museum archival collections. Wylie family letters and diary entries are the primary means of learning about Lizzie's daily life. They reference her most often in the context of her labor: cooking, gardening, cleaning, or caring for the children. "Lizzie is very kind to them all," Theophilus wrote to his mother in 1878. Occasionally the letters provide insights such as Lizzie's love for reading and her preference for the color purple. 

As the Wylie family papers serve as the central primary sources on Lizzie’s daily life, her own feelings about her work and living situation are not known. It appears that she worked long, laborious days for the family. One 1906 letter confirms this, suggesting that Lizzie get some time off: "How would it do to send Lizzie on a visit to Ind. Let her take a little vacation. It might open Mother's eyes. No girl for 4 times the money would do what Lizzie does. Mother would be glad enough to have her back at the end of a month.”

Lizzie working in the Wylie kitchen, no date.

It is unclear whether Lizzie actually took this particular window of time off, but other letters verify that she made periodic visits to her mother and grandmother. During these times, family members often express the desire to see her return to help Mrs. Wylie, particularly in the early 1900s when she was becoming senile. Lizzie, not young herself, also suffered from various illnesses around this time, including lumbago and a sharp pain in her leg. Physical strain likely took a toll on her as she aged. In fact, a notable letter from Louisa Wylie recounts staying up until 10pm as Lizzie pulled up tacks from an old carpet. The letter was written in 1902, meaning that Lizzie’s days were still lengthy and strenuous even at the age of fifty-nine.