Betsy-Tacy, or family history when you least expect it
Maud Hart Lovelace is best known for her series of children's books about Betsy Ray and her friend Tacy. The books are strikingly autobiographical; the real people, events and places are revealed in The Betsy-Tacy Companion. The Betsy-Tacy books begin in 1897 with stories of Lovelace's childhood in the fictional "Deep Valley," Minnesota, which is actually Mankato. The Companion includes photos of her real family and friends, as well as pictures and floor plans of actual homes described in the book and maps showing their locations.
The second book in the Lovelace series is titled Betsy-Tacy and Tib. In real life, their little friend Tib was Midge Gerlach. On page 38 and 39 of the Companion are photos of "Tib's house" at 503 Byron Street (pictured circa 1911 and circa 1988), as well as the storybook's illustration which shows the house being decorated with a tower. The Gerlach house didn't have a tower. However, a photo of the "Tower House, Corner of Center and Bradley," looks very much like the illustration. I certainly didn't expect to find anything about our Hickey family history, but there it is on page 38. Under the picture of the "Tower House" is this caption:
Tower House, Corner of Center and Bradley
This house, once the home of the Hickey family, was painted red when Maud lived on Center Street. Maud does not represent the Hickeys or their house in the Betsy-Tacy series, but it is likely that their tower inspired her to invent one for Tib's house.
The Hickey family? James Hickey, a cousin of my husband's grandfather, lived in Mankato. Could the "Tower House" be his home? A map in the book shows Byron Street running parallel to Center Street, one block east. Betsy and Tacy would have walked by the Tower House to reach the home of their friend Tib. On page 36 of the Companion are more details about Tib's house: ... The obvious feature which Lovelace fans look for and do not find is the tower. This house never had a tower. However, behind Midge's (there are now other structures in between) was a house with a most prominent and memorable tower. This is the Hickey house, which in Maud's time was painted barn red. According to the Mankato City Assessor's Office, the Hickey house was built in 1904. It was known as "the showplace of the neighborhood" and was not a house you could walk by without noticing. Maud, as a child, no doubt admired its tower and, as an adult, enhanced Tib's house by transferring the Hickey tower to 503 Byron. She so far succeeds that readers feel, when they view Midge's house, that there ought to have been a tower!
James E. Hickey (1857-1932, pictured right) and his wife Sarah resided in Mankato. They had no children. When James' father, Bartholomew Hickey, died in November 1900, the Waseca Radical death notice listed one of his surviving children as "James of Mankato, manager of the Minnesota Thresher Co.'s plant at that city." The 1910, 1920 and 1930 U.S. Federal Census schedules show James and Sarah Hickey living in Mankato, on Bradley/Center Streets. James' occupation is listed as MTM Co. Manager (1910) or Manager, Threshing Machine Co. (1920). Also residing in the Hickey household in 1920 and 1930 were Sarah's sisters, Catherine and Margaret, who were in their 50s and 60s when the censuses were taken. No children lived in the Hickey house so no wonder Maud didn't have stories about them. A phone call to the city assessor would confirm for certain, but it appears the Hickey "tower" found its way into Maud Lovelace's books!
