Charles W. Chesnutt to Mary Ellen Delahunte, 2 October 1922
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October 2, 1922.1
Miss M. E. Delahunte,
1769 East 63rd Street,
City.
Dear Madam:
The adjourned annual meeting of the Chester Cliffs Company2 will be held on Friday, October 6, 1922, at 4:00 o'clock P. M., at the office of the president, 1106 Williamson Building, Cleveland, Ohio.3
Yours very truly, CWC/FLCorrespondent: Mary Ellen Delahunte (1870–1951) was a White woman who lived in Cleveland most of her life. In 1921, she purchased a plot of land from A. Frank Counts (1881–1946) and his wife Eula (1869–1942), members of the Chester Cliffs Club. The Counts had not consulted the other members of the Club and gave Delahunte the impression that she was not responsible for property taxes or repairs relating to the property. This led to conflicts within the Club regarding Delahunte's unpaid tax bills.
1. On the same day, Chesnutt sent summons to the 1922 annual stockholder meeting of the Chester Cliffs Club to William and Mary Donahey, A. Frank Counts, Eulalie Counts, and Mary Ellen Delahunte. [back]
2. The Chester Cliffs Club or Company was a small stockholding corporation founded in September 1903 by Chesnutt and ten friends who were "stockholders," in order to purchase eleven acres of land in Chester Township near Chesterland, Ohio, and Scotland, Ohio, twenty miles from Cleveland. Summer cottages were built by three of the parties in order to spend their summers away from the city, and in 1916 the Chesnutts purchased one of these. Stockholder meetings were called every fall, even as eventually only three families seem to have remained: the Chesnutts, the Donaheys (who were living in Chicago after 1905), and the Counts. In 1921, Frank Counts (1881–1946), a Cleveland lawyer who was the longtime secretary and treasurer of the Club and his wife Eulalie (Eula) (1869–1942) sold a lot with a cottage to Mary Ellen Delahunte (1870–1951) without consulting the other members, causing conflicts about property tax and upkeep for years. Shortly afterwards, Chesnutt, as the club president, took on the responsibility of reminding members of tax payments and calling the annual meeting. Some of the property was transferred to individual owners in 1923, but the corporation was never legally dissolved. [back]
3. Typically, the Chester Cliffs Club held its annual meeting each fall, called by Chesnutt as its president, with view to the convenience of the Donaheys, who had moved to Chicago in 1905. The 1921 stockholder's meeting took place at Chesnutt's office on October 6, 1921, and despite conflicts of the sale of part of their land, A. Frank Counts continued as treasurer; see Chesnutt's letter to Counts from November 1, 1921. The October 6, 1922, meeting was also held at Chesnutt's office. [back]
