855 Cedar Street, Alameda, CA
In 1890, Thomas H. Speddy (b.1848, Ohio) married Henrietta Theresa Schermerhorn (b.1863, New York) in Portland, OR. He was 42 and she was 26 at the time of their marriage. Thomas was the exclusive manufacturers agent west of the Rockies for several significant industrial companies. Theresa was a school teacher and a Daughter of the Revolution who's linage includes the Colts (six shooter) and the Clarks (Lewis and Clark).
In 1895, Thomas H. Speddy purchased the undeveloped Lot 23 from W. E. Brown and his wife Delia F. Brown described on the Deed as: “Lot Number Twenty-three (23) in Block “C” of the Bellevue Tract Alameda as the same are delineated on a certain map entitled “Map of the Bellevue Tract being Lots 56, 57, 66, 67, and 68 of Wigley’s Survey of Lots Adjacent to the Town of Encinal subdivided February 1885.”
The lot would have been chosen such that the afternoon sun would be on the rear of the structure and the morning sun would be on the front of the structure. Therefore, the house number would be an odd number and Mrs. Speddy chose “55” as the building number. The Speddy’s lived just six blocks away, on Regent St., while Theresa designed the home and supervised its construction.
In 1899, the Speddy family and a female servant moved into 855 Cedar St. The 1900 U.S. Census lists the children as: Blanche and Marion from Thomas’ first marriage, Faith (b.1894, California) and Kenyon (b.1898, California). (Thomas also had three older children with Frances Jennings Speddy in Saginaw, MI; Maude, Howard H., and Isabel.)
On March 17, 1901, the San Francisco Chronicle ran this full page story on Theresa Speddy:
Did you ever try to build a house, madam?
Not to drive the nails, to carry the mortar and lay the bricks; not to patiently and skillfully work out every detail of plan, but to conceive and bring that place to perfection-in short, to be your own architect.
Very few women, without some especial training, have done this, but Mrs. Thomas Speddy of Alameda, without any technical expertise has achieved success in planning her own house. It is situated on Cedar Street, and its sloping lawns run down to the low stone wall that shuts the sea out. No lovelier location could be found; the outlook is picturesque in the extreme. A low range of hills lies directly across the bay, while to the right the rugged shores of San Francisco gleam, but no matter to what point the glance wanders, nothing is so worthy of admiration as the blue water glimmering before the wide windows, while the tiny yacht that rocks with the motion of the tide is inviting a further acquaintance with the bay.
“Situation,” says Mrs. Speddy, “was the first thing to be thought of. One does not build very many houses during one’s life: at least (laughingly) I don’t. After we had the lot Mr. Speddy said, ‘Now, we must get a good architect to draw the plans.’ ‘No,’ I replied, ‘I’ll draw them myself.’
“Of course, I was laughed at. My husband thought it was a great joke, and worse than that, he began to think the house, too, would prove a chimera, for I was three years making the plan.
“I studied and thought. I must have just so many closets, pantries and storerooms. I wanted a basement and attic, and finally got the whole thing in my head. Then I drew it to a scale. I used to waken at night and change things; then I’d have to do a large part of it over.
“Yes,” in reply to a question “I did enjoy it. I don’t know that I ever took such thorough enjoyment out of anything; any occupation, I mean. I employed a builder and he built from my plan. Mr. Speddy had blue prints made from my working plans.
“Yes, I drew every detail of it, ground plan, everything; and I watched it grow from day to day. It was like a story, a fairy tale. You’ll never know the fascination until you try it.”
The enthusiasm was contagious. Any one who listens to Mrs. Speddy is not only willing, but eager, to try it.
The interior of this house that a woman built is finished in a costly fashion with natural woods, and the furniture was made, if not to be found in stock, to match the wood in the room.
The reception hall is paneled, scrolled and finished in solid oak. The living room, which opens from the hall, is done in natural mahogany, and the massive furniture is all of that rich, dark wood. The rugs, walls and hangings are in tones of moss green. The low, diamond-paned windows open upon the broad expanse of water, as do those of the adjoining dining-room. The sash curtains at the windows throughout the house are of fine, delicate net. The air of light and cheer that pervades the dining-room is singular, considering that the wood employed in the floor, high-paneled walls, doors and window casings, as well as that of the massive carved dining table, buffet and chairs, is of Flemish oaks A sideboard, with doors of diamond-paned glass is built in at one side of the room, and directly over it is a long, narrow window. The rugs and hangings of this room are of a warm crimson shade.
The stairway is of oak, but the wood in the bedrooms is birdseye maple and the furniture, with the exception of the white enameled and brass bedsteads, is of the same light wood. The bathroom is tiled with white and blue, and everything is of the best pattern and design.
What most appeals to a woman in this perfectly appointed house is the number of closets, the storerooms-in short, what women designate in a general way as “places to put things.”
Nothing has been forgotten. Even in the children’s playroom there are chests and closets. The one thing there could be no reasonable excuse for disorder.
It is notable that Theresa included an auto garage in her design rather than a carriage house, a remarkable and progressive woman indeed.
Even today, Theresa's civic lifestyle is reflected in the oversized living room and kitchen and in the number of rooms designed for entertaining. In fact it was at a meeting of prominent Alameda women in the living room of 855 Cedar St. where the idea of the Alameda Boys Club emerged.
Painting of 855 Cedar St.
Did you ever try to build a house, madam?
In 1906, Thomas fought the fires in the earthquake and in the days following the quake, numerous men, dirty and tired, showed up at the house for a meal, bath and bed. The Speddy's also hosted refugees from San Francisco who slept on the large covered front porch, in the boathouse, and in the garage.
In 1910, the U.S. Census lists a smaller household at 855 Cedar St. Thomas’ two daughters had moved out and now Mr. and Mrs. Speddy, their two children Faith (15) and Kenyon (11), and a live-in servant, Jane Wilkes, occupied the residence.
A Schermerhorn Genealogy published by Richard Schermerhorn, Jr. in 1914 describes Mrs. Thomas Speddy of Alameda, CA as “very active in public affairs. She is President of the Alameda Center of the California Civic League (predecessor to the League of Women Voters) and is an ardent supporter of Women’s Suffrage.” The Alameda Phone Directory of 1914 even has a separate entry for Theresa on the Board of Education.
855 Cedar St. – End of the Speddy Years – 1914
In 1914, Thomas and Theresa separated and Thomas moved to 1000 Paru St. On September 18th of that year, Thomas gave Theresa his interest in 855 Cedar St. via a Deed of Gift. Theresa sold the house and land on November 30, 1914, to Frank A. Myers and his brothers R. C. and C. H. Myers (There is no evidence that the Myers' ever lived in the house). Theresa resigned from the Board of Education and spent much of 1915, while going through a very public divorce, on a ranch she purchased in Tranquility, Fresno County, CA.
On January 9, 1916, the Oakland Tribune reported that Mrs. Speddy planned to return to teaching school in Cleveland, OH. Their daughter, Faith, stayed in Berkeley to finish school at UC Berkeley and their son, Kenyon went to Officer’s Training School at Camp Zachary Taylor Kentucky.
In 1916, Thomas’ son Howard moved to Alameda with his family and by 1920 Thomas, then 73, was living with his daughter Maude Speddy McCormick and seven grandchildren at 908 Lafayette St.
The 1920 U.S. Census lists Theresa, Faith, and Kenyon living at 2077 E. 77th St., Cleveland, OH along with one of Theresa's siblings, Anna Forbes.
Faith Speddy married Gedel Welles Bacon in the spring of 1920 and settled in Rochester, NY. They had two sons, Richard W. (b. 1922) and Paul V. (b.1924). Kenyon also settled in Rochester, working as a wholesale sash and door salesman.