June 2012 Volume 25 Number 8 - Our Town | St. James, NY

continued from page 37
house and farm in South Kortright.
She also inherited her father’s
string of horses. it is said that she
owned over “100 horses at one
time, polo ponies, driving horses,
jumpers.” in the 1920’s, alice
Mclean “was an active member
of both the Smithtown and
Meadow Brook hunts and was
the only woman on the local polo
team.” From 1922 to 1924, alice
was chosen as “Master of the
hunt.” When she rode in the
hunts, alice wore a “Roman habit
with a top hat and veil tight across
her face.” her interest in the hunts
led her to keep a number of dogs.
She had “forty or so dogs – boxers,
whippets, greyhounds, and
family pets.” She kept these horses
and dogs in the “barns, kennels,
and stables” on the 50 acres of her
estate. “The present-day ‘Barn
– 38–
H I S T O R I C A L L Y S P E A K I N G
Alice Throckmorton McLean
Yesterday’ was where” alice kept
her many of her animals including
her sheep and cows. (Barbara Van
liew, op. cit., p. 164.)
Sometime around 1924, alice
Mclean purchased the lawson
house on the corner of Three Sisters
Road and North Country
Road with the hope that the
Prince of Wales would stay there
during his official visit to america
in 1924. To make her own home
more attractive and appealing to
the Prince of Wales, alice had her
house remodeled, “adding a brick
exterior to give it the appearance
of ‘an English country house.’”
She even had “a ballroom constructed
south of her mansion” to
provide the Prince with a suitable
place to dance. unfortunately,
alice was disappointed and the
Prince of Wales never did come to
St. James. (Barbara Van liew, op.
cit., p. 163.)
Even though she was keenly
disappointed that the Prince of
Wales did not visit her in St.
James, alice Mclean made an annual
pilgrimage to England, often
taking her horses and grooms with
her. it was on one of these trips,
with war looming in Europe, that
“Ms. Mclean was inspired to organize
the american Womens
Voluntary Services (aWVS).” Patterned
after the British effort of
using women volunteers to assist
in the war effort, the aWVS taught
its volunteers how to administer
First aid, how to take photographs,
read maps, practice conservation,
salvage materials,
operate military canteens, help
with soldier rehabilitation efforts
and drive motor transport. all of
these activities were designed to
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Residential & Commercial
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OUR TOWN • JUNE 2012
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