Black Hills Gold jewelry pin by George M. Butler; 0.2647
July 16, 1910, was Mary Baker Eddy’s 89th birthday. That morning two of the trustees of Eddy’s estate, Archibald McLellan and Irving Tomlinson, met George Washington Glover III and Andrew Jackson Glover at the Parker Hotel in Boston. The Glover boys were Eddy’s youngest grandchildren. They had come East for a few weeks’ vacation and hoped to see their grandmother. Arrangements were made through their family lawyer and host, Sen. William E. Chandler. Their father, George Washington Glover II, had entrusted the young men with a small white box to be given to their grandmother when they saw her. Pasted on the box lid was a note which read “From your son in Truth and Love, George W. Glover.” The box contained a gold bar pin in the form of a miner’s pick, shovel, and pan. On the point of the pick is a gold nugget and on the shovel and in the pan is fine gold flakes. On either side of the gold pan are clusters of grapes, grape leaves, and coiled vines. The pin is an early example of Black Hills Gold jewelry crafted by George M. Butler of Deadwood, S.D., a small town close to the Glovers’ home in Lead.
Black Hills Gold jewelry is identified by the motif of grape leaves, clusters of grapes, and vines which are incorporated into the design. Generally, the grape leaves are green and red and the cluster of grapes gold. The green color is created by alloying silver with gold, and the red or pink by alloying copper with gold. S. T. Butler, considered to be father of this genre of jewelry, opened his store in 1878. His son, George M. Butler, took over and continued the jewelry designs. Present day Black Hills Gold jewelers can trace their roots back to the Butlers. Eddy’s pin does not exhibit the red and green gold because of a 24-karat gold finish that was applied to the pin. The back of the pin has been incised with the letters “MBGE.” The red or pink gold can be seen in the incised letters.
Several accounts of George and Andrew’s visit are found in the Library’s collections. According to Tomlinson, the boys were given a tour of the Christian Science Publishing House by McLellan and then brought out to their grandmother’s home in Chestnut Hill. There they met with Eddy, and she presented each of them with a copy of her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. She inscribed the books with their names and signed them “Lovingly, Grandmother, Mary Baker Eddy.”1
Glover brothers with crowd of newsmen, P00845
Laura Sargent and Adelaide Still were present in the room during the interview. Still recorded in her reminiscences that George was a good-looking young man with auburn hair; Eddy remarked how he looked very much like his grandfather, Major Glover. Andrew, though younger, was taller and rather awkward looking. Adelaide Still remembered that after talking with the boys a few minutes, Eddy asked if they would like to stay with her for a while. Andrew, who appeared to be the spokesman for the two, said that they had a store in South Dakota they needed to get back to. George didn’t say much but just sat, smiled, and only spoke when a question was addressed directly to him. They presented their grandmother with the gold breast pin and came out from the room with tears in their eyes.2
After the interview the boys were brought downstairs and served sherbet, cake, and lemonade. They were then given a tour of the house and introduced to the household members. Once outside, newspapermen and photographers were waiting to take pictures. The photographs here show two rather uncomfortable young men with their new suits and straw boater hats.
Adelaide Still recorded that a few days later the boys sent their grandmother a copy of one of the photographs taken during their visit. Eddy had it framed and kept it in her room. On the backing board of the frame Eddy proudly wrote “My Grandsons, M. B. Eddy.”
