The Property in Hicksville
I now believe that Madame Rosa, whether before her death, or through her will (if a will ever existed), split her summer estate in Hicksville equally between her two children, which explains how her son George W. Harper possessed a Hicksville property to sell in 1903.
In 1884, his sister Amy F married Edgar Latourette, an "oyster man" from Staten Island. By the early 1900s, their family was living in Hicksville. As newspapers did in those days, the Hicksville page of the Long-Islander would report on even the tiniest item of social interest. Thus, now and then readers would learn that Mrs. Amy Latourette's Harper nieces had come from Brooklyn for a visit. The reports never mentioned Mme. Rosa.
The 1914 map below shows that the Latourette family resided on what then was called Duffy's Lane, at the intersection of Morgan Avenue. Amy Latourette's property is highlighted.
Back when the Duffy family lived on the "lane" to which the village gave
their name, they could see Madame Rosa's summer estate across the road.
To us, the idea of living up against the railroad's right-of-way may
not be appealing. Bear in mind that when the land was purchased
in the 1870s, trains were infrequent, and they did not run at
1914 Belcher-Hyde Atlas of Nassau County, pages 99 and 100 (excerpt)
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e4-3ac2-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
If young Amy F owned only half of what her mother originally owned, then Madame Rosa's property had indeed been large - rather remarkable a summer property for someone who made her living on Canal Street as a clairvoyant.
Amy F. Harper Latourette and her family continued to reside in Hicksville for several years, but by 1920 they had moved to the Town of Hempstead, breaking the last thread that connected Madame Rosa and Hicksville. One wonders if anyone - some old codger from Duffy's Lane, or perhaps Amy F herself - ever told her children about their clairvoyant grandmother, and about the scandalous duel that never took place.
*****
That's all for this month.
Be Well!
