Claire Ackerman Vliet

The summer heat was so great and there was so much worry over the hurricanes that autumn is most welcome in this part of the country. The storms did little damage in Washington, but the city suffered from a prolonged transit strike, which profited no one except the taxi drivers, and certainly caused much discomfort, and even misery, and was responsible for considerable loss to the downtown merchants. Not all of 1903 escaped the hurricanes, however. Let one of the victims speak for herself - Claire Ackerman Vliet. "Well, whaddaya know? We had a flood! Those of 1903 who have visited here know how high up my house is above the Delaware River. So, while neighbors walked excitedly up and down the main street, I kept steadily at work at home, writing notes to my family. But when it was light enough to see, I looked out of the porch window and said 'I don't believe it!' A vast turbulent sea of water was swirling all over my terraces, and only the top three inches of the chimney-pot on the outdoor fire place showed where the upper terrace had been. Moreover the water had come to within eighteen inches of my first floor. The cellar was flooded of course, covering the drilled well and floating everything floatable. Never dreaming that such a flood could occur, I had stored in the cellar some precious hand-hemmed and initialed linen from my wedding store, AND to keep them white while thus put away, had wrapped them in lovely blue laundry paper! But my daughter, Claire, came up from Drexel Hill and took them back with her, bringing them back later all beautifully ironed and white once more. The greatest personal loss was of things that had sentimental value.
I do not know what I should have done without the young Boy Scout Executive who lives here on my second floor. He is quick, decisive, and knows what is to be done and how. That last is important. I call him 'Tertius,' for Frank often signed letters to me, 'Son One,' and of course John is 'Secondus.'
Monday before the flood, my grandson, Conrad Heins, arrived from India. He had the privilege of sleeping through all the hubbub Friday night. But under Dick's direction, he did yeoman service the next day cleaning up. Now he has gone to Arlington, to be with his other grandparents. Next week I expect a Crusade scholar from India to visit me. Luckily she did not pick the 19th of August.
Health good; spirits also. But there is an awful lot to be done cleaning up. I took time off, however, for this report to old friends."

Fall 1956 Alumnae Quarterly:

"The last of April, my son Frank, his wife and little girl came here for several weeks while he sold his house in Pennsylvania and could not yet move into the one he bought near Trenton se he could be nearer his new work at a Princeton University project. We were somewhat crowded and especially so when a bride and groom came without previous announcement to spend five days "at the prettiest spot along the Delaware" as the groom put it. In the midst of all this came a telephone call from Margaret's second son: the college year was ended at Randolph-Macon and he would arrive at midnight. 'I don't know where I'll put you, Conrad, but come on.' Frank and family left in June and the very next day was the reunion picnic of my Easton High School class of 1899 here on my lawn. This is an annual affair and I hope we can keep it up until 1959, which will be our sixtieth year reunion. Next year's is scheduled for September because I shall be away in June. I plan to fly to India in November with a two-day stop-over in Athens to see the Parthenon- more important to me than the Taj Mahal. Margaret has numerous side trips planned for me after I reach Bombay. And I shall return by boat with them the following May when they come home on Furlough."

Summer 1957 Alumnae Quarterly:

"We flew over the miles of Alpine peaks, then to Athens, where I climbed from the Theatre of Dionysus to stand within the Parthenon! A dream of 60 years come true!
In India I have explored Bombay, Bangalore, Gulbarga, Yadgiri, Yellary, Poona, Mahableshwar (up in the hills, where I spent Christmas), and of course, New Delhi, with its huge, circular Parliament Building, set in beautiful, spacious grounds, which all the government buildings have. New Delhi's spaciousness made me aware of how "vertical" Bombay is, -like New York- compelled to grow up because of the lack of room to expand sideways. At Agra we naturally went to see the Taj, where the beautiful inlay of flower designs in semi-precious stones was a great delight. Then we visited the fort across the Jumna River, which was also built by Shah Jehan; it is big enough to house a city in time of siege.
At Lucknow Margaret and I stayed at Isabella Thoburn College for two days, where we found the students full of that bright-eyed eager aliveness that we look for in college girls. Traffic in Bombay is weird. Everything goes in the street- bicycles, pedestrians, buses, trolleys, bullock carts, little push carts, speedy little taxis, horse-drawn gharries, and animals on the loose.
My keenest interest was stirred by the little clinic at Yellar that is working among the villagers; that is surely the leaven that will raise standards of cleanliness, sanitation and self-reliance. So much to do!"

Winter 1958 Alumnae Quarterly:

"There isn't much to report from here, except that Jane Hyde is now established in the Merrian Home at Newton, N.J. and I drove up one day to visit her. The same smiling eyes, the same undaunted courage. The Trenton Goucher Club met last night at the home of Carrie Bryan Kay '26. It was one of the largest gatherings we have had, with eighteen present. They did me the honor of listening while I told tales of India. I am still using a cane, and I tire so quickly that I doubt I shall be able to attend in 1958. Maybe India's climate and this badly injured knee have something to do with the case, tra-la!"

Winter 1959 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet tells us that her daughter '30 has gone back to Bombay, after a long visit here. Claire has many pleasant memories of her own stay in Bombay, but she will not be going back, as she doesn't get about any too easily. Her ninety-year old sister was brought down to visit Claire, who found her alert and well every way, except that she cannot get about at all by herself. Claire still teaches her tenth graders the Old Testament and finds pleasure in reading more than she used to find time for. From her reading she culls these books for recommended reading: Rice Pools by Arthur Goodfriend, They Wrote on Clay by Edward Chiera, and The Zimmerman Telegram which surely helped to put us into World War I.

Summer 1959 Alumnae Quarterly:

Three grandsons visited Claire Ackerman Vliet for a week at Easter. Conrad Heins, son of Margaret Vliet Heins '30, had just been granted a $1500 scholarship at the University of Illinois and Claire Vliet Adams' son, Leslie, won an honor scholarship at DePauw University. He wants to be a surgeon. Claire says her arthritis is under control and she can do more than she could a year ago. She is an avid researcher for she has published her own family records, which contained much valuable Mennonite material and is now busy with the history of the Titusville Methodist Church. She still teaches her class of tenth graders the Old Testament stories. Knowing Claire, we know how interesting she makes those stories.

Winter 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet says that reunions are not for her any more; both deafness and arthritis in her knees prevent many of her former activities though she still teaches her Sunday School class of 12th graders. She is boasting, as some other 1903's do, about being a great grandmother.

Summer 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet is giving up her home in Titusville for an apartment in Trenton. She will let someone else fret over the gutters, screens, and storm windows. Sensible Claire! She closes her letter with "Grandson Conrad Heins arrived at midnight last night."

Fall 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet will be temporarily settled in an apartment in Trenton while waiting for another she really wants. This moving from larger quarters into smaller is a saultary lesson for many of us when we begin to realize how much of our time has been spent on "things." But the things have meant comfort, happiness, and have been associated with the best years of our lives; it isn't all just foolish accumulations. Claire seems to have limited her activities to the things she can do at home, as many of us havel but fortunately there is much that we can contribute to the general welfare while sitting at home.

Winter 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet tells me of the death of the youngest son of her daughter, Margaret Heins, in India. Riding his bicycle over a rough, narrow, hill road he was killed by a passing truck which crushed him against the rocky bank. Margaret and her husband have lived for many years as missionaries in India. We send our deep sympathy to Claire and to the bereaved parents.

Spring 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet ahs always had a taste for research which has led her now to look of Civil War songs, helping her granddaughter with a school project. Claire will become so engrossed with it that the next thing she will be publishing the songs. I wonder if there is such a collection.

Summer 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet is in her new apartment at 30 Revere Road, Drexelbrook, Drexel Hill, Pa. It is conveniently placed for shopping, both at nearby stores and at down-town Philadelphia stores. The apartment is convenience itself and with green things growing outside of her windows, what more could a body ask?

I wish to correct what I told you about the recognition given to Claire Ackerman Vliet by the Church School Library in Titusville, now called the Claire Vliet Library. A bronze plaque in her honor, acknowledges her many gifts of books and her years of help. We need Claire at reunion to sing our songs and to help us to remember more than an occasional first line. Winter 1964 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet counts her blessings as usual - her children, her in-laws, and the fact that she can work on her genealogical studies, even if she does have "twinges in the hinges" which are so prevalent that they must be contagious.

Spring 1964 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet tells me that she can thread her needle but can't manage her hands to sew; I can't thread my needle, but can sew. We should sit side by side as a team. Claire, a subscriber to the Christian Herald Bookshelf, sends many of their publications to her daughter, Margaret Vliet Heins '30 who is teaching English in a boy's school in Bangalore, India. Claire's other daughter, Claire, is a nurse, just now giving 8 hours a day to the care of 2 old persons in their late 90's. Claire is quite lonely, but I'll wager she is not bored.

Fall 1964 Alumnae Quarterly:

Claire Ackerman Vliet's handwriting does not tell the story of the arthritis which aflicts her hands, for it is remarkably clear, and she still writes many family letters, though she cannot make a fist. But Claire! You don't want to make a fist at your friends or family, do you? Claire's children come from their homes and vacation spots (Gettysburg, Trenton, Catskill, and Hopewell) to visit and drive her around. She sees more of daughter Claire, who is now nursing a 90-year old lady through her last years. Claire herself still works on genealogy relating to the Vliets, choosing material to add to her Some Vliets of New Jersey, now typed.

Spring 1967 Alumnae Quarterly:

I introduce you to 3 shut-ins who might like to get letters occasionally: Claire Ackerman Vliet, Martha Land, and Nancy Nulton Larrick, 3 gallant arm-chair observers and philosophers.

Winter 1968 Alumnae Quarterly:

In the death of Claire Ackerman Vliet we lose a loyal Goucherite. Hers was a joyous, working Christianity, full of the wisdom that love can give. It was manifest in her library work, in her numerous church and Sunday School activities, in her home life, in her happy friendships, and finally in the writing that she undertook in her late 70's. To her children and grandchildren we send our sincere condolences.