Chapter 4 - THE WORKERS WHO PAID FOR THE MANSION.
Mr. Hale led investigators to a locked cabinet behind the library wall.
Inside were payroll ledgers showing cooks, gardeners, drivers and housekeepers had surrendered wages during the 2008 financial crisis. In return, the Hawthornes promised permanent housing and fifty-one percent of the estate company.
Victoria later reclassified their contributions as gifts.
A retired cook named Evelyn Price placed an eviction notice on the marble table.
“My husband died after forty years here. She gave me thirty days to leave.”
Victoria answered, “Employment is not ownership.”
Mr. Hale replied, “Neither is inheritance when workers paid the mortgage.”
The trust named Rosa Bennett as its first elected chair. After her death, authority passed to Claire, then Emma.
Alexander looked at the chandeliers, the staircase and the polished floor.
“All of this was protected by their wages?”
Claire answered, “And your family thanked them by using the servants’ entrance.”
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Then the ledger showed Alexander’s company had borrowed against the worker homes.
His signature appeared on every loan.
