queerplaces - Mary Augusta Coleman

Queer Places:
Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community, 1617 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC 28803
Lewis Memorial Park Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, USA

Mary Augusta Coleman (July 22, 1886 – January 20, 1976) and her sister Isabel Fleury Coleman were residents of Canada, Europe, and Asheville, N.C.

Mary Coleman was a member of the French Broad River Garden Club and the Allegro Music Club, and the two sisters were music instructors (violin and piano). They were part of the women's society life in Asheville, N.C., and travelled in European countries during the 20th century.

Isabel and Mary Augusta, were born to Rufus Adams Coleman ( 1856–1938 ) and Clara Elma Fleury ( 1861–1951 ). Rufus Coleman was an attorney and conveyancer in Toronto. He disappeared from their lives when the sisters were young. Clara Coleman's parents, the Fleurys, were from Aurora, Ontario.

Clara Coleman and her daughters Isabel, Mary, and Helen lived for a time in Toronto, then Germany. Isabel and Mary studied music extensively in Leipzig; Clara Coleman was an accomplished pianist and her daughter Mary a violinist. The family then moved to Berlin, then to Switzerland, after which they moved to England during World War I. They also seem to have lived in France and Italy.

Clara Coleman and Mary Augusta lived in Europe for over 25 years. Isabel returned to the U.S. to work as a governess and was living in Asheville when her mother and sisters moved there in 1923. They lived at 1617 Hendersonville Road, Asheville. Mary and Isabel both taught in Asheville and were very active in upper-class social circles to which they belonged. The other sister Helen remained in Canada.

The Coleman family papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a Flowers Collection purchase in 1980 from an unknown source.