Case in point — one Savonarola chair in the Besser Museum Collections. The donors bought it from the chauffeur/bodyguard of Grace Pack of Oscoda. You’re wondering what a Savonarola chair is. And why would a woman in a little town in Northern Michigan need a bodyguard?

In 1878, Grace Pack’s father, George Willis Pack, established the Pack, Woods Co. with John L. Woods, in Oscoda, Michigan. He would build 110 structures in the area, including housing for the lumbermen, company stores and even recreational and religious buildings. Eventually he would become one of America’s first millionaires.

He also built a house. You may recognize it as the Greene Pack House, a rambling Queen Anne style building located on U.S. 23 in Oscoda. Though he built it as his home in 1878, it eventually became a stagecoach stop and restaurant.

It must have included the popular Victorian trappings of the day, including, perhaps, the Savonarola chair. The frames of these ornate folding chairs form an X. This one measures 31″ x 38″, folded, and is made of walnut.

The style goes back as far as the Roman Republic where they were built for the high and mighty. Decisions made by Roman magistrates would be lawful only if dictated from such a chair. The name derives from the 19th century after a Dominican friar named Savonarola.

Fast forward to Grace Pack’s adulthood. Judging from her name, she never married. She would hire a man to act as both a chauffeur and a bodyguard. Eventually she would give him the Savonarola chair. Why did she never marry? Why did she need a bodyguard? Why did she give her bodyguard the chair?

Also of interest, is the fact that George Pack had three daughters, none of whom has the first name of Grace. Is Grace a middle name? Going by pet names and middle names was not uncommon then.

But Grace’s story does not end there. Some people believe she haunts Greene Pack House to this day. Locals say she roams the halls of the old place and others have seen her standing in the upstairs windows. Those who believe will never know why she cannot let go.

What we do know is that the chauffeur/bodyguard sold the chair to the donors and that in 1989 they donated it to the Besser Museum.

There remain so many unanswered questions about Grace Pack and her bodyguard. If only the Savonarola chair could talk.

This article was written by Besser Museum volunteer Judy Dawley. It is the first in a series that will appear here on the Lifestyles page pertaining to museum artifacts and the stories behind them.