A short time ago I received an email from the magician Wendy Wylde. She had come into possession of a deck of cards that had undoubtedly belonged to the once well-known Maplewood magician, Jay B. Smith. She had found one of my blog posts about Mr. Smith.
You can link to that post by clicking on this sentence.
Followers of this site should be familiar with his name that is still on the business he created, the Jay B. Smith Funeral Home, the last stop for generations of Maplewoodians.
I get much pleasure from my self-appointed role as the historian of Maplewood. My contact with Ms. Wilde is a wonderful example. She wanted nothing more than to create this bit of magic of the gift of these cards to the place where they originated and will be appreciated. She even refused my offer to pay the postage cost of returning them to us.
You can link to Wendy Wylde’s post about these cards here.
Wendy Wylde’s generous gift of this deck of Jay B. Smith’s personal brand of playing cards will soon join the growing collection of historic Maplewood items at the Maplewood Public Library. She will be identified as the donor with the envelope and note that she sent with the cards.
It is my hope that all of the items in that collection will be enjoyed and protected for generations to come.
Readers of my blog may recall that the Jay B. Smith Funeral Home was once the Sarah Harrison mansion. For you newcomers I’ll repost some of those images below.
The home known to my readers as the Sarah Harrison home at 7456 Manchester Road. This view is of the eastern facade. The northern facade, on the right, faced Manchester. This building was/is located directly across the road from the Sutton mansion. The Sutton site is now occupied by Dobb’s Tire Co.
Judging from the angle of this view of the Sutton mansion, I would guess that the photographer may have been standing on the porch of the Sarah Harrison home.
This is an undated view of Manchester road looking west. Sarah Harrison’s home was on the left. This was a gift from Millie Hardy whose family owned the Jay B. Smith funeral home for many years. This photograph apparently never left the house after it was sold. It is probably still there in a file cabinet upstairs.
These paintings depicting the transition of the Sarah Harrison mansion into the Jay B. Smith funeral home were displayed in the lobby where I photographed them. Hopefully they are still there.
The modernization has begun. The car looks like a late 1940s model, possibly early 50s.
The modernization of the northern facade has progressed in this view. The roof of the original home still exists. The hearse sure looks like a 1958 or 59 Cadillac.
In this image, that I made for a presentation, the walls of the Harrison home have survived but the roof did not.
In this aerial image from 1955, the ongoing transformation of the Harrison home into the Jay B. Smith funeral home is clearly visible. The building just above it in this photo was the Holekamp Lumber Co. at that time. Now it is occupied by the well-known and very successful Side Project Brewery. The building at the top of this image was the Masonic Temple. Sadly, it has been demolished. A CVS building now occupies that space on the SE corner of Big Bend and Manchester.
That the second story of the Sarah Harrison home has survived mostly intact is nothing short of miraculous. It would be great if we had the whole house but we don’t. The alterations were completed before there was any thought of historic preservation. We are very lucky to be able to witness and experience part of this magnificent home. My hope is that will continue to be the case for a long time into the future.
The high temperatures, 60s and maybe even 70, for the following week seem ideal. We couldn’t ask for better.
Happy Springtime!
Doug Houser March 4, 2026
Again, Thank you, Doug!! So very important to our local history that folks can come to you with more of it!! Your loyal efforts are MOST appreciated!!
A note: I believe that John Hardy, who ran the Funeral home after his dad and mom acquired and ran it, has the middle name Jay…yup, John Jay Hardy because he is named after J.B. Smith. As I understand it, John’s dad worked for JB for many years. The Smiths had no children and they all were like family. Mr. Hardy bought the business when JB retired and when his dad died, John Jay took over. You would need to check me on all that but that funeral home has not only served the community but been great citizens to the entire community in many ways…the whole family.
The business has fairly recently been sold to a very nice young family where often some retired members of community work when needed as well. John J and his dad have been known to step in to conduct some of the funeral service when called upon. Very caring people still work there. (I recently attended a service at their site in Fenton when a Maplewoodite, a friend of mine’s, husband passed away.) They have those two locations only, I believe.
You are welcome, Pickett. Thank you for the information you supplied. I didn’t know any of it.
Couldn’t ask for a more kind and descent friend.
Jay, they’re talkin’ about ya’. Somebody forward this to him, will ya’?
You can always spot an old timer when they refer to Jay Hardy as “John Jay”.
Donna, I only knew him as Jay but understandable since I’m a new guy…I’ve just been here 50 years. It is good to hear from you. You and Pickett have been involved in this Maplewood History business since the very beginning in 2002. That’s 24 years ago. Scary, ain’t it.
You are very welcome, Laura. Thank you for the very many contributions you have made to the effort. I will certainly look forward to your next visit.
Doug, It is so wonderful that you are keeping all of the information on this town history and letting everyone know about it. What a nice gift you received. It is fun to see the pictures as well. If we could only go back in time.
Thanks for all your efforts. I feel a visit coming your way in the future.
Laura