Taliesen in Fall

Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center

Frank Lloyd Wright

From this view Mamah (under tree on the left) was able to be near FLW (where the tall stone is in middle of picture).  Of course that was before his last wife took his body to Arizona!

Martha "Mamah" Borthwick (June 19, 1869 - August 15, 1914) is primarily noted for her relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright, which ended when she was murdered.

Borthwick earned her BA at the University of Michigan in 1892.[1] She later worked as a librarian in Port Huron, Michigan. In 1899, Borthwick married Edwin Cheney, an electrical engineer from Oak Park, Illinois, USA. They had two children: John (1902) and Martha (1905).

Mamah met Wright's wife, Catherine, through a social club. Soon after, Edwin commissioned Wright to design them a home, now known as the Edwin H. Cheney House, and, as of 2005[update], housing a bed & breakfast.

In 1909, Mamah (now formally known as Martha Borthwick Cheney, although she stopped using her husband's name after they divorced in 1911) and Wright chose to leave their respective spouses and travel to Europe. Upon returning from Europe, most people in their previous social circle considered their open closeness to be rather scandalous, especially since Catherine had refused to agree to a divorce (and wouldn't until 1922). The editor of the local newspaper in Spring Green, Wisconsin condemned Wright for bringing scandal to the village; even big city Chicago papers joined in the criticism, implying Wright would soon be arrested for immorality, despite statements from the local sheriff that he couldn't prove the couple was doing anything wrong. The scandal affected Wright's career for several years. He didn't receive his next major commission, the Imperial Hotel, until 1916.

In 1911, Borthwick began translating the works of the noted Swedish feminist thinker and writer Ellen Key.

On August 15, 1914, one of Wright's recently hired domestic workers, Julian Carlton, murdered Mamah, her two children, three of Wright's associates, and a son of one of the associates.[2] Carlton set fire to one wing of Wright's house, Taliesin, and then he hacked the seven people with an ax while it burned. At the time, Wright was overseeing work on Midway Gardens in Chicago, Illinois.

A detailed nonfiction account of the tragedy at Taliesin is provided in Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders by William R. Drennan.

William Carey Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright's Father)

William Carey Wright (FLWright's father) had many pursuits, he was an itenerant preacher at the Richland Center Baptist Society when he met FLW's mother.  He tried many different professions a school teacher, lawyer and politician, but none were able to support his family.  Later he was the secretary of the newly formed Unitarian Society in Madison. He was divorced from Franks mother Anna Lloyd Jones when Frank was 14. Although Frank Lincoln (Lloyd) Wright, who changed his middle name to Lloyd after his father left, says he never saw his father again, it is hard to believe, because William Carey Wright is buried in Bear Valley, just a hop skip from Spring Green. Interestingly, he is buried with his first wife.

Frank Lloyd Wright info sign

Unity Chapel and Graveyard

Unity Chapel near Taliesen.  The chapel and cemetery were part of the Lloyd/Jones (FLW's mother) Family Estate.  FLW was the draftsman and construction manager in 1886.  This was one of his first designs.

After leaving his wife and six children, Frank Lloyd Wright began a scandalous relationship with Mamah Cheney. Their relationship ended tragically when Mamah and her two children, along with four other people, were murdered at Taliesin. She was buried in the cemetery under a tree with a very small stone.  This is the Unity Chapel cemetery that Frank L Wright was buried in and most of his mother's family as well. The stone was a later addition, her grave was unmarked during most of FLW's life. 

A view of the Frank Lloyd Wright gravesite and Unity Chapel.  FLWright's body was removed from this site, but the grave marker still exists.

Taliesen View

  A View of Taliesen from the Road.... Note all of the catwalks to look over the land.