A Mystery is Unraveling

Sometime in October of 2018, we recieved an email from a professor at Duke University who stated that her great-grandfather had worked at MedChi for decades! Once we noted his name, Gustave O. Caution, we realized that he was the second full-time employee at what was then known as the Faculty. 

Marcia Noyes had hired him to be the “Man Friday” around the building, serving as porter, custodian, cloakroom attendent and general helper. Mr. Caution worked at the Faculty for 56 years, and his son Walter, joined him and stayed for several decades, as well. 

At some points, Mr. Gustave Caution’s address is given as the address of the Faculty, and at other times, it is elsewhere in the city, but close to the Faculty. 

His grand-daughter was visiting Baltimore on another matter, and asked to come by and see where her ancestor had lived and worked. Of course, we were pleased to welcome her and show her around the building where Gustave had worked for decades. 

We found an old city directory which listed his home address, and drove to find that. We also found and visited the church where he and his family had been active for decades. 

However, one of the things that we couldn’t find was where Gustave was buried. 

I am beginning to do some deep research on Marcia Crocker Noyes for a possible book, so I headed over to the Maryland Center for Culture and History (formerly the Maryland Historical Society),