Per an interview given by her daughter, Mary, in 2012 in the Preservation Society of Newport :
(To read the entire article go to: http://www.newportmansions.org/learn/social-history/servants-in-gilded-age-newport/magda-goodheart)
"Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1905, Magda Csicay’s parents both died when she was in her early teens. Her mother had worked as a laundress for Count and Countess László Széchényi in Hungary (the Countess was the youngest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II). Magda's younger siblings were taken in by family. Countess Széchényi offered Magda a place in her home helping to look after her young daughters, and helping to perfect their Hungarian. Count Széchényi was the royal Hungarian minister to the U.S. and the Széchényi family lived part of the year in Washington D.C.
Magda was 14 when she first traveled to the United States. She attended night school in Washington to learn English. For a month every summer Countess Széchényi took her children to The Breakers to visit her family. When in Newport, Magda assisted the head nursemaid/governess and accompanied the children on outings to Bailey's Beach. There, an "alley boy," as beach attendants were called, became captivated with the young Magda, so much so that he was undaunted by her snubs. Magda had been instructed not to talk to American men. Persistence paid off for Charles Goodheart, who in four years time took a job as a footman for Andrew Mellon in Washington DC, where he finally won Madga over. "
(To read the entire article go to: http://www.newportmansions.org/learn/social-history/servants-in-gilded-age-newport/magda-goodheart)
"Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1905, Magda Csicay’s parents both died when she was in her early teens. Her mother had worked as a laundress for Count and Countess László Széchényi in Hungary (the Countess was the youngest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II). Magda's younger siblings were taken in by family. Countess Széchényi offered Magda a place in her home helping to look after her young daughters, and helping to perfect their Hungarian. Count Széchényi was the royal Hungarian minister to the U.S. and the Széchényi family lived part of the year in Washington D.C.
Magda was 14 when she first traveled to the United States. She attended night school in Washington to learn English. For a month every summer Countess Széchényi took her children to The Breakers to visit her family. When in Newport, Magda assisted the head nursemaid/governess and accompanied the children on outings to Bailey's Beach. There, an "alley boy," as beach attendants were called, became captivated with the young Magda, so much so that he was undaunted by her snubs. Magda had been instructed not to talk to American men. Persistence paid off for Charles Goodheart, who in four years time took a job as a footman for Andrew Mellon in Washington DC, where he finally won Madga over. "
Per an interview given by her daughter, Mary, in 2012 in the Preservation Society of Newport :
(To read the entire article go to: http://www.newportmansions.org/learn/social-history/servants-in-gilded-age-newport/magda-goodheart)
"Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1905, Magda Csicay’s parents both died when she was in her early teens. Her mother had worked as a laundress for Count and Countess László Széchényi in Hungary (the Countess was the youngest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II). Magda's younger siblings were taken in by family. Countess Széchényi offered Magda a place in her home helping to look after her young daughters, and helping to perfect their Hungarian. Count Széchényi was the royal Hungarian minister to the U.S. and the Széchényi family lived part of the year in Washington D.C.
Magda was 14 when she first traveled to the United States. She attended night school in Washington to learn English. For a month every summer Countess Széchényi took her children to The Breakers to visit her family. When in Newport, Magda assisted the head nursemaid/governess and accompanied the children on outings to Bailey's Beach. There, an "alley boy," as beach attendants were called, became captivated with the young Magda, so much so that he was undaunted by her snubs. Magda had been instructed not to talk to American men. Persistence paid off for Charles Goodheart, who in four years time took a job as a footman for Andrew Mellon in Washington DC, where he finally won Madga over. "
(To read the entire article go to: http://www.newportmansions.org/learn/social-history/servants-in-gilded-age-newport/magda-goodheart)
"Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1905, Magda Csicay’s parents both died when she was in her early teens. Her mother had worked as a laundress for Count and Countess László Széchényi in Hungary (the Countess was the youngest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II). Magda's younger siblings were taken in by family. Countess Széchényi offered Magda a place in her home helping to look after her young daughters, and helping to perfect their Hungarian. Count Széchényi was the royal Hungarian minister to the U.S. and the Széchényi family lived part of the year in Washington D.C.
Magda was 14 when she first traveled to the United States. She attended night school in Washington to learn English. For a month every summer Countess Széchényi took her children to The Breakers to visit her family. When in Newport, Magda assisted the head nursemaid/governess and accompanied the children on outings to Bailey's Beach. There, an "alley boy," as beach attendants were called, became captivated with the young Magda, so much so that he was undaunted by her snubs. Magda had been instructed not to talk to American men. Persistence paid off for Charles Goodheart, who in four years time took a job as a footman for Andrew Mellon in Washington DC, where he finally won Madga over. "
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