Gladys Fauntleroy

Today, we are discussing the life and times of another remarkable Fauntleroy sister, Gladys. Gladys lived a very accomplished and adventurous life. She was the youngest daughter of Thomas and Mary Anna, and as a child she inhabited the upstairs bedroom which is today called “The Pink Room”. Just like Juliet Fauntleroy, Gladys attended the Randolph Macon Woman’s college. Before her graduation in 1906 she was a member of the basketball team and gained certificates of fluency in Greek, Latin, and a romantic language. She was also fluent in French and German. Remarkably, it is said that Gladys had the ability to write in two different languages at the same time. Gladys suffered a tragedy during World War I with the death of her beau, John Lynch Douglas. Following this, Gladys served as a missionary to Japan. The wooden chest located in the Master Bedroom, called a Japanese Tansu Chest, was Gladys’ sea trunk during her time as a missionary. Gladys was even a witness to the infamous 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake. This 9.0 earthquake killed 140,000 people. Gladys was active in the relief efforts following this natural disaster. Not long after returning to the United States, Gladys married Lindley Murray Winston. The happy couple moved to California and lived out their days there until Lindley’s death in 1947. After the death of her husband, Gladys moved back into Avoca and spent her final years as the last inhabit of her family home.