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Gus Mager Lived at Sand Brook

(Attributed to Clint Wilson, probably from a newspaper column in the Beacon circa 1970's)

When you have been in business for many years, you often meet some talented people that become national figures, such as Chet Huntley, who often came to my store. But the talented person I want to tell you about is Gus Mager, who probably most people never heard of, because he enjoyed living a humble life with his neighbors as his friends. Most of his neighbors did not know of his great talent.

Charles "Gus" Mager, a resident of Newark, N.J. most of his life, first became famous for his creations for the comics. From the turn of the century until almost World War II, some 100 papers carried his work. Hawkshaw, the Detective, was one of his most famous creations. Hawkshaw, with his faithful Dr. Watson, upheld the cause of justice being thwarted by his enemies, the Professor, Pete and Toby. If you read the comics and are old enough to remember, you might remember his creation of "Main Street" which was my favorite. He also drew cartoons for about 20 years for a well known outdoor life magazine. The subject of his cartoons was about the oddities of nature, about which he was an authority. Hundreds wrote him, many of them children, about his stranger than fiction facts. Paintings of his, mostly about nature, hang in museums all over the country. My sister has one that he did especially for her.

Gus Mager loved the country-side and he bought a farm in Sand Brook for a summer home. The farm was the site of an old mill many years before, and the house was constructed of stone and obviously was of early structure. A caretaker (I remember the name, Louis Suto) lived in half the house the year round and farmed the place. The Magers would spend part of the summer months there. Later, his father and mother purchased the next property at the foot of the hill. Gus Mager's family consisted of his wife Matilda and a son Robert. At the time this article was written, Milton Cole owns this beautiful property and has lived there for several years.

The Magers became very good friends of my parents. I remember visiting their home many times, and I especially remember spending many hours with him when he took his hound dog "Sport" out for a workout. He kept Sport at our place, and he paid me for taking care of him. Mr. Mager loved to hunt and he, Mr. Nagel of Newark, and my father were a hunting threesome. They would often let me tag along. When my father died in 1941, I recall that Gus Mager came to his funeral.

Before Gus Mager's death in 1956, every few months, the Magers would visit my store. His wife Matilda visited with my Mother, and he enjoyed seeing the people come in the store. It was very easy for him to find something to chat about with anyone. Little did these people know that they were chatting with a great, talented artist. He especially enjoyed talking about old times with the old-timers that would often hang around the store. Back in the cracker barrel days, he use to join the group each evening at the Sand Brook store.

After continuous invitations to visit the Magers, my Mother, sister and I finally arranged to visit them in Milburn, N.J., where they lived after moving from Newark. Their home was not in the town but far out in the out-skirts surrounded by the nature of the countryside. When he took us into the basement of his beautiful home, it was almost a museum, with piles of paintings on the wall and on tables. Actually, his work was his enjoyment. He told me that each morning, he would take a long walk through the fields and woods, that he would get some idea of nature for a painting, and he would come back and spend the day perfecting that idea. You can't conceive what a pile of paintings he had turned out, all of them beautiful, painted for enjoyment.

After his wife died, Gus Mager went to live with his son Robert, somewhere in Pennsylvania. Wondering why I hadn't seen him for some time, I discovered that he had died from cancer at the age of 77.

I would class Gus Mager, the greatest talent I ever met. Few people so great and talented are so humble and enjoy their work and life like he did. But most important, he gave the world laughter and beauty.

End of Article

(Attributed to Clint Wilson, probably from a newspaper column in the Beacon circa 1970's)