BURIED TOGETHER

Partner Ellen E. Learned

Queer Places:
31 Elliot St, Springfield, MA 01105, USA
Goucher College, 1021 Dulaney Valley Rd, Baltimore, MD 21204
1 E 40th St, New York, NY 10017, USA
Swezey house, 331 Beaver Dam Rd, Brookhaven, NY 11719, USA
Valhalla aka Learned-Wagner House, Hawkins Ln & Rose Ln, Brookhaven, NY 11719, USA
Oaklawn Cemetery, Westminster Ave, Brookhaven, NY 11719, United States

Emilie A. Wagner (April 11, 1879 - May 4, 1945) was born on April 11, 1867, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the Reverend Francis J. Wagner, a Methodist minister originally from Nova Scotia, and Elizabeth C. Allison Wagner. Growing up alongside her brother Robert as her family moved across states—living in Massachusetts, Springfield, and later Minneapolis, Minnesota—she pursued higher education at Goucher College in Baltimore, graduating before moving to New York in 1894. There, she established a pioneering career in music education by founding the Music School Settlement on East 3rd Street, which grew from a modest roster of 10 pupils into a massive institution with over a thousand students and a ninety-member faculty.

Wagner eventually transitioned from her institutional work in New York City—where she taught at a dramatic school and roomed on Manhattan's East 40th Street—into a life rooted in the artistic community of Brookhaven on Long Island. Throughout her decades in New York and Brookhaven, her personal and professional life was deeply intertwined with fellow musician and partner Ellen E. Learned. Census records trace their decades-long domestic partnership, showing them living together in Manhattan by 1910 alongside Learned's stepmother, and subsequently moving to Beaver Dam Road and Hawkins Lane in Brookhaven. In Brookhaven, Wagner dedicated herself to teaching piano and violin to local children, holding student recitals twice a year, while also cultivating personal passions as an amateur pastel artist and enthusiastic photographer.

Wagner's life came to a tragic end on May 4, 1945, when she was killed at age 78 at a grade crossing near Brookhaven after her car was struck by a Long Island Railroad engine while she was en route to give a music lesson in South Haven. In her will, she left her entire estate to her lifelong partner and companion, Ellen E. Learned. Wagner was laid to rest at Oaklawn Cemetery in Brookhaven, sharing a final resting place alongside Learned, cementing a profound historical and romantic legacy built on shared music, education, and devotion.

References:

• Massachusetts, Birth Records, 1840–1915 – Documenting her birth details as Emilie A. Wagner.
• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988 – Historical vital registration entries.
• New York, Death Index, 1852–1956 (Certificate Number: 30293) – Official state death record confirming her passing on May 4, 1945, in Brookhaven, New York.
• 1870 United States Federal Census – Documenting 3-year-old Emily A. Wagner living in Weymouth (post office Braintree), Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with her parents and brother.
• 1880 United States Federal Census – Documenting 13-year-old Emily A. Wagner residing at 31 Elliott Street in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts.
• 1885 Minnesota State Census – Documenting 18-year-old Emilia Wagner living in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, with her family.
• 1905 New York State Census – Documenting 28-year-old music teacher Emily Wagner rooming at 1 East 40th Street, Manhattan, New York.
• 1910 United States Federal Census – Documenting 35-year-old Emilie Wagner working as a music teacher at a dramatic school and living on 106th Street, Manhattan, with Ellen E. Learned and Frances R. Learned.
• 1915 New York State Census – Documenting 42-year-old musician Emilie A. Wagner living on Beaver Dam Road, Brookhaven, NY, with her partner Ellen E. Learned.
• 1930 United States Federal Census – Documenting 55-year-old music teacher Emilie A. Wagner living on Hawkins Lane, Brookhaven, NY, with Ellen E. Learned.
• 1940 United States Federal Census – Documenting 55-year-old Emilie Wagner living on Hawkins Lane, Brookhaven, NY, with Ellen Learned.
• The Suffolk County News (May 11, 1945, Page 9) – Detailed obituary titled "Miss Emily Wagner, music teacher who numbered many Sayville children among her pupils, was killed..." detailing her tragic accident at the railroad grade crossing, her founding of the Music School Settlement on East 3rd Street, and her artistic pursuits in pastels and photography.
• The Patchogue Advance (November 22, 1945, Page 5) – Probate and estate notices detailing the terms of her will leaving her estate to her lifelong partner and friend, Ellen E. Learned.

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