Wednesday, September 26, 2012

1880s Autograph Album of Frank B. Gasche of Pettisville, Ohio


1880s autograph album of Frank B. Gasche of Pettisville, Ohio.  I believe his birth name was Benjamin Franklin Gasche, but I'd like readers' confirmation of that.

See another post that features the 1880s autograph album of Frank's future wife Vinnie Blanche Shaffer of Tedrow, Ohio.

A scrap mounted on the first end paper:

On the reverse of the scrap above:

The album is approximately 5-1/4" x 3-1/4" and contains thirty-seven pages signed by Frank and his relatives and friends.  See an alphabetical list of the signers at the end of this post.



From online research, and assuming that Frank B. Gasche is Benjamin Franklin Gasche:

Benjamin Franklin Gasche was born 9 March 1868 at German, Ohio, in Fulton County, son of George and Catherine (Honeberger) Gasche, who were German immigrants.

I think Frank was the youngest of five children born to George and Catherine.  Neither Frank's parents, nor his siblings, signed pages in his album.  

Two of Frank's Honeberger cousins, however, signed pages.  They were siblings Charles and Lulu, children of Catherine's younger brother George Honeberger and his wife Ann (Goodman) Honeberger.   

Charles Honeberger of Loudonville, Ohio, signed a page in 1885.  Sadly, Charles died in 1888.

Lulu Honeberger of Loudonville, Ohio, signed a page on 10 August 1885.  She died just over a month later.  From the appearance of her handwriting, hers was not a sudden illness.

Assuming Frank B. Gasche is Benjamin Franklin Gasche, he appeared to start using the latter name as he entered adulthood.  On 22 December 1891, he married Vinnie Blanche Shaffer of Tedrow, Ohio, daughter of John and Fidelia Elenor Ella (Boyer) Shaffer.  

Frank and Vinnie Blanche (Shaffer) Gasche raised at least two children, both daughters, at German, Ohio, where they farmed.

One of their daughters, Fern, wrote her name on a Victorian scrap tucked inside her mother's album.




The page below was written in what I assume to be German.  If you can decipher the name of the signer and/or translate the page, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Another page, again with a signer whose name I'm not sure of, decorated the page with two humorous scraps.

Either two people named Weber signed adjoining pages or Jacob J. Weber of Elmira, Ohio's offering spanned adjoining pages.  He included a nice sketch.


Complete list of signers in alphabetical order by surname [not necessarily by given name within a particular surname]


  • ? Illegible of Pettisville, Ohio, 1883; cute scraps
  • ? Possibly Mervin A. Mab*, 1884; written in German
  • S. K. Baker of Wauseon, Ohio, 1884
  • Libbie Bender; friend
  • Ella Cass, 1884; friend
  • Emma Dickason of Pettisville, Ohio, 1883
  • Ida Dickason of Pettisville, Ohio, 1883; friend
  • M. E. Dickason of Tedrow, Ohio, 1884; friend
  • Lucius B. Franker, 1884; friend
  • Mrs. Etta Fry, 1884
  • E. M. Garrett of Spring Hill, Ohio; friend
  • Frank B. Gasche [or possibly Benjamin Franklin Gasche], owner of the album
  • G. E. Gorsuch of Tedrow, Ohio, 1884; friend
  • Charles Honeberger of Loudonville, Ohio, 1885; Frank's cousin.  Sadly, I believe Charles Honeberger died in 1888
  • Lulu Honeberger of Loudonville, Ohio, 10 August 1885; Frank's cousin.  Sadly, Lulu died very soon after she signed, on 14 September 1885, which is probably why her handwriting appears very shaky, poor soul.
  • Ella Huffman of Tedrow, Ohio, 1885; friend
  • Emma Lauber
  • Abraham Lehman of Tedrow, Ohio, 1884; friend
  • Jerome Lovelace, 1884
  • Sarah Meister, 1884; friend
  • Louisa Meister of Elmira, Ohio, 1884; not sure of first name Louisa
  • Jacob G. Meister of Elmira, Ohio, 1884; not sure of middle initial
  • Lewis Miller, 1887
  • Rev. Fred V. Pike, 1884
  • Eva M. Quackenbush, 1884; friend
  • Mrs. Riger, 1884
  • Joel S. Schad of Tedrow, Ohio, 1884; friend
  • ? Schad of Tedrow, Ohio, 1884; can't make out initials
  • J. H. Schaffner of Spring Hill, Ohio; friend.  Not sure of middle initial - could be W.
  • E. W. Sower, 1884
  • Samuel H. Sower of Elmira, Ohio, 1884; friend
  • Charles W. Stites of Wauseon, Ohio, 1883
  • Jacob J. Weber of Elmira, Ohio, 1884; spans two pages and includes sketch
  • Miss Emma Zimmerman of Pettisville, Ohio, 1884; friend




Pettisville, Ohio, in western Clinton Township in Fulton County


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Thanks for stopping by!

1 comment:

  1. Can we buy this? This is my Grandpas Sister

    ReplyDelete