Monday, February 11, 2013

1870s/1880s Autograph Album of Sarah Adella Lapham of West Pembroke, Massachusetts


1870s/1880s autograph album that belonged to Sarah Adella Lapham of West Pembroke, Massachusetts.  She inscribed her name on the first end paper.  See a slide show of images of the pages of the entire album at the end of this post.



The album is approximately 7" x 4-1/4" inches and contains 79 pages signed by Adella herself, her relatives and friends.   Many of the surnames in this album will be familiar to people researching families in Massachusetts, especially Plymouth County.

Some of the surnames that appear multiple times:
Bourne
Bowker
Bryant
Cooper
Everson
Fish
Foster
Howard
Howland
Josselyn/Joslin
Kilbrith
Lapham
Morton
Percival
Perry
Reed
Spear
Turner
Wheeler

An alphabetical list of the signers appears at the end of this post.



From online research, hopefully correct: [corrections and additions welcome!]

Sarah Adella Lapham was born 20 April 1857 at Pembroke, Massachusetts, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah Keene (Fish) Lapham, who were born at Pembroke themselves.

I believe it was Sarah Keene (Fish) Lapham of Pembroke, Massachusetts, who signed a page in her daughter's album on 24 July 1884.



Adella's paternal grandparents were Caleb and Molly Polly (Bonney) Lapham.  Her maternal grandparents were Levi and Hannah (Bates) Fish.

As late as the 1920 Census, Adella was still going by her maiden name, so I'm assuming she never married or had children.

Alphabetical list of signers in Adella's album: [Note: given names within a specific surname may not be in alpha order.]
  • Unnamed, signed 1 September 1878
  • Weston P. Alden and Hannah A. Alden of Randolph, Massachusetts, signed 22 October 1879.  Hannah Avis (Lapham) Alden was the daughter of Oliver Lapham, brother of Sarah Adella Lapham's father Samuel Lapham.
  • May E. Barrows, signed 18 January 1879
  • A. Mabel Beal of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed 7 January 1879
  • Mercy T. T. Bourne, signed at Pembroke, Massachusetts, in 1878.  Mercy Thomas Turner (Tilson) Bourne, wife of James Bourne.
  • Almira K. Bourne of Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 23 July 1884.
  • J. E. Bowker, or could be F. E. Bowker, or another initial
  • George H. Bowker of South Boston, Massachusetts, signed 19 October 1878
  • Waldo B. Bowker, signed 17 October, 1878
  • Lizzie J. Bowker of Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 22 September 1880
  • Effie A. Bradbury of West Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 23 June 1879
  • A. Jane Bryant, signed 15 November 1885.  Almira Jane (Gurney) Bryant, wife of the facing signer William Henry Harrison Bryant of Pembroke, Massachusetts
  • William H. Bryant of Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 1 October 1878.  William Henry Harrison Bryant, husband of Almira Jane (Gurney) Bryant who signed the facing page.  A few years later William signed the next page as well, on 15 November 1885.
  • Rozilla Cobb, signed at Bryantville, Massachusetts, on 8 January 1884.  Perhaps Rozilla (Ford) Cobb, born 1812 at Pembroke, Massachusetts; she was the wife of Joseph Cobb.  Appears to be the handwriting of an elderly person.
  • Eleanor W. Cooper, signed at Bryantville, Massachusetts on 26 March 1884
  • J. Francis Cooper, signed at Bryantville, Massachusetts, on 26 March 1884
  • Walter E. Damon of South Hanson, Massachusetts, signed 22 May 1879
  • Hattie N. Derby of Factory Point, Vermont, signed 20 October 1883
  • Amelia S. Dwelley of South Hanover, Massachusetts, signed 14 May 1879
  • Walter Everson of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed at Bryantville in 1879.  It's possible his last name is something else, as he pointillized his text almost to illegibility, but there was a Walter Everson at Bryantville
  • Fred W. Everson of South Abington, Massachusetts, signed 28 December 1879
  • Arthur L. Everson of Braintree, Massachusetts.  Another person who used pointillism like Walter Everson.  I'm not sure of his last name or Braintree.
  • Mattie A. Fish of Somerville, Massachusetts, signed on 6 August 1881.  Not positive it's Somerville, as she spelled it with two m's
  • William W. Fish, signed on 8 October 1879; Sarah Adella Lapham's cousin.  Son of John Blaney Fish, older brother of Adella's mother Sarah Keene (Fish) Lapham
  • Eliza Fish; middle initial could be S or A or I or another letter
  • Abbie G. Fish of Somerville, Massachusetts, age 7 years
  • H. Waldo Foster, signed at Pembroke, Massachusetts in 1879.  Perhaps the son of the previous signer, Emma, who described herself as Adella's cousin.  They signed facing pages with what appears to be the same pen.
  • Emma, signed 7 December 1879; Sarah Adella Lapham's cousin.  Perhaps the mother of the signer on the facing page, H. Waldo Foster.  It appears they used the same pen.
  • Mary P. Fuller, signed at South Hanson in October 1893 [not sure of the year]
  • Clara P. Gardner, signed 18 September 1878
  • Leonice T. Garfield of Millbury, Massachusetts, signed 2 April 1880
  • Almira T. Gibbs, signed in 1878 at Pembroke, Massachusetts
  • Amy S. Gurney of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed in October 1878
  • Vesta E. Hill of Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed on 16 December 1879
  • C. Y. Howard of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed on 17 October 1884
  • Jennie L. Howard of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed 26 March 1886
  • Charles F. Howard of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed 1 April 1886
  • Lydia B. Howland of Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 20 November 1888; "Aged 70 years".  Possibly Lydia B. (Bearce) Howland, wife of Andrew B. Howland
  • Mary A. Howland of South Hanson, Massachusetts, signed 25 November 1888
  • Austin B. Howland of South Hanson, Massachusetts, signed 25 November 1888
  • May E. Hudson of Brockton, Massachusetts
  • M. Nettie Joslyn of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed on 18 December 1883
  • Rusha P. Josselyn, signed at Hanson, Massachusetts on 29 March 1879.  She was Rusha Phillips (Eells) Josselyn, wife of Benjamin Josselyn, who had died earlier, in 1870.
  • Deborah M. Josselyn of Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 10 March 1884
  • Cornelia E. Keene
  • Florence Kilbrith of Bryantville, Massachusetts
  • Jennie M. Kilbrith of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed on 1 October 1878
  • S. Adella Lapham of West Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 1878; album owner Sarah Adella Lapham
  • Elbridge W. Lapham of Chelsea, Massachusetts, signed 31 December, 1882.  His father Oliver Lapham was older brother of Sarah Adella Lapham's father Samuel Lapham.
  • Sarah K. Lapham of Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 24 July 1884.  This was perhaps Sarah Adella Lapham's mother, Sarah Keene (Fish) Lapham
  • O. H. Lapham of New Bedford, Massachusetts, signed on 31 December 1882
  • Bertha M. Lassman of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, signed 4 January 1883
  • Austin B. Howland of South Hanson, Massachusetts, signed 25 November 1888
  • Nathaniel Morton, signed at Bryantville on 5 January, 1885.  Bryantville, Massachusetts, presumably
  • Josie C. Morton of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed on 3 January 1885
  • Angeline Morton of Randolph, Massachusetts, signed 18 October 1879.  Wife of Frank Morton and mother of Addie F. Morton who signed the facing page.
  • Addie F. Morton of Randolph, Massachusetts.  Daughter of Angeline Morton, who signed the facing page.
  • Frank Morton of Randolph, Massachusetts; nice sketch
  • Bethia H. Morton of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed 5 January 1885
  • Gustavus Percival of Hanson, Massachusetts, signed 29 March 1879.  His wife Maria Josephine (Josselyn) Percival signed the facing page.
  • M. Josephine Percival, signed in 1879.  She was Maria Josephine (Josselyn) Percival, wife of Gustavus Percival, who signed the facing page.
  • M. B. Perry, signed at South Hanson, Massachusetts, on 15 April 1879
  • Gussie M. Perry of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed 15 February 1879
  • Mary L. Pierce of Arlington Heights, Massachusetts, signed in August 1883
  • Sarah E. Ramsdell of Bridgeport, Connecticut, signed 30 November 1884
  • Elvira C. Reed, signed 22 December 1879.  Perhaps Elvira Cornelia Reed of Pembroke, Massachusetts
  • Emily J. Reed of Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed 23 December 1879
  • W. B. Spear of Randolph, Massachusetts, signed 25 October 1879; nice sketch
  • Eve Spear, signed at Randolph, Massachusetts, on 24 October 1879
  • Almira K. Tillson, signed at Pembroke, Massachusetts, signed on 6 October 1882.  "age 78 yrs."  Wife of Elisha W. Tillson
  • H. O. Turner, signed at Bryantville, Massachusetts in 1884; might be Henry Otis Turner of Plymouth, Massachusetts
  • Abbie D. Turner signed at Bryantville, Massachusetts on 12 July 1884
  • Lizzie E. Vining of East Wakefield, New Hampshire
  • M. Lou. Washburn of Bryantville, Massachusetts, signed 1 October 1878
  • Ida E. Wheeler of Stoughton, Massachusetts, signed 3 December 1888
  • Daniel H. Wheeler of Dorchester, Massachusetts, signed 28 January 1879
  • S. S. Wheeler, Jr., of Neponset, Massachusetts, signed 28 [either January or June] 1879
  • Samuel C. White of Cambridge, Massachusetts, signed 2 December 1883

Pembroke, Massachusetts [Notice Bryantville a bit to the southwest]


Thanks for stopping by!


No comments:

Post a Comment