Tuesday, March 3, 2015

1830s/40s Autograph Album of Sabrina Edwards Bennet of New Hampshire and Massachusetts


1830s/1840s autograph album that belonged to Sabrina Edwards Bennet of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  Many inscribers were from the Plaistow, New Hampshire, and Haverhill, Massachusetts, areas.  Most records give the family name as Bennett, but Sabrina and her parents clearly wrote Bennet.

On the first end paper:


And from the title page, with an enlargement:



The album, published by J. C. Riker of 15 Ann Street, New York, measures approximately 7-3/4" by 6-1/4" and contains several engravings and the sentiments of 60 of Sabrina's relatives and friends from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  An alphabetical surname list and an alphabetical list of the inscribers, together with any personal information they offered, appear at the end of this post.

The album contained two loose pieces: a poem cut from a newspaper and a scrap of paper with the name Anna on it, tucked next to a page signed by Luke Fletcher, though there may or may not have been a connection between the two.



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

Sabrina Edwards Bennet was born November 18, 1818 at Gilmanton, New Hampshire, the daughter of Richard Prout Bennet and Ruth (Edwards) Bennet.  They inscribed pages in Sabrina's album.  Ruth shared a page with her sister Betsey (Edwards) Frisbie, wife of Timothy Frisbie.  Betsey's husband Timothy Frisbie also inscribed a page "in the 68 Year of his Age".



Other relatives who expressed a relationship [there were likely more relatives who didn't specify a relationship, including Sabrina's maternal aunt Mary M. Edwards.]
  • Cousin Eurydice; Eurydice Anne Bryant, daughter of Hannah Powers (Edwards) Bryant, who was a sister to Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet
  • Eliza G. Edwards, cousin
  • John Lafayette Frisbie, cousin.  Son of Timothy and Betsey (Edwards) Frisbie, who was a sister to Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet
  • Sarah Wallingford (Edwards) Heath, Sabrina's aunt; a sister to Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet
  • Olive Sawyer, cousin.  Daughter of Hepzibah Powers (Edwards) Sawyer, a sister to Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet.
One inscriber wrote her name and Haverhill Academy backwards; she was Emeline C. Carey, who may have been Sabrina's schoolmate.


 After leaving school, Sabrina operated a shop of some kind.  It's mentioned in a letter, among a collection of letters held at the Haverhill Public Library, where Persis L. Edwards was expressing sorrow that Sabrina had to give up her shop due to ill health.  

Read more about these letters, which are among the earliest known to highlight the lives of working young women in New England.  They're discussed in the book Farm to Factory:  Women's Letters, 1830-1860, edited by Thomas Dublin and published in 1993 by Columbia University Press.

On June 24, 1857 at Haverhill, Massachusetts, Sabrina Edwards Bennet married Oliver Turner, son of James and Methitable Turner.  Oliver was born about 1800 at Sterling, Massachusetts.  Sadly, Sabrina died on December 22, 1860 at Haverhill, Massachusetts.  She buried with her parents and other family members at the Linwood Cemetery at Haverhill, Massachusetts.  I don't know the year of Oliver's death or where he is buried.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, or information on any of the inscribers listed below, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Adeline Warren took pains with her page.


Surnames in the Album

? [11]DHMRW
BD ?H ? [2]McCrillisR ?Wadleigh
BaconDavisHeathMitchell [2]RyanWarren
Bennet [3]DowJNSWoodard
BryantEJohnsonNewellS ? [3]
CEatonJonesNoyesSandborn
C ?Edwards [2]KPSargent
CareyFKillgoreP ?Sawyer
Crowell [4]Fletcher [2]LPeaslee [2]Stuart
Frisbie [4]L ?T
Tabor


Someone, presumably Sabrina, wrote the word "Beautiful" under this engraving by Ellis of the Renour painting.

Inscribers in the Album   [Given names within a specific surname might not be in alphabetical order.]
  • P. S., inscribed in 1837; not sure of S
  • Eleazer, signed at Haverhill, Massachusetts, on March 8, 1844
  • Incomplete sentiment, possibly J. Herdim ?
  • Malenda. Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet had a sister named Melinda - perhaps this is she.
  • 2-page sentiment of Joanna, inscribed in 1848
  • 2-page sentiment by Caroline [not sure of name]
  • Paper scrap tucked in the album by the page inscribed by Luke Fletcher, though that might be a coincidence.  Inscribed by Anna
  • Unsigned
  • "A faithful friend and constant", inscribed at Plaistow, New Hampshire, in 1837
  • "A true Friend"; sketched a frond
  • Written upside down; unsigned, but appears to be the handwriting of an elderly person.
B
  • Henry Bacon, signed at Haverhill, Massachusetts, in January 1840
  • Sabrina E. Bennet; album owner
  • R. P. Bennet; Sabrina's father, Richard P. Bennet
  • Ruth Bennet, Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet.  She shared the page with her sister Betsey (Edwards) Frisbie.
  • Cousin Eurydice; written upside down on the page.  Eurydice Anne Bryant, daughter of Hannah Powers (Edwards) Bryant, who was a sister to Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet
C
  • A. M. C., signed at Haverhill, Massachusetts, on August 24, 1839.  Following page is signed by Elizabeth Crowell of Haverhill, Massachusetts, but that might be a coincidence.
  • Name written backwards, presumably Emeline E. Carey, inscribed at Haverhill Academy
  • Elizabeth Crowell, signed at Haverhill, Massachusetts, on August 23, 1837 [or 1839]
  • W. G. Crowell, inscribed at Haverhill, Massachusetts, in February 1842
  • I. Crowell or J. Crowell, possibly Crowell Jr., inscribed at Haverhill, Massachusetts in February 1842
  • Ann D. Crowell, inscribed at Haverhill, Massachusetts, on January 31, 1842
D
  • Friend R. D. or ? D.
  • Louisa Davis
  • B. Anna Dow, or R. Anna Dow, inscribed at Plaistow, New Hampshire on January 22, 1839
E
  • P. Eaton
  • Eliza G. Edwards, Sabrina's cousin; shared the page with Olive Sawyer, another of Sabrina's cousins.
  • Mary M. Edwards, inscribed at Bristol, New Hampshire; Sabrina's aunt. Mary M. Edwards was a sister to Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet.
F
  • Lucy M. Fletcher, signed at Bradford on January 5, 1839
  • Luke Fletcher, inscribed at West Bradford on March 23, 1841; a scrap of paper with a sentiment signed by Anne is tucked by his page but I don't know if there was a connection between the two.
  • Betsey Frisbie, Sabrina's aunt.  She was Betsy (Edwards) Frisbie, wife of Timothy Frisbie.  She shared the page with her sister Ruth (Edwards) Bennet, Sabrina's mother.
  • Timothy Frisbie, "In the 68 year of his Age"; Sabrina's uncle. Inscribed to Miss Sabrina E. Bennet of Gilmanton June 6, 1836". He was the husband of Betsey (Edwards) Frisbie, who the a sister to Sabrina's mother.
  • John L. F. Frisbie. He was Sabrina's cousin, John Lafayette Frisbie, son of signers Timothy Frisbie and Betsey (Edwards) Frisbie, who was a sister to Sabrina's mother.  He later inscribed another page in the album.
  • S. F. Frisbie. I wonder if this was Statira Frisbie, daughter of Timothy Frisbie and his first wife Persis (Lombard) Frisbie.
H
  • L. W. H., inscribed at West Bradford on March 31, 1841
  • S. W. H.; not sure of middle initial
  • Sarah W. Heath, inscribed at Atkinson, New Hampshire, on December 9, 1836; Sabrina's aunt. Sarah Wallingford (Edwards) Heath was a sister to Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet.  She shared the page with Harriet Newell or Harriet Newell S.
J
  • ? Johnson, inscribed at Haverhill, Massachusetts in April 1841
  • Ruth Jones of Plaistow, New Hampshire; middle initial possibly I.
K
  • Mary S. Killgore
L
  • H. C. L., inscribed at Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1840
M
  • John B. McCrillis
  • Henry Mitchell
  • Daniel Mitchell, inscribed in 1836
N
  • Harriet Newell or Harriet Newell S..  She shared the page with Sabrina's aunt Sarah Wallingford (Edwards) Heath.
  • Polly Noyes, signed at West Amesbury, Massachusetts on March 29, 1840
P
  • I. B. P., inscribed at Plaistow, New Hampshire in 1837
  • J. Bradley Peaslee, inscribed at Plaistow, New Hampshire in 1837. Presumably John Bradley Peaslee
  • Esther S. Peaslee
R
  • Inscribed on inside back cover: L. A. R., 1839
  • William Ryan
S
  • ? S., inscribed on March 15, 1840
  • Harriet Newell or Harriet Newell S..  She shared the page with Sabrina's aunt Sarah Wallingford (Edwards) Heath.
  • Written upside down on the page: E. S., inscribed at Haverhill, Massachusetts in January 1844 [not sure last digit]
  • P. W. Sandborn, inscribed at Bristol, New Hampshire
  • Harriet Sargent, inscribed at West Amesbury, Massachusetts on March 21, 1840
  • Olive Sawyer, Sabrina's cousin; daughter of Hepzibah Powers (Edwards) Sawyer, a sister to Sabrina's mother Ruth (Edwards) Bennet.  Shared the page with Eliza G. Edwards, another of Sabrina's cousins
  • Charles Stuart
T
  • Pardon Tabor, inscribed at Atkinson in 1836. Atkinson, New Hampshire.
W
  • L. C. Wadleigh, inscribed at Haverhill, Massachusetts, in December 1839
  • Adeline Warren; she designed the top of a heart
  • J. C. Woodard, or I. C. Woodard
Gilmanton, New Hampshire; Haverhill, Massachusetts



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