Sunday, November 19, 2017

1852-1853 Autograph Album of Mary M. (Staley) Vickery of Utica, New York, and Illinois


1852-1853 autograph album that belonged to Miss Mary M. Staley before and after her marriage to John Vickery.  In 1852, Mary presumably lived in or near the village of New York Mills, New York, which now comprises parts of the towns of Whitestown and New Hartford.

Many of the inscriptions imply that Mary will be moving west in the near future, to the "far west", as one inscriber put it.  In fact, Mary and her family were moving to Illinois.


The album, published by Cornish, Lamport & Company of New York, measures approximately 7-3/4" by 6-1/4" and contains:
  • two hand-colored pages
  • 4 black and white engravings
  • numerous mementos tucked in
  • sentiments of as many as 20 people, although it might have been Mary herself who inscribed a couple of these pages, and Margaret M. Corrigan may have inscribed 3 pages.  

Surnames in the Album

?  [3]
Bennett    
Carpenter    
Corrigan  [3]    
Cosler    
Gould    
Hoag    
Keyes ?    
Neff
Owen
Padley
Richards
Staley
Vickery  [2]
Wright  [2]

An alphabetical of the inscribers, together with any personal information they offered, appears at the end of this post.

From brief online research, hopefully correct - corrections and additions requested:

Mary M. Staley was born in 1832 at Utica, New York, the place identified in her son Fremont's death certificate].  Her parents were, presumably, Adam Staley and Sarah C. (Higgins) Staley, as noted in the 1850 Census of Whitestown, New York, which includes Mary and five siblings.

Since Adam and Sarah are buried in Montgomery, Illinois, it appears that they moved there as an entire family about 1852.   Before Mary left New York for Illinois, her pastor, Ephraim Hoag, inscribed a page of farewell.  Two of Mary's quarterly tickets from the Methodist Episcopal Church are tucked in the album, one signed by minister N. Rounds in 1850 and another by minister Ephraim Hoag in 1852.





On 1854 in Kendall County, Illinois, Mary married John Vickery, a native of England, who was born in 1824 and came to the United States about 1848.  Mary and John farmed at Goodfarm Township, Illinois, and Nevada, Illinois, and had at least two children, sons Fremont John Vickery and Charles Roy Vickery. 

One page was inscribed, in a more contemporary and youthful hand, by Bery R. Vickery.  Was Bery a nickname for Charles, or was Bery Mary's grandchild?


John Vickery died in 1904 and Mary in 1905.  They're buried in the Oak Lawn Cemetery at Dwight, Illinois.  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.

Margaret M. Corrigan [not sure of surname]; inscribed in 1852

Among the items tucked in the Bible:
  • needlework bookmark
  • calling card of Cilia Richards
  • death notice of Mrs. Thomas Harris
  • photograph of a girl possibly from a publication of Gem City College







Inscribers in the Album
  • Unsigned inscription; perhaps inscribed by Mary herself
  • Agusta
  • Martha; inscribed at New York Mills, New York, on October 18, 1852
B
  • Annie Elizabeth Bennett; inscribed at New York Mills, New York, in October 1852
C
  • Miss Eunice Carpenter; inscribed at Aurora, Illinois, on June 4, 1853
  • Margaret M. Corrigan; not sure of surname.  Inscribed on March 5, 1852; she chose one of the pages with a hand painted design
  • M. M. Corrigan; inscribed at New York Mills, New York, on August 15, 1852
  • M. M. Corrigan or Mr. Mrs. Corrigan; inscribed at New York Mills, New York, on August 15, 1852
  • Elizabeth Cosler
G
  • Mrs. Susan C. Gould; inscribed at Highland, Illinois, on May 2, 185z [last digit is smeared].  Inscribed to Mrs. Vickery
H
  • Ephraim Hoag, Pastor; inscribed at New York Mills, New York, on July 19, 1852; Mary Staley's pastor
K
  • ? Keyes, an inscriber or perhaps the author of a poem inscribed by one of Mary's wellwishers or  perhaps even by Mary herself.
N
  • D. Neff; inscribed at Marion Point, Illinois; inscribed to "Miss Mary Staley", so before Mary's marriage of March 22, 1854
O
  • Sarah D. Owen
P
  • William Padley; inscribed at New York Mills, on July 24, 1852
R
  • Cilia Richards - her calling card tucked in the album
S
  • Mary Staley of Utica, New York; album owner.  Inscription from before and after Mary's marriage to John Vickery in Illinois in 1854
V
  • Mary (Staley) Vickery; album owner.  Inscription from before and after Mary's marriage to John Vickery in Illinois in 1854
  • Bery R. Vickery; presumably the child or grandchild of Mary M. (Staley) Vickery
W
  • J. T. Wright; inscribed to Miss Mary, before she was to leave for the "far west"
  • ? Wright, possibly S. Wright.  




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