Monday, September 17, 2012

1880s/1890s Autograph Album of Estella May Shuff, a student at Ebenezer School, Jacksonville, Illinois


1880s/1890s autograph album that belonged to Estella, "Stella", who was a student at the Ebenezer School at Jacksonville, Illinois.  The album was found with another one that belonged to Mary Edith Shuff, who had a sister named Estella May Shuff.

See another post that features Mary Edith Shuff's album.  It includes pages signed by the girls' parents, Stephen Oliver Shuff and Mary Caroline (Johnson) Shuff and other relatives.

Estella's album is approximately 4-1/4" x 3" and contains 18 pages signed by relatives and friends.

The presentation page, below, is very hard to make out; the image below is enhanced.  The presenter might have been Aunt or Augusta or another name beginning with A.  The word after the word beginning with A appears to start with a C.  If you can get more out of the text, please leave a comment or contact me directly.



One signer near the front of the album was Uncle Charlie J., who signed a page in 1889.  Stella's aunt, Hattie Jeffries, signed a page in  1889.  

From checking online, I saw that Hattie (nee Harriet Johnson) Jeffries was the wife of Charles Jeffries of Jacksonville, Illinois, so I'm guessing that Uncle Charlie J. was Charles Jeffries.  





Hattie (Johnson) Jeffries had a sister Mary Caroline Johnson who married Stephen Oliver Shuff.  They became the parents of Mary Edith Shuff, born in 1875, and album owner Estella May Shuff, born in 1881. 


Stella's teacher S. H. McCausland signed a page.

Only one signer in the album mentioned Jacksonville, Illinois, but it was enough to find evidence of an Ebenezer School at Jacksonville and to establish that many of the signers lived at Jacksonville, Illinois.   

That signer was Lizzie D. Blackburn of Jacksonville, Illinois, Stella's schoolmate at Ebenezer School.

Other people with the surname Blackburn signed pages as well: Estelle, Fannie and Ella, who I assume were siblings or cousins of Lizzie D. Blackburn.

Estelle Blackburn signed a page in 1890.

Fannie Blackburn signed a page in 1890 while she was a student at Ebenezer School.

Schoolmate Ella Blackburn signed a page in 1891.

Siblings Ernest Walter, George Walter and Julia Walter signed pages in Stella's album.

Ernest Walter signed a page in 1890 when he was ten years old.

George Walter signed a page, but he didn't date it.

Julia Walter also signed an undated page.

Estella May Shuff was born 2 February 1881 in Morgan County, Illinois, daughter of Illinois natives Stephen Oliver Shuff and Mary Caroline (Johnson) Shuff.

Estella married James Francis Mahon in 1916 and had at least one child.  She died in 1962.

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

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

  • Estelle Blackburn, 1890
  • Fannie Blackburn, Ebenezer School, Illinois, 1890
  • Lizzie D. Blackburn, 1890, Ebenezer School, Jacksonville, Illinois
  • Ella Blackburn, 1891
  • Katie Daniels, 1888
  • Nannie E. Daniels, 1888
  • Hattie Harrison
  • Uncle Charlie J., 1889, Stella's uncle Charles Jeffries
  • Hattie Jeffries, 1889; Stella's aunt, wife of Charles Jeffries, who signed another page
  • S. H. McCausland
  • Estella May Shuff, album owner
  • Ernest Walter, 1890
  • George Walter
  • Julia
  • Alice Williams, 1888; Stella's teacher






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