Wednesday, January 23, 2013

1880s Autograph Album of Jennie of Bolton, Connecticut area


1880s autograph album of a woman named Jennie of the Bolton, Connecticut area.  

Two signers in the album indicated a familial relationship with Jennie: Grandpa Sherman and cousin Alberta M. Cowles.  I found a Jennie Maine who was a cousin to Alberta, but I didn't find that Jennie had a grandfather named Sherman.  Alberta's mother and Jennie's father were siblings Melinda Jane (Maine) Cowles and Lorin Smith Maine.




I found a Jennie Sherman, daughter of Eber E. and Lydia (Robertson) Sherman, who married Frank Burnap.  Her grandfather was William Sherman, but if I can believe what I read online, he would have died before the era of the autograph album.

Hopefully a reader will recognize clues from the album and leave a comment with the correct identity of Jennie.



The album is approximately 8" x 5" and contains over 40 pages signed by Jennie's relatives and friends.  Half of the pages contain preprinted sayings of famous writers.  An alphabetical list of the signers appears at the end of this post.

Several signers gave a residence of Quarryville, which is located in Bolton, Connecticut.  Quarryville was a busy place at one time but was devastated by a 1938 hurricane, presumably the Great New England Hurricane.

Several surnames are repeated throughout the album.  These include Bradbury; Gowen; Maine; Meloney; Mowry; Newell; and Sherman.

Two of the signers were inventor William S. B. Maine and Rev. and author Wilbur Charles Newell and his wife.







Jennie's pastor, J. H. Sherman, signed a page.



If you have a theory as to the identity of the album owner Jennie, or  information on any of the signers listed below, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Alphabetical list of the signers [Note: given names within a specific surname may not be in alphabetical order.]
  • Carrie S. Avery of New London, Connecticut
  • Maude E. Babcock of South Coventry, Connecticut, signed 24 February 1888
  • R. Estella Boynton of South Coventry, Connecticut; nice sketch
  • Grace Bradbury, signed in March 1889
  • Delle Bradbury, signed 17 March 1889
  • M. A. Burnap, signed 3 March 1889
  • Mary E. Carey of Rockville, Connecticut, signed 19 February 1886; nice sketch
  • Henry W. Carver of Bolton, Connecticut, signed 22 February 1886
  • G. E. Cleveland of Andover, Connecticut, signed 19 February 1888
  • Alberta M. Cowles of Quarryville, Connecticut, signed 29 November 1887; Jennie's cousin
  • Anne M. Fuller of South Coventry, Connecticut, signed in 1889
  • Gertrude M. Gowen, signed at Dorchester on 1 September 1888; also mentions Hartford, Connecticut, 29 August 1888
  • M. H. E. Gowen, signed at Dorchester on 1 September 1888
  • Mr. and Mrs. Clarence W. House of Willimantic, Connecticut, signed 14 October 1894
  • Mary L. Hunt of South Coventry, Connecticut
  • Fannie E. Lathrop of South Coventry, Connecticut
  • Amelia Maine, signed at Bolton Notch in Connecticut, 10 December 1907
  • S. C. Maine
  • Annie E. Maine; Annie Evans Maine, sister of inventor William S. B. Maine, who also signed a page
  • William S. B. Maine; sister of signer Annie E. Maine
  • Jennie; album owner.  She may have been Jennie Maine, daughter Lorin Smith Maine and wife Susan (Rice) Maine, based on clue that signer Alberta M. Cowles called her a cousin.
  • Ella A. Mason of South Coventry, Connecticut
  • Fannie McChristie of South Coventry, Connecticut
  • C. D. Meloney of Coventry, Connecticut, signed 20 February 1888
  • G. H. Meloney of North Coventry, Connecticut, signed 19 February 1888
  • Agnes D. Meloney, signed 26 February 1888
  • Ruby Milburn of Bolton, Connecticut, signed 23 April 1907
  • Abbie Mowry, signed 7 March 1889
  • Nellie J. Mowry of Warrenville, Connecticut, signed in 1889
  • W. C. Newell, signed at Quarryville, Connecticut on 25 March 1886; he was Rev. Wilbur Charles Newell
  • Lizzie (Haynes) Newell, wife of Rev. Wilbur Charles Newell
  • Julia A. Perkins of Andover, Connecticut
  • Minnie G. Rose, signed 16 March 1889
  • Mrs. J. H. Sherman of Quarryville, Bolton, Connecticut, signed 29 November 1887; Maud L. Sherman also wrote on this page
  • Maud L. Sherman; she wrote on the page of Mrs. J. H. Sherman of Quarryville, Bolton, Connecticut, who signed on 29 November 1887
  • Grand Pa Sherman of Quarryville, Connecticut, signed 30 November 1887
  • J. H. Sherman, Jennie's pastor
  • Jessie F. Smith of New London, Connecticut
  • Etta K. Snyder of South Coventry, Connecticut, signed 11 February 1889
  • Lizzie Stewart of South Coventry, Connecticut, signed 15 February 1889
  • George C. Thompson, signed at Bolton Notch, Connecticut, 27 December 1888
  • John Walker of Coventry, Connecticut
  • John E. Whitman of North Coventry, Connecticut, signed on 26 February 1888
Bolton, Connecticut


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