Monday, November 11, 2013

Charlotte's 1890s/1900s Autograph Album with DeVeau, Carter, Hunt & Phipps relatives in New York & Massachusetts


Note: Be sure to scroll down to the comments section for a readers' contributions.  One reader gives an extensive history of the Deveau and Bouve families, some of whom inscribed pages in Charlotte's album.

Red velvet autograph album with the word Autographs in metal affixed to the front cover.  The album belonged to a Charlotte, nicknamed Lottie.  

The album appears to be missing one or two pages in the front, including the title page and any presentation page that might have been present at one time.  

Approximately 7" x 4-1/4", the album contains the sentiments of nearly 20 of Charlotte's relatives and friends.

The first signed page in the album was written to Charlotte by her grandmother, Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau, at Brooklyn, New York, on August 7, 1895.



The only information I could find for grandmother Charlotte with her middle initial spelled out had her as Charlotte Kemp (Carter) DeVeau, perhaps because people made the leap to Kemp, the maiden name of her mother, or perhaps because Charlotte changed her middle name herself at some point.

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

Album owner Charlotte's grandmother Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau and husband Edward Augustus DeVeau had at least four children, one of whom presumably would have been the parent of album owner Charlotte, or "Lottie".

  • Edward Clarence DeVeau, born about 1855 in the Bronx, New York City.  An Edward C. DeVeau signed a page in the album on August 6, 1896, but his handwriting seems more like that of a child to me, so he may have been another DeVeau relative.
  • Franklin Leavitt DeVeau, born about 1857 in the Bronx, New York City; died 18 August 1886
  • Samuel DeVeau, born about 1859 in the Bronx, New York; died 11 January 1879.  He married Eva Keen, daughter of Samuel and Joanna (Munroe) Keen, at Hanover, Massachusetts, on 14 December 1877; perhaps they had a daughter Charlotte before his untimely death.
  • Minnie J. DeVeau, born about 1867; died 8 July 1889
If you have more information on the children of Edward Augustus DeVeau and Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau, especially if you know that one of them had a daughter named Charlotte or Lottie, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  Thanks!

Several other relatives of granddaughter Charlotte, the album owner, also signed pages in the album.  By piecing together these additional clues, a reader may be able to determine Charlotte's parents and surname.

Edward C. DeVeau signed a page on August 6, 1896.


Flossie Phipps Ames signed a page at Hawley, Pennsylvania; she called herself Lottie's cousin.  She was Florence (Phipps) Ames, married to Gaston Woodard Ames.


William W. Carter and his wife Eliza F. Carter of 21 Glendale Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts, signed facing pages on July 9, 1893.  William W. Carter was a sister to Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau.  His wife was Eliza F. (Holman) Carter.  They called themselves Charlotte's uncle and aunt.



Other signers were relatives but they didn't identify a relationship on the pages they signed.  For instance, the Bouve siblings, Henry Stanwood Bouve, Stella Bouve and Alan Bouve, of Wakefield, Massachusetts, signed pages.  Their grandmother was a sister to Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau.

Again, if you have knowledge of these families, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  

Alphabetical list of the signers in the album: [Note: given names within a specific surname may not be in alphabetical order.]


  • Charlotte, album owner.  The album was presented to her by her grandmother Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau
  • Flossie (Phipps) Ames, signed at Hawley, Pennsylvania; Charlotte's cousin
  • Henry Stanwood Bouve of Wakefield, Massachusetts, signed on June 18, 1896; brother of signers Stella Bouve and Alan Bouve, and maternal grandson of a sister to Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau
  • Stella Bouve of Wakefield, Massachusetts, signed on April 6, 1895; sister of signers Henry Stanwood Bouve and Alan Bouve, and maternal granddaughter of a sister to Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau
  • Alan Bouve of Wakefield, Massachusetts, signed on June 18, 1896; brother of signers Henry Stanwood Bouve and Stella Bouve, and maternal grandson of  a sister to Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau
  • Charlotte Kendall Carter; married Edward Augustus DeVeau; grandmother of album owner Charlotte, signed at Brooklyn, New York, on August 7, 1895
  • William W. Carter of 21 Glendale Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts, signed on July 9, 1893; album owner Charlotte's uncle; his wife Eliza signed the facing page.
  • Eliza F. (Holman) Carter of 21 Glendale Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts, signed on July 9, 1893; wife of Uncle William W. Carter, who signed the facing page.
  • Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau; grandmother of album owner Charlotte, signed at Brooklyn, New York, on August 7, 1895
  • Edward C. DeVeau, signed on August 5, 1986.  This might have been Charlotte's uncle, cousin, father or brother.  The handwriting looks a bit too childlike for the Edward Clarence DeVeau  who was born about 1855 at the Bronx, New York, son of Edward Augustus DeVeau and Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau
  • Helen Alice Diehl, signed on April 10, 1900; she may be the Helen Diehl who signed another page in the album.
  • William H. Hunt of Brooklyn, New York, signed on March 20, 1894
  • Helen May Jackson, signed on February 13, 1901
  • Heman L. Kemp of Brockton, Massachusetts, signed on January 9, 1896; related to Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau through her mother Sarah (Kemp) Carter who was a sister to Heman's father Nathaniel P. Kemp
  • Florence E. Morrison, signed on November 28, 1892
  • Flossie (Phipps) Ames, signed at Hawley, Pennsylvania; Charlotte's cousin
  • Louise H. Sands, signed on September 5, 1896
  • Alice J. Seberry, signed on November 28, 1892]
  • Helen M. Zinn, signed at Brooklyn, New York, on February 9, 1901.  I wonder if she was the Helen Margaret Zinn of Brooklyn, New York, who later married Emmett Robinson Olcott in 1911 at Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Thanks for stopping by!



4 comments:

  1. Charlotte is Edward Deveau's daughter.
    They are both mentioned in the elder Charlotte's will:

    Charlotte K DeVeau, "New York, Kings County Estate Files, 1866-1923"

    page 2 of images
    beneficiaries:
    Edward C Deveau, 335 Hancock St, Brooklyn, son
    Charlotte K Deveau, 335 Hancock St, Brooklyn, granddaughter
    Rosalind L Hunt, 335 Hancock St, Brooklyn, niece
    Charlotte K Rodgers, Ridge Hill, Plymouth Co, MA, niece

    "New York, Kings County Estate Files, 1866-1923," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N7LP-1J3 : accessed 12 Nov 2013), Charlotte K DeVeau, 1901.

    ------------------------------
    She and her father are with their cousin Rosalind Hunt in Brooklyn in 1905. Charlotte is incorrectly identified as her father's wife:

    Charlotte Deveau in household of Rosalind Hunt, "New York, State Census, 1905"
    396 Putnam Ave, Brooklyn
    Hunt
    Rosalind, 34, head
    Anna, 14, daughter
    Florence, 12, daughter
    Deveau
    Edward, 49, no occupation
    Charlotte, 19, "wife"

    "New York, State Census, 1905," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MKSJ-PTD : accessed 12 Nov 2013), Charlotte Deveau in entry for Rosalind Hunt, 1905.

    -----------------------------
    There is an overview of her on ancestry.com that gives her husband's name, but maybe Charlotte was removed from that tree. You can access the tree by looking for all names in it. I didn't spend a lot of time on it.

    Charlotte DeVeau Louise Gerdowskis Family Tree

    Birth: 30 Dec 1885 - United States
    Death: Mar 1973 - Maplewood, Essex, New Jersey, United States
    Spouse: Hugh Parker Shilstone

    search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=charlotte&gsln=deveau&msbdy=1885&msbpn__ftp=New+York%2C+USA&msbpn=35&msbpn_PInfo=5-|0|1652393|0|2|3244|35|0|0|0|0|&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=hti&cp=0

    ---------------------------
    She married Hugh Shilstone on Oct 4, 1907
    Search for Shilstone at www.italiangen.org/records-search/grooms.php, then click on the button for "Bride" next to Hugh's results. Charlotte is indexed as "Devean".

    Shilstone Hugh Oct 24, 1907
    Devean Charlotte Oct 24, 1907


    ---------------------------------------
    She is buried in the same plot as her father
    Greenwood Cemetery Lot 9325, Section 109

    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=SHI&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=36&GScntry=4&GSsr=1721&GRid=57669822&

    Greenwood Cemetery
    search for deveau at www.green-wood.com/burial_results/index.php
    Deveau
    Charlotte K, Dec 27, 1900
    Edward C, May 15, 1923
    Frank Leavitt, Aug 20, 1886
    Minnie, July 11, 1889

    all in Lot 9325, section 109

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much, Ed! I've got so much stuff to get through and can't spend a lot of time on any one thing, so it's so great to have folks willing to step up, and with sources, no less. Much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Charlotte (owner of the autograph album, shown above) is a sister to my second great grandmother, Julia (Carter) Ayling. The full name of "Lottie" as she is referred to in several documents, was Charlotte DeVeau (Ayling) Rogers of Hanover, Massachusetts. She was the niece mentioned as Charlotte K Rodgers, Ridge Hill, Plymouth Co, MA. my great grandmother, in the will of the elder Charlotte. She was born c1835 in Roxbury, MA, the daughter of Timothy and Sarah "Sally" (Kemp)Carter.

    ReplyDelete
  4. From Carol Kroeger:
    The autograph album belonged to Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau, b. 1835, Roxbury, Massachusetts. She was married 7 Mar 1853, Boston, to Edward Augustus DeVeau, b. 1835, New York. They were parents of three sons: Edward Clarence DeVeau, Franklin Leavitt DeVeau, and Samuel DeVeau, and a daughter, Minnie Jenny DeVeau, b. Aug 1867, in NYC. Samuel was only 19 years old at the time of his death (11 Jan 1879), and resided at 263 Pearl St., NY. (Published in the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper).

    After viewing the Bouve’ family members on my personal genealogy program, who had signed the autograph book of Charlotte K. DeVeau, I realized I had done some research on this family. The following people were the three children of Allston Gray Bouve` and his wife, Delia Cordelia Baker, who were married 4 Jun 1868, in Roxbury, Mass. Delia was the daughter of John Kelso Lord Baker, and his wife, Cordelia Richards (Carter). They were married 1 Aug 1846, probably in Boston. Delia Cordelia Baker was the niece of Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau. Their children were:
    1. Henry Stanwood Bouve` of Wakefield, Massachusetts, b. 12 Feb 1870, Hyde Park, Boston, Mass.; d. 30 June 1939, Wakefield, Mass.
    2. Alan Bouve`
    3. Stella Bouve`

    Charlotte Kendall DeVeau, b. 30 Dec 1885, in NY, d. Mar 1873, in Maplewood, Essex Co., New Jersey. She was the daughter of Edward Clarence DeVeau (b. 1855 in Bronx, NY, d. 19 Feb 1923, NY, and is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Kings Co., NY.) Edward married a Charlotte K. (don’t know her maiden name). They had two children: Edward A., b. 1882, (it may be his signature that looked like a child’s, and his sister, Charlotte, shown above, b. 1885. Who was the wife of Edward Clarence DeVeau and when did she die?

    Charlotte Kendall DeVeau (b. 1885) married Hugh Parker Shilstone, and is shown on the 1910 census of Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, but no children. In the three years that they were married, they had one child which was not living by 1910, according to that census. Hugh was born c1887, d.1959. His wife, Charlotte, d. Mar 1973 in Maplewood, NJ.
    Another signature was that of Herman L. Kemp, Brockton, Massachusetts. He was born c1856, and was the son of Nathaniel P. Kemp and his wife, Frances E. (maiden surname unknown). Nathaniel P. Kemp is the uncle of Charlotte Kendall (Carter) DeVeau. Their common ancestors were Dudley Bradstreet Kemp and Abigail Blood.
    My Ayling Family Tree on Ancestry is public, but not all of the above information has been entered into it yet. If you find differences, kindly let me know. If you have any questions, I can be contacted through Ancestry. My ID is: kroe532.







    ReplyDelete