Tuesday, March 4, 2014

1870s Autograph Album of Frank of Providence, Rhode Island


Note:  March 5, 2014: Don't miss the comments section for research by a reader on the album owner and its signers.

1870s autograph album of Frank of Providence, Rhode Island.

Sadly, it appears that a few pages are missing at the front of the album, including the title page and any ownership page that might have existed.  Frank's mother and aunt signed, but neither wrote her name.

From the ages of many of the signers, who appeared to be students, I'd say that Frank was born about 1860.

It's possible that the album was presented to Frank by Samuel N. Mitchell of Providence, Rhode Island, who inscribed a page on March 20, 1874.  The previous page, the first one that still exists, was signed by S. N. M.  The middle initial in both instances also looks like a V, but I found a Samuel N. Mitchell living at Providence.



The album is approximately 7-3/4" x 4-3/4" and contains the sentiments of 46 of Frank's relatives, friends, pastor and schoolmates.  An alphabetical list of the signers appears at the end of this post.

The pages signed by Frank's mother and aunt:



R. Clifford Perry of Greenville, Connecticut, signed a page at Rocky Point, on August 12, 1874.


William H. Bailey of Providence, Rhode Island, signed a page on March 14, 1875 and mentioned "B.P.H.", as did several other signers.


A. E. S. or A. C. S. signed a page on August 4, 1874.  Annie Spencer Phoenix of Rhode Island wrote her name on the page vertically.


Apparently at some point the album came to light in 1953 when three women, Marilyn O'Neill, Barbara Gilligan and Virginia Baldiga wrote their names on a page on "Aug. 8, 19/53 B.C."  This is the only page that wasn't signed in the 1870s.


If you have a theory as to the identity album owner Frank of Providence, Rhode Island, or information on any of the signers listed below, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  Thanks!

Surnames in the album   [Note: Some appear multiple times.]

Allen
Andrews
Bailey
Baldiga
Bennett
Cady
Carpenter
Childs
Clark
Congdon
Fletcher
Gardiner
Gilligan
Goodchild
Greene
Hagan
Higgins
Hudson
Maine
Manchester
Mason
Mitchell
O'Neill
Parker
Peck
Perry
Phoenix
Pomroy
Potter
Rice
Simmons
Spencer (possibly)
Truman
Walker
Walsh
Waterman
Wing
Winslow

Signers in the album:   [Note: given names within a specific surname may not be in alphabetical order.]

  • Mother, signed on April 6, 1874
  • Auntie, signed on April 6, 1874
  • A. E. S. or A. C. S., signed on August 4, 1874.  Also signed by Annie Spencer Phoenix of Rhode Island
  • Pastor
  • Edwin D. Allen of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on December 27, 1874
  • William Andrews of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on March 28, 1873
  • William H. Bailey of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on March 14, 1875; "B.P.H."
  • Virginia Baldiga, signed on August 8, 1953 "B.C."; shared the page with Marilyn O'Neill; Barbara Gilligan
  • Hattie E. Bennett of Providence, Rhode Island
  • Anson F. Bennett of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on December 17, 1874; "B.P.H."
  • Hattie E. Cady of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on March 22, 1874; "B.Y.D."
  • Carrie Carpenter of Wickford, Rhode Island, signed on July 11, 1874
  • Milton T. Childs, signed on July 12, 1875; "B.P.H."
  • Susie S. Clark of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on November 28, 1874
  • Minnie E. Clark of Norwich, Connecticut, signed on August 11, 1876
  • Frank S. Congdon of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on December 5, 1874
  • Henry Fletcher of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on January 10, 1875
  • Laura C. Gardiner of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on July 11, 1874
  • Barbara Gilligan, signed on August 8, 1953 "B.C."; shared the page with Marilyn O'Neill and Virginia Baldiga 
  • Clark Goodchild of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on June 13, 1875
  • Annie E. Greene of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on May 26, 1874
  • Willie A. Hagan of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on November 29, 1874
  • C. Edward Higgins of Providence, Rhode Island; "S.N.S."
  • Hattie F. Hudson of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on November 6, 1874
  • Ella E. Maine of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on November 14, 1874
  • H. F. Manchester of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on January 2, 1875; "B.P.H."
  • Nellie A. Mason of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on December 13, 1874
  • Samuel N. Mitchell of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on March 20, 1874.  Presumably the S.N.M. who signed what appears to be a presentation page.
  • Marilyn O'Neill, signed on signed on August 8, 1953 "B.C."; shared page with Barbara Gilligan; Virginia Baldiga
  • S. S. Parker of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on April 20, 1875
  • Sarah Judson Peck of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on December 7, 1874
  • R. Clifford Perry of Greenville, Connecticut, signed at Rocky Point, on August 12, 1874
  • A. E. S. or A. C. S., signed on August 4, 1874.  Also signed by Annie Spencer Phoenix of Rhode Island
  • Marian J. Pomroy of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on November 18, 1874; "P.O. O.Y.T.G."
  • Ida A. Pomroy of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on June 26, 1874; "O.Y.Y.G."
  • Minnie F. Potter, signed at Providence, Rhode Island, on November 17, 1874.  "B.P.H."
  • Anson T. Rice of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on June 27, 1875
  • W. P. Simmons of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on August 8, 1875
  • Imogene Truman of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on December 12, 1874
  • Sarah L. Walker of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on January 19, 1873
  • Elleva C. Walker of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on January 19, 1875
  • Frank C. Walsh of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on December 4, 1874
  • Thomas W. Waterman of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on March 3, 1875
  • William H. Wing of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on March 23, 1875
  • Jennie F. Winslow of Providence, Rhode Island, signed on November 25, 1874
  • Hattie E. Winslow of Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island


Thanks for stopping by!



2 comments:

  1. Finally a Rhode Island mystery, and no surname!

    I wish Frank's aunt, at least, would have signed her full name. His mother maybe not, but at least his aunt.

    I wish I knew what those initials after the names stood for.

    I think your Frank had ties to the Friendship St and Clifford St area of Providence, Ward 6, and might have attended the Friendship Street Baptist Church. Maybe some of the signers were members of the church.

    Shubael S Parker was the pastor of that church from 1867 to 1878. It was at the corner of Friendship and Prince. He shared a two-family home with the family of one of the signers, Frank J Congdon.

    Prince St is no longer there but the streets intersected at 310 Friendship, which is still there. The neighborhood seems to have been cut in half by I-95.

    A lot of the signers lived on Friendship, Clifford or West Clifford. The ones I kept ages for were born about 1860 +/- 5 years. Samuel N Mitchell was an exception. He was born about 1847. He was working in the mail room of the Evening Press in 1875. Maybe he was Frank's mentor.

    I also think Frank might have been working as a clerk somewhere by 1875. Six of the men that I found were clerks, and most of them lived in that same neighborhood.

    One of the signers, Minnie Potter, married Isaac Goodchild, the brother of another signer, Clark Goodchild.

    Rocky Point was an amusement park. Maybe your "Frank" and Rozolvo Clifford Perry, born about 1855 in Greenville, Norwich, Ct, were related or knew each other from working together and met at Rocky Point on an August afternoon, 1874.

    *****

    I wish I could figure out how those three women in the 1950's were connected. Virginia Baldiga was in Central Fallls HS in 1956. (Her husband Richard Duprey just died in 2012 in Coventry, RI). There was a Marilyn O'Neill in Providence but she would have attended a different school. I eliminated two of the three Barbara Gilligans that I found, and I didn't find the third in the 1940 Census.

    *****

    1875 Census and City Directory

    Sarah J Peck, 14, 240 Friendship St
    Ida Pomroy, 16, 255 Friendship St
    Marian J Pomroy, 14, 255 Friendship St
    Anson T Rice, silversmith house at 359 Friendship
    Clark Goodchild, clerk at 374 Friendship, bds 394 Friendship
    Ella E Maine, 16, with parents at 394 Friendship
    Shubael S Parker (the minister), house 397 Friendship
    Frank S Congdon, age 15, reform school, but his family (Wm G Congdon, grocer, shares the two-family house with the minister at 397 Friendship

    Samuel N Mitchell, 29, 138 Clifford
    Anson F Bennett, probably boards 182 Clifford
    Edward C Higgins, student, 13 West Clifford

    Imogene Truman, abt 19, 61 Hospital St - became a public school teacher
    William H Bailey, 100 Hospital

    Minnie F Potter, 15, 89 South St - married Clark Goodchild's brother Isaac
    Sarah L Walker, age about 18, 154 Pond St
    Hattie E Cady, maybe at 44 Peace, a bit farther south, Ward 9

    other clerks:
    Thomas W Waterman, clerk at 37 Weybossett, lived at 18 Linden
    William H Wing, clerk at 10 So. Water, bds 29 Greenwich
    Walter P Simmons, clerk Commercial Natl Bank, boards 1 Prince St
    Henry F Manchester, clerk for Weybossett Bank, but at 67 Vinton. The only one listed not in the immediate neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow - I'm in awe, Ed! I've put a note in the post for readers to scroll down to the comments section. Good news - there's more southern New England albums coming up.

    ReplyDelete