Heirlooms Reunited: 1879-1880s Autograph Album of Nettie May Fisher of Detroit, Michigan, while student at Detroit High School

Sunday, March 2, 2014

1879-1880s Autograph Album of Nettie May Fisher of Detroit, Michigan, while student at Detroit High School

Album presented to Nettie May Fisher in 1879 by her sister Nellie. Nettie was also known as Jeannette G. M. Fisher. Nettie wrote her name on several of the beginning pages.

I'm not sure if sister Nellie was a full sister or a half sister or a stepsister. In addition to the presentation page, Nellie signed another page in the album.

The album is approximately 8-1/2" x 7" and contains the sentiments of about 110 of Nettie's relatives, friends and schoolmates. An alphabetical list of the signers appears at the end of this post. Many of the pages were signed by Nettie's schoolmates at Detroit High School at Detroit, Michigan. Many other pages were signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut; whether the Fisher or Smalley or Case families had relatives there or if it was a retreat, I don't know.

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

According to her birth record, Nettie G. M. Fisher was born 26 September 1871 at Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Elam G. and Mary C. Fisher. Other records show Mary's maiden name as Smalley. Nettie's mother signed a page in her album, but by then she was married to George Case, who signed the left facing page.

Nettie's brother Fred E. Fisher signed a page at Detroit, Michigan, on May 1, 1885.

J. W. Case of Ann Arbor, Michigan, signed a page on October 20, 1883, and called Nettie his "Little Sis". He was apparently the son of George Case from a previous marriage.

On 22 November 1899, Nettie married Edwin Bannister Forbes, son of William and Irene Forbes. Edwin was born 20 May 1874 at Lowell, Massachusetts, graduated from Phillips Andover and Harvard University and Medical School and set up a practice at Detroit, Michigan. The couple had a son and a daughter, Ethel Irene Forbes and Edwin Fisher Forbes.

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

Surnames in the album [Many appear multiple times.]

Adams
Allen
Andrew
Babbitt
Baker
Baldwin
Bissell
Brand
Case
Chandler
Christianey
Cole
Colson
Comstock
Congdon
Davis
Day
deFigueredo
Devendorf
Dodge
Eberts
Everdell
Farrand/Ferrand
Findlater
Fisher
Flynn
Ford
Frazer
Gilbert
Gillies
Graichen
Greig
Henderson
Hogan
Hopkins
Hurd
Jenks
Jones
Keith
Kennan
Langworthy
Lathrop
Lee
Lewis
Lovering
Lyon
Manchester
McWhorter
Morse
Myers
Newman
Orr
Phillips
Sanders
Schwinden
Scott
Seymour
Sheldon
Shepard
Smalley
Snively
Stevens
Thompson
Tootill
Watkins
Webber
Weir
West
Wetherbee
White
Wilson
Wise
Wisner
Worden

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

Nellie; Nettie's sister
Grace E. Cone, or Grace E. Case or Cawe/Cowe?, of Brooklyn, New York, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on September 3, 1887
Mary S. ?, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, in 1887. Surname begins with M.
Remember the "Princess Rink" Detroit. http://books.google.com/books?id=8Yw4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PR809&lpg=PR809&dq=%22Princess+Rink%22+Detroit&source=bl&ots=kAo5h-pHcD&sig=YEswk51cEVTp7Qwk2jGzwvR3AI0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YXITU7bRMpTvkQflp4CYAg&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Princess%20Rink%22%20Detroit&f=false
Martha E. Adams of Brooklyn, New York, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on September 3, 1887
? Adams, signed on August 1, 1887, at Pine Orchard, Connecticut; initials or initial too ornate for me to decipher
Irene W. Adams, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on July 15, 1887
J. D. Adams, signed at Brooklyn, New York, on July 22, 1887
Thomas Adams, signed on July 21, 1887
Winnie Allen, signed on January 1, 1887
Mrs. Charles Andrew, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on March 21, 1887
Allie Babbitt of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on February 4, 1883
Nora Babbitt of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on November 10, 1882
Florence S. Babbitt of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on January 16, 1882
Lillie M. Baker, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on June 27, 1882
Maybelle F. Baker, signed on June 27, 1882
Annie Rosalie Baldwin of New York, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on August 17, 1887. She was Vice-Pres. of P.T.C.
Mabel May Baldwin, signed on August 17, 1887
Edna Baldwin, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, in 1887
Hugh M. Bissell of Detroit, Michigan, signed on January 18, 1886
Maude Brand, signed on March 9, 1887; Nettie's schoolmate
Fred E. Case, signed on January 1, 1882 [or 1887]; presumably a relative of Nettie's stepfather George Case
George Case, signed on January 1, 1887; Nettie's stepfather
M. C. Case, signed at Detroit, Michigan; Nettie's mother Mary (Smalley) Fisher Case
J. W. Case of Ann Arbor, Michigan, signed on October 20, 1883; Nettie's older half brother
May M. Chandler, signed on March 11, 1887
May Christianey, signed on April 25, 1887
Kate L. Cole of Faribault, Minnesota
Annie Colson, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on September 2, 1888
Annie Colson, Sec. P. T. C. or P. I. C., at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, signed on August 3, 1887
Carrie Comstock, signed on January 24, 1886 at Detroit, Michigan
Roy W. Congdon of Detroit, Michigan, signed on June 4, 1885
Steve J. Davis of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on June 8, 1885; "Bull-dog, bow-wow-wow"
Alice C. Day, signed at St. Louis, [no state given], on August 2, 1887. She may have been a resident of St. Louis, and was vacationing or at a retreat at Pine Orchard Connecticut; P. I. C., or P. T. C.
Marian Day of St. Louis, Missouri, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on August 17, 1887. President of P.T.C. [or P.I.C.]
Josephine deFigueredo, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on July 14, 1887
Isabel deFigueredo, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on July 14, 1887
Fred S. Devendorf, signed on January 20, 1886
John Dodge of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on June 11, 1885
Alice C. Eberts, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on March 9, 1887 - D.H.S., presumably Detroit High School
Jennie A. Everdell, signed on August 27, 1887
Lillie T. Everdell, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on August 15, 1887
Katharine E. Farrand of Detroit, Michigan, signed on March 25, 1887
Amelia J. Ferrand, signed on March 11, 1887 at Detroit High School, Detroit, Michigan
S. L. Findlater, signed at Detroit High School on March 8, 1887
Nettie G. M. Fisher, 31 Rowland Street, Detroit, Michigan, 1880. "Please do not tear out any leaves." "If this book is found aroam, Box its ears and send it home. To N. M. F." The album was given to Nettie at Christmas in 1879 by her sister Nellie.
Fred E. Fisher, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on May 1, 1885 [not sure of last digit]; Nettie's "Loving brother"
Bertha G. Flynn, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on March 8, 1887; Detroit High School, Philosophy Class, Room 12
Walter B. Ford, signed on June 5, 1885
Nannie E. Frazer of Tecumseh, Michigan, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on July 1, 1882
Inez R. Gilbert, signed at Detroit High School, on March 9, 1887
Elizabeth Gillies, signed on April 25, 1887
Anna Graichen, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on November 4, 1883
Lizzie Greig, signed at Detroit High School on March 9, 1887
Lizzie Henderson, signed on May 19, 1885; Nettie's schoolmate
Sara Hogan, signed on March 9, 1887 at Detroit High School; Nettie's schoolmate
Sherwood Hopkins of San Francisco, California
Ella Hopkins of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on June 29, 1885
J. Stanley Hurd, signed on May 9, 1885; Nettie's schoolmate
Clyde Hurd, signed on January 7, 1886
Frank L. Hurd, signed on May 9, 1885
Mattie Jenks, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on May 15, 1885
Gus Jones of Detroit, Michigan, signed on January 1, 1887
J. M. Jones, signed on January 1, 1887
Martha R. Jones, signed on January 1, 1887
May Jones of Detroit, Michigan, signed on May 1, 1885
Madge Keith of Bay City, Michigan, signed on June 24, 1882
Inez Kennan Shepard of New Haven, Connecticut, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on August 24, 1887
Nettie May Gracie Langworthy of Wellsville, New York, signed on May 16, 1886
Ada Lathrop, signed on January 6, 1886; Nettie's schoolmate
Joe Lathrop of Detroit, Michigan, signed on January 8, 1885
Kirke Lathrop, signed on May 13, 1885; Nettie's schoolmate
Rufus G. Lathrop of Detroit, Michigan, signed on May 11, 1885
Hing Lee of Canton City, China
Lutie Lee of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on June 8, 1885
Tracy S. Lewis of Naugatuck, Connecticut, signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on September 1, 1887
Agnes M. Lovering, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on march 10, 1887
Alice Jean Lyon, signed on March 22, 1887
Bessie Manchester of Detroit, Michigan, signed on May 15, 1885
W. McWhorter of Detroit, Michigan, signed on July 2, 1882
Mamie Morse, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on March 10, 1882
Mae M. Myers, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on January 25, 1888
C. B. Newman, signed on November 5, 1883 at W.C.T.U. at Baltimore, Maryland. Women's Christian Temperance Union
Mary L. Orr of Detroit, Michigan, signed on April 1, 1887
Pheel Phillips, signed at Chicago, Illinois; Nettie's aunt
James W. Phillips of Chicago, Ilinois, signed on December 30, 1887
Susie Sanders of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on June 10, 1885
Caddie Sanders of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on June 10, 1885
Lottie Schwinden
Juliet C. Scott, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on March 24, 1887
Laura L. Seymour of Washington, D.C., signed at Pine Orchard, Connecticut, on September 8, 1887; presumably Laura Leggett Seymour, daughter of Henry Albert Seymour and Mary Marilla (Leggett) Seymour
Cornie Sheldon of Pine Orchard, Connecticut, signed on September 4, 1887; presumably Cornelia Sheldon
L. Louise Shepard of Pine Orchard, Connecticut, signed on August 30, 1887
O. D. Smalley of Detroit, Michigan, signed on January 17, 1882; presumably a relative of Nettie's mother Mary (Smalley) Fisher Case
Mamie Bell Smalley, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on January 17, 1882; possibly Mary Bell (?) Smalley, wife of Byron Smalley or another of Nettie's mother's blood relatives or inlaws
Grace A. Snively, signed at Benton, Indiana, on May 27, 1910
Will Stevens of Detroit, Michigan, signed on February 9, 1886
Lizzie Thompson, signed at Detroit High School, Detroit, Michigan; middle initial possibly V
W. D. Thompson, signed on January 6, 1890
Bell Tootill, signed on June 24, 1882
Risa Watkins, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on May 6, 1885
Edith Webber, signed at Detroit, Michigan, on June 24, 1882
Jennie A. Weir, signed on October 20, 1886
Name is very hard to read; possibly John A. West or Jonathan A. West, but not sure of surname.
Charles P. Wetherbee, signed on January 1, 1887; Nettie's "Friend and Caller"
Guy White of Detroit, Michigan, signed on January 1, 1887
Callie F. Wilson of Wilson, St. Claire County, Wisconsin
Hattie F. Wilson, signed on December 21, 1879
Mollie Wise of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on August 22, 1885
George M. Wisner, signed on January 1, 1887
Lena Worden of Ypsilanti, Michigan, signed on December 30, 1887