Friday, November 7, 2014

1880s Autograph Album of Lida Lois Caulkins of Lorraine, New York; student at Adams Collegiate Institute


1880s autograph album that belonged to Lida Lois Caulkins of Lorraine, New York, with many of the sentiments collected from relatives and from fellow students at Adams Collegiate Institute at Adams, New York.  See an engraving of the Institute, also known as Hungerford Collegiate Institute, here.

Lida added notes about birth, marriages and deaths on many of the pages.

New: See all of the pages in the album, in page order, here.

If there were ownership and title pages, they are missing, but Lida's identity was revealed by signers who indicated family relationships with her, such as her mother, grandmother, sisters, aunt and cousins.  A few such pages are shown below, but there are more; see the list of signers below.  Names of blood relatives and in-laws include Caulkins, Stillman, Folsom, Croft, Bailey, French, Hitchcock, Moore, and there may be more.

The album measures approximately 5-1/4" x 3" and contains the sentiments of 44 of Lida's relatives, friends, schoolmates and pastor.  An alphabetical surname list and an alphabetical list of the signers, together with any personal information they offered, appear the end of this post.

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

Lida Lois Caulkins was born December 4, 1870 in New York, possibly at Lorraine, the daughter of Edwin R. and Fanny M. (Stillman) Caulkins, who both Lorraine, New York, residents, I believe.  Fanny inscribed a page in Lida's album on April 8, 1883 at Lorraine, New York.  Lida added notes.


Fanny's mother, Lois Waters (Baker) Stillman Croft also inscribed a page in the album, on August 29, 1882 at Lorraine, New York.  Lida added notes.


Lida's three sisters inscribed pages in her album.  Mary A. (Caulkins) Hitchcock signed a page. By then she was married to Clark R. Hitchcock.  Lida added a note.


Lida's sister Ella Frances Caulkins inscribed a page on March 31, 1882.    Lida added notes.  Ella would marry Henry Martin Brown on February 7, 1883.


Lida's sister Lovina or Lavina Caulkins, "Vinnie", inscribed a page at Lorraine, New York, on November 21, 1882.  Lida added a note that she would marry on August 27, 1899; her husband was Orlando Colfax.


Lida's brother Charles Abram Caulkins and his wife Jennie A. (Bellinger) Caulkins signed facing pages, Charles in 1884 and Jennie in 1883.


Lida had another brother, Burleigh Edwin Caulkins, who died in childhood, before she started collecting autographs.

About 1893, Lida married Stephen A. Moore, who may have been Lida's Adams Collegiate Institute classmate S. A. Moore who stamped his name on a page filled with reminiscences.  Stephen was born about April 1868, the son of Carlton C. Moore and Tryphena (Adsit) Moore.


I didn't find any children for Lida and Stephen.  Stephen died in 1914.  Lida subsequently married widower Charles E. Enos; I don't believe Lida had any children with Charles either.  She died in 1959 and is buried with first husband Stephen A. Moore, her parents and four siblings at Adams Rural Cemetery at Adams, New York.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  Refer to the list below for the names of more family members who inscribed pages in the album.

Surname list

? [2]FJO
BFolsom [3]JenksOwen
BaileyFoxKP
Brown [2]FrenchKenyonPowell
CGLS
Caulkins [7]GreenLeClarSargent
ClarkGreenleyLillieSmith
CornellGrimshawLinnSpain
CroftGrowLymanStedman
EHMStillman
EinneyHitchcock [4]MooreW
Warner
Wilcox

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


  • Cousin Etta, signed at Bayonne City, New Jersey 
  • Miss Addie ? of Lorraine, New York; Lida's schoolmate. Her surname might begin with a K
B
  • Aunt S. A. Bailey, signed in June 1883.  Later note: "Mother's Aunt Sophronia Stillman Bailey, wife of Caleb"
  • Henry M. Brown of Lorraine, New York, signed on July 28, 1883
  • Fred W. Brown of Lorraine, New York, signed on January 31, 1882
C
  • Lida Caulkins of Lorraine, New York; album owner
  • F. M. Caulkins, signed at Lorraine, New York, on April 8, 1883.  Later notes: "Lida's Mother"; "Born March 8, 1833"; Married Nov. 6, 1849.  Died June 5, 1902 on Thursday, aged 69 years & 3 mo"
  • Minnie A. Caulkins, signed at Lorraine, New York, on July 22, 1882  Later note: "Married Dec. 1884"
  • Ella Caulkins, signed on March 31, 1882.  Later notes: "Married Feb. 7, 1883"; "Died 1936 - Jan. 11, aged 83"
  • Ella Caulkins, signed on March 31, 1882.  Later notes: "Married Feb. 7, 1883"; "Died 1936 - Jan. 11, aged 83".  Lida's sister Ella Frances (Caulkins) Brown, future wife of Henry Martin Brown.
  • Charles A. Caulkins of Lorraine, New York, signed on April 5, 1884.  Later note: "Married June 14, 1882; Lida's brother, whose wife Jennie A. (Bellinger) Caulkins signed the right facing page.
  • Jennie A. Caulkins, signed on October 15, 1883; she called herself Lida's sister, but she was Lida's sister-in-law Jennie A. (Bellinger) Caulkins, wife of Lida's brother Charles A. Caulkins, who signed the left facing page.
  • Cora A. Clark, signed at Lorraine, New York
  • Mrs. Ida Cornell, signed at Lorraine, New York, on September 17, 1883.  "Died 1884
  • Lois Baker S. Croft, signed at Lorraine, New York, on August 29, 1882; Lida's grandmother. Later notes: "Born Dec 31, 1807" "Died Nov 25, 1884 aged 77 [struck over 76, or vice versa] 10 months 27 days"
E
  • Nella Einny, signed at Adams Collegiate Institute on November 19, 1885
F
  • Cousin C . F. Folsom of Bayonne, New Jersey, signed on August 28, 1882
  • Anna M. Folsom of Brownville, New York, signed on August 24, 1884
  • Cousin Stephen S. Folsom, signed at Bayonne City, New Jersey
  • Bessie Fox of Talequah, Ohio; entire page filled with reminiscences
  • Entire page filled with reminiscences, possibly by Alice French.  Later note: "Died 1906"
G
  • Grace L.Green, signed at Adams Collegiate Institute on November 18, 1885
  • Nellie Greenley of Worthville, New York, signed at Adams Collegiate Institute on October 23, 1886".  Later note: "Married Aug. 26, 1891"
  • Liva Grimshaw, signed on June 14, 1883.  Later note: "Died Aug 13, 1902, aged 36"
  • Carrie Grow; Carrie L. Grow, who married Horace Dodson Scoville
H
  • Mary Hitchcock; Lida's sister, Mary A. (Caulkins) Hitchcock, wife of Clark R. Hitchcock.  Later notes: "Married Oct. 16, 1870"; "Died May 29, 1907"; "Born 1950" [Writer meant to write 1850]
  • Hattie Hitchcock of Lorraine, New York, signed on January 18, 1883.  Later note: "Married June 1887"
  • S. M. Hitchcock of Lorraine, New York, signed on March 27, 1883
  • Carrie Hitchcock of Lorraine, New York, signed on July 28, 1883.  Later note: "Married"
J
  • Grace E. Jenks of Worthville, New York, signed at Adams Collegiate Institute on November 3, 1886; Lida's schoolmate
K
  • Mattie Kenyon, signed at Adams Collegiate Institute at Adams, New York on Novem ber 19, 1885; also wrote her name backwards as Eittam Noynek
L
  • Rev. P. LeClar, signed on May 4, 1882
  • Carrie Lillie of Lorraine, New York, signed on January 18, 1883.  Later note: "Died April 24, 187[no last digit written]; presumably Carrie E. Lillie, who died April 23, 1887.
  • F.R. Linn, signed on February 19, 1885
  • Carrie L. Lyman of Adams, New York, signed on March 3, 1883 at Adams Collegiate Institute
M
  • Stamped name of S. A. Moore at Adams Collegiate Institute; full page of reminiscences.  Presumably Stephen A. Moore, who would become Lida's husband in 1893.
O
  • Eva M. Owen, signed at Adams, New York, on March 12, 1886; Lida's schoolmate at Adams Collegiate Institute
P
  • Marietta Powell of St. Lawrence Co [not sure as writing is very faint], signed on September 25, 1882
S
  • Lizzie Sargent of Pulaski, New York, signed on November 4, 1882
  • J. A. Smith, signed on November 18, 1882.  Later note: " Died Nov. 24, 1884
  • M. Spain, signed on November 28, 1884 and October 18, 1886; entire page filled with reminiscences
  • J. T. Stedman of St. Lawrence, New York, signed in April 1882
  • Cousin Charles O. Stillman of Bayonne, New Jersey, signed on September 14, 188x
W
  • William R. Warner, Pastor, Baptist Church at Lorraine, New York, signed on April 4, 1883
  • Clara Wilcox, signed at Lorraine, New York, on January 13, 1884
Lorraine, New York, and Adams, New York




6 comments:

  1. Loved seeing this! My husband is a cousin; descended from Lida's aunt.

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  2. Very interesting. My father was a nephew of Steve Moore (born after Steve's death in 1914). Lida was a distant relative on my mother's (Caulkins) side. My older brother remembers visiting Lida once with our parents when she lived in Adams, New York. I recognize many of the names as old Lorraine family names. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to comment and helping to bring this gem to life.

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  3. Hi! I want to thank you for sharing this book and these images. Charles and Jennie (Bellinger) Caulkins are my great-great-grandparents, and I have been researching this part of my family tree for almost a decade now, but I had not encountered much about Lida Lois.

    The Alice French in Lida's book is probably her cousin Alice L. French (born around 1866), the daughter of her mother Fanny Stillman Caulkins' younger sister Mary Eliza (14 Mar 1839—22 Feb 1904), who married Charles French (31 Dec 1829—11 Dec 1905) on 31 Oct 1860. Charles and Mary French lived in South Bend, IN, and are buried in the City Cemetery there, along with Fanny and Mary's youngest brother Edward Baker Stillman and their mother Lois Baker Stillman Croft, who moved to South Bend after the death of her second husband, John Croft, in 1868.

    (By the way, Fanny's mother's maiden name was Baker; Lois Baker's mother was also Lois, and her maiden name was Waters. The two Loises are sometimes confused in the resources I've encountered online. . . .)

    The Folsoms who signed her book are the children of Lovina Stillman, the sister born between Fanny and Mary Eliza. This Lovina married Ezra Folsom in December 1860 and had sons Charles and Stephen, and maybe more children I haven't yet tracked down.

    (A side note—Fanny, Lovina, and Mary Eliza had a brother, Charles O. Stillman, who settled in Bayonne, NJ, and worked for an oil company there; his son Charles Orsin Stillman became president of Standard Oil, the largest Canadian oil company, in the early 1900s.)

    In any case, thank you again for posting this information and these images. You have made my day!

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    1. Thank you so much for this information, Charles! Just think of all of the manuscript items out there, not discovered to their full potential, that might answer so many questions. If there are some inscribers whose pages aren't shown here but that you'd like to see, contact me - contact details under Inquiries in right margin near top.

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