Saturday, February 14, 2015

1855-1861 Autograph Album/Journal of Emily Buckland Kingsbury of Mount Holly, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


1855-1861 autograph album/journal that belonged to Emily Buckland Kingsbury of Mount Holly, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Emily dated her album May 28, 1855 on the first end paper, which is still attached to the front cover.  She was a student at Chisman Hall, founded by Thomas Chisman and also known as Mount Holly Female Seminary and Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.

See a painting of Emily as a young girl here.


The album measures approximately 7-3/4" x 6-1/4 and contains the sentiments of Emily's relatives, friends and schoolmates, perhaps as many of 70-some of them.   The covers have separated from the interior, and some of the bound groups that make up the interior have separated from each other.  There's no title page, if there ever was one; it may have been lost, as well as perhaps one or more pages at the front.

It's difficult to determine the number of actual inscribers because many of the pages contain poetry that Emily appears to have copied and attributed to the author or to Anonymous.  The problem is that she may have been reciting from memory as many times I was not able to find poems of that exact wording attributed to a poet of that name.  In other cases, yes, it appears that the name on the page was that of the author and likely not an inscriber.  In one case, that of poet and composer Rev. George Washington Doane, whose name appears on several pages, he was the Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey and may actually have signed a page that had one of his works on it.


An alphabetical surname list and an alphabetical list of the signers, together with any personal information they offered, appear at the end of this post.  If you notice that one of the names on the list is more likely an author than an inscriber, please let me know.

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

One online reference has Emily Buckland Kingsbury born on 5 August 1843, at Haddonfield, New Jersey.  Her parents were dentist Charles Andrew Kingsbury and his first wife Hannah Sinclair (Bills) Kingsbury, who died in 1851.  Emily had five siblings, two of whom  died in infancy.  The others, sister Mary Sinclair Kingsbury and brothers Charles Andrew Kingsbury and Howard Kingsbury, inscribed a group page in the album, along with a few others, including Emily herself.


Three of Emily's friends inscribed a page and gave their home addresses; they may have been Emily's fellow students at Chisman Hall.  They were:
  • Miss Sarah Bellows of Lancaster, New Hampshire
  • Miss Mary E. Fleming, care of Charles Fleming, Esq., of Mount Holly, New Jersey
  • Miss Delight A. Burton, care of A. Burton, Esq., of Mount Holly, New Jersey.

Among the students who mentioned Chisman Hall by name was Susie C. Allibone, who inscribed a page on June 27, 1855.  Hallie Wescott also inscribed the page.


One of my favorite pages in the album consists of a list of "gentlemen" who visited Emily while she was at Georgetown.  She noted that her favorite was named at the top of the list.


Thomas Hyde
John Barber  
Mayhew Plater

  Willie Gardon

 Frank Dodge

  John McGruder

 Dr. Peter
  Oseola Green
 David Sherman
 Ned Offley
 Frank Rittenhouse 
 Henry Robinson


Interestingly, the man that Emily first married, Thomas Harvey Rowland, Jr., was not one of the men to visit her at Georgetown.  But Emily was married for the second time in 1910 to Benjamin Franklin Rittenhouse, who might be the Frank Rittenhouse listed above.

Emily married Thomas Harvey Rowland, Jr., "Harry", on April 11, 1866 in Pennsylvania.  He was the son of Thomas Harvey Rowland and Mary (McMullen) Rowland.  He and Emily lived at Philadelphia, where Harry was a coal merchant.  I didn't find any children for them.  

Harry died in 1906, and, as mentioned above, Emily married widower Benjamin Franklin Rittenhouse [more here] on February 5, 1910 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The son of Benjamin Franklin Rittenhouse and Henrietta Waring (Davidson) Rittenhouse, he was previously married to Elizabeth (Shapter) Rittenhouse, who died in 1904.   

Emily died in 1931; her second husband had predeceased her in 1915.  If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Emily practiced her penmanship on several pages, including this one, that shows the subtle difference between capital I and capital J.


Surnames in the Album      [hopefully with no authors accidentally included and hopefully with no inscribers left out because I thought they were authors]

? [15]CGLS
ACarpenter [3]GarlandL ?S ?
A ?ClarkGreenLamar ?Slack
AliboneClevengerHLewisSmall [4]
AlliboneCorbinH ? [4]LindsaySmith
AmesDHoleman [2]LinnSpencer
AtkinsonDoaneK
Stewart
BDunlopK ? [2]RT
B ?EKemptonRusseauT ?
BarnettE ?Kent [2]Thomas
BellowsFKingsbury [4]W
BillsFisherWescott
Burton [4]FlemingWestbrook [2]

Signers in the Album
  • Sue
  • Lizzie
  • Annie, signed at ? Vermont. Perhaps Guildhall but misspelled, if so.
  • Unsigned; inscribed to Emily
  • Unsigned; inscribed to Emily.
  • Sue
  • Lillie, signed at Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman and also known as Mount Holly Female Seminary and Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.  She signed the facing page as well.
  • Sentiment at top signed by B. Rest of page consists of practice of capital letters up to J
  • Mary, signed at Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman and also known as Mount Holly Female Seminary and Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.
  • Cellie
  • Mary, signed at Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman and also known as Mount Holly Female Seminary and Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.
  • Lizzie
  • Ella;  she signed the facing page as well.
  • Rupert, either an inscriber with the given name Rupert or the author of the poem, whose given or surname could be Rupert.
  • Page signed by Emily, either another Emily, perhaps Emily S. Fisher, or the album owner Emily
  • Hallie, signed on June 25, 1855
A
  • Lillie A.
  • Susie C. Alibone, signed at Pemberton, New Jersey. On another page, she spelled her surname as Allibone. Presumably the daughter of William and Elizabeth Allibone.
  • Susie C. Allibone of Pemberton, New Jersey. Presumably the daughter of William and Elizabeth Allibone.  She signed two other pages as well.
  • Miss Harriette M. Ames, Care Stephen Ames, Esq., of Lancaster, New Hampshire.  Shared the page with Mary E. Fleming; Delight A. Burton and Julia Spencer.  She inscribed another group page as well.
  • Mary Atkinson; on a group page
B
  • P. B? of Boston, or signed there, on June 25, 1855
  • Lizzie G. Barnett
  • Miss Sarah Bellows of Lancaster, New Hampshire.  Shared the page with Miss Mary E. Fleming; and Miss Delight A. Burton
  • Aunt Sophia Bills of, or signed at, Detroit, Michigan
  • Delight A. Burton
  • Emily Burton; her name appears on more than one page.
  • Miss Delight A. Burton, care of A. Burton, Esq. of Mount Holly, New Jersey; she also inscribed another page or two.  Shared the page with Miss Sarah Bellows; and Miss Mary E. Fleming.
  • Emma Burton; on a group page
C
  • Miss Sallie Carpenter; her name most likely written by Emily on a page of penmanship practice, rather than by Sallie herself.
  • Miss Mary Carpenter; her name most likely written by Emily on a page of penmanship practice, rather than by Mary herself.
  • Ned Carpenter; his name most likely written by Emily on a page of penmanship practice, rather than by Ned himself.
  • Annie M. Clark, signed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 25, 1855; also signed the facing page.
  • Annie Clevenger; shared the page with Mary Kingsbury and Charlie Westbrook.  Emily's name also appears on the page, as well as that of Horatio N. Small, perhaps written by Emily rather than Horatio.
  • Royal Corbin; either an inscriber of the author of the poem "The Breeze"
D
  • George W. Doane; presumably George Washington Doane, Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey and composer of poems and hymns. I don't know if he was an inscriber or if someone else, presumably Emily, copied his poem on the page.  Other pages contained poems by Doane.
  • Hattie Dunlop of ?, Delaware. Possibly Smyrna, but, if so, the "y" and "m" are transposed.
E
  • B. K. E., signed on June 27, 1855 at Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman and also known as the Mount Holly Female Seminary and Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.
F
  • Emilie S. Fisher; on a page with the album owner's name, spelled as Emilie B. Kingsbury.
  • Miss Mary E. Fleming, care Charles Fleming, Esq. of Mount Holly, New Jersey - she wrote this information twice on the page and also inscribed other pages, one of which, a 2-page sentiment.  Shared the page with Miss Sarah Bellows; and Miss Delight A. Burton
G
  • Bell Garland; shared a page with Mary E. Fleming; Delight A. Burton; and Harriette M. Ames
  • S. L. Green
H
  • Lizzie H.
  • Susie H.
  • Nellie H.
  • Hattie Hebbins [not sure of surname]; on a group page
  • Richard P. Holeman; on two group pages
  • Mrs. E. Holeman; on a group page
K
  • B. E. K., signed on June 27, 1855 at Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman and also known as Mount Holly Female Seminary and Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.
  • Ray K., or Roy K., possibly the Ray Kempton or Roy Kempton who inscribed another page.
  • Roy Kempton, or Ray Kempton; possibly the Ray K. who inscribed another page.
  • Mrs. D. Kent; on a group page
  • Ned Kent; on a group page
  • Emily Buckland Kingsbury, dated May 28, 1855; album owner
  • Mary Kingsbury; shared the page with Charlie Westbrook; and Annie Clevenger.  Emily's name also appears on the page, as well as that of Horatio N. Small, perhaps written by Emily rather than Horatio.  Mary's name appears on other pages as well.
  • Charlie Kingsbury; his name most likely written by his sister Emily on a page of penmanship practice, rather than by Charlie himself.
  • Howard Kingsbury; his name most likely written by his sister Emily on a page of penmanship practice, rather than by Howard himself.
L
  • N. Laurer; not sure of surname. Signed at Chisman Hall on June 26, 1855. Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman, was also known as the Mount Holly Female Seminary and the Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.
  • N. Lamar
  • Sallie Lewis or Sallie Levis
  • Emma Lindsay; on a group page
  • Cora Linn; either an inscriber or the author of the poem "Farewell"; November 1, 1861
R
  • Marie Russeau; either an inscriber or the author of the poem on the page.
S
  • Sallie S.
  • Mary Slack, signed on June 27, 1855
  • Horatio N. Small; his name appears on a page shared by Emily; Mary Kingsbury; Charlie Westbrook; and Annie Clevenger; and on other pages.
  • A. Small of Guildhall, Vermont, in Coos County.
  • Abbie Small; shared the page with Roy Kempton, or Ray Kempton
  • John Small; on a group page
  • Josephine Smith of Mount Holly, signed on June 25, 1855 at Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman and also known as Mount Holly Female Seminary and Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.
  • Miss Julia Spencer of Elizabeth City, New Jersey.  Shared the page with Mary E. Fleming; Delight A. Burton and Harriette M. Ames
  • Facing pages sentiment by Miss Lina E. Stewart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
T
  • Fannie T., signed on June 25, 1855 at Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman and also known as Mount Holly Female Seminary or Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.
  • Fanny Thomas, signed on June 29, 1855 at Chisman Hall, named for founder Thomas Chisman and also known as Mount Holly Female Seminary and Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies.
W
  • Hallie Wescott; shared the page with Susie C. Allibone.
  • Charlie Westbrook; shared the page with Charlie Westbrook and Annie Clevenger.  Emily's name also appears on the page, as well as that of Horatio N. Small, perhaps written by Emily rather than Horatio.
  • Miss Carrie Westbrook; on a group page
Mount Holly, New Jersey; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Thanks for stopping by!


1 comment:

  1. Hi, Your blog came up when I did a google search for Oseola Green. He was the brother of Alice Green, who grew up at Rosedale in Washington DC and married a Mexican diplomat, Angel de Iturbide. I wrote a novel based on the true story of their involvement with Maximilian von Habsburg, THE LAST PRINCE OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE (Unbridled Books, 2009). Though that was published a while ago, I still keep an eye out for anything to do with the Green family. In case you're curious, there is more about Rosedale here http://www.cmmayo.com/last-prince-photos-rosedale.html

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