Heirlooms Reunited

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Obituary of James Taylor Dickinson, Class of 1826, in 1885 Yale College Obituary Record

Obituary record of James Taylor Dickinson, Class of 1826, in the June 1885 issue of the Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale College.

After graduation, Dickinson practiced law at Montreal and then decided to enter the ministry. After studying at Andover Theological Seminary and Yale, he became the pastor at the Second church (Congregational) at Norwich, Connecticut. After the death of his first wife, he became a missionary at Singapore, where he stayed until about 1845 when ill health forced him to return home. He married again and lived at Middlefield, Connecticut, where he spent the remainder of his life in study in his library.

If you have corrections to the obituary below, or information to share, please leave a comment for the benefit of other seekers.

The last few pages of this booklet are a Summary of the deceased graduates and an index, all pages of which appear at the end of this post.

Transcript:

James Taylor Dickinson, the eldest child of Horace and Mary Ann (Taylor) Dickinson (both from Western Massachusetts), was born in Lowville, Lewis county, N.Y., October 27, 1806. His parents removed to Canada in 1816, and he entered College from Montreal in 1822.

After graduating he began the study of law in Montreal; but in 1827 he became convinced that he ought to enter the Christian ministry and removed to Andover Theological Seminary; he took the last year of his course (1829-30) in the Yale Divinity School.

He was ordained pastor of the Second (Congregational) church in Norwich, Conn., April 4, 1832, and on the 21st of November following married Mary, daughter of Samuel Hickok, of Burlington, Vt., where he had been preaching for some time and had declined a call to settle. She died in Norwich, April 6, 1834, at the age of 19; and on the 20th of August next, he resigned his pastorate that he might fit himself for the work of a foreign missionary. After one year of preparatory studies in medicine, he embarked in July 1835, for Singapore, in the East Indies, under an appointment from the American Board. Five years passed in the study of the Chinese and Malay languages, and in missionary labor. For four years from 1840 he was employed as a teacher in the Singapore Institution, till the loss of his health obliged him to return home.

In 1845, he settled in Middlefield, Conn., where he married , May 15, Sarah C., daughter of Deacon William Lyman, who survives him. Owing to his shattered health, he lived in seclusion, in the midst of his large and continually replenished library, chiefly occupied in reading and study. He published a few articles in periodicals, and contributed to Appleton's Cyclopedia an account of the Malay language; he also wrote a brief memoir of his brother-in-law, the Rev. George W. Perkins (Y.C. 1824), prefixed to a volume of sermons in 1859. These are the only results in print of his broad culture and accurate scholarship.

He died of paralysis, at his home in Middlefield, July 22, 1884, in his 78th year.

By his last will he added to a fund already established by him for the benefit of the College, which thus amounts to nearly $50,000; about 1500 volumes of his valuable library were also bequeathed to the College.

List of deceased Yale College graduates in this issue

Augustus H. Abernethy, Class of 1864
Adolph Asher, Class of 1872
Robert M. Baker, Class of 1856
T. Jefferson Bassett, Class of 1853
Henry C. Beardslee, Class of 1826
Lewis S. Benedict, Class of 1834
Michael D. Benedict, Class of 1836
Theodore H. Benedict, Class of 1840
Frederick N. Bennett, Class of 1841
James Berdan, Class of 1824
George W. Blagden, Class of 1823
David Booth, Class of 1819
Marius Brandegee, Class of 1843
C. Lewis Brent, Class of 1849
Daniel Chadwick, Class of 1845
Henry Childs, Class of 1846
James H. Clendenin, Class of 1872
George H. Coffey, Class of 1859
Thomas Cowles, Class of 1829
S. Sherwood Day, Class of 1827
Sherman Day, Class of 1826
John DeForest, Class of 1826
James T. Dickinson, Class of 1826
Richard V. Dodge, Class of 1840
George B. Dusinberre, Class of 1855
Aaron R. Dutton, Class of 1837
Barnabas M. Fay, Class of 1833
George W. Fisher, Class of 1859
Samuel A. Fisk, Class of 1844
Samuel H. Fletcher, Class of 1824
Thomas E. Franklin, Class of 1828
William Frazier, Class of 1832
Theodore Gilbert, Class of 1825
George Goodyear, Class of 1824
John M. Gordon, Class of 1830
George M. Hanners, Class of 1823
Winthrop B. Hawks, Class of 1882
Thomas R. Hubbard, Class of 1829
William Hutchison, Class of 1854
Joseph H. Isham, Class of 1865
Thomas H. Jackson, Class of 1850
Barclay Johnson, Class of 1882
Ross Johnston, Class of 1870
Francis E. Kernochan, Class of 1861
Alfred Lambert, Class of 1843
Frank A. Langworthy, Class of 1872
Cortland L. Latimer, Class of 1832
Edward A. Lawrence, Class of 1884
James N. Lea, Class of 1834
Charles A. Lewis, Class of 1829
Allyn C. Loomis, Class of 1883
Oliver E. Lyman, Class of 1876
Darius Mead, Class of 1828
Timothy T. Merwin, Class of 1827
Charles L. Mills, Class of 1835
Hiram Moses, Class of 1825
George C. Murray, Class of 1845
William Norton, Class of 1829
John J. Orton, Class of 1842
Lewis R. Packard, Class of 1856
Francis H. Palmer, Class of 1847
David C. Perry, Class of 1833
Stephen T. Robinson, Class of 1827
Charles M. Runk, Class of 1845
William H. Russell, Class of 1833
Murray C. Shoemaker, Class of 1864
Benjamin Silliman, Class of 1837
Jonathan Silliman, Class of 1817
Elbert J. Smith, Class of 1847
Charles G. Southmayd, Class of 1856
John B. Staples, Class of 1827
Hezekiah Sturges, Class of 1841
Frank H. Taylor, Class of 1878
John L. Taylor, Class of 1835
Chauncey M. Thompson, Class of 1854
Albert Todd, Class of 1836
Charles Tracy, Class of 1832
Alexander C. Twining, Class of 1820
David A. Tyler, Class of 1844
Leonidas C. Vinal, Class of 1880
Jonathan Wales, Class of 1871
Jacob K. Warner, Class of 1850
D. Ellis Willes, Class of 1850
William L. Williamson, Class of 1853
Leonard Withington, Class of 1814
Dexter Witter, Class of 1824
J. Hampden Wood, Class of 1866
Robert W. Wright, Class of 1842
Edward Wurts, Class of 1832

View Larger Map

Obituary of John DeForest, Class of 1826, in 1885 Yale College Obituary Record

Obituary of John DeForest, Class of 1826, in the June 1885 issue of the Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale College.

He was a physician at Watertown, Connecticut for the early part of his adult life, but suffered ill health in 1845 that forced him to give up his practice, and later extreme deafness that cut him off from society. His wife died in 1855 after a protracted illness. They had lost their first child, John Lyman DeForest, in infancy in 1832. And three years after Dr. DeForest's death in 1885, his surviving son, Erastus Lyman DeForest, died, unmarried.

Such a grim obituary - I hope there were some rays of sunshine in their lives.

Despite these challenges, Dr. DeForest was a philanthropist and a donor to the medical department at Yale. He endowed the DeForest Mathematics Prize at Yale upon the graduation of his son there with a degree in mathematics in 1854.

The last few pages of this booklet are a Summary of the deceased graduates and an index, all pages of which appear at the end of this post.

Transcript:

John DeForest, the eldest child of Benjamin and Alma (Southmayd) DeForest, was born in Watertown, Conn., March 31, 1806. After graduating, he studied medicine with Dr. Samuel W. Gold, of Goshen, Conn., for three years, and meantime attended two courses of lectures in the Medical Institution of Yale College, where he received the degree of M.D. in 1829. He practiced his profession for about a year with Dr. Gold, and then availed himself of a favorable opening in his native town, where he continued in practice until 1845, when in consequence of ill health he was obliged to relinquish his profession. For the rest of his life he was not engaged in any active business, and for many years before his death he was cut off from society of his friends by extreme deafness. During his long residence in Watertown, he distributed his large wealth freely and wisely for the furtherance off objects of benevolence and public utility. He was the founder of the Senior Mathematical Prizes in this College, and a generous donor, especially to the medical department.

He died of heart disease, in Watertown, March 11, 1885, at the age of 79.

He married, May 16, 1831, Lucy S., eldest daughter of Erastus Lyman, of Goshen, who died August 3, 1855, after twenty-one years of protracted suffering. Their elder son died in infancy; the younger (Y.C. 1854) survives them.

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

John DeForest was born 31 March 1806 at Watertown, Connecticut, or at Litchfield, Connecticut, the son of Benjamin DeForest III and Alma (Southmayd) DeForest.

On 17 May 1831, Dr. John DeForest married Lucy Starr Lyman, daughter of Erastus and Abigail (Starr) Lyman. Their children, mentioned above, were John Lyman DeForest, who died in infancy in 1832, and Erastus Lyman DeForest, born 27 June 1834.

Lucy Starr (Lyman) DeForest died in 1855, Dr. John DeForest in 1885, and Erastus in 1888.

If you have corrections and/or information to share, please leave a comment for the benefit of other seekers.

View Larger Map

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Note dated 1804 at Windham, Maine, from Edmund Pray to William Hanson; witness Robert Plumer

Note dated October 1804 at Windham, Maine, written by Edmund Pray [or Edmond Pray] to William Hanson, and witnessed by Robert Plumer [Plummer].

The handwritten names were not the easiest to decipher, but crowdsourcing input from around the globe was a definite help.

Transcript:

Windham, October 1st 1804
For Value Received I Promise to pay to William Hanson Sixteen Dollars Ninety three cents on Demand with Interest as witness my Hand. Edmund Pray
Attest: Robert Plumer

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

There was a William Hanson, born 18 January 1762, who died at Windham, Maine, on 29 October 1814. He and his wife Matilda (Elder) had, I think, eleven children.

Edmund Pray was mentioned in an 1808 Act to create a Methodist Society in Gray and Windham:

There's a Maine Death Record for an Edmund Pray who was born about 1774 and died at age 82 on 31 May 1856, but the record doesn't list the place of death. He may have been the son of Joshua and Sarah (Roberts) Pray. I found several early 1800s marriage records for an Edmund/Edmond Pray, which might have referred to successive marriages of the same Edmund Pray or to different Edmund Prays.

Robert Plumer or Robert Plummer may be the Robert Plumer/Plummer born 3 June 1762 at Cape Elizabeth, son of Daniel and Joanna Plummer. He married Ruth Hatch at South Portland, Maine, on 26 November 1788 and they lived at Windham, Maine. There's a Robert Plumer/Plummer listed in the 1810 Census of Windham, Maine.

If you have information on William Hanson, Robert Plumer and/or Edmund Pray, please leave a comment or contact me directly. Thanks!

View Larger Map

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

c1900 Entry List for the Ossipee Valley Union Agricultural Association, Cornish, Maine

Official List of Entries of the Ossipee Valley Union Agricultural Association, Cornish, Maine, from the year 1900, if I'm reading the handwritten notation correctly.

The entries consisted of horses from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. All races were open to trotters and pacers.

The list is approximately 12-1/4" x 4-1/2". The Ossipee Valley Union Agricultural Association is now known as the Ossipee Valley Agricultural Society.

There's another handwritten notation that is possibly "We had a ? shower", but I'd like to hear your interpretation.

This list was found in an archive of papers that belonged to Loring Dunnells of Cornish, Maine, a Civil War veteran and farmer, who was born at Shapleigh, Maine, on 15 August 1838, son of David and Mary (Brown) Dunnells. The archive consists of many receipts, pension forms, a deed and such. Another post features what looks to be Loring's invitation to the 1864 Washington's Birth Day Ball at Limerick, Maine, with music by the Ira C. Seavey Full Quadrille Band.

Loring Dunnells' first wife was Almira B. Weeks, daughter of Samuel and Susan (Eastman) Weeks. They were married on 26 June 1865. I don't believe they had any children, at least living children, before Almira died on 17 March 1872.

Loring next married Nellie Flora Storer, daughter of George and Caroline (Warren) Storer. Loring and Nellie had at least three, possibly four children. Loring died in 1922 and Nellie in 1936.

If you have corrections to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly. Thanks!

Names on the page above: [some appear multiple times]
N. J. Foss, Cornish, Maine
George W. Carter, Biddeford, Maine
H. J. Holland, Somerville, Massachusetts
Irvin C. Warren, North Sebago, Maine
G. G. Runnells, South Waterboro, Maine
F. Durgin, South Waterboro, Maine
A. H. Jack, East Denmark, Maine
T. M. Douglass, Newhall [Windham], Maine
George Huntoon, Portland, Maine
F. B. Fogg, South Paris, Maine
H. Blake, Sanford, Maine
I. W. Rowe, Portland, Maine
Ira P. Woodbury, Portland, Maine
E. A. Randall, Portland, Maine
Charles Deering, Saco, Maine
W. H. Johnson, North Conway, New Hampshire
C. N. Trefethen, Portland, Maine
C. A. Studley, South Portland, Maine
J. P. Davidson, Center Conway, New Hampshire
O. W. Ramsey, Rochester, New Hampshire
W. A. Smith, Freedom, New Hampshire
C. H. Tibbetts, Sanford, Maine
John Skillings, Westbrook, Maine
H. Loren Merrill, Secretary

If you have information on H. Loren Merrill, or any of the owners or horses mentioned above, please leave a comment. Thanks!

View Larger Map

Thanks for stopping by!

1837 Pamphlet "Articles of Faith & Form of Covenant", Churches of Oxford Conference, Oxford County, Maine; Owner's Name: S. Carsley or L. Carsley

1837 pamphlet entitled "Articles of Faith and Form of Covenant Adopted by the Churches of Oxford Conference".

The pamphlet, which measures approximately 7" by 4-1/2" and contains 23 numbered pages, was printed by W. E. Goodnow of Norway, Maine.

The cover bears the handwriting of the owner: either S. Carsley or L. Carsley, of 233 Washington Street, Boston, dated 1850.

If S. Carsley, the owner might have been the Seth Carsley (1782-1874) who lived in towns in Cumberland County and Oxford County, Maine, and who was involved in the religious community as a Deacon. But did he live in Boston in 1850?

If L. Carsley, the owner may well have been Leonard Carsley (1832-1853), son of Benjamin Kimball Carsley (1810-1849) and Roxana (Ingalls) Carsley (1813-1895). Sadly, Leonard, who was working as a clerk in Boston at the time of the 1850 Census, died there of typhoid fever in 1853. It's likely that he was helping to support his widowed mother and younger brother Albion Carsley (1840-1929); Leonard's death must have been a further terrible blow, after the death of his father in 1849.

Benjamin Kimball Carsley had left his family, farm and hotel at North Bridgton in late February 1849, to travel overland to California, presumably to mine for gold or to use his farming and hotel keeping skills. Sadly, he died along the way that May in Independence, Missouri. This information appears on pages 108 and 109 in The Genealogy and History of the Ingalls family in America, giving the Descendants of Edmund Ingalls, by Charles Burleigh, M.D., published in 1903.

It's possible that the Charles Frost who served as Clerk of the Oxford Conference was Rev. Charles Frost (1796-1850), pastor of the First Congregational Church of Bethel, Maine. Other names mentioned include Brother Walker and Brother Soule.

If you have a theory as to the identity of S. Carsley or L. Carsley, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Click on any image below to enlarge it.

Oxford County, Maine [Note: in 1837 Oxford County was larger than what the current boundaries show. It lost towns to Franklin County in 1838 and to Androscoggin County in 1854 and gained the town of Otisfield in 1978.]

View Larger Map

Monday, July 22, 2013

Calling Card of Mr. Ira O. Wade with a handwritten address in Paris

Note: Please scroll down to the comments section to see a reader's comment that this was indeed the calling card of the Professor Ira O. Wade described below.

Vintage calling card of Mr. Ira O. Wade, who appears to have been living, at least temporarily, at 21 bis, rue d'Alesia, Paris, in what I assume was the 6th arrondisement.

The 1930 Census of Princeton, New Jersey, shows an Ira O. Wade and wife Mabel. His occupation was listed as teacher at a university. He was Dr. Ira Owen Wade, a member of the Foreign Languages Department, an authority on Voltaire and the founder of Princeton's Program in European Civilization. Mabel Wade was the former Mabel Harrington, I believe.

More information about Ira Owen Wade's life and career is available here on the Find-a-Grave site.

It seems very plausible that the card belonged to this Ira O. Wade, before he attained his doctorate in 1924, and that he was on sabbatical at Paris, where he was researching one of his works or teaching.

If you have more information on Dr. Ira Owen Wade or believe that this card belonged to another Ira O. Wade, please leave a comment or contact me directly. Thanks!

Sixth Arrondisement

View Larger Map

Sunday, July 21, 2013

1915 Obituaries of William Josiah Dabney Cawthon of Florala, Alabama

Two obituaries found in a Bible that originally belonged to Josiah Hutchison, father-in-law of the subject of the obituaries, William Josiah Dabney Cawthon, who was the widower of Louisa (Hutchison) Cawthon.

Sadly, the Bible either never contained Family Record pages, or they were removed at some point. The only evidence that this was Josiah Hutchison's Bible is on the inside front cover, with the added corroboration of the clippings.

Notice in the obituaries below that Hutchinson is also spelled as Huchison and Huchinson.

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

William Josiah Dabney Cawthon was born 20 June 1829, the son of William Thomas Cawthon and his second wife Elizabeth (O'Neal) Cawthon. One obituary has him born in Henry County, Alabama; the other, near Dothan, in Houston County, Alabama. Perhaps the county boundaries had changed.

In 1850, according to one of the obituaries, William J. D. Cawthon, "Uncle Bully", married Louisa Hutchison, daughter of Josiah Hutchison and Lorena Ann (Mills) Cawthon, though some online family trees give Louisa's mother as another of Josiah's wives.

Obituary 1

Transcript:

Obituary
Mr. W. J. D. Cawthon, long and familiarly known as Uncle Bullie Cawthon, passed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. N. Bowers of Florala, Ala., on September 4, 1915. He was born in Henry County, Ala., June 20, 1829, and at the time of his death he had passed his 86th year. When he was only six years of age, he moved with his father into the community now known as Florala, where he resided the remainder of his life, a period of about 80 years.

In 1850 Mr. Cawthon was married to Miss Louisa Huchison, with whom he lived happily for many years. Twelve children were born to them, seven of whom survive; viz: Messrs. William J., L. Huchinson, James Ballou, A. Corbin, Mrs. N. Bowers, Mrs. I. P. Alred, and Miss Missouria Cawthon.

In 1862 Bro. Cawthon was made a Master Mason in Geneva Lodge, Geneva County, Ala. In 1872 he became affiliated with Chapel Hill Lodge where he held the position of Senior Deacon. Later on he held the position of Worshipful Master of Lake City Lodge, No. 337. From the above date, it will be seen that brother Cawthon was one of the oldest Masons in this region of country. He loved the Order, and he evinced that love by giving generously in its behalf. In fact few men in South Alabama, or anywhere else as to that matter, have done so much for the fraternity as our departed friend. In large measure, he lived the principles enunciated by Masonry. There are many of the poor and needy who can testify to this fact. For a long period of his life, his resources were ample. He could have been a wealthy man, but he preferred that which is better, to give to the many in need.

Brother Cawthon was brought up a Universalist, his father being a Universalist before him. He was devoted to this Faith, and throughout his long life zealously defended it and generously supported it. During his last illness, when he saw the inevitable approach of that which we call death, he experienced no anxious fears nor doubts. He passed away as he had lived, in the consciousness that a loving God ruled over all:
"That no one life shall be destroyed
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God has made the pile complete."

It is probable that brother Cawthon was one of the first prohibitionists in North Florida. His father before him stood for temperance and sobriety, and with few exceptions the descendants of this honored sire have lived and labored for the abolition of strong drink. And their efforts have not been in vain as is evident from the rising tide of total abstinence sentiment in Walton and adjoining counties.

During his rather long period of confinement to his room, our friend exhibited the greatest degree of patience and fortitude. Not even once did he complain. He had lived in accordance with the laws of nature, he had grown to a good old age; and, like ripened fruit at the approach of wintry winds, he relaxed his feeble grasp on mortality that he might share the company of those gone on before, and that death might be swallowed up in victory.

To his dear family and friends we would say: "There is no cause for grief nor sorrow; he lived his allotted days. Emulate his virtues, for they were many. Cherish his memory."

The funeral service was conducted in the Universalist church at DeFuniak Springs, his pastor, Rev. Thomas Chapman giving the address. Members of the different church choirs of the town assisted in the service of song. The burial service was conducted by the Masonic fraternity, brother Williams of Natural Bridge officiating as Worshipful Master.
Thomas Chapman

Obituary 2

Transcript

Col. Cawthon Dead.

It is with a poignant sense of personal loss that the Herald this week records the death of Colonel W. J. D. Cawthon, or "Uncle Bullie", as we who had known him and loved him so long, loved to call him.

Col. Cawthon was born 86 years ago, near Dothan, in what is now Houston county, Alabama. In his early youth, he moved to McDade's Pond (Florala), since which time Col. Cawthon has been a prominent figure in the development of West Florida. When the war-whoop of the savage Indian, the howl of the wolf and scarcely less frequent if more dolorous "hoo-hoo" of the owl were the sole evidences of animated life in western Florida, with, perhaps, the hoarse bellow of a "bull gator" in some distant pond as his one and only musical accompaniment, young Cawthon built his home.

Those were fearful days, and we of this day and generation are indebted to the accurate memory of Col. Cawthon and a few other of his day and generation for some facts that should give Florida a history peculiarly its own.

During the last few years of Col. Cawthon's life it was his custom to visit relatives in DeFuniak occasionally. On these occasions he would always visit The Herald. His visits were always spicy and entertaining. Col. Cawthon, in the course of a conversation with The Herald man once remarked that he could not improve on Davie Crockett's famous slogan:

"Be SURE your'e right [sic]
"Then go ahead."
The capital letters are ours. We use them merely to emphasise [sic] the Colonel's pronunciation.

In the death of Col. Cawthon The Herald loses a valued friend and one of its most charitable critics.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly. Thanks! I'd be interested in knowing the source of his honorific "Colonel".

View Larger Map