Bessie Tait, Oxford, Amherst, Nova Scotia, Circa 1891-1893

This is another photograph from the Mary Harrison Photo Album that I've mentioned in previous posts. This one was labelled, "Bessie Tait, Oxford."  Further into the album there is a strikingly similar image of a woman in the same dress.  It's inscribed, "Mary Tait."  At first I thought they were the same person, but there are slight variations in features.  As well, Mary seems to be a few years older. But they could almost pass as twins! 

Bessie Viola Tait was born on the 24th of January 1873 in Oxford, Cumberland Co., Nova Scotia, to Dixon Tait and Bertha Gilroy Tait¹.  Bessie's sister, Mary, was three years older².

On November 21st, 1894 Bessie married James S. Van Buskirk³.  James was a shoemaker and the family lived in Oxford until at least 1911⁴.

I believe this image of Bessie was taken in the early 1890s, and probably before 1894.  The standing puff sleeves and high collar on her dress were popular at that time. Bessie passed away of heart problems at the age of 77 years in Oxford on the 19th of February 1950⁵.

---

1 "Canada, Births and Baptisms, 1661-1959," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F247-RFX : accessed 10 Oct 2012), Bessie Viola Tait, 24 Jan 1873; citing reference item 1 p 186, FHL microfilm 1298667.^↩
2 "Canada Census, 1881," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MVXQ-FCF : accessed 10 Oct 2012), Bessie Tait in household of Dixon Tait, River Philip, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada.^↩
3 "Canada, Marriages, 1661-1949," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F2L3-CYV : accessed 10 Oct 2012), James S. Vanbuskirk and Bessie V. Tait, 21 Nov 1894; citing reference P128 CN181, FHL microfilm 1298866.^↩
4 1911 census of Canada, Oxford, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, population schedule, district #42, enumeration district (ED) 17, subdistrict # 17, p.1 (penned), dwelling 1, family 1, J. Sydney Van Buskirk family, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed Oct 10, 2012), citing microfilm LAC microfilm T-20326 to T-20460.^↩
5 Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics, digital image, (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1950-1865&Event=death&ID=341870; accessed 10 Oct 2012), Deaths, Bessie Viola Van Buskirk, Year: 1950 - Book: 1950 - Page: 1865.^↩

Wilbur Fisk Gile, 1832 - 1888, Lawrence, Massachusetts

It's been a while, but you may remember the posts I wrote regarding the Mary E. Harrison photo album I found a few years ago. Mary was born in Maccan, Nova Scotia and moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1886, she was given the album as a Christmas present from Mr. W. F. Gile, of Lawrence, and accordingly, Mary saved the first page of her new album for Mr. Gile. The image appears above.

I did a little digging into the life of Mr. Wilbur Fisk Gile, and was pleased to see that a record of his life appears in a number of places.  According to his Mason Membership card, he was born on the 4th of January 1832 in Groveland, Massachusetts. The card also provided a death date of 5 February 1888, which matches the inscription in Mary's photograph album¹. His occupation is listed as Attorney and Teacher. With that information, I easily found his birth information on Familysearch.org, which provided the names of his parents:  Thomas W. and Judith Gile².

A plain old Google search turned up a book entry for  Wilbur's second wife Sarah France Norris. They were married in 1867³. The book entry confirmed much of the information I have already found. It also provided two little words, which made me sigh just a little: "No Children."⁴ It would seem Mr. Gile did not leave any descendants, or at least Sarah, did not.  I searched out his first marriage, and found that he married S. Kate Poor on September 17, 1857⁵. There does not appear to be any children from that marriage in the 1860 census⁶. Nor did I find children in any of the subsequent censuses in which Mr. Gile appears.

The gift Mr. Gile so generously gave Mary still exists, and hopefully, someday it can be reunited with one of her family members.

---

1 Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Mason Membership Cards, 1733-1990; entry for Wilbur Fiske Gile [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. ^↩
2 Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCKS-HLM : accessed 5 February 2016), Wilbur Fiske Gile, 04 Jan 1832; citing BRADFORD,ESSEX,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0599732 IT 1.^↩
3 Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4NF-9YH : accessed 5 February 2016), W. Fisk Gile and S. Frank Norris, 20 Jun 1867; citing 205, Lawrence, Essex, Massachusetts, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,433,025.^↩
4 Morrison, Leonard Allison. "Lineage and Biographies of the Norris Families in America," Damrell and Upham: Boston, 1892, p.93 ^↩
5 "Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NW19-81W : accessed 5 February 2016), W Fisk Gile and S Kate Poor, 17 Sep 1857; citing 227, Lawrence, Massachusetts, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,433,015^↩
6 Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line].Year: 1860; Census Place: Lawrence Ward 6, Essex, Massachusetts; Roll: M653_498; Page: 441; Image: 446; Family History Library Film: 803498^↩

---

Another Photo from Mary Harrison's Album: Maggie & Hannah Hinchcliffe, ca. 1877-1884

This tintype is labelled "Maggie & Hannah Hinchcliffe."  It does not carry a photographer's name or location on it.  It's from the Mary Harrison album I have previously blogged about.  Mary lived in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia; Lawrence, Massachusetts and and Portsmouth, New Hampshire and most of the photos in the album originate from one of those three places.

I had no luck with finding two sisters named Maggie & Hannah Hinchcliffe in the censuses for the above three locations.  I found a few sister combinations with these names, but the photograph doesn't specifically say that the girls are sisters.  They could be cousins.  I'm afraid I'd only be guessing if I tried to connect these girls with any of the individuals I found.

Dating this image may help us narrow things down, though.  The girls are both wearing dresses that are trimmed with bands of plaid.  The girl on the left is wearing striped stockings which were popular for young girls at the end of the 1870s.  The long, fitted tunic on the standing girl's dress is similar to the fitted jacket bodice that was also popular at the end of that decade.    She is also wearing a fairly wide crocheted collar, which was a style for children at the end of the 1870s, well into the 1880s.  I would date this image to somewhere between 1877 to 1884.

If you have any ideas that might help limit our search, I'd be very happy to hear from you.

From the Mary Harrison Photo Album: Sarah McCallin, Nova Scotia or New Hampshire, 1870s

This tintype image comes from the Mary Harrison Photo Album (see earlier blog post) I purchased last December at a Vancouver Island antique shop.  Mary grew up in Maccan, Cumberland, Nova Scotia and later lived in Lawrence, Mass.  This image, labelled "Sarah McCallin" on the album page as well as on the back of the tintype, was found with three other McCallin photos in the same album.  The first two are carte de visite photos of labelled "Mr. McCallin" and "Mrs. McCallin" respectively; both are elderly.  The third is labelled, "Eunice McCallin," and is also a tintype.

I located a Sarah McCallin, who had a sister named Eunice in the 1871 Canada Census.  The census taker recorded the surname as "McCallim."  The family lived in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, quite near to where Mary Harrison grew up, which might explain how Mary knew the McCallins.  Sarah was the third daughter of John and Mary McCallin.  John was born in New Brunswick and was of Irish descent; Mary was born in Nova Scotia, of German descent.  The other children in the household were Eunice, 21; Clara, 16; William, 12; Elvira, 10; Kate, 7; and Maretta, 5.  Sarah was fourteen years old¹.  All of the children were born in Nova Scotia.

At only 28 years of age, Sarah McCallin died on the 20th November 1885 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire².

It's possible that the older couple in the two other photographs, which I would date to somewhere around 1875-1880, are Sarah's parents, but perhaps more likely, her grandparents.  Eunice McCallin is Sarah's sister.  I also suspect that another picture in the album, marked, "Mrs. Charles Haley" is another of Sarah's sisters, Elvira McCallin³, and that the "Mrs. Tozer," also featured in the album, is Sarah's youngest sister, Maretta⁴.  While I didn't locate Elvira and Maretta's marriage records, I did locate their children's marriage records in the New Hampshire Marriage database, which shows their mother's maiden names, in addition to the names of their fathers.

So when was this image taken?  Tintypes throw me off just a little bit because we can't assess the physical aspects of the photograph like we would a carte de visite, nor do we have a photographer's imprint to work from.  The tintype does give us one slight clue.  Those produced before 1870 generally had black backs, those after, were mostly brown.  This one is brown.

For other clues, we have to look at the image itself.  While we can't see Sarah's skirt, we can see that the waist is pulled in quite tightly.  This, along with her collar, accompanied by a white silk bow, and slightly dropped shoulder, seem to fit into the mid-1870s.  I'm inclined to guess a slighter earlier date of 1873-75, though, because of the hairstyle, which is similar to a style popular with younger girls in the late 1860s up until about 1873, where long hair is pulled back from the front with a hair comb and is left to fall into loose ringlets at the back.  This loose hairstyle could be an indication of Sarah's age at the time the photo was taken.  Victorian women generally did not wear their hair down in public, but a younger, unmarried girl would.

If you have an insights to add, please leave a comment.

---

1 1871 census of Canada, River Philip, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, population schedule, District: 198 Cumberland, subdistrict G, River Philip, Family #68, p.23 (penned), John McCallim [McCallin] family, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed July 1, 2012), citing LAC microfilm Roll: C-10556^↩
2 "New Hampshire, Death Records, 1654-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FS2L-M6T : accessed 07 Aug 2012), Sarah M Mccallin, 20 Nov 1885.^↩
3 "New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLH9-J76 : accessed 07 Aug 2012), Elvira Mccallin in entry for Wilbur James Haley and Annie May Pearson and null, 1906.^↩
4 "New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLZ2-1PJ : accessed 07 Aug 2012), Maretta Mccallin in entry for Granville Tozer and Annie M. Wiggin and null, 1909.^↩

Miss Amy E. Creaser, From Yorkshire, England to Lawrence, MA, Circa 1880s

I had a little bit of an advantage with this photograph.  It's clearly labelled, "Amy Creaser" and although it was taken in Boston at the Towne Studio, I know that Amy lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts.  Once again, it's a case of provenance.  It was discovered with a collection of portraits from Lawrence, Mass and Nova Scotia that once belonged to Mary Harrison of Maccan, Nova Scotia.  Mary lived in Lawrence during the 1880s.  In addition to Amy's carte de visite portrait, there were also photographs of George, Annie, and Joe Creaser, taken in Lawrence.

So, who was Amy?  Well, I started by searching around Lawrence.  In the Massachusetts Town Vitals Collection, 1620-1988 I found a marriage record for Amy E. Creaser, born about 1861, and Edward S. Riley, who married on the 19th of July 1890 in Lawrence, Mass.  Amy's parents are listed as Elizabeth and John Creaser.

In the 1900 census, I found John and Elizabeth Creaser, with children Annie, born 1867, England; and Mary E., born 1874, England.  It appears John and Elizabeth Creaser immigrated to the US in 1881.  I also found Amy and her husband in Lawrence.  At the time they had five children:  Cora, Charles, Edward, Edith and Marion.

I thought I'd see if I could find Amy and her parents in the 1881 England Census.  Amy and her sisters Edith Jane (b. 1870,  London Lower Norwood, London, Middlesex, England) and Mary Ethel (b. 1874,Oldham, Lancashire, England) are living with their grandparents Thomas and Mary Cole of Nafferton, Yorkshire.  The parents are not there.  Amy and her eleven-year-old sister, Edith are working as factory hands.  It is interesting to note that the Smith grandchildren of Thomas and Mary Cole are also living there, and again, no parents.

On April 25 1881, Amy, her mother, and siblings arrived in New York aboard the ship, Nederland.  They travelled in steerage.  Note the appearance of Joseph, age 2.

I searched for her father next.  I found a  John Creaser who arrived about year earlier, on the 19th of April, 1880 at the port of Philadelphia aboard the Indiana.  George W. Creaser, a young man of 15, accompanied him.   It's unclear if George is a son or some other relative of John's.  Of course, without more research I can't say for certain if John and George even belong to Amy's family.  I know that in Yorkshire, there are a number of Creaser families with similar given names.

This photo probably dates to the early-to-mid 1880s.

UPDATE JULY 24, 2012:  This photograph of Amy, along with three other Creaser images, have been reunited with a descendant who wrote, "I just stumbled unto your 4/12/12 post on Amy E. Creaser while googling a family relative and was just amazed at the photo and information which you provided. I have been spending months getting this side of my family recorded. All your information agrees which what I have been able to piece together --cudos. The 2 year old Joseph who immigrated with his mother and sisters in 1881 was my paternal grandfather. The George who arrived in Philadelphia in 1880 was a son to John and the older brother to Joseph."  So glad these photographs are "going home." 

A Photo Marked "Copy" of Matilda Lois Harrison, 1849-1878, Maccan, Nova Scotia

This photograph was part of the Mary Harrison Photo Collection I found at a Vancouver Island antique shop.  It is stamped "copy" on the front. The woman is identified as "Matilda Lois Harrison, 1849-1878, wife of James Alexander Harrison" and the image was taken at the William Notman Studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia, sometime between 1876 and 1878.  I know it was after 1876 because the photographer's imprint on the reverse of the card makes reference to a Gold Medal won in that year.

According to a family tree I found on Ancestry, Matilda married James Harrison in 1875.  They had one daughter, Lena May Harrison, born 1876, who died at just over two years of age on Feb 5, 1879.  I also have a carte de visite of Lena May Harrison, also taken at the Notman Studio, in the collection. 

Super Sleuth Saturday: Alice and Marion Rogers, Lawrence, MA, 1887

What's the mystery, you ask?  You have names and ages:  "Alice M. Rogers, Age 12 and Marion L. Rogers, Age 10."  You have a photographer's imprint:  W.H. Allen, Lawrence, Mass.  You have provenance:  Photo was found with photographs belonging to Mary. E. Harrison.  And you have a date the photo was taken: 1887.

Well, the mystery is that I can't seem to find these girls in the census for Massachusetts.  Were they just visiting Lawrence?  How are they connected to Mary E. Harrison?  I have one possible lead, and I am curious if you will end up there, too. 

Don't you just love their dresses?

Lieutenant Colonel Mathew Brown Harrison, Maccan, Nova Scotia, 1860s

William C. Darrah states in his superb guide Cartes De Visite in Nineteenth Century Photography, "tinting the portrait was quite common in the United States in the early 1860s but more or less abandoned by 1865."  This photograph of Lieutenant Colonel Mathew Brown Harrison, with its tinted tablecloth, was taken in Canada at the J. S. Rogers "People's Gallery" in Halifax, Nova Scotia but still probably dates to somewhere between 1863-1867.  J.S. Rogers operated this studio between 1863 & 1874.

This photo was found along with a good number of other Harrison/Tait photographs and letters once belonging to Mary Harrison. (see previous post: Cabinet Card Portrait of Mary Harrison)  M.B. Harrison was Mary's uncle.  Mathew had a twin brother, John Tait Harrison.  Their parents were William and Mary Tait Harrison of Maccan, NS.

I have yet to look at M.B. Harrison's military life, but the Cumberland County Genealogy Centre sent me this excerpt:

Chignecto Post newspaper, Sackville, NB on Sept. 17, 1885:

The Cumberland Contingent (93rd) which left for 12 days in camp at Aldershot, Alyesford on Tuesday morning, is composed of 210 men and officers as follows:  Lt. Col. - M.B. Harrison of Maccan; Adjutant and Brevet-Major - J. Albert Black of Amherst; Paymaster - G.E. Church of Fort Lawrence; Quartermaster - Martin Black of Springhill; Surgeon - Dr. W.D. McKenzie of Parrsboro.

Captains - Dr. D. Allan, Amherst; R.L. Black, River Philip; Jeptha Harrison, Maccan; H.C. Mills, Mapleton and William Oxley of Oxford.

Lieutenants - Howard Black, Salem; Jacob Porter, Amherst; R.A. Christie, River Hebert; O.L. Harrison, Maccan; L.B. Donkin, River Philip; Richard Thompson, Oxford; Howard Mills and Stephen Bird of Mapleton.

According to the 1881 Census of Canada, Mathew Harrison was born in Nova Scotia around 1837.  His wife, Cassie was born around 1844 in New Brunswick.  At the time of the census, two children were living at home:  Alexis, age seven, and Leora, six months.

Going back to 1871, M.B. Harrison is living in River Hébert District, with brothers Alexander, 34 and Issac, 30.  Their mother Mary Harrison, aged 70, is also living in the household. 

Mathew Brown Harrison died September 1, 1917 in Maccan (Nova Scotia Deaths, 1917, Book 39 p.101, n.396) at age 81.  He and his wife, Cassie K. Parlee (d.1910) are buried in the Maccan United Baptist Cemetery.

A Photo Stamp and Cabinet Card of Mrs. Clarabell Webster, Lawrence, Mass., ca. 1895

This is Clarabell Webster, friend of Mary Harrison and the writer of a letter from 1894 that I described in my recent post, The Correspondence of Mary E. Harrison.  When she wrote her letter, Clarabell was a just a newlywed of three months.  She laments, "Poor me, will have to stay at home same as all the married women do," after describing Mae & Minnie B's plans to spent time in Hampton Beach the following week.

This image was taken at the Leck Studio, in Lawrence, Mass in the mid-1890s.

Additionally, I discovered a postage stamp-sized portrait of Clarabell, which was gummed on the reverse (below).  After some research, I learned mini portraits of famous people date back to the 1860s, but they were essentially just small photographs.  Two stamp portrait machines were patented in 1887 that used gummed and perforated photo paper.  Quite a number of  Victorian-era photographers in the US made these stamps available to their clients in the late 1880s and 1890s.  George H. Leck, of Lawrence, was one of those photographers.  Even though the portrait stamp is not signed with his name, I believe he made this stamp from the cabinet card sitting with Clarabell, as she has the exact hairstyle and is wearing the same dress.

Photo stamp of Clarabell Webster next to a Canadian quarter.

According to Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915, Clarabell Hatch, daughter of Frank and Martha Hatch, married Dean K. Webster, son of Henry K. and Elsie A. Webster,  in Lawrence, Mass., on the 31st of May 1894 in Lawrence. 

Clarabell and Dean had two children:  Dean K., Jr., born 1898 and Walter Neal, born 1903.
Along with the photograph of Clarabell, I also found a cabinet card of Dean K. Webster, Sr. as well as  one of their their youngest child, (Walter) Neal Webster.

A Cabinet Card Portrait: Mary E. Harrison, Portsmouth, NH circa 1890s

Earlier this week, I posted information about a number of old letters I found, written to Miss Mary E. Harrison of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Today, you get a glimpse of Mary.  I was lucky enough to find this photograph alongside the letters.   The reverse of the cabinet card is clearly labelled, "Mary E. Harrison, Portsmouth N.H."  I just love the lace and bead work on Mary's collar.

The portrait was taken by at the L.V. Newell & Co. Studio on Congress Street, Portsmouth.  Layfayette V. Newell (1833-1914) was a prominent photographer in the Portsmouth area.  J. Dennis Robinson of SeaCoastNH wrote an interesting article The Day History Died about the destruction of Newell's Civil War soldier photographs. 

In 1888, Newell's studio was located at No. 1 High Street.  By 1890, he had moved to the 31 Congress location.   The photo dates to the mid-1890s.

The Correspondence of Mary E. Harrison, Portsmouth, NH, & Maccan, NS, 1890s

I found a stack of letters at an antique shop not too long ago, all addressed to Miss Mary E. Harrison, #5 Brewster Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, dating between 1894 & 1897.  I stood reading the letters in the shop for a good long while, not sure if I should buy them.  I wanted them, but they were priced quite high for letters, but in the end I decided to splurge.  Surely, someone would appreciate them.  In addition to the four letters, there was also a receipt from 1871 for a real estate transaction.

Letter #1.  Written by Clarabell Webster of Lawrence, Mass., dated Aug 22, 1894.  Clarabell and husband, Dean Webster, appear in the US Federal Censuses for 1900 through 1930.  Clara was born about 1873 in Massachusetts.   The letter is of the type written to a friend.  There are a few snippets of hometown news about mutual friends and as well as a thank you for a bon-bon dish that Mary gave Clarabell as a gift. 

Letter #2.  Written by Mabel, from Maccan, Nova Scotia, January 1895.  The letter has the postmark, "Harrison Road, NS, Jan 14 95."  The Harrisons were a fairly large family in Maccan, NS.  Mabel, I discovered, is a sister of Mary's.  The letter is very chatty and chock-full of town gossip.

Letter #3.  Written by Mary's sister, Mabel, Maccan, NS, February 12, 1897.  Also postmarked, "Harrison Road."  Another chatty letter with mentions of many family members including "Uncles Alex & Mat," "Aunts Cassie & Maggie," and news about the upcoming Baptist box social and visitors to the area.

Letter #4.  Written by Mary's Father, and signed "Your affectionate Parents."  Dated, Maccan, Feb 14, 1897, probably posted in the same envelope as Mabel's letter. Mention of the snow that year, getting ready for "sugaring" and also seed-buying for the upcoming growing season.

Receipt from 1871:  Maccan, March 10th 1871.  Received from Samuel Harrison the sum of $50.00 Fifty Dollars part payment on Marsh.  Alexander Harrison.

Mary Elizabeth Harrison was the daughter of Samuel (b. 1839) and Catherine (b.1840) Harrison, born the 10th of August 1862.  She can be found in the 1891 Canada Census for River Hébert, Cumberland, Nova Scotia with her parents and siblings:  Bernice, b. abt. 1866; Stubbard, b. abt 1870; Edgar Amos, b. abt 1872; Mabel Catherine, b. abt. 1875 (who wrote Mary two of the letters) and Fred, b. abt. 1879.

While Mary appears in the 1871, 1881 & 1891 Canada Censuses, she also resided in the US for some time.  I believe she lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts for a while in the 1880s.  Then, after the 1891 census moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Perhaps she had family members in New England.

(For more information on Mary E. Harrison, head to my post Cabinet Card Portrait of Mary E. Harrison)