Victorian Autograph Album

One of my cousins is the custodian of this family heirloom, a late-Victorian autograph album that belonged to a great-great-aunt of ours. Many of her friends and relatives signed the book and entered little poems typical of the day. I believe that my paternal grandmother is one of the contributors.

When I was in grade school, I had a much smaller autograph book and my grandmother and grandfather both signed it. I hope it will resurface during spring cleaning.

(Photos copyright and courtesy of my cousin, dsg.)

Summer Ragamuffins, 1956

Summer Ragamuffins, 1956, originally uploaded by confections.

Here is a portrait of my cousin Sandy, me, and my brothers Gary and John, taken during the summer of 1956 at my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Pete's farm in Muncie, Indiana.

Sadly, my beautiful cousin died of a brain tumor at age twenty, nine years after this picture was taken. She was like the big sister I never had in my life and she was taken much too early.

My Cousin and I at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, 1964

My Cousin and I at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, 1964, originally uploaded by confections.

My cousin and I are all dressed up here for my brother's high school graduation on June 16, 1964. My Mother took the photo.

For musical/cultural context, the Beatles were taking the world by a storm, and the top hits of that spring/summer were:

May 30 - June 5, 1964:
Love Me Do by the Beatles

June 6 - June 26, 1964:
Chapel Of Love by the Dixie Cups

June 27 - July 3, 1964:
A World Without Love by Peter & Gordon

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, circa 1940

 

Here is an extended family photo of my mother (at about age fourteen and third person from the right) and her siblings and spouses, her nephew, her father, and a friend of the family. The photo was taken by my Aunt Grace on Cape Cod circa 1940. My grandfather (whom I never knew) is sporting shades in the photo and looks for all the world like Van Morrison, the bard of Belfast.

Vermont Farm, Sunday Dinner 1909

Vermont Farm, Sunday Dinner 1909, originally uploaded by confections.

This amazing early photo was sent to me by a long-lost cousin along with some genealogical research done by her son. What a gift! My mother's family comes from Vermont, and this photo was taken in Caledonia County.

I know quite a lot about my Great-Aunt Jean Elizabeth, who is pictured on the far right at the table (click the photo for the full image). She had been a school teacher for many years, then married a distant cousin and returned to the family homestead from Pennsylvania, where she was born.

In May of 1910 she gave birth to a daughter, but tragically my great-aunt died in September of 1910 of an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. She was just 36 years of age. Her daughter was raised on the homestead in Vermont, married and moved to Ohio, and lived a long life (she died at 88 years of age).

I love working with the puzzle pieces of genealogy and am overjoyed when bits like this fall into my lap. I will leave you with an image of Jean's infant daughter, being bathed by her mother, and one of her being held naked in the summer garden in a rare candid for the time. Women hold up half the sky!