E. R. Wilcox - DA's Report on Explosion that Killed 8 Children

Edmund R. Wilcox’s ancestry can be traced to 3 Wilcox brothers, sailors and sons of a vice admiral in the English navy who came to America in 1635 and settled in Connecticut.

Edmund’s paternal grandfather, William Wilcox was the son of one of 5 brothers who fought in the American Revolution.  Early in the 19th century William came to New York from Stonington, Connecticut and in 1817 he settled on Point Peninsula.

Oren Schuyler Wilcox, Edmund’s father, was born September 13, 1833 in Point Peninsula, Jefferson County, NY.  He was involved in the mercantile business until 1885 when he entered the insurance business.  He married Mary E. Cline, the eldest daughter of Henry Cline on August 30, 1858.

Oren and Mary had a large family.  Records indicate his son's Oren (Jr.) and Edmund R. were both born April 25, 1864, so it seems possible Edmund was a twin.

Oren Jr.  became a merchant in Ohio.  Edmund became a lawyer in New York.  The photograph below was taken in Rome, NY by photographer J. M. Brainerd when Edmund was 25 years old.  The reverse reads: E. R. Wilcox, Watertown, Jeff. Co., NY 1889.

E. R. Wilcox seems to have devoted most of his time to his career. While I run across mention of him in regards to the cases he was involved in,  I find very little of a personal nature.  He and his wife Addie Secor did not marry until they were both well into their 50’s, and it appears to have been a first marriage for each of them.

Of all the cases of E. R. Wilcox, his most sensational was probably the Watertown Trunk Murder.  He was counsel for Mary Farmer who was accused of murdering her neighbor with an axe, dismembering the body and stuffing it into a trunk; part of a plan to take over her neighbor's identity and acquire her property.

Mary Farmer was the 2nd woman put to death in the state of New York.  There is an account of the murder case on Muderpedia:  Mary O’Brien Farmer

Another newspaper article I transcribed, appeared in the Watertown Daily Times in August, 1922.

It centers on the Workman's and Salisbury’s, two families who lived in the same house.  The Salisbury’s on the upper level, and the Workman's on the lower level.  The Workman’s had two children, Edna and Anson; the Salisbury’s had one son, Monroe.

On July 16, 1921 the families were berry picking at Pine Camp (now Fort Drum), a military reservation and testing ground.  It was a few weeks after the Buffalo guardsmen had been training there and Mrs. William Salisbury and Edna Workman found an unexploded 155 mm shell lying on the ground.  The shell measured about 6 inches in diameter at the base and was 22 inches long.  It weighed approximately 100 lbs and contained 15 lbs of TNT.

Edward Workman’s 12 year old son, Anson wanted to keep the shell as a memento and so they transported it by automobile from Pine Plains to the city of Watertown, where it was set upright on the back porch of the home the families shared.  And there it remained for nearly a year, until July 12, 1922, when it exploded, killing 8 children who were playing nearby.  The victims included both of the Workman’s children as well as the Salisbury’s son, Monroe.

Source: Watertown Daily Times August 26, 1922

WILCOX BLAMES ARTILLERY UNIT
Criticizes 106th Field Artillery of Buffalo in Report on Shell Explosion

FOR NEGLIGENCE IN NOT PROPERLY POLICING FIELD

DISTRICT ATTORNEY HOLDS, HOWEVER THAT THERE WAS NO CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE

LEFT 41 SHELLS ON PINE PLAINS

Finds that Hot Weather Had Brought Fulminate of Mercury in Priming Cap Close to Explosion Point and That Only Slight Blow was Necessary to Explode It.

The 106th Heavy Field Artillery of Buffalo is criticized by District Attorney E. Robert Wilcox for the manner in which it left shells scattered about the Pine Plains and negligence in not properly policing the field of fire in the report of his inquest into the death of eight children through the explosion of a 155 millimeter shell on the back porch of Edward G. Workman’s home, 423 Dimmick street, July 12.  He holds, however, that the militia company was not guilty of any criminal intent or act of criminal negligence.

District Attorney Wilcox finds in his report that the shell was brought by Workman from Pine Plains a few weeks after the Buffalo guardsmen had been there for training last summer.  In his findings the county officer charges that 41 shells similar to the one that exploded have been found about Pine Plains, and this he says is evidence of the negligence of the militiamen.

In regard to the actual cause of the explosion Mr. Wilcox offers no opinion other than that revealed by early investigation.  He finds that hot weather had prevailed and that this had brought the fulminate of mercury in the priming cap close to the explosion point so that only a slight blow or jar was necessary to release its death dealing force.

The report is a volume of 114 typewritten pages and includes testimony of witnesses, reports of physicians, exhibits and the findings.  The report says in part:

District Attorney’s Report.

Coroner’s inquest, Jefferson county in the matter of the investigation into the death of Sarah Bardon, Anson Workman, Edna Workman, Monroe Salisbury, Vivian Jones, Olin Brown, Frances Wylie and Donald Horton:

Inquest held at the city of Watertown and other places in said county by E. R. Wilcox, district, attorney of said county, acting as coroner by virtue of chapter 110, page 346 of the laws of 1916, on the 12th day of July, 1922, and continued at different times until the 17th day of August, 1922.

Dr. Harlow G. Farmer and Dr. Maurice D. Barnette were appointed as coroner’s physicians in the investigation at the scene of the accident on the 12th day of July, 1922, and their report is made a part of these proceedings.

After examining Hugh Picard, Robert Moore, Edwin R. Green, Mrs. Anna Workman, Edward Workman, William A. Knapp, Frances S. Green, Mr. and Mrs. William L. Salisbury, Harriet R. Sc??per, Lillie W. Golding, Leon LaRock, Claude J.  Solar, Fred C. Simmons, Charles A. Phelps, Lieut. Harry G. Reanegal, Sergt. J. J. Greene, Lieut. Gerald S. Mickle, Rosa B. Bush, Kitty A. Bush, George A. Brown and said coroner’s physicians, being the principal witnesses who had knowledge of the explosion and the facts appurtenant thereto. I find as follows:

1. - That Sarah Bardon, aged 10 years; Frances Wylie, aged 13 years; Anson Workman, aged 13 years: Edna Workman aged 15 years; Olin Brown, aged 10 years; Vivian Jones aged 9 years; Donald Horton, aged 14 years, and Monroe Salisbury, aged 16 years came to their death by an explosion of a 155 mm shell on the 12th day of July, 1922, about 2: 55 in the afternoon.  In the rear of the premises, 423 Dimmick Street, in said city, occupied by Edward Workman on the lower, and William Salisbury on the upper floor of said dwelling.

2. - That said shell was found at Pine Camp, a military reservation and testing ground and the property of the United States, about a mile and a half from the Great Bend entrance and 100 feet to the right of the main road, on the surface of the ground by Mrs. William Salisbury and Edna Workman on or about the 16th of July, 1921; and said shell was brought on that day to the city of Watertown by Edward Workman in an automobile to his residence on said Dimmick street at the request of his son, Anson Workman, who wished to keep it as a memento of the war, and place it on the back veranda of said house where it remained until the time of the explosion.

3. - That said shell was standing in an upright position on said veranda, although it had been moved about on said veranda and shaken about two months before its explosion, but at the time of the accident it was situated about seven feet from the rear wall of the house and seven feet from the northeast corner of the lower platform on which it rested and near the front balustrade of said platform, and had been in that position for a number of months subject to the changes of temperature through the different seasons and had been played upon by the sun’s rays from early in the morning until after 1 o’clock in the afternoon, though the hot days of June and forepart of July, 1922.

4. - That said veranda was made of cement and reinforced steel, having a lower and upper platform about 8x10 feet, both of which were enclosed by a balustrade of the same material, the lower platform having on its east side an entrance by means of steps from the ground; and on said platform near and about shell were divers and sundry domestic and household articles, lawn mowers, bicycle, rubber tubing, garbage can and other articles, and in front of said platform was a croquet ground where the children of the neighborhood, including those killed, were accustomed to play.

5. - That said shell was made of steel and other metals and was known as a 155 mm. shell - practically six inches in diameter at its base and about 22 inches in height and weighed about 100 pounds and contained about 15 pounds of trinitro??luol, commonly know as T.N.T., and was capped by a detonator containing fulminate of mercury but a small portion of the upper part of the detonator of said shell had been removed - probably broken off at the time this shell was fired from a howitzer; and after such firing with detonation, being fully charged and unexploded, it became known as a “dud” among military men.

6. - That on July 12, 1922, at 2:55 in the afternoon, Monroe Salisbury was on the lower part of said platform near the shell and Edna Workman and Vivian Jones were on the ground in front of him, and within a foot or so of him and the other children were on the croquet ground in front and a few feet away from them, and while in these positions said shell exploded, killing the eight children instantly, except Monroe Salisbury, who died on the way to the hospital within ten minutes after the explosion.

7. - The shell exploded by reason of being hit or jarred, or in some manner detonated, but how or by whom the evidence does not now disclose.  The priming cap was still intact or at least enough of it to detonate the shell.  This priming cap being charged with fulminate of mercury and at the time of the explosion in a heated condition was very sensitive to a slight blow or jar and might have been detonated from a number of causes which it is impossible to now determine.

The temperature had been very warm for a number of days proceeding the explosion and on that day at 1 o’clock in the afternoon the Fahrenheit thermometer in the shade in other parts of the city stood at 86 degrees but in that vicinity, especially back of the Workman house on that platform where there was no breeze and with the sun shining on the cement building and platform and playing on this shell, in all likelihood the heat was raised upon it to a much higher degree, and the fulminate of mercury had become superheated to such an extent that it was at or near the exploding point, so that a very slight stroke or pressure upon the priming cap would cause detonation followed by explosion.

8. - The position of some of the children and many of the articles near the shell, as well as the platform upon which it stood, were blown to fragments and scattered practically in a semi-circle whose center was at the point where the shell had stood and was obviously the center of the force which radiated in this semi-circular manner, so no other conclusion can be drawn save that the children were killed by the explosion of the shell.

9. - Pine Camp had been used for a number of years by different military organizations for military maneuvers and the practice of artillery.  No unit or division of the regular army of the United States had ever used any shell at Pine Camp exceeding three inches in diameter, but in the month of June, 1921, the 106th Heavy Field Artillery of the National Guard of the state of New York did use and fire there, shells of 155 mm. similar in all respects to the shell which caused the death of these children: and a smaller shell than a 155 mm., in all likelihood could not have caused the damage to persons and property as was caused by the explosion of the shell in question.

10. - The 106th Heavy Field Artillery, after the firing of a number of shells of 155 mm, in its practice did not sufficiently, in a military sense, police the field of fire as it was in duty bound to do; as since the 12th of July, 1922, there have been found 41 155 mm shells, similar in all particulars to the one in question at Pine Camp on the surface of the ground and in possession of citizens in the city of Watertown and Jefferson county.

11. - That in conclusion the causes of the death of the aforesaid children was the explosion of said shell in the manner and by the means heretofore stated, and that the 106th Heavy Field Artillery, while not guilty of any criminal intent or act or criminal negligence, are subject to criticism for the manner in which they left said 41 shells scattered about the firing area of said camp and their negligence in not properly policing in a military sense the field of fire.

Dated Aug. 2?, 1922
E. R. Wilcox
District Attorney.


Additional articles found:

• Souvenir Shell Kills 8 Children on Dimmick Street
• SEEK $35,000 EACH FOR DEATH OF SEVEN CHILDREN - (Journal and Republican, Lowville, NY, Thursday, January 8, 1923)

Sources:

• Family Tree Maker’s Genealogy 
• Rome Citizen Marriages 1858
• Watertown Daily Times - August 26, 1922   
• Murderpedia - The Watertown Trunk Murder 
• Watertown Daily Times - March 4, 2011

Henry H. Winslow - Son of a Sea Captain

At the time I wrote about Margaret Ella Winslow née Givens, I didn't have a photograph of her husband, Henry H. Winslow ... not until someone saw a picture of Grandpa Henry Hidden Winslow, and was nice enough to let me know that a photograph of him, along with several other related photos, were up for sale.

Over the past few weeks I've collected quite a few Winslow family photographs, including photos of Margaret and Henry; two of their daughters, Mary and Edith; one granddaughter Margaret “Peggy” Sterns, and even Margaret’s sister and her husband - the McDuffy’s.

And now that I have the photos of Henry H. Winslow, I wanted to tell his story ...

Henry Hidden Winslow was born May 5, 1847, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the son of a sea captain, Joshua Baker Winslow, and his wife Mary Dehart (Bruen) Winslow.

American Offshore Whaling Voyages shows Joshua B. Winslow at command of the Tamerlane on 3 voyages to the North Pacific over a period of 15 years; Sept. 1854 - June 1858; Oct. 1858 - July 1862; Aug. 1865 - May 1869. The Capt. and Mrs. Winslow made their home in New Bedford, Massachusetts but unless Mary and Henry sailed aboard the Tamerlane with Capt. Winslow, they saw precious little of him, and were separated for years at a time.

Henry was educated in New Bedford and graduated high school May, 1864, at age 17.   One week later, on May 28, 1864 he sailed on board the whaler, James Arnold, under Capt. Jacob L. Cleaveland, cruising the Atlantic whaling grounds until Nov., 1865, when the James Arnold returned to New Bedford with 491 barrels sperm oil, 10 barrels whale oil and 300 pounds in bones on board.  During the voyage they'd sent home an additional 215 barrels of sperm oil.

On May 29, 1866 Henry Winslow shipped out again on board the James Arnold.  This time under the command of Capt. Thomas Sullivan, they sailed for the Pacific whaling grounds. The voyage lasted over 3 years and was considered a success. They returned Aug. 1, 1869, with 1,350 barrels sperm oil on board; having sent home 1,629 barrels sperm oil during the voyage.

At this point it appears Henry Winslow's sailing days came to an end. In 1870 he commenced to read law with the distinguished firm of Chandler, Thayer and Hudson.  He graduated Harvard Law School in 1872 and was admitted to the bar in Boston on Dec. 20, 1872.

Feb. 4, 1875 Henry Hedden Winslow (27) wed Margaret Ella (Givens) Fuller (30), a widow with a young daughter.  They were married in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts and in 1876 they moved to Cambridge where Henry opened a second law office, keeping one in Boston and one in Cambridge.

Henry Hedden Winslow was a member and trustee of Cambridgeport Savings Bank and Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex county from 1875 to 1880. The only public office he held was as Overseer of the Poor for the City of Cambridge.

Henry and Margaret Winslow had 3 children together; all born in Cambridge, MA.

Mary H. Winslow  born Feb. 11, 1876 (graduated Radcliffe)
Edith Baker Winslow (Mrs. H. N. Sterns) born Aug. 10, 1878 (graduated Radcliffe)
Henry Joshua Winslow b. June 27, 1880 (graduated Harvard)

Henry's wife, Margaret Winslow died in 1899.

Cambridge Tribune, Vol. XXVIII, Number 34, Oct. 21, 1905

H.H. Winslow, ESQ.
Assigned by Superior Court as
Senior Counsel in a Murder
Case - Well Known Lawyer.

"Henry H. Winslow, Esq., of this city, has been assigned as senior counsel to defend John Schidlofski, who is now confined in the local jail for the murder of his wife, on the Arlington golf links, last August.  P.H. Sullivan, of Boston, has been assigned as junior counsel.

Mr. Winslow is not without experience in murder cases, having been senior counsel for Samuel Whitaker, who shot his wife, in this city, in 1897.  Principally through Mr. Winslow's efforts the court accepted a plea of guilty in the second degree and Whitaker was given only a life sentence.

Mr. Winslow was assistant district attorney of Middlesex county from 1875 to 1880.  He is a member of the overseers of the poor."

†

I wasn't able to find any record of the death of Henry H. Winslow, the last mention I find of him is in the 1920 Census, at age 72, living in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his daughter Mary.

†

Sources:

• 1870 letter referencing Henry Winslow 
• American Offshore Whaling Voyages 
• Ancient Middlesex with brief biological sketches of the men who have served the country officially since its settlement (pg 12 of 16)
• National Maritime Digital Library - Voyages of the James Arnold
• ShipStamps.co.uk - James Arnold Whaler 1852
• Family Search 

Note:

Spellings I found for Henry's middle name include: Heden, Hedden, Haden and Hidden and in the case of Mary, his daughter - Mary Hidder Winslow.  

Ellen Nugent Miller - Epitaphs In Stone

The photographer was Albert Anthony, a traveling photographer. 

On the front is written:

Epitaph - “If she was not what she might have been, hers the sorry, mine the sin” 

The stone that marks her grave reads:

“If she was not what she might have been, hers the sorrow, mine the sin”  

On the reverse is written:

Ellen (Nugent) Miller 

age 16 b. 12 - 5 - 48

d. 2 - 9 - 79

Her full name was Rachel Ellen (Nugent) Miller and she didn't die on Feb. 9th.  That was the day she gave birth to twin boys; one who did die that day.  Ellen died the following day, on Feb. 10, 1879, aged 31 years, 1 month, 2 days.

▒

Rachel Ellen Nugent was born Dec. 5, 1848 in Steubenville, Ohio, the daughter of John Hutchinson Nugent and Ruth Eckles.

In this photograph she is 16.  Two years later, one week after her 18th birthday, she married Elihu Lovejoy Miller (27) on Dec. 13, 1866.

Elihu Miller, the son of Joseph Baughman Miller and Elizabeth Conrad, was born in Bollinger County, Missouri on July 26, 1839.

During the Civil War he served in Co. K of the 10th Missouri Cavalry and Co. I, 2nd Missouri Cavalry.   His record of battles and marches included much of Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and also Kansas and Arkansas.  He listed his soldier’s pay at $156 per year.

After he returned from the war Elihu married Ellen Nugent and they had 8 children; 6 sons and 2 daughters.

Edwin Howard Miller       b. Nov. 1867            d. July 17, 1877
Wilburn W. Miller             b. Mar. 20, 1869      d. July 17, 1877
Clara Belle Miller             b. Feb. 02, 1871      d. April 6, 1954
Anna Elizabeth Miller       b. Mar. 17, 1873      d. 1904.
Eugene Aldrew Miller       b. Nov. 21, 1874      d. Mar. 29, 1967
Ira Albertus Miller           b. Dec. 15, 1876      d. Sept. 18, 1958
Twin Infant Miller             b. Feb. 09, 1879      d. Feb. 09, 1879
Joseph Hutchinson Miller b. Feb. 09, 1879      d. Sept. 06, 1951

Their first two sons, Eddie (10) and Willie (8) were killed July 17, 1877 in Schumer Springs, Missouri, when the team they were driving with a load of hay became frightened by a hornets nest.

Eddie and Willie were buried together.  Their stone reads …

Eddie and Willie

were killed

July 17, 1877

Aged 

10 and 8 years

Children of E. L. and

Ellen Miller

Together in life, together in death, together in heaven

On Feb. 9, 1879, Ellen gave birth to twin boys.  One of the boys died. Ellen died the following day.

And so it was written in stone …

Ellen

wife of Elihu L. Miller 

died Feb. 10, 1879

aged 31 yrs. 1 mo's. 2 days

If she was not what she might have been, 

hers the sorrow, mine the sin.  

Elihu Miller was left a widower with 5 children, all under the age of 8. The surviving twin, Joseph Hutchinson Miller, was primarily raised by his grandmother and his Aunt Sara.  There is an account of his early life given by his son, Ralph Connor Miller, in the book The Last Wagon.

After Ellen’s death, Elihu married Elizabeth Lee Nations, the widow of George Nations.  Elizabeth had a small daughter, and she and Elihu had four children ...

Quintin Octavius Miller   b. 24 Nov 1882   d. 20 Mar 1972
Flora Ellen Miller            b.  6 Apr 1886    d. 15 Aug 1886
Ruth Viola Miller            b. 17 Dec 1889   d. 14 Mar 1979
Noble Lovejoy Miller      b.  2 Oct 1891    d. 17 Apr 1988

Elihu died Jan. 9, 1914 after being thrown from a wagon.

(unknown) Newspaper Obituary:
Elihu Miller, Dead

He was killed by his team or in other words, was so badly hurt that he died the following morning. Mr. Miller had driven over to Hilderbrand to get some material for repairing his house, and on the way home and near the house he missed his purse. He was standing up in the wagon looking for it and in some way the horses became frightened and ran away, throwing him out with the above stated results. The subject of this sketch was born July 26, 1839, and died Jan. 9, 1914, making him at the time of his death, 74 years, 4 months and 14 days old.

At the breaking out of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Home Guards and afterwards in the State Militia at Cape Girardeau, Mo. He re-enlisted in Company K, 10th Reg. and I, 2. Regiment for three years. He leaves to mourn his death, seven children; 5 boys and 2 girls, 2 brothers, 1 sister and 22 grand.

His life and death, in their beauty, emphasized a great truth, and that truth is, that no one can be truly great unless that greatness is used to advance that which is truly good, wish that all would properly realize and appreciate that truth.

We, the neighbors, with our united hearts of sympathy, offer condolence to the bereaved family and would comfort them with the thought: Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. From henceforth yea saith the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. He rests from his labors, but his work still lives, they follow him and they are good. We laid his body away in the White Water cemetery to await the Judgement morning. A large crowd followed the remains to its last resting place. The funeral services were conducted by Rev. Miller, of Sedgwickville.

Pease to his ashes.
A Friend.

Elihu Lovejoy Miller and his first wife Ellen are buried together at Whitewater Cemetery.

On Elihu’s stone is written:

I have fought a good fight.

I have finished my course.

I have kept the faith.

******

There is nothing to identify this second photograph; no name, no date, no location.  The seller merely said he thought it was a photo of a confederate soldier, the family name was Miller and both of the photographs came from the same estate sale.

I don’t know if this is a photograph of a confederate soldier or if it even dates to the right time period.  The photo is small (2 ½ x 3 ½) and crudely cut.  But they were found together and so they will stay together.


Update: I am leaning more towards the 2nd photograph dating from the time around the Spanish American War (1898).

Sources:
familytreemaker source1
familytreemaker source2
findagrave

Mary Orvis Marbury - Author & Fly Tier

Mrs. Mary Orvis Marbury

Charles Frederick Orvis and Laura Ellen Walker were married on April 25, 1855. Their first child, Mary Ellen Orvis was born March 6, 1856 in Manchester, Vermont; the same year her father opened his tackle shop in a small stone building next to his brother’s hotel, the Equinox House.

Mary had 3 younger brothers; Frederick Charles born April 26,1858, who died when he was just 2 years old; Robert Judson born July 16, 1861 and Albert Charles born Aug. 7, 1863.

Their father, Charles Orvis established his company before the Civil War.  After the war, as the railroad brought more tourists and anglers in to fish the Batten kill, his company prospered and orders for his rods and fishing tackle grew.

As the company grew, one of the challenges he faced was finding an adequate supply of the flies his customers ordered.  Even when he tried other dealers, he found no consistency of pattern and was, he said, “continually disappointed.”

It was a problem that would ultimately be solved by his daughter’s interest in fly tying.

Mary Orvis grew up exploring the Batten kill and meeting many of the great anglers of the day.  When she expressed an interest in learning to tie flies, her father employed one of the best fly tiers in the city, John Haily, to train her.  

Mary became an expert at making flies and in 1876 she began supervising the Orvis fly tying staff.  Her workforce, generally from 5 - 7 girls was small compared to other fly tying operations. These flies helped drive the sales of her father’s invention, the lightweight fly reel.

Mary held great influence over the family business. Her brothers became prominent Manchester citizens but it was Mary who contributed the most to her father’s business.  Anglers often placed orders for flies by name but there was no way they could know that the fly they ordered would be the pattern they thought it would be, and what they received was often different from what they were expecting.  Charles and his daughter recognized the need to standardize fly patterns by name and type.

Charles Orvis surveyed anglers from fly fishing areas across North America, soliciting information on the finest flies and how they were made and used.  Mary undertook the task of compiling the responses and editing the book.  Much of her book, Favorite Flies and Their Histories, consisted of the replies her father received from anglers.

Favorite Flies and Their Histories (1892) contained 32 color plates and 290 illustrations of regional patterns. It was an immediate best seller and became the standard reference for identifying flies, dressings and patterns. The acclaim Mary’s book and fly tying brought her surpassed that of any of her contemporaries. She was an expert fly tying artist, a successful author, and a recognized authority in her field, and much has been written about her contribution to fly fishing, but precious little about the woman herself.

The quote below is indicative of what I found describing her personality …

“Her moods were said to be unpredictable; at times she was ill mannered but one acquaintance recalled her as a delightful woman.”

I imagine being a successful woman in the 19th century,  in a business dominated by men, had its challenges.

That Mary’s marriage in 1877 was brief is evidenced by the fact that no one seems to have known her husband’s name.  That being said. I am not convinced that the general assumption that their brief marriage was unhappy is correct.  I think it may have been brief because he died.

There is not one census, from 1860 when Mary is 4 years old, to the one before her death, when Mary is not living in her father’s household.

In the 1880 census, the first after her marriage, Mary Marbury, 24, is found in her father’s household with her 3 year old son John Morton Marbury.  Her marital status is listed as single, which is doubtful.  In all succeeding censuses her marital status is “widowed.”

I wondered just when Mary Marbury became a widow, but the date of her husband’s birth and death, like so much of Mary Marbury’s life, remains a mystery.

Whenever I found mention of Mary‘s husband, he was referred to as John Morton Marbury born 1876. Which is impossible since he could not possibly have been born in 1876 and fathered a child in 1877. As it turns out her husband’s name wasn’t John Morton Marbury.

Yet, I found this particular bit of misinformation going as far back as 1922.

According to the death certificate of Mary’s son, who died as a young man;  his father’s name was William C. Marbury,  born in New York, NY.  Which unfortunately for me, didn’t make him any easier to find.

John M. Marbury, the son,  was born November 20, 1877. Some records show his birthplace as Manchester, VT.; in others it is recorded as Greenwich, NY.

He attended school at Burr and Burton Seminary (VT), St. John’s Military Academy and Norwich University (NY).  After 1895 he was involved in the newspaper business in Machester.  The 1900 census lists his profession as journalist.

His mother, Mary remained an active participant in the family business, assuming more responsibilities as her father grew older. She turned the fly operation over to her sister in law, Mrs. Robert Orvis in 1904, the same year her son died.

John M. Marbury died at age 27 on Sept. 5, 1904.  His cause of death was “uremia.” (kidney failure).

His stone is marked …

"He loved his fellow men"

"Warm, summer sun
Shine Kindly here
Warm, southern wind
Blow softly here
Green sod above
Lie light, lie light
Good night, dear heart,
Good night, good night"

Mary Ellen Orvis Marbury died November 8, 1914 at age 58.  After her death she was compared with the legendary Dame Juliana Berners, another mysterious woman who was thought to have written the first book on angling in 1496.

Mary‘s father, Charles Orvis, famed American tackle maker and author of  Fishing with the Fly (1883) died a few months later on March 24, 1915, at age 84.

A Piece of Fly-Fishing History: A Letter from Charles F. Orvis

William Henry Wallace - Postmaster

Reverse:

W. H. Wallace Sr. 

in his 86th year of age

in his easy chair a 

Christmas present from 

his dear friend Mrs. J. N. McCullough 

for the high esteem 

in which he held her 

departed husband 

and who was his teacher 

when a little boy in 1830.  

 A date, December 1897, is also written on the back.  This is either a mistake or perhaps it is the date the note was written.  It is not the date the photograph was taken because W. H.  Wallace wasn't alive in December of 1897; he died in September.

~ Steubenville Morning Star, Sept. 11, 1897

W. H. WALLACE DEAD
The oldest Postmaster in the United States Expires Yesterday Morning

Appointed Assistant P.M by Gen. Jackson in 1830 and served under thirty-four Postmaster Generals including the Present Incumbent - the end of a busy life.  William Henry Wallace, Sr., of Hammondsville, this county, who claimed the distinction of having held the position of postmaster continuously longer than any other official in the United States, died yesterday, aged 86 years.

**********

William Henry Wallace was born in Frelighsburg, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, December 2, 1811. His mother’s people originated in Germany and his father’s people in the land of William Wallace. His maternal grandfather laid out the town where William H. Wallace was born, and called it after his own name.  He was a surgeon in the British Navy and descended from the same stock as Victoria.  Mr. Wallace’s father (Sir George Wallace) was a prosperous merchant and manufacturer in Canada.  When the War of 1812 broke out, being an American, born in Massachusetts, and having never sworn allegiance to the Crown, he closed up his business and left for the United States, eventually settling in Baltimore, Maryland.
Source: Ohio's Oldest Postmaster Biographies

This paragraph seems so full of possibilities yet it creates more questions than answers for me …

Question 1 - William Henry Wallace was born in Frelighsburg … his maternal grandfather laid out the town where W. H. Wallace was born … called it after his own name … so does that mean his grandfather was Dr. Abram Freligh?

Question 2 -“his father’s people came from the land of William Wallace.” … is this a reference to Scotland?

And finally
Question 3 - there is a reference to being “descended from the same stock as Victoria.” …  QUEEN Victoria? 

~ W. H Wallace (1892)
“Just 73 years ago (1819) in the city of Baltimore, I witnessed the hanging , for robbing the United States mail, of the noted Haire and his co-worker, then the greatest robbers of mail.  Then it was a death penalty to rob the United States mail.  Shortly after was another hanging in the same city that I witnessed.  Hutton and Hull robbed the mail not far out of the city, and murdered the driver, Heaps.  Heaps and his family lived in the city, and his children were my playmates.  There were no express lines, the mail being the only public mode to send money.  The villains stopped the mail coach in the night with none but the driver aboard.  He was ordered to give up the mail.  This he did; but it was concluded, fearing detection and arrest, to take the driver’s life by shooting and stabbing, each taking a hand.  Then they tied the two horses by the lines to a tree, and made off with the mail.  They visited the city next day and were arrested.  Hutton was an old offender, and young Hull inveighed as an accomplice.  He was only about 20 years old; had studied medicine in Utica where his father, who was a druggist, lived.”

I think what surprised me the most about the above paragraph was the realization that William Henry Wallace would have been about 8 years old when he witnessed the first hanging … and a year later at age 9 he was headed over the Alleghenies.  

“My first trip over the Alleghenies from Baltimore to Brownsville was in the month of August 1820 in my bare head and bare feet.  The sun was hot, and so was the pike road.”

In 1821, when he was 10 years old, W. H. Wallace came with his parents to Jefferson County, Ohio.

In 1825, at age 14, Wallace was placed in a store on Yellow Creek and later that same year he went to New Lisbon where he remained for 3 years.  At the end of that time he returned home and during the winter he taught school on Hollow Rock.  One of his pupils was J. N. McCullough, who became First Vice President of the Pennsylvania railroad and whose wife, many years later would present Mr. Wallace with the gift of an easy chair.

At the close of the school Mr. Wallace accepted a position in the general store and shipping house of A. G. Richardson, of Wellsville. In June, 1830, A. G. Richardson was postmaster at Wellsville, Columbiana County, Ohio, and W. H. Wallace was his assistant.

The village of Linton, at the mouth of Yellow Creek was a small hamlet for several years prior to 1831.  A man named Jacob Groff kept a small store there and  in 1831, William H. Wallace, then 20 years of age, entered into a partnership with Mr. Jacob Groff.  Upon his application a post office was established there.  Mr. Groff was made postmaster and Mr. Wallace, his assistant; their partnership continued for 3 years.

William Wallace:
“My first trip on business to Philadelphia was 61 years ago (1831) by mail stage, and I returned home via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as far as it was built.  The road was made to Ellicott’s Mills, thirteen miles; with strap rail; two horses tandem; capacity of coach twelve or fifteen; rate of speed ten miles per hour.  This mode was continued until finished to Frederick, when I was again a passenger; next, pony sized locomotives from Baltimore to Cumberland, thence by mail stage to Brownsville, PA. I crossed the Alleghenies twenty-six times before the railroad traversed them.  The robbery of the mail stage was common and for safety at times postillions (someone riding the left front horse in a team) were brought into requisition.  The common way of carrying money by person was to encase it in a leather belt, or silk bandanna handkerchief and placing it around the body next to the bare hide.  Stockton and Stokes of Baltimore were the fist stage owners that I have any recollection of more than seventy years ago, the next Reside and Slaymaker over the Baltimore route.”

“I visited Washington 58 years ago; was formally introduced to General Jackson at the White House by a member of Congress, and had a good little talk.  He had in his hand a two-cent clay pipe, which he had been smoking.  I also had a good talk with Henry Clay. One day when the House was not in session my member of Congress seated me on the speaker’s chair, saying, Now you can say you have sat in the speaker’s chair.”

While living in Yellow Creek, William Henry Wallace married Miss Matilda Nessly, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Nessly.  They were married April 9, 1835 and would have 5 children; 3 sons (Rodney G., Homer N. and W. H. Jr.) and 2 daughters whose names I have yet to discover.

William Wallace stayed at Yellow Creek 8 ½ years.  In 1839, he moved 3 miles further down the river and in honor of his son Homer, called this new place “Port Homer.”

W. H. Wallace was appointed postmaster of Port Homer by Postmaster General Granger in 1841.

Port Homer grew into a prominent shipping point for the products of the numerous distilleries, flour mills and salt wells in the area. Although steamboats were in operation, flatboats were less expensive and were the favored carriers for down river shipments. Boat building, milling, salt boiling and distilling employed a large force of men, and the river warehouses were filled, the products providing employment to hundreds of men.

In 1851 Mr. Wallace sold out his Port Homer business interests and moved again, this time to a small settlement laid out on the property of Thomas Hammond.  Here Wallace opened a store.

At some point Mr. and Mrs. Wallace went to New York to purchase merchandise and on the trip, they were faced with the problem of where to have the supplies shipped since the town had no name.  It was Mrs. Wallace who suggested the name, Hammondsville; gave the location as four miles above Yellow Creek, and Hammondsville it has remained.

Rich deposits of coal and clay were discovered on the Hammond land. W.H. Wallace and his sons, Rodney and William developed these interests. I presume through the Hammondsville Mining and Coal Company, of which William Wallace was the manager. When the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad was built through town in 1852, they mined and shipped large quantities of coal along with coke and brick.

In 1864, W.H. Wallace purchased the Hammond House, and moved his family into it. The family then consisted of W.H. Wallace and his wife, his son, Homer, and his wife, son Rodney and wife and daughters, and son W.H. Jr.

The panic of 1873 seriously affected the town , but the effects were mitigated by the four large stores of W. H. Wallace and Sons, which carried on trade in every branch of business in a fashion seen in the department stores in cities today.  In addition, Wallace and his sons published a newspaper whose main objective was to advertise their business.

And of course W. H. Wallace was again appointed postmaster in Hammondsville, this time by Judge Hall.

According to W. H. Wallace …
Old time rates of postage were figured thus:  for a single letter carried 30 miles, 6 ¼ cents, called then a fip; up to 80 miles, 10 cents; up to 150 miles, eleven pence (12 ½ cents), up to 400 miles, three fips (18 ¾ cents); 400 miles or to any part of the United States, 25 cents.  Storekeepers in those early days were in the habit of taking all kinds of country or farm trade for goods, and where a post office was connected with the store, it was common to take produce for letters and papers, as for goods.  The prices of produce varied some seasons, but butter and eggs were always low in summer, the prevailing price being 6 ¼ cents a pound for butter and 5 cents per dozen for the eggs.

To illustrate: to pay postage on a 25 cent letter it required the amount of the following articles separately:  4 pounds of butter, 5 dozen of eggs, 2 bushels of oats, 2 bushels of potatoes, 1 1/3 pounds of common coarse wool, a little over 2/3 bushels of wheat, and other articles in proportion.

To illustrate the cost of the expense of correspondence: Suppose a farmer and family communicated with a New York correspondent and had to receive 32 unpaid letters, he must sell a good milch cow to foot the postage bill, for $8 would buy a good cow.  It made it obligatory upon the postmaster, as far as it was possible for him to scrutinize every letter, and if it consisted of two pieces of paper, then double the postage was charged.

“I have traveled in the stage when it took three days and three nights to reach Philadelphia from Pittsburg.  One newspaper of small dimensions in the county town for the whole county was a rule, and many in the county never scanned its columns; and if they did, the general or far off news did not come under their eye.  Then farmers and farmers’ sons were dubbed clodhoppers.  Ask them the governor’s name and they could not tell it.  I know of families of some prominence in the county when I was a boy that never saw a newspaper.”

Mr. Wallace continued to be postmaster until his death, September 10, 1897, having served sixty-seven years in the three offices for a longer period than any other postmaster in the United States.

Florence Powers Smith

Florence Powers Smith

J. P. Moore

F. J. Moore, Manager

West Meriden

Conn.

Florence J. Powers was born in Meriden, Connecticut, October 31, 1856.

According to the Lineage Book from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Vol. 8, 1895), Florence Powers was a descendant of Capt. Enos Hawley of Connecticut; she was the daughter of Luther A. Powers and his wife, Elizabeth “Libbie” J. Clark; granddaughter of Harvey Clark and wife, Jane Andrews; great granddaughter of Elijah Andrews and Hannah Hawley and great great granddaughter of Enos Hawley, who in 1776 was lieutenant of minute men and in 1779, commanded a company in defense of New Haven.

Florence married Frank Daniel Smith on October 12, 1875.

In the 1900 census she is shown to have had two children, but only one living; a daughter Edna W., born in December of 1882.

I have found very little mention of Florence, but a bit more about her husband and the Smith line she married into.

Frank Daniel Smith was a descendant of James Smith, born in England, who came to Massachusetts Bay Colony before 1639.  The line of decent is through his son, Nathaniel Smith, born in Weymouth in 1639; his son, Nathaniel (2) Smith, who moved to Hartford, Connecticut, and was one of the early settlers of Litchfield; his son Jacob Smith, a lieutenant of the Revolution; his son, David Smith, born at the Litchfield homestead; his son, David (2) Smith, father of Frank Daniel Smith.

Frank was born July 22, 1852, at Litchfield, CT., the son of David and Fedilia (Parker) Smith. He was about 2 years old when his parents moved to Meriden.  The public schools furnished him with an education, and when he was sixteen he set out to make his way in the world.  His first employment was with the firm of Bowditch and Company, furniture dealers in Meriden, and there he remained nearly 10 years during which time he was able to learn the business.

In 1878 the firm was dissolved and Mr. Smith and Mr. J. C. Twitchell took over the business under the name of F. D. Smith and Company. After several successful years the name of the firm was changed to Smith and Twitchell, and the two continued in partnership for 20 years.  

In 1898 Mr. Smith purchased the interest of his partner, and continued the business under his own name until he retired in 1913, at which point he turned the family business over to his son-in-law, William E. Graham.  Mr. Smith was president of the Smith, Tompkins Company, house furnishers in Torrington, Connecticut; director of the Puritan Trust Company, and a trustee of the Meriden Savings Bank.

He married (1) October 12, 1875, Florence J. Powers, and (2) June 25, 1911, Mrs. Ida Booth Wilcox.

~ Meriden Morning Record - Sept. 30, 1909

F.D. Smith’s Wife Dies In Minnesota

End Wednesday morning at Great Sanatorium of Drs. Mayo in Rochester

Mrs. Florence Powers Smith, wife of Frank D. Smith the well known furniture dealer, died Wednesday morning at the widely known sanatorium of the Mayo brothers in Rochester, Minnesota where she was undergoing treatment.  The body will be brought here on the 11:30 train, Friday morning; the arrangements for the funeral will be made upon the arrival of Mr. Smith and Dr. E. W. Smith, his brother, who accompanied Mrs. Smith to the sanatorium last week.

Mrs. Smith has not been in good health for some time and treatment at the famous sanatorium was deemed advisable.  The late Governor Johnson of Minnesota underwent treatment at the same place.

Besides her husband, Mrs. Smith is survived by a daughter, Mrs. W. E. Graham, and a brother, Charles C. Powers.

George Greer - Out in a Blizzard

I found this cabinet card at a flea market in Tulsa.

A young man with an extra bit of hair and a moustache drawn in.

The photographer is N. A. Voss who arrived in Kansas and set up shop in 1878.

The town the photograph was taken in could be a bit of a challenge to pin down …
Hays City or Ellis or Wa-Keeney.

What interested me the most was a portion of the faded penciled writing I could make out on the reverse.

It said the photograph was of George Greer but it didn't look like him because he’d been in a blizzard.

A few scenarios came to mind … all involving frostbite.

But even after I had the photograph home, and under better lighting, and had spent considerable time playing with letters; I could still, only get as far as …

“Geo. Greer but it don’t look like him as he had the misfortune to be out in the blizzard and it …”

AND IT WHAT!!!

And it froze? … “froze” was what should have been next.

But it wasn’t.

I took a break from trying to read the handwriting and read a few stories of blizzards in that area and around that time.

The winter of 1885 - 1886 was a rough one.  I found two blizzards that hit western Kansas in the first week of January 1886, killing 100 people and 100,000 cattle.

When I returned to deciphering the handwriting, it didn't take long to make sense of the words … and when I did, all I could do was laugh.

“Geo. Greer but it don’t look like him as he had the misfortune to be out in the blizzard and it blew his moustache off.”

Della Fox

A few days after writing the piece about photographer A. J. Fox, I came across this cabinet card of his daughter, actress Della Fox and decided it would make a nice addition to my Fox file.  Judging from the articles I found regarding Miss Fox, this is a story that has been told many times, just never here.

Della May Fox was born Oct. 13th, 1870 in St. Louis, Missouri, the sixth and youngest child of Andrew J. Fox and Harriett Ann Swett. Her father, A. J. Fox, was a leading St. Louis photographer with a specialty in theatrical subjects.

Della Fox had four brothers; Frank D. (1856), Charles A. (1858), William H. (1860), Wymar (1863) and one sister, Lillie Graham Fox (1867).

“Child stars are an American tradition,” says professor and author John Hanners, “but no period surpasses the mid-1800's for the sheer number of children appearing in live theatrical events or the degree of seriousness with which they were taken."

Della made her first appearance on stage in the H. M. S. Pinafore and subsequently played children's roles with Marie Prescott's company.

In the 1870's and 80's it was a popular trend to cast operettas with children and send them on tour through the Midwest where they were popular with audiences.

In 1880 Della appeared as Adrienne in A Celebrated Case and caught the attention of playwright Augustus Thomas.  He engaged her to play the leading role in Editha's Burglar.  The play toured the Midwest and Canada from 1883 through 1885.  Della’s parents wanted her to attend boarding school but she was determined to become an actress and instead was tutored by Thomas and chaperoned by leading lady, Nellie Page.

In the late 1880's Della appeared with Comley Barton and the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company, playing soprano roles in operettas.

In Feb. 1889 she appeared for the first time at Niblo's Garden in New York.  Her light opera roles had brought her to the attention of Henrich Conried, who engaged her to play Yvonne in The King's Fool.

The diminutive Fox was known for her childlike persona and her bobbed hairstyle.  She was a tiny woman, considered to be slightly plump, not particularly beautiful, of ordinary voice, and yet possessed of an incredible charisma.

The girl with the curl, the “Della Fox curl,” was a style found on girls all across America.

Her voice and small size made her the perfect choice to play Blanche, opposite the tall, bass-voiced DeWolf Hopper, in the 1890 operetta Castles in the Air.  It was well received, but her first big success occurred in 1891 when she played Prince Mataya together with Hopper in the production of Wang.  This was followed by Panjandrum in 1893, and Lady or the Tiger, 1894.

Miss Fox’s first true starring role came in The Little Trooper at the Casino Theatre, New York, Aug. 1894.  That and subsequent performances brought her to the pinnacle of success.

Beginning in 1899, Miss Fox suffered from ill health due in part to the effects of alcohol and drug abuse.  On October 28, 1899, she was reported to be dying of peritonitis, but she survived and returned to the stage. In June 1900 she suffered a nervous breakdown.  She returned to the stage September, 1900 for The Rogers Brothers in Central Park.

In December 1901, Della Fox married Jacob David Levy, a Broadway gentleman in the jewelry business known affectionately as “Diamond Jack” Levy.

After her marriage Della appeared mostly in vaudeville houses. In 1904, she was committed to the Brunswick Home, a private institution for epileptics, paralytics, alcoholics, and the feeble-minded, on Long Island. She recovered and made two more appearances on Broadway:  The West Point Cadet (1904), and her final performance, Rosedale in April 1913.  She died at a private sanatorium in New York City on June 15, 1913, aged 42, and was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri.

Many critics professed to be baffled by her popularity, seeing her as possessing very little real talent or beauty and attributing her popularity to magnetism.  Nevertheless, for ten years Della Fox remained one of the principal attractions of the American musical theater.

Rebecca Gunn Scroggins

Both the Gunn and the Scroggins families have been well researched and Rebecca was easy to find and like most people Rebecca was …

born: July 21, 1860, the daughter of farmer Thomas Gunn and his wife Susannah.

And then she married: Oswald S. Scroggins of Salisbury, MO on Feb. 5, 1880.

“Ollie” was described as a democrat and an “energetic and prosperous” farmer, owning 240 acres of fine land in Chariton and Howard Counties.

Together they raised 5 children, all born in Salisbury, MO:

1. Leslie Francis b. Nov. 12, 1881 
2. Rheba Virginia b. May 19, 1885
3. Orin B. b. July 23 / 25, 1890
4. Oswald Sweeney Scroggins Jr. b. July 12, 1893
5. Arthur Evander b. May 13, 1899

Rebecca was widowed on Sept. 5, 1932 in Dodge City, KS.  Her husband, Ollie, age 76 was killed when a train stuck his automobile as he drove across the railroad tracks.

And then she died …
Aug. 26, 1940 and was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Dodge City, KS.

What I find most interesting about Rebecca Gunn Scroggins is what is written on the reverse of her photo.

There are 2 notations in 2 different hands.

In ink is written:

Rebecca Gunn Scroggins
age about 40 yrs.

and in pencil:

Aunt Becky
She was mean! 

Phoebe Jane (Smith) Romick

The description said simply :

SIGNED :

MRS. RONICK

Kurtz Studio

Manhattan, Kan.

But on the reverse I could see more:

Phoebe Smith … k. a. c. … ‘97 …

and I thought Ronick might actually be Romick … as in this article that appeared in the local paper.

"W.S. Romick, a popular LaVerne,California orange grower and one of the directors of the LaVerne Orange Growers Association is believed to be at San Diego on his honeymoon this week. Mr. Romick went away without publishing his plans, and his friends have been doing a lot of guessing. Our guess may be all wrong, and if so Mr. Romick may have space to correct it next week, but we guess that Mr. Romick got his new Buick Six ahead of turn because there was a wedding in the case, and we guess the bride is Miss Phoebe Smith of Los Angeles, and we guess that it was a good choice on both sides, and we rather guess that Rev O.W. Reinius of Rialto,CA. performed the ceremony, that is providing Mr. Reinius was at home, which the long distance operator said he was not. We guess the wedding was intended to be a surprise, and that we hadn't better say any more until we know more about it."
~ Lordsburg Leader (1915)

Two years later W. S. Romick would take part in another marriage ceremony … one that proved he had a sense of humor.

Lordsburg, California was the ‘Heart of the Orange Empire’ in 1917 when residents voted to change the name to La Verne.  Embarrassed and frustrated with the name “Lordsburg,” citizens had petitioned for a name change and that caused a confrontation between Lord, the founder and the townspeople.  Even the college students joined in the fight.  But Lord did not take the change lightly, he took the issue to court and won.

And so Lordsburg residents endured the name until he died in 1917.

They’d hardly finished burying him when an election was held and the name was officially changed to “La Verne” with a vote of 239 to 81.

Lord didn’t make a fuss this time.

“He wasn’t beloved as you would think a founder of a town might be,” says Heckman, who has researched the name change. Known as “fair, fat and 40,” Lord did not even live in his town, but instead in Alta Loma, commuting to Lordsburg by train.

Newly renamed after the northern orange-growing district, La Verne it was, but after years of being the talk of the town, the residents of La Verne were not done.   Like “celebrating revolutionaries they whooped it up” with a symbolic marriage ceremony to commemorate the town’s new name.

On Sept. 27th, 1917, in the hotel auditorium, with an orchestra playing, “There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” on hair combs,  the ceremony was held.

Carrying a bouquet of orange blossoms, “Miss Lordsburg” portrayed by local barber Oscar W. Raley walked down the aisle to exchange vows … and names … and was married to “Mr. La Verne,” played by Phoebe’s husband and citrus grower, W. S. Romick.  Harvey Nichols presided over the ceremony.  The event was homespun vaudeville, a type of  live entertainment enjoyed before the age of radio.

Phoebe was a teacher before her marriage to W. Scott Romick.  

She graduated Kansas Agricultural College in 1897 and spent the following year as a student at Kansas State Normal School, a school dedicated to the education of teachers in Emporia, Kansas.

From 1899 - 1900 Phoebe taught school in Manhattan, Kansas but from 1900 - 1908 she was a teacher for Pueblo (Colorado) City Schools.

In  1908 Phoebe relocated to Pasadena, California.  She was a student at the Throop Institute from 1908 - 1909,  before taking a position as a Teacher of Home Economics at Intermediate High School in Los Angeles, CA.

In 1915, Phoebe Jane Smith, 40, married 54 year old Winfield Scott Romick, a Lordsburg (La Verne), California citrus grower recognized as one of the pioneers of the La Verne citrus industry.

In 1890 Lordsburg agriculturists W. Scott Romick and L. H. Bixby had each planted about five acres at the same time.  Marcus L. Sparks set out 10 acres of orange trees and for nearly a century the citrus industry in La Verne would prosper.

I was able to locate 2 photographs of W. Scott Romick …

One photograph of him at work - Scott Romick with a wagonload of Boxes
and
A more formal portrait - W. Scott Romick

In later years Scott and Phoebe Romick can be found on several passenger lists  …

In 1928 aboard the S. S. California sailing from Havana, Cuba.

In 1936 and again in 1948 (at which time they were 86 and 72)  sailing on the S. S. Lurline from Honolulu, Hawaii.

It would seem they enjoyed a long life.  Winfield Scott Romick born May 19, 1861 lived to be 100 years old and died Oct. 15, 1961. Phoebe Jane Smith born June 3, 1875, died June 9, 1962, age 87 years.

Staged

I have been tempted to buy a photograph I have absolutely no hope of identifying because the photographer, J. A. McClanahan of Elite Studio of Mt. Ayr, Iowa has done an excellent job of catching my attention and piquing my curiosity.   Who are these children? Are they siblings? The two girls standing, are wearing dresses, which except for minor differences in the collar and sleeves are nearly identical, but the third girl, sitting with her hands in her lap is dressed more simply, her dress is longer and is that an apron? and why is one of the girls pointing her finger at the boy?

One thing is for certain, none of the three are paying the least attention to the pointer. Something much more interesting appears to be going on just out of range of the camera and it has their full attention.

William Stevens Perry, Bishop of Iowa

I’d gone searching for old photographs and there they were; a stack of cabinet cards in beautiful condition.  Most were done by photographers in the Davenport / Dubuque, Iowa area, but as I searched through them I realized, there were no clues as to who any of these people were; no writing on them ... except the last one … a photograph of an older “priestly” looking gentleman.

I couldn't work up much enthusiasm for a photograph of an old man … not even a kindly old man, but the writing on the back did catch my eye.  It said “Bishop of Iowa” and that, I thought, was a lofty sounding title worth investigating.

Or maybe the kindly gent had visions of grandeur.

I took him home to find out.

At home, I studied the reverse side but wasn't able to make out the complete inscription. What I could make out was, “Faithfully yours …. Perry, Bishop of Iowa.”  I entered what I had and hit the search button.

And found the Right Reverend William Stevens Perry, II Bishop of Iowa.  There was no doubt I had the right Perry. The article was accompanied by the same photograph.

The amount of information I found on Bishop Perry was overwhelming.  I have tried to condense it but suffice to say, he was a very busy man.

William Stevens Perry was born in Providence, RI. January 22, 1832. He was the son of Steven Perry and Katharine Whittemore (Stevens) Perry.

He was of English origin, his first American ancestor on the paternal side, John Perry, having arrived in New England in 1636, a fellow passenger with John Eliot, and referred to as "cousin" in a preserved letter from “that distinguished Puritan Apostle.” His great-grandfather, Abel Perry, was an officer in the Revolutionary War. Among his maternal ancestors were William Stevens, of Falmouth, Maine, who served as a privateer's man on the frigate Boston, and the latter's son of the same name, who held a Lieutenant's commission in the United States Army during the War of 1812.

Perry graduated Harvard in 1854.  He studied theology at Virginia Theological Seminary, but finished his studies privately because of ill health.   He was ordained a deacon in 1857 and a priest the following year at St. Paul’s in Boston where he spent the first year of his ministry.    His parish ministries included positions at St. Luke‘s Church, Nashua, NH, St. Stephen‘s Church in Portland, Maine, St. Michael‘s Church in Litchfield, CT, and Trinity Church in Geneva, NY.

On Jan. 15, 1862, at the age of 24 the Rev. William Stevens Perry, rector of St. Stephen’s Church in Portland, Maine married Sara Abbott Woods Smith, 18, youngest daughter of Rev. Thomas Mather and Mary Greenleaf (Woods) Smith.  They were married in Rosse Chapel, Gambier, Ohio by Dr. Gregory Thurston Bedell.  

Among Sara’s paternal ancestors are some very interesting people … John Cotton, first minister in Boston, Increase Mather, President of Harvard College, Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, of Sharon, CT and the latter's son, the Hon. John Cotton Smith, 23rd  Governor of CT.

From 1871 - 1873 William Perry was a professor of history at Hobart College and served as president from April to Sept. of 1876 but resigned when he accepted the position as Bishop of Iowa.

Bishop Perry’s work in the Diocese of Iowa is impressive.  I still find it difficult to comprehend all this one man accomplished in his lifetime.

He is credited with reopening Griswold College, founding Katharine’s Hall for girls, Kemper Hall for boys, Lee Hall for training candidates for orders and several other schools throughout the dioceses.

Three hospitals were founded during his episcopate:  Cottage Hospital in Des Moines, St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids and St. Luke’s Hospital in Davenport, and two Homes for the Friendless were started, one in Dubuque and another in Davenport.

He created the Office of the Registrar to collect and preserve historical documents of the church;  created more than 30 new parishes and missions and ordained dozens of priests.

He was also a prolific writer and published more than 100 books and pamphlets.  famousamericans.net credits him with publishing more books “probably than any living clergyman in the Episcopal church.”

In his book Some Summer Days Abroad, published 1880, there is a dedication that reads:

Sara A. W. Perry:

The Best of Wives and the Best of Travelers

These Sketches of 

Days Spent Together Abroad

Are Inscribed.  

Mrs. Perry is described as a woman who was attractive, gentle and sweet, a gracious hostess and an avid supporter of her husbands plans, commending herself to all classes and conditions of men by loving words and deeds.  She shunned notoriety even for well doing.

In 1887 Rev. Perry was unanimously elected “Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia” … but he declined this honor, one that had never before been offered to any one other than one of English birth and allegiance.

In the latter part of his life William Perry suffered ill health and took several trips to Europe to recuperate.

While in England in 1897 he was invited to preach at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Chester Cathedral, St. Paul’s in Oxford, Kensington Palace Royal Chapel, Royal Savoy Chapel and Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon.

He returned from Europe with his wife and niece, passengers on the Lucania, reaching NY on Oct. 23, 1897.  Mrs. Perry had been ill, and in deference to her desire to return to her home her medical advisers in London consented to her sailing.  She reached the home of her aunt Mrs. Stevens in Philadelphia where she died at a few minutes before 3 o’clock Wednesday morning, Oct. 27th, 1897.

The Rev. and Mrs. Perry were married 35 years.

The following spring, on May 12, 1898 while on an Episcopal visitation to Dubuque, Iowa, Bishop Perry suffered a paralytic stroke and died the following day. His funeral was held in St. John’s Church in Dubuque.  He was buried in the churchyard of the Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

William Stevens Perry (January 22, 1832 – May 13, 1898), a 19th century bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, educator and author. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Iowa from 1876 - 1898 ...

and he is the man in the photograph.