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.

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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

Jesse Taylor (1791 - 1860)

When I found these photographs I thought all the information on the back would make them easy to trace.  I didn’t take two things into consideration, (1) Taylor is a common last name, and (2) I had no location.

It took me 3 years to find a Jesse Taylor that fit the information on the reverse, and even then there is still one “major” discrepancy.

I can find no evidence that Jesse Taylor (2) was a major.  He did fight in the War of 1812.  He did have a son who was known and buried as Major Jesse Taylor.

I believe the first photo is Jesse Taylor (2) (1791 - 1860), taken shortly before his death, and not Major Jesse Taylor (3) (1831 - 1903).

Two reasons …

I think the photograph of Jesse Taylor was taken circa 1860.  Jesse (2) would have been 69, his son, Jesse (3) would have been 29.

And “Major” is written by a different hand and appears on both photographs as if it were added later.

The information written on the reverse fits Jesse Taylor (2), the father.  His son, Major Jesse Taylor, didn't have any children.

It has been an interesting journey.  Its taken me from the Civil War to the War of 1812, and into the world of the southern elite, a world where wealthy planters formally presented their daughters to potential suitors at debutante balls.

A world where slavery existed.  Records indicate Jesse Taylor (1768), Jesse Taylor (1791) and Asa Watson were all slave holders, but the records are too vague, the names too numerous, and so I have included mention of only one slave; one I found specific reference to.

This is the story of Jesse Taylor (2), the son of Jesse Taylor (1) and Phoebe Moody / step son of Charles Campbell … grandson of Kichen Taylor and Elizabeth Ridley Browne … great grandson of Etheldred Taylor and Patience Kinchen.

Jesse Taylor (2) was a Virginian by birth, the only child of Phoebe and Jesse Taylor (1) who married June 17, 1789.  Jesse (2) would never know his father.  On Sept. 5, 1791 when he executes his will Jesse (1) is just 23 years old.  He has been married just over two years, and his wife Phoebe is pregnant with their first child.

In his will, it is written,  “I lend unto my loving wife Phebe Taylor One Negro Man Named Cattoe During her Natural life and I leave it in the power of My Executors if they think it proper to Sell the said Negro and to buy another with the Same Money that will Sute [suit] her Better to do it and after her Death I Do Give unto her Child that She is now pregnant with, the said Negro and all the profits that arises from the Estate to it [the child] and its heirs for ever …”

Jesse Taylor (2) was born the following month, on Oct. 26, 1791.

On Sept. 23, 1793, shortly before his 3rd birthday, Jesse’s mother Phoebe marries a second time to Charles Campbell in Lincoln County, KY.

As a young man Jesse fought in the War of 1812, seeing action in the Battle of New Orleans under Gen. Jackson.

In 1819, at the time of his marriage to Lydia Harris Williams, the daughter of Marmaduke Williams and Ede Harris, Jesse was living in Spring Creek, Madison Co., TN

Jesse’s wife, Lydia died Nov. 16, 1831, age 31 in Madison Co., TN

In 1834 Jesse Taylor (2) became a resident of Henderson County. The following year he became clerk of the county court, a position he held until 1859.

Jesse Taylor (2) was married twice; his second marriage on Aug. 15, 1835 was to Mrs. Mary May Newsom, a widow with a young daughter.

All of Jesse’s children that survived to adulthood appear to have married and married well.  The children of Jesse Taylor are …

• Elizabeth Ridley Brown Taylor, eldest daughter of Jesse and Lydia, born 1822, died Dec. 28, 1827 in Lexington, TN, at age 5.

• Ede Tennessee Taylor (1824-88), daughter of Jesse and Lydia, married Dec. 5, 1842, Asa Watson (1812-86), a wealthy Mississippi delta planter and world traveler.  Formerly a merchant in New York, Asa came south, married Ede Taylor, a cultivated, refined Southern lady and became a planter who identified himself thoroughly with the people of the South.  In the 1850s Asa bought 3,840 acres including the Sulphur Springs tract and built the famed Seven Gables Hotel at Montvale Springs in Tennessee.  Seven Gables was a two-hundred-foot-long, three-story frame structure with 125 rooms, and porches that ran the full length of each floor.  In addition there were 60 cottages, and throughout the property he planted trees that he collected in his travels.   Known as the "Saratoga of the South," the hotel attracted a clientele of southern planters and urban elites who sought to escape the malarial lowlands during summer.  London newspapers touted the Seven Gables as having an atmosphere pure and invigorating, scenery that was romantic and picturesque, and one of the most magnificent views in the United States.

• (Major) Jesse Taylor (1831 - 1903), son of Jesse and Lydia.  A Confederate soldier, Capt. Jesse Taylor, commanded the heavy artillery at Fort Henry during the bombardment February 1862, and was surrendered at that place.  He married Lucy Browning of Kentucky.  Lucy, a teacher, had nursed soldiers during the war.  After the war she resumed teaching near Mifflin, Tennessee.  She married Major Taylor in 1864.  In the 1870’s Jesse and Lucy Taylor founded the Springdale Institute, a school for young ladies.  Lucy’s pupils came from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, and she was said to have instructed some of the first ladies of the old commonwealth of Kentucky.

• Mary Leticia Taylor (July 18, 1836 - July 28, 1913), daughter of Jesse and Mary. She married Nathaniel Terry Buckley (June 25, 1834 - July 17, 1892).   In 1880 I find Nathaniel Buckley with 233 acres /100 tillable / total value $3500.

John May Taylor

• (Judge) John May Taylor (1838 - 1911), son of Jesse and Mary. He was described as 5’6”, with a fair complexion and blue eyes.   He was a Confederate soldier, judge, and politician.   John M. was educated at Lexington Academy and Union University at Murfreesboro. He enlisted Aug. 7, 1861 at age 23.  In the same year he took part in the organization of Henderson County Sharpshooters, Company K., 27th Tennessee Regiment of infantry and was elected First Lieutenant and upon the organization of the Regiment was made Captain.  He was wounded three times, including the shattering of his right thigh bone, an injury that left him with a limp.  He surrendered with Gen. Richard Taylor’s command May 12, 1865.

• Catherine Ann Taylor, daughter of Jesse and Mary,  (June 8, 1842 - July 12, 1925) married Dr. Patrick H. Mallory (1837 - 1873) and moved to Bell Co. TX.  She was widowed at age 30, in 1873.  Dr. and Mrs. Mallory had 2 sons who survived to adulthood;  Patrick and Jesse T. Mallory. In 1908 both of her adult sons and her two grandsons died.   Her youngest son Jesse died of typhoid in September of 1908.  Shortly after Jesse’s death, Patrick’s 2 young sons, Pat Jr. 8, and his younger brother, Marcus, also died of typhoid.  It was said to be typhoid fever of the most violent form. And that “the poison got into their systems through the drinking water, surface drainage having likely seeped into the well.”  Ann’s oldest son, Patrick died 2 months later in November, 1908.  His cause of death is listed as exhaustion / paresis.  Patrick was survived by his wife, Jeanette.  Catherine Ann died July, 1925, at age 82 after being hit by an automobile while crossing the road near her home in Denton, TX.  Her physician (who was also a  friend), Dr. Batte  filled out her death certificate and across it he wrote in heavy script, “Murdered by a driver.”

Charles Campbell Taylor

• Charles Campbell Taylor (named for Jesse’s stepfather), born 1845, was the youngest son of Jesse and Mary.  Charles was a Confederate soldier.  He served with Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.  He was married Nov. 30, 1875 to Mary Penn, a sister of Baptist evangelist William Penn.  After their marriage they moved to Temple, TX and in 1892 to Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  They had one daughter, Corrie.

• (step-daughter) Nancy Tennessee Newsom (Sept. 7, 1828 - May 25, 1911), daughter of Mary and her 1st husband Nesbitt Newsom married Rev. Benjamin Allison Hayes Dec. 22, 1847. In 1870 B. A. Hayes is found married to T. Hayes, with 3 servants, $20,000 in real estate and $2000 in personal property.

Jesse Taylor died of heart dropsy at age 69.  At the time of his death in 1860 he was considered one of the town’s worthiest and most esteemed men. He and his wife Mary, their son, John M. Taylor, and other members of the John May Taylor family are buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Lexington.

Ellen Louise (Foss) Andrews

Ellen Louise Foss was born Sept. 7, 1839 in Elmore, Lamoille, VT., the 7th of eleven children born to Luther Foss, a farmer and his wife, Minea Atwood (Andrews) Foss. 

I believe this photograph was taken in 1867.  Ellen would have been 28 at the time, married 9 years, with 2 young sons.

A young woman in the 1860s, she looked the epitome of a pioneer woman as she gazed off into the distance; the Civil War years barely behind her.

Strong, stoic, practical.

Ellen Foss was well acquainted with loss.  

In  Feb. 1844, when she was 4 ½ years old, her younger sister Martha Ann died at age 2 ½ yrs.

A few years later Ellen lost another sibling, an older brother, Luther Hale, age 19, died July 21, 1848.

When Ellen was 19 she married her 1st cousin  Christopher Atwood Adams Andrews Jr. 22, of Scituate, Massachusetts.  They were married on July 31, 1859 in Elmore, Lamoille, VT.  (Christopher’s father C. A. A. Andrews Sr. and Ellen’s mother, Minea Atwood Andrews were brother and sister, the eldest son and daughter of William Andrews and Thankful Atwood).

For several years following their marriage Ellen and Christopher made their home in Massachusetts. Their first child, William Luther Andrews was born June 28, 1861 in Charlestown, MA, shortly after the start of the Civil War.

Christopher’s Civil War years remain a mystery.  I haven’t been able to find any record of him having served in the war, even though I was able to find three of his younger brothers, all serving in Co. A, 35th Reg’t, Massachusetts Infantry.  

• James Theodore Johnson Andrews, born June 14, 1843 in Massachusetts. He enlisted Aug. 9, 1862 as a private in Capt. S. H. Andrews, Co. A, 35th Reg’t,Massachusetts Infantry and died in camp from an overdose of chloroform, 6 months later on Feb. 4, 1863 near Falmouth VA., age 19 years. 

• William Baker Damon Andrews was born on April 10, 1842 in Newton, Massachusetts. He enlisted in Co. A., 35th Reg't of Massachusetts Volunteers as a private July 23, 1862; was promoted to Sergeant and killed in action.  He died of a gunshot wound to the neck September 30, 1864 near Petersburg, VA., age 22 years. 

• Reuben Snow Hayden Andrews, born Jan. 15, 1839 in Boston, MA.; enlisted August 2, 1862, in Co. A, 35th Reg't, Massachusetts Volunteers, later known as 35th Massachusetts Infantry and was discharged near Alexandria VA. June 9, 1865.

I haven’t been able to determine if Christopher fought in the war or remained in Massachusetts but I did find the answer to one question I had.

I wanted to know if  Capt. S. H. Andrews, Co. A., 35th Massachusetts Infantry and Reuben S. H. Andrews, Co. A., 35th Massachusetts Infantry were the same person.

When I purchased Ellen’s tintype, there was a cdv up for auction signed "Capt. S. H. Andrews, 35th Mass." and he was identified in the description of Ellen, as her brother.

This is not the same photograph that was auctioned. It is a photograph of Capt. S. H. Andrews that is held by the Wilson Creek National Battlefield and is used with their permission.

(Capt. S.H. Andrews WICR 31860) in the collection of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. 
 Image courtesy of the National Park Service.

A search proved Ellen didn’t have a brother named S.H Andrews but she did have a brother-in-law, Rueben S. H. Andrews.

Were they the same man?

They were not, but Reuben Snow Hayden Andrews and Stephen H. Andrews, son of Stephen Snow Andrews were related.

Pvt. Rueben S. H. Andrews and Capt. S. H. Andrews, were cousins.  How distant is for someone with more patience than me to unravel … their grandfather’s were brothers.

Capt. Stephen H. Andrews was born in Massachusetts, Nov., 1835.  His father, Stephen Snow Andrews, died when he was young and in 1845 his mother Rebecca married Moses Dill.  In 1850, Stephen, 14 and his sister Rudencia, 12 were living in the combined household of their step-father Moses Dill, a trader, and their mother Rebecca, but by age 16, Stephen was living on his own and supporting himself working as a store clerk.

In March 1857 Stephen, age 21, arrived in Leavenworth, KS, bought a team and wagon and settled on Smoky Hill, 7 miles above Ft. Riley where he cleared the timber, built a cabin, and began improvements to the land.

"But his sympathies were strong on the side of the Union" and at the start of the Civil War, in May 1861 he enlisted as first sergeant in Co B, 2nd Kansas Infantry.  His first experience of an important battle was at Wilson’s Creek, Aug. 10, 1861.  He mustered out Oct. 31, 1861 and was honorably discharged.

In  Dec. 1861 he returned to Massachusetts, where he was authorized by the governor to raise a company and became captain of Co. A, 35th Massachusetts Infantry, his commission dating from Aug. 1, 1862.

This would be about the time his cousins; Reuben, William and James enlisted.

Capt. S. H. Andrews and his men took part with the Army of the Potomac, in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam and Fredericksburg.   During the Battle of Antietam Andrews was wounded and never fully recovered.  In the spring of 1863 he took part in the siege of Vicksburg.  He resigned his commission April 24th, 1863, owing to the impairment of his health by the hardships of army life, and returned to Kansas.

Reuben, the only one of the three Andrews brothers in the 35th Reg't to survive the war, was discharged near Alexandria, Virginia and returned to his parents home in Massachusetts.

In the 1865 census Christopher and Ellen are living in Charlestown, MA. with their 4 yr. old son William.  Christopher’s occupation is shown as house painter.  On August 22, 1865 Ellen gave birth to their second son, Theodore Foss Andrews.

A few days after her son's birth, on August 27, 1865, Ellen’s brother, Benjamin Perry Foss, a 29 yr. old farmer in Hyde Park died of typhoid fever.

November, 1866 was a month for marriages.

On Nov. 15, 1866 Christopher’s brother Reuben married Lucy Hayden in Scituate, Massachusetts.

And on Nov. 23, 1866 Ellen’s youngest sister Cordelia A. Foss married John Foss, who had served in Co. M, Vermont 11th Heavy Artillery.

The following year, in 1867 Ellen and Christopher moved with their 2 young sons from Charlestown, Massachusetts to Wolcott, Vermont.

I think Ellen’s photograph and the previous one of Cordelia were taken around this time; after Ellen and Christopher moved to Vermont in 1867 and before the death of Ellen’s 18 year old sister Cordelia Foss on February 26, 1868.

In 1869 Ellen and her family moved again, this time to North Hyde Park, Vermont where three more children were born.

Charles Christopher Andrews b. Mar. 5, 1870 Hyde Park, Lamoille, VT
Bertha Louise Andrews b. Mar. 25, 1873 Hyde Park, Lamoille, VT
Orton Grant Andrews b. Jan. 27, 1879 Hyde Park, Lamoille, VT

Christopher and Ellen lived in North Hyde Park, Vermont until 1886.

From 1886 - 1907 they lived in  Hyde Park, Massachusetts.

In 1893 their son Charles Christopher (23) married  Mary Elizabeth Irving and in 1895 son Theodore Foss Andrews (29) married Mabel Spencer but for the most part Christopher and Ellen’s children don’t appear to have been eager to leave the nest.

The 1900 census shows son William 38, daughter Bertha 27 and son Orton 21, all still living at home.  William’s occupation, like his father’s is painter / paper hanger.  Orton is a clerk.

Christopher A. A. Andrews died January 13, 1904 at the age of 67 yrs. 1 mo. 26 days in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. His cause of death was cardiac dilatation, a condition, his doctor noted, he’d had for several years.

Ellen Louise (Foss) Andrews
Born:  September 7, 1839   Elmore, Lamoille, VT
Died:  December 1, 1907  19 Winslow St., Hyde Park, MA
Age:  68 yrs.  2 mos. 24 days
Cause of Death:  Primary: Atherosclerosis /  Contributory: Acute Indigestion
Burial:  Fairview Cemetery Boston

Sources:
Massachusettes Soldiers, Sailors & Marines in the Civil War

familysearch.org

Trans-Mississippi Theater Photo Archive

Portrait and Biographical Record of Leavenworth, Douglas and Franklin Counties, Kansas

Corilla / Cordelia Foss

Corilla / Cordelia A. Foss was born April 29, 1849 in Elmore, Lamoille, VT.   The youngest of the 11 children of farmer, Luther Foss (1799 - 1879) and his wife, Minea Atwood (Andrews) Foss (1806 - 1880)

Early census records indicate that when Cordelia was living in her parents household she was identified as Corilla.  Later records, after her marriage, show her name as Cordelia.  

For the sake of consistency and because the tintype I have identifies her as Cordelia, I will refer to her as Cordelia.

Cordelia’s ten older siblings were:

• Mina Amelia Foss (1826 -1896)
• William Andrews Foss (1827-1893) 
• Luther Hale Foss (1829 - 1848) died at age 18 and before Cordelia was born
• Thankful Atwood Foss (1831 -1900) 
• Harriet Malvina Foss (1833 - 1908) 
• Benjamin Perry Foss (1835 - 1865).  A farmer in Hyde Park, he died at 29 of typhoid fever.  
• Ellen Louise Foss (1839-1907) whose tintype was found with Cordelia’s will be the subject of a separate blog. 
• Martha Ann Foss (July 4, 1841 - Feb. 9, 1844) died at age 2 yrs. 7 mos.  
• Mary Jane Foss (1843 - 1926)
• George Washington Foss (1846 - 1930)

Cordelia A. Foss (17)  married John Merrill Foss (21) on Nov. 25, 1866.  John, the son of William & Mary A. (Fellows) Foss was born in Whitefield, NH, Dec. 1, 1844 and served his country during the Civil War, being a member of Co. M, 11th VT. Heavy Artillery.

His record … according to various sources, list his service as …

Foss, John M., age: 18, cred.  Eden, VT; service: enl 9/1/63, m/i 10/7/63, PVT, Co. M, 11th VT INF, pr SGT 11/29/63, red 1/11/64, pr Hospital Steward 1/1/65, m/o 8/25/65

1st Regiment, Vermont Heavy Artillery
Side: Union
Company: A,M
Soldier‘s Rank In: Private
Soldier‘s Rank Out: Corporal

My original information said that Cordelia and John were cousins and because both of their last names were Foss, it did seem likely but I haven't been able to find the connection.

Cordelia’s older sister Ellen (Foss) Andrews (who did marry her 1st cousin, C. A. A. Andrews) moved from Charlestown, MA to Wolcott, VT in 1867.

The tintypes I purchased of Cordelia and Ellen were taken at E. N. Porter’s New Gallery, Morrisville, VT.  The  embossed design on the sleeves is identical, making me think they were taken at the same time, possibly as early as Nov. 1866 when Cordelia and John were married but more likely in 1867 after Ellen moved back to Vermont and before Cordelia‘s death in February of 1868.

Which would make Cordelia and Ellen about 18 and 28 years old at the time these photographs were taken.

I wasn't able to uncover any information as to Cordelia’s cause of death.  I did find mention of her in the obituary for her husband, John Merrill Foss, who remarried later the same year.   He married Harriet Louise Masure of Concord, N.H. on Dec.1, 1868 (his 24th birthday), and to their union were born six children, three of whom died young and three who survived to adulthood.

The Morrisville Messenger obituary, dated April 16, 1910 describes John Merrill Foss (65) as “very well known hereabouts, having been a resident of this town since 1894, coming from North Hyde Park, and having acted as traveling salesman and school teacher in different towns in the county.”

But of Cordelia herself and a life that spanned a mere 18 years, there is very little to mark her time on this earth ...

Cordelia A. Foss
Born Apr. 29, 1849 Elmore, Lamoille, Vermont
Married John Merrill Foss on November 25, 1866
Died Feb. 26, 1868, age 18 years, Morristown, Lamoille Co. VT