MICHIGAN FAMILY TRAILS : Cora's scrapbook

Showing posts with label Cora's scrapbook. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK - A letter to Cora from her fiancé Thomas Hall – 30 Jan 1877

Please click on this image to enlarge it,
if you wish to see Thomas' letters close up

This is the story of my journey through Cora’s scrapbook. Cora is my husband, Ron's, paternal great grandmother. I will give a link to all posts at the beginning of each new post. Here’s that link My posts about Cora's Scrapbook

It’s such a pleasure to find letters written by our ancestors. Not only do we get to see their handwriting, but we also get a glance into their feelings, perspective and life.

Today I’m sharing a letter written to Cora E. Brown from her soon to be husband, Thomas C. Hall. The letter is dated 30 Jan 1877 and we know they were married just 6 days later, on 5 Feb 1877.

I have transcribed the letter and share that here with you. I don’t absolutely know what the word “Poksie” at the top of the first page means. Since the couple were in New York, could it have meant Poughkeepsie?

A search on Google maps reveals Poughkeepsie to be 116 miles south of Saratoga Springs, New York, where the couple were married.

Thomas’ occupation on many of the records I have is Baggage Handler or Baggage Agent for a railroad company. I expect that job took him away from home on a regular basis.

If you’d like to read about Thomas & Cora’s marriage click here CORA’S SCRAPBOOK–Her wedding cake & marriage to Thomas C. Hall–1877, New York.

Thomas shares some very strong feelings for Cora in his words. At the end of the letter, he bids farewell to her (as a correspondent), knowing they will soon be living together as man and wife.

Without further ramblings from me, here is Thomas’ sweet letter to Cora.

Poksie

Jany 30^th 77

My own,

Your dear and most welcome letter reached me yesterday morning, and again one today. Now I am satisfied, but I was not when the postman came around Monday morn and left no letter for me. I was exceeding worried, but it seems he knew I was expecting a letter and retained it for a while for the purpose of teasing me. You may just bet your last sixpence I was pleased to get it and to receive the assurance I was soon to get another added feast to my enjoyment.

Oh my poor patient long suffering darling. I can scarcely realize you are so soon to be mine.

This in all probability is my last letter to Cora Brown and I would again assure you of the depth and devotion of my love for you.

It seems impossible for one to love more, and I would have you to fully realize and understand that my whole life shall be devoted to the pleasant task of adding to your happiness.

I find it will be impossible for me to come on the early train Sat night but if I were you I would not wait for me. You had better go to bed, don’t you think so? I will get white gloves and wear white neck tie – I like you wish the affair was over but it will soon be, and then you may love and be gay to your hearts content, and to love and obey I think is your intent.

When I woke this morning my first thought was only one week from today and then I shall have the task of rousing Cora from her slumbers by my side and I was happy in the thought.

And now as a correspondent of Miss Cora Brown I would say farewell farewell forever.

Remember me with love to all

Your own affect

(almost husband)

Tom

Do you have letters to or from any of your ancestors? If so, I’d love to hear about them.

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

CORA'S SCRAPBOOK ~ The marriage of her parents - Charles H.K. Brown & Cemanthe Avery - 1851 in New York

This is the story of my journey through Cora’s scrapbook. Cora Emma Brown Hall is my husband's paternal great grandmother. She created a scrapbook during her life and it was passed down through the generations. It contains an amazing amount of family and general history.

Here’s that link to the posts I've written so far

My posts about Cora's Scrapbook

Today's item from Cora’s scrapbook is a letter certifying the marriage of her parents Charles H.K. Brown and Cemanthe Avery.

My husband’s paternal 2^nd great grandparents were married in Saratoga Springs, New York on 12 Jun 1851.

Charles H. K. Brown was 25 years old and Cemanthe Avery was 20 years old. Her parents were Frederick AVERY (abt 1810-bet 1850 & 1868) & Emeline CASE (abt 1809 to 1889)

I don’t have any information as to who Charles H. K. Brown’s parents were. I’d certainly like to know, but so far my research has come up empty. If you happen to uncover any information about his family/parents, please get in touch with me.

Until seeing this letter/record in Cora’s scrapbook, I had not located any other marriage records for Charles & Cemanthe. So, of course, I was excited.

This letter gives me a date and a place. I also have a clue as to the church this couple may have been affiliated with, the Pastor’s name and names of witnesses. That’s quite a bundle of good genealogical information.

Transcription of letter:

This certifies that Charles H. K. Brown and Cemanthe Avery were united in marriage at Saratoga Springs on the 12^th day of June A.D. 1851; and that record of the same has been made in the Register of the Presbyterian Church.

Signed

John Woodbridge, Afficiating & Pastor

Given at Saratoga Springs, Sept. 2, 1851

Names of witnesses – William & Charlotte Ayers

What questions does this prompt me to ask?

· Which Presbyterian Church did John Woodbridge officiate as Pastor? Was there only one Presbyterian Church in Saratoga Springs at the time?

· Who are William & Charlotte Ayers? There are no Ayers in my database/tree. Were they friends or relatives?

· Would it be possible to locate the actual church record for this marriage?

· What other types of records would tell me more about the Pastor?

Of course I will try to find answers for those questions.

Please check back tomorrow for my post about what further information I was able to locate and how many of my questions I got answers for.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

CORA'S SCRAPBOOK ~ Charles & Daisy Hall move their family to San Diego in 1913 - Cora also went with them

Today’s entry from Cora’s Scrapbook is a newspaper article about Charles, Daisy and their daughter and son moving from Tarentum, Pennsylvania to San Diego, California. Cora, who is Charles’ mother, moved with them.

Here is the newspaper article. You can see how yellowed that original page from the scrapbook is. I cropped out the articles and display them below the original page.

(PLEASE CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Transcription - St. Barnabas Church Parish hall on Fourth avenue was the scene of a very pleasant affair last evening, when the people of the parish gathered for a farewell reception to Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Hall and Mrs. Cora Hall. The reception was very informal and everyone enjoyed the evening. Mr. Hall has been a lay-reader in the parish for the whole of his stay in this vicinity, a matter of _____effecient service in assisting the different rectors at the regular services and taking the full order of services during interims between rectors and vacation periods. Mr. Hall has also been the director of the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew for eight years. He was also church organist and secretary of the Sunday School. Impromptu speeches were made by T.N. Gummert, C.F. Colls, Mrs. C.L. Leydic and the Rev. H. G. Bulsch, all appreciative of the long and faithful service of Mr. Hall. In token of their love and good wishes the parish gave to Mr. Hall a sterling set of knives, forks and spoons, made by Gorham. The parish wishes him Godspeed and prays that he may be the recipient of God's blessing in whatsoever he may do. St. Barnabas' loss is the gain of whatsoever parish in the city of San Diego, California Mr. Hall may connect himself.

I am always curious as to how two people meet. I wish I had the story for my own grandparents and how they met. In this case I wonder how Charles, from Saratoga Springs, New York met Daisy Bright, who was born and raised in Tarentum, Pennsylvania. The distance between the two cities in 489.6 miles

In 1900 Charles was a Bookkeeper for a railroad, still living in Saratoga Springs. The couple married three years later, in Oct 1903.

Their daughter, Dorothy Louise Hall was born 2 Jun 1905 in Pennsylvania. Their son, Robert Walton Hall, Sr. was born 7 Jun 1907 in Tarentum, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

Charles worked as an Assistant Superintendent for a Steel Work company according to the 1910 census. Daisy was a homemaker, and Charles’ mother, Cora (the author of our scrapbook) was living with the family. She had been widowed in 1897.

What prompted Charles & Daisy to pick up their household and family and move all the way to the west coast? I know that Cora’s brother Albert Walton Brown moved to San Diego from Saratoga Springs. Did he precede them?

NOTE: My question prompted me to go and look for city directories from San Diego for the years 1913 onward.

I always love it when I am writing a blog post and a question I have prompts me to dig further. In this case I was rewarded for my efforts.

As it turns out Cora’s brother, Albert W. Brown is listed in the San Diego city directory in 1912 and 1913 and forward. So, he DID precede Charles & Daisy & family to San Diego.

In fact, in viewing the 1913 San Diego directory I see Charles working at the same company as Albert Brown. And another interesting fact – they are working for a company called Hazard-Gould & Co. Gould as you know, being my maiden name. Charles is listed as a Dept. Mgr. and Albert is listed as an Elev Opr.

On the left is the directory listing for Albert W. Brown (Cora's brother) and on the right is Chas S. Hall - you can see they are working for the same company

By 1914 Charles, his family, his mother, Cora and his Uncle Albert (reminds me of a Beatles song) are all living together at 1813 Altura Place.

I have taught a couple of classes about blogging. I always tell people that blogging can make us better researchers. Or, at the very least lead us to new information about our ancestors. When we are preparing a blog post we want to present the most thorough information possible. This is not the first time that a blog post has encouraged me to dig deeper.

There are many more items in Cora’s scrapbook, so stay tuned.

To read all my previous posts from Cora – please click here Cora’s Scrapbook.

If you have any information to add to this post or are connected with any of those mentioned here, please get in touch. Let’s exchange information.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Friday, February 25, 2022

CORA'S SCRAPBOOK~Deed of Lot for Greenridge Cemetery Saratoga Springs NY - Apr 1897

This is the story of my journey through Cora’s scrapbook. Cora Emma Brown is my husband's paternal great grandmother. She was born 3 Aug 1854 in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York. She married Thomas Hall (1845-1897) on 5 Feb 1877 in Saratoga Springs, Saratoga, New York. They had one son, Charles Schuyler Hall (1878-1953).

If you'd like to read all my posts about Cora, I will give a link at the beginning of each new post. Here’s that link My posts about Cora's Scrapbook

Today I’m continuing the story of Cora’s scrapbook and featuring the Deed of Lot in Greenridge Cemetery dated 6 Apr 1897.

Cora’s husband, Thomas Cornelius Hall had died in Jan 1897. To read more about Thomas you can click here. Civil War Pension File. Thomas was 52 years old at the time of his death. He had worked as a Railroad Baggage Handler. He and Cora had one child, a son, Charles Schuyler Hall (my husband’s grandfather).

This deed is dated 6 Apr 1897 and is for Plot K, Lot No. 9. The amount paid was $193 to Ellen M. Ames. Cora’s signature is on this page (I have seen her signature on other items and I recognize it).

Recorded on Association Book, Record of Deeds, No. 4, Page 183.

Elizabeth M. Hyde, Recorder of Deeds, G.C.A.

What does this cemetery deed look like?

Do you have any cemetery deeds from your own family?

Here is the one page deed.

Here is my transcription.

Know all men by thse presents, that Ellen C. Ames, Executrix of the Town of Saratoga Springs in the County of Saratoga and State of New York of the first part, in consideration of the sum of One hundred ninety three Dollars, to her in hand paid by Cora E. Hall of the second part, at or before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof hereby acknowledged, has granted and conveyed and by these presents does grant and convey, unto the said party of the second part, her heirs and assigns the certain burial Lot or Plot known as Plot K Lot No 9 on a map or plan of the land of said Association, made by George L. Ames, Superintendent of grounds, and filed in the office of the Clerk of Saratoga County, described as follow: The N.E. Angle is situated S 17’-30’ W distant 127”-3’ from monument No 8 thence N 89° 30° W 25’-7’ thence S. 42° E. 26’-10’ thence S. 89°-30’ E. 7’-50” thence N. 0°-30 E. 20’-0”. Containing 386 Sq. ft. of land @ 50¢ per square foot $193.00 together with all the rights of the said party of the first part, under or by virtue of a certain deed made by the Greenridge Cemetery Association to George L. Ames

Greenridge Cemetery is located at 17 Greenridge Place, Saratoga Springs, New York.

Here is a record of Thomas’ burial, from the cemetery website. Cora is not listed in the burials. Possibly because she died in 1933 in San Diego, California and her ashes were transported back to Greenridge.

He and Cora are buried in the Old Cemetery Section. Here is where that is located.

I had located Thomas & Cora’s burial place on FindAGrave some time ago. But, having this additional piece of information adds to the evidence and gives us more information.

Imagine paying $193 for a burial plot.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK ~ A letter from her husband Thomas to his son, Charles

Today I am presenting one of the letters I found when I went through Cora’s wonderful scrapbook. I’m so very happy that she preserved these pieces of family history for us.

Cora & Thomas only had one child, their son Charles. There are, of course, many references to him in the scrapbook. This one is particularly sweet, as it’s a letter from Thomas to his son Charles.

There is no date on it. Thomas mentions Christmas, so we know what time of year it was. It has to be before Thomas died on 18 Jan 1897, age 52. Charles was only 18 when his father died.

(Please click on this image to enlarge it)

Where was Charles when his father wrote to him? From the sentence in the letter, “hoping he has a splendid time,” we must imagine he was on some sort of outing. Perhaps attending an out of town event? Maybe as I examine other documents in the scrapbook I will come to know the answer?

I do think it’s a sweet letter from father to son. I wish I could have known Thomas. He sounds like a loving, caring father.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Monday, May 17, 2021

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK ~ A day of the week calculator for the years 1801-1900

If you'd like to read all my posts about Cora, I will give a link at the beginning of each new post. Here’s that link My posts about Cora's Scrapbook

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written about Cora’s scrapbook. Today I present something she had pasted into her book that allows you to calculate the day of the week using this chart.

The instructions for using the chart on in a boxed area on the left hand side and read as follows:

NOTE – To ascertain any day of the week in any year of the present century, first look in the table of years for the year required, and under the months are figures which refer to the corresponding figures at the head of the columns of days below. For example: To know what day of the week May 4 will be on in the year 1870, in the table of years look for 1870, and in a parallel line, under May is fig. 7, which directs to col. 7, in which it will be seen that May 4 falls on a Wednesday.

This is quite clever. Sometimes I think “how did they figure this or that out, back in the old days?” It seems they could always find a way.

Of course today we can Google the question or ask Alexa, or use our genealogy software programs.

I tested this little handy chart using my Legacy calendar feature. I picked several months & days in different years. The chart was correct each time.

Why do we as genealogists need to know the days of the week? I find for me, it most always has to do with a newspaper article or obituary or death notice. You’ll find the article and it will say “last Sunday” or “next Wednesday.” We are left to figure out those dates based on the date the newspaper was published.

If you need a quick way to find days of the week in the 19th century, you might want to print this out and keep it handy.

What other reasons can you think of to use a day of the week calculator?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Saturday, March 27, 2021

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK ~ The obituary of her Aunt, Caroline Matilda Snyder Avery in 1885

This is the story of my journey through Cora’s scrapbook. I will give a link to all posts at the beginning of each new post. Here’s that link My posts about Cora's Scrapbook

Today I’m sharing a death notice and obituary found in the scrapbook. Cora’s Uncle was Calvin Montgomery AVERY (1833-1891), brother to her mother, Cemanthe M. Avery (1831-1899).

For reference here is how my husband, Ron is related to Caroline Matilda Snyder.

Caroline married his paternal 2nd great granduncle Calvin M. Avery. Calvin’s sister Cemanthe Avery is Ron’s 2nd great grandmother and her daughter is Cora, the author of the scrapbook I write about. So, it makes perfect sense that Cora would have newspaper articles such as obituaries in this scrapbook. I’m so glad she saved these items.

Calvin married Caroline Matilda Snyder sometime between 1860 and 1866. They had one child, Edith August “Gussie” Avery born about 1866, died 1915.

Glued on one of the scrapbook pages is the death notice and obituary for Caroline Snyder Avery. There is no mention of which newspaper published these notices. I have checked Genealogy Bank, Newspapers.com and Old Fulton Postcards to try and find the publication, but have not been successful…..yet.

Here are the death notice and obituary as they appear in the scrapbook, with no editing or enhancing.

(Please click on any image to enlarge it)

Here is the death notice cropped from the page and below it my transcription.

DIED - AVERY - In Saratoga Springs, at No. 69 Lawrence street, Nov. 23, 1885, of peritonitis, Caroline Matilda Snyder, wife of Calvin M. Avery, in the 46th year of her age.

Funeral services at Bethesda Episcopal church, Nov. 26 12:30

Here is the obituary cropped from the page in the scrapbook and my transcription below.

Mrs. Caroline Matilda, wife of Calvin M. Avery, died at her residence, No. 69 Lawrence street at an early hour yesterday evening from peritonitis. She was taken ill in August last but had nearly recovered. On Tuesday afternoon last she was seized with the disease which carried her off. On Saturday last she was more comfortable, but during the night a change for the worse was observed and she gradually failed until death came to her relief. Her husband and one child, Miss Gussie, survive her. The funeral will be held on Thursday next at 12:30 o'clock at Bethesda Episcopal church.

Caroline was only 46 when she died of Peritonitis. Her husband, Calvin Avery died 6 years later in 1891 at age 52. Caroline’s daughter, Edith Augusta “Gussie” Avery was 19 years old when her mother died.

Without Cora saving these items, I would not have the death notice or obituary. I’m so grateful for this information. I have so much more to share from this wonderful resource.

As always, if you are related to anyone mentioned in this post or any of my posts, please get in touch with me, I’d love to exchange information. Additionally, if you have a correction to anything I’ve shared, please let me know.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Friday, February 26, 2021

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK ~ Are you an Avery? This is a query on a page in her scrapbook

This is the story of my journey through Cora’s scrapbook. I will give a link to all posts at the beginning of each new post. Here’s that link My posts about Cora's Scrapbook

AVERY is a name I’m more than familiar with from researching my husband, Ron’s family. In this case, it is Cora’s mother who is an Avery. I’ve been able to find out very little about this branch of Cora’s family. But here is what I do know.

Cora’s mother was Cemanthe M. Avery (1831 to 26 Mar 1899). She married Charles Henry Brown or as he was also know C.H.K. Brown (1826 – 14 Apr 1903) on 12 Jun 1851 in Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Co., New York. This couple had 2 known children, Cora Emma Brown, the creator of the scrapbook I write about, and Albert Walton Brown (1856-1937).

Cemanthe Averey’s parents were, Frederick Avery (need confirmation on birth & death dates) and Emeline CASE (about 1809-14 Dec 1889). I know of 4 children born to this couple – An unknown child, Mary Avery (1826-after 1915) who married a MAYNARD, Cemanthe Avery and Calvin Montgomery Avery (about 1833-22 Dec 1891).

That’s as far as I have been able to trace the AVERY surname back. I haven’t fared any better on Cora’s surname/maiden name BROWN either. Here’s the pedigree view for Cora from my Legacy program. I have tried very hard over the past 15 years to track down these families and have obviously not been successful. I’m hoping information from Cora’s scrapbook will help me with that.

Glued to one of the pages in the scrapbook was this notice.

There is no indication of where this inquiry was posted. Did it appear in a newspaper or publication of some other kind? Let’s go over what it says.

ARE YOU AN AVERY? DID YOU MARRY AN AVERY/ WAS YOUR MOTHER AN AVERY?

If so, please send your name and address to Elroy M. Avery, 657 Woodland Hills Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. He is writing a history of the Avery family. Please give the full names ofyour or your wife’s parents (not initials merely), of grand parents in the Avery line, etc., as far back as you can. He will be glad to send you a printed blank for the complete record of yourself and family. Then hand this card to

SOME OTHER AVERY

On each side of this inquiry are the following notations.

On the left side - If you see an Avery marriage or obituary notice, please send a marked copy of the paper containing it.

On the right side – Also send the names and post-office addresses of other Averys and Avery descendants.

My first inclination when reading this is to find out who Elroy M. Avery of 657 Woodland Hills Ave., in Cleveland, Ohio is? And second, is to try and locate a book about the history of the Avery family. Those will be my next steps.

I have no idea what other possible family gems are contained in this scrapbook left to us by Ron’s great grandmother, but you can be assured I will be sharing them all here.

That being said. If anyone reading this is an Avery or married to an Avery, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Friday, February 5, 2021

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK–Her wedding cake & marriage to Thomas C. Hall–1877, New York

In all of Cora’s Scrapbook, there were only a handful of images. One of those was a cabinet card with the image of a cake. I might always have wondered who’s cake it was and what the occasion might have been. Thankfully, Cora wrote on the back of the card and identified it as her own wedding cake from 5 Feb 1877. I was pretty excited when I turned that image over and found the writing.

“My wedding cake Feby 5th 1877, Cora E. B.”

(Please click on any image to enlarge it)

The cabinet card from from L.V. Myers, Artist, No. 9 Grand Hotel Site, Opposite Congress Park, Saratoga Springs. And that is the exact place you will find Thomas C. Hall and family during this time of their lives. Saratoga Springs, New York.

I had found out the date and time of Thomas and Cora’s marriage a couple of years ago. I make research notes as I’m working on my ancestors. I have found these notes invaluable over the years.

TIP: I learned the hard way that I wasn’t going to remember what I’d done or what I’d located on a particular ancestor. You think you will, but most of the time you won’t. Sometimes we move on to some other family and may not revisit an ancestor for several years. In this case for Cora & Thomas’ wedding here are the notes I’d made.

Dates based on her being single and living with her parents in the 1875 NY state census. And then being married to Thomas with a 2 yr. old son in 1880.

12/28/16 - I've located a NY State census with what I believe to be a record of Thomas C. Hall living in Saratoga Springs, NY as a boarder with the Granger family. He is working as a Clerk. His age is listed as 30 and born in New York.

2/10/17 - In reviewing Cora's CW widow's pension file, the date of her marriage to Thomas C. Hall was 5 Feb 1877.

There it was, the wedding date and how I had figured it out. I did not, however, have a place for the wedding. That was about to change thanks to another item I found in Cora’s scrapbook

Her marriage certificate!!!

Joined together in Holy Matrimony - Mr. Thomas C. Hall & Miss Cora Emma Brown - 5 Feb 1877

I notice another item of interest on the marriage certificate. The names of the witnesses to their marriage. Mrs. Charles Brown (that would be Cora’s mother) and Mrs. F. Schuyler. I immediately recognize the name Schuyler, but have no one with that surname in my family database. I do however, know that Cora & Thomas named their only son, Charles Schuyler Hall. I’ve always wondered if that was a family name? Now I can try to find out who Mrs. F. Schuyler was and perhaps connect those dots. OH boy! I love finding new clues.

That’s all for today’s post. I’ll keep on writing about Cora’s scrapbook. There’s a LOT more!

Remember, if you are connected to anyone I write about, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Thursday, December 3, 2020

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK ~ Episode 3–The obituary of her Aunt, Caroline Matilda Snyder Avery – 1841-1885

This obituary along with others, appear on various pages of Cora’s scrapbook. I’m grateful she kept them because some of them are new to me. I’m a newspaper hound and love to search the various websites for articles. Some of the ones Cora kept are ones I have not been able to locate. The only better thing would have been the names of the newspapers and dates. Cora left that for me to figure out.

Cora’s mother Cemanthe AVERY has a sister named Mary, whom I know very little about and a brother named Calvin Montgomery Avery. I knew he had married Caroline M. Snyder, and I have one child born to them, a daughter. I don’t have a date of marriage for Calvin & Carolyn, but based on census records, they married between 1860 & 1865. Will I find the marriage record in Cora’s scrapbook? Or will some of her information lead me to finding it?

Here is a portion of the page from Cora's scrapbook, with the obituary toward the bottom. I believe these were from two different newspapers. I've tried finding them on newspapers.com, genealogy bank and Fulton postcards website (where I had located her husband's obituary). No luck so far. As a result I can tell you the source.

Transcription:

AVERY - In Saratoga Springs, at No. 69 Lawrence street, Nov 23, 1885, of peritonitis. Caroline Matilda Snyder, wife of Calvin M. Avery, in the 44th year of her life.
Mrs. Caroline Matilda, wife of Calvin M. Avery, died at her residence, No. 69 Lawrence street at an early hour yesterday evening from peritonitis. She was taken ill in August last but had nearly recovered. On Tuesday afternoon last she was seized with the disease which carried her off. On Saturday last she was more comfortable, but during the night a change for the worse, was observed and she gradually failed until death came to her relief. Her husband and one child, Miss Gussie, survive her. The funeral will be held on Thursday next at 12:30 o'clock at Bethesda Episcopal church.

I have located another record of Caroline’s death in the NY Death Index

New York, Death Index, 1880-1956
Name: Caroline M. Avery
Death Date: 23 Nov 1885
Death Place: Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
Certificate Number: 26886

I have ordered other death records from Saratoga Springs, New York. I expect I could request Caroline’s and may, in fact, do that. I like to have as much documentation as I can.

Caroline’s life was fairly short, dying at age 44. I do hope those years she had with her husband and daughter were happy ones.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK ~ Episode 2 – Thomas C. Hall & Cora E. Brown marriage announcement, 1877

This is the story of my journey through Cora’s scrapbook. I will give a link to all posts at the beginning of each new post. Here’s that link My posts about Cora's Scrapbook

The very first piece of family history I find in this scrapbook is the wedding announcement of Cora to Thomas C. Hall. As I mentioned in a previous post, I knew they had married 5 Feb 1877, based on information in his Civil War Pension file. But, what other evidence did I have. None!

Thomas was 32 at the time of the marriage and Cora was 22. Their only child, Charles Schuyler Hall was born 13 months after the marriage, on 5 Mar 1878, in Saratoga Springs, New York. I have no record of any other children born to this couple.

Here are the newspaper clippings from the scrapbook. It doesn’t say what newspaper they are from, so I’m going to try and find that information. It also looks like a portion of the article is missing.

(Please click on any image to enlarge it)

TRANSCRIPTION:

HYMENEAL – Mr. Thos. C. Hall, a former resident of Saratoga, now a citizen of Poughkeepsie, came back to Saratoga yesterday and carried away with him one of those most attractive features of our village – a charming young lady, Miss Cora E. Brown. Mr. Hall always had good sense and fine taste when he dwelt here, and we are glad that they cling to him. Our best wishes to Mr. and Mrs. Thos. C. Hall

A nice package of wedding cake comes to our table accompanied by a notice of the marriage, on the 5th inst., at the residence of the bride’s father on Church street; by the Rev. Mr. Carey, of Miss Cora E. Brown, of Saratoga, to Thomas C. Hall, of Poughkeepsie. The wedded pair, on return from their wedding tour, will make their home in Poughkeepsie. The marriage service was attended by a large number of relatives and friends who manifested their regards for the wedded couple by a liberal bestowment of presents. Among these was a piano by father and……

Another of Saratoga’s fair daughters has left to make a house elsewhere. Miss Cora E. Brown, daughter of Charles Brown the tobacconist, changed her name preparatory to making her home in Poughkeepsie, on Monday. The best wishes of many friends attend her………..

Even with the missing portions of this article, we can learn something about our couple.

Their wedding was well attended
There was a wedding cake
The marriage location was Cora’s father’s residence on Church St.
Cora was the daughter of Charles Brown, a tobacconist
The officiant was Rev. Mr. Carey (this can help us figure out which religion the couple may have been and lead to church records)
The couple was going on some kind of “tour” or trip after the wedding
They were going to make their home in Poughkeepsie

That’s quite a lot of genealogical leads to follow. Admittedly in my case, some of the items are facts I already know about.

Update: I cannot help but research as I write. I have located a portion of the articles transcribed above, plus another small wedding announcement. The first place I go for any east coast newspapers is to Fulton History Postcards website where Tom Trynski has been scanning newspapers for years. He’s a one man show and a blessing to us all.

Here is a cropped portion of the page from The Daily Saratogian from 6 Feb 1877.

Cora & Thomas had moved from Poughkeepsie to Halfmoon, New York by the time of the 1880 census. He was working as a baggage handler for the railroad. I can’t wait to share more about this couple’s life.

If, while you are reading this post, you find you are connected to any family mentioned, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

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