An Obituary Brings Life to Long-Gone Charles D. Salyers

Over the years, the descendants of Sarah Eva Howe Salyers have shared many facts, photos, and stories about their ancestors. Most of the info pertained to Sarah's maternal side – the Howes of Carrollton, Kentucky; the Costs of Cincinnati, Ohio; the Lamsons of Craig, Indiana; and others. I didn't know as much about Sarah's husband's Salyers ancestors – except, of course, its direct descent from Mayflower passengers John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley, John Tilley and Joan Hurst Tilley.

Imagine my excitement when I found in one of Sarah's scrapbooks a newspaper story about the death

Charles D. and Katherine King Salyers, c1880

of Charles David Salyers, Sarah's husband's father. The article, published shortly after his death (May 1, 1926) in Carrollton, likely in one of the local papers, reinforced some things I already knew. It also filled in the man's personality, making Charles D. much more than an entry in my database. But it also presented details I didn't know. In fact, his living descendants (my husband and his cousins) didn't know them, either.

Do you look for obituaries or news articles about the death of your ancestors? If not, you might give it a try. To convince you, I'm sharing the entire transcription of the article about Charles D. Salyers to illustrate what an extensive obituary can reveal. Many of the names, dates, and places I had already documented. There are opinions describing Charles that are delightful to read but which I doubt I can verify. Then there are the verifiable facts that are new to me. I have highlighted those in red.

Do I believe the information in the article is accurate? Because I have proof of the dates and places mentioned, I have no reason to distrust the other information. Of course, in time I will look for proofs, but right now I accept it as family record – and I assume that a family member either wrote the article or provided the information to the person who did.

I made no edits in the transcription, but I have added a few comments within bracketed Italics. Text lost from the tattered and torn clipping are indicated as “missing" in the final paragraph.


                                           C. D. Salyers Called Home.
It is well for us to pause in the whirl and rush of our present day life to turn aside and stand with bowed heads as a tribute of respect and esteem to one of our old and well known citizens – a grandson of the pioneers. The Salyers family came here from Fairfax county, Virginia, before the close of the 18th century, as they traveled the Wilderness trail about 1785, finally settling in Indiana, where David Hillis Salyers was born in 1812.

Benjamin Lamson and Abbie Freeman came from Massachusetts, across the mountains of Pennsylvania and down the Ohio, to Steubenville, where they were married November 19, 1818, coming at once to Craigs Landing, Ind., near where they built their first home, and lived in this neighborhood about 67 years.

They reared a large family of eight girls and six boys. The third child was Amelia Haskell Lamson, who was born December 31, 1822. She was married to D. H. Salyers September 12, 1847. Later they moved to Mississippi, where Charles David Salyers was born December 6, 1849.

Their other children were Abbie [I knew her as Rose A. and now suspect it was Abigail Rose], who died several years ago in Cumberland Gap, Tenn.; Will who died more recently at Middlesboro, Ky.; Thomas and R. F. Salyers, of San Diego, Cal., and Mrs. Ruth Cockrell, of Cumberland Gap, Tenn.

Except for his early childhood Carrollton had always been the home of Charles D. Salyers, and here about 1869 he opened his first tin shop and had been continuously in business for 57 years.

He was married to Katherine King in 1874, and soon after this their store was destroyed by fire.

In December of the same year his father died in Arkansas and as far as possible he faithfully tried to take his place and help his mother in the dark days that followed. His younger brothers learned in his shop. He had a great love for children and he and his young wife were almost heart-broken when their first children, James and Charles, died in infancy. Later their home was brightened by the coming of two little boys, Will and Robert.

In May 1883, a little girl was born, but only came to stay for a few days and took the wife and mother back to Heaven with her. [Her name was Katherine, after her mother.]

In this sorrowful crisis in his life his sister Ruth became his home-maker and gave a mother’s love and care to the little boys. About this time he became a member of the Christian church, and more faithfully than most any of us he met the requirements of God, which are to “Deal justly, love mercy, and humbly walk with Him.” He never turned a deaf ear to the cry of the needy or the orphan’s wail, and he kept himself unspotted from the world.

In 1887 he was united in marriage to Flora Geier, and for 34 years they lived happily together until her death July 2, 1921. Another hard blow he endured was the death in August, 1898, of his son, Robert King Salyers, just as he was entering manhood.

It would seem that he had more than the usual losses, trials and sadness that are the common heritage of us all, but he never gave up nor complained. He took every blow with a courage that [missing] with a courage that [missing] never became bitter. [missing] and eyes front he [missing] march and endured [missing] a good soldier.


                                                  ***************************
The article appears to have been longer, but this transcription includes all text visible in the clipping. I'll be watching for a complete version as I explore more scrapbooks.

Thank you, Sarah, for preserving this article. It reminds all of us to go beyond the names, dates, and places to know the people in our past.

A Handwritten Howe-Salyers Family Chronology, Part Three: A Narrative

Part Three of Sarah Eva Howe's handwritten chronology is what I think may have been the beginning of a do-over, a narrative version of events from 1882 to 1944. While it is short and repeats dates and names, it provides important details missing from Parts One and Two.
As before, brackets in this transcription enclose my own clarifications, identifications, and comments.

1882   Robert James Howe [and] Alice Cost Howe married Oct. 11 at 516 W. Court St. (home of Richard and S.E. Arnet Cost) by Dr. Joyce (afterwards bishop). After wedding trip ending with reception at Carrollton, they lived in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, at home of Mrs. Charlotte Johnson, on Oak St.

1883   August – Sarah Eva [Howe] was born at this place.

1883   April – Katherine Salyers died, mother of William Levi and Robert King [Salyers], 4 and 12 years old – wife of Charles David Salyers

1884   (winter) family of R[obert] J Howe moved to Carrollton, lived there a year, during which time Sallie [Sarah Eva Howe] was baptised. Going back to Cincinnati early in 1885, after trip to Niagra Falls, they stayed for several months at the home of Mr. and Mrs. George Johnson on Price Hill, then moved to Price Avenue home where in the summer of 1886 both Robert and Sallie had typhoid fever. In 1887 came trips to Lake [word unreadable] where Sallie’s fourth birthday was spent by the lake (Erie). In the winter and spring of that same year Sallie [Sarah Evan Howe] had scarlet fever, a bad case. In April 1888 Chandler [Sarah's brother] was born, named for a friend of the family, Chandler Harper.
 
1887   Charles D. Salyers married again to Flora Geier.

1889   Chandler died of pneumonia, in also that summer Sallie was bitten badly on arm by a neighbor’s dog.

1890   John Howe died, family of R[obert] J Howe moved again to Carrollton, where Howe Bros. was formed.

1890   Sallie started to school at Carrollton.

1896   Leonora Alice [Sarah's sister] was born.

1897-98 August   Robert King Salyers [brother of Sarah's future husband] died after an operation for appendicitis.

1896   [last number overwritten and hard to decipher] Sallie is noticed by W[illiam] L[evi] S[alyers] by first time (when treated to soda [word illegible] at drug store – and later when he used to fix her wheel).

189[ditto mark]  [no entry after the date]

1900   Grandma Jane Howe dies [Jane Hopkins Bell, second wife of Sarah's grandfather John Howe, the Irish immigrant]

1903   (March 27) Will[iam] Salyers and Sallie Howe have first date

1905   (Dec 14) marriage [of Will and Sarah] at Howe home near the church (by Rev. M. T. Chandler, Methodist pastor)

1907   Robert King Salyers II born [named for his father Will's brother, who died in 1898]

1910   Mary Alice and James Richard and born [Sarah and Will's first set of twins]

1915   David Hillis, John Howe born [Sarah and Will's second set of twins; John was stillborn or died shortly after birth]

1910   Robert Howe [Sarah's father] dies

1926  Charles Salyers [Will's father] dies

1939   Alice Howe [Sarah's mother] dies

1944   W. L. Salyers [Sarah's husband] dies

Marriages of family later than 1905
Mary Alice Salyers m Richard Allen Hays Lexington June 17, 1939
James Richard Salyers m Lee Rose Pope May 17, 1941 Cumberland Falls
Robert K. Salyers m Loretta Smith June 6, 1941, 4th Ave. [Methodist] Church, Louisville
David Hillis Salyers m Eurelia Mayhew Kennedy, Baltimore Red Cross Chapel July 24, 1943
Leonora Alice Howe m Charles Theodore Kipping Aug. 14, 1943, Carrollton Church (Meth.)

Sarah also listed the births of five grandchildren born from1942 to 1951. So ended Sarah's Howe-Salyers family chronology.

A Handwritten Howe-Salyers Family Chronology, Part Two: 1883 to 1920s & '30s, With One Jump to 1944

In Part 2 of Sarah Eva Howe's handwritten chronology of events in her Howe family and her husband's Salyers family, we revisit 1883, also the birth year of Sarah's beloved cousin Jenne, and continue to the 1930s. During that time, Sarah gave birth to five children, including two sets of twins. There is one entry for 1944, the death of Sarah's husband, William Levi Salyers.

Sarah apparently wrote dates and events as they came to mind. Notice her two references to "going back." Parentheses are original to the handwritten chronology. Brackets enclose my own clarifications, identifications, and comments.

[Chronology of Our Family, Part Two]

1883    Jenne Winslow Howe born to Wm and Lou Howe

1883    April, Katharine King Salyers [mother of William Levi, Sarah's future husband]  dies, in Carrollton

1880    [zero written over a 2] Ruth Salyers Jr. [?] born to T[homas] D. Salyers and wife [Thomas was an uncle to Sarah's future husband]

1883    October, Josie King and Will Fisher married [Relatives on Sarah's husband's line]

1884    Sarah Howe [Sarah's aunt] married to Hiram McMakin Froman [Note: I have also seen references to this man as Herman M. "Mack" Froman.]

1885    Robert Hiram Froman born to above [Note added 8 Nov 2018: Another researcher believes the middle name could have been Howe. Hiram is what was written in the chronology by his relatives, and Hiram is the name on the grave marker at Ghent Masonic Cemetery in Carroll County, Kentucky.]

(Going Back a Little)
1874     Lee, or Lenora, [Sarah's "Aunt Lee"] born to Richard and Sarah Evelyn Cost           
1877    (Sept.) Richard Henry Jr. [born to Richard and Sarah Evelyn Cost]
 
1880     (Jan.) Morris Elliott Cost [born to Richard and Sarah Evelyn Cost]   

1882      Wife of T.D. Salyers dies

1883      Little Katharine born to C[harles] D & Kate Salyers, lived 1 month

1884     T.D. Salyers married Miss Hanks

1887     Charles D. Salyers married Flora Geier

1885     Beverly Winslow Howe born to Wm & Lou W. Howe

1888    April - Chandler Harper Howe (only son) born to R[obert] J. and Alice Howe in Cincinnati 

1889    Nov.  C[handler] H[arper] H[owe] died, at 19 months, [ditto mark = Cincinnati]

going back
1877   Charles Theodore Kipping born to Fred and Julia Kipping (cousins of Flora Geier)      in Carrollton (afterwards husband of Leonora Howe)

1888    Amelia [Haskell] Salyers dies [grandmother of Sarah's future husband]

1889    Katharine born to William and Josie Fisher

1889    Ida Ruth born to Wm Levi [uncle to Sarah's future husband of the same name] and Sue Giltner Salyers (married 1886?)

1889    Katharine (Katie) Bell marries John Morgan Smith, June

1889    Sarah Goslee married Joseph B. Howe [also see his extensive obituary]

1890    (Jan.) John Howe [the Irish immigrant; Sarah's paternal grandfather] dies

1890    March, R[obert] J. Howe and family move to Carrollton – Howe Bros. formed with R[obert] J. & J[oseph] B. Howe, W[illiam] F. Howe in charge of mills

1890    Ruth Louise born to W.F. & Lou W. Howe, July. 1915- married Henry Schuerman Jr.  [Ruth and Henry's] Daughter Wilhehmina born 1916.

1891    John Irvine Howe died.

1891    Caby Varena born to Wm. and Sarah V [Howe] Froman

1889 or 1890    Mary Arison Cost [Sarah Eva Howe's paternal great-grandmother] dies, Cincinnati

1890    Elizabeth Voris Arnet [Sarah Eva Howe's maternal great-grandmother] dies

1892    David Arnet [Sarah Eva Howe's maternal great-grandfather] dies

1893     Elizabeth Howe Froman born to H[iram] M[cMakin] and Sarah Howe Froman.

1892    James Goslee born to Jos. B. and "Sallie" Howe (one son born previously died at birth)

1896    Dec., Leonora Alice [Sarah Eva Howe's sister] born to Robert J. and Alice Howe

1898    Robert King Salyers [brother of Sarah's future husband] died

1899    George Thompson Howe born to Jos[eph] & Sallie [Goslee] Howe

1900    Mrs. Jane Bell Howe dies

1921    Flora [Geier] Salyers [died]

1910     R[ichard] H[enry] Cost [Sarah's maternal grandfather] died

1917    S[arah] E[valine] Arnet Cost [Sarah's maternal grandmother] [ditto marks under died]
 
1910    Robert [James] Howe [Sarah's father] dies

1926    Charles D. Salyers [Sarah's father-in-law] dies
 
1939     Alice Howe [Sarah's mother] [dies]

1944     W[illiam] L[evi] Salyers [Sarah's husband] dies
 
1905    William Salyers and Sarah Howe married

1907    Robert King Salyers [Sarah's first-born child] born to above

1910    James Richard & Mary Alice [Sarah's twins] born to above

1915    David Hillis Salyers Jr. (and brother) born. [Sarah's second set of twins. The twin brother, named John, was stillborn. “Jr.” was actually “II.” David was named for his great-grandfather.]

A Handwritten Howe-Salyers Family Chronology, Part One: 1790-1883

I've struck family history gold! – Sarah Eva Howe's handwritten, year-by-year account of births, deaths, and marriages in her Howe-Salyers family. The 11 pages are in one of the scrapbooks Sarah compiled after her marriage, as she recorded family history for her children.

First page of Sarah's Howe-Salyers Family Chronology

Among the many names and dates, I've spotted some surprises and a few discrepancies that I want to sort out. In the meantime, here is my transcription of the first 93 years of Sarah's written chronology – 1790 to 1883, the year Sarah was born. She wrote in short phrases with explanations stuck here and there as she thought of them. Some years are out of sequence. I can picture her writing this history, suddenly remembering a birth that occurred in 1859 after she had already listed events that happened in the 1860s.

Within the transcript, parentheses are original to Sarah's handwriting. Brackets contain my own comments and clarifications. I've linked some names to previous posts about Sarah's ancestors. In several cases, links are duplicated because names are listed in the chronology more than once.

Chronology of Our Family, General

[On the first page is this notation: "1682-1799 Lamson-Freeman dates not included as they are complete elsewhere."]

1790(?)  Salyers — grandfather of D.H. Salyers 1st came to Kentucky with small son.

1790   Howe-Brown — Both families were living in “5-mile town.” We have a Bible dated 1790, property of Mrs. Brown, mother (or grandmother) of Sarah Brown Howe who came to Kentucky in 1847 (my grandmother) with her husband John and small son Will.

1772   Cost — Daniel Cost, [2 overwritten with a 4, or vice versa] years old, was left an orphan when parents were killed by Indians in Maryland, he was “bound out” to Major Beyer, who raised him as a son (of Philadelphia).

1800   Daniel Cost was married to Mary Fisher at home of Major Beyer (now in Maryland).
 
1811    Arnet — Grandpa David Arnet born in Albany, NY
 
1812    Cost — Grandpa Henry Cost born (in Maryland)
 
1817    Benjamin Lamson & Abigail Freeman married in Ohio on way to Indiana (both born in 1790s).

I have based all these dates on the year of death which I remember and the age at death, but perhaps they had not reached birthday. [Based on research, some of the years Sarah listed are a year or two off.]

1806(?)   Elisabeth Voris born Elizabeth(?), NJ.
1813(?)   Mary Arison [ditto mark = born] Lancaster County, Pa., of Quaker parents, came to Ohio (about) 1821.

1820(?)   David Hillis Salyers born to boy (name unknown) who came over from Va. with father in 1790 (his mother's and grandmother's name unknown to us)
 
1821    Howe — John Howe born at “5-mile town” C. Fermanagh Ireland

1823    Brown — Sarah Brown born, at same place as above. Her mother’s name was McKean and relatives of that name were already in America in the 1700s. [Name not legible] have her grandfather’s Bible (about 1800).

1829   King — James Guthrie King (father’s name Daniel, mother’s was Guthrie — We have further data elsewhere)

1825(?)  Amelia Lamson born at Craig Indiana (married D H Salyers)

1830     Father of D.H. Salyers died suddenly (in Indiana)

1831     Cost – Richard Henry, born Cincinnati

1835      David Arnet and Elizabeth Voris married in New Jersey.

1837      [7 is written over 8] Sarah Eva Arnet born (m. R H Cost)

1836(?)    Mary Mayfield born (m James King) (her mother’s name was Wood)

1846(?)    David Hillis Salyers, Amelia Lamson married (Ind[iana])

1845        John Howe and Sarah Brown married in Ireland

1847        They came to America to Flemingsburg Ky. with William Ficklin 2 months         old (first) son

1849        Charles David Salyers born on fathers plantation near Greenville, Miss.

1848        Margaret Elizabeth born to John and Sarah Howe

1851        Abigail born to David H and Amelia Salyers

1853        John Irvine, born to John and Sarah Howe

1855        Robert James [ditto marks = John and Sarah Howe]

1855        Thomas Deveraux born to DH & Amelia Salyers

1857        Katherine born to James Guthrie Salyers and Molly King

1855        James King and Molly Mayfield married (near Bedford)

1860        D H Salyers family settle in Carrollton

1856        Richard Cost and Sarah Eva Arnet married (Willie, first son born 1854 died ’58)

1857       Joseph Brown Howe born near Champaign Ill.

1859       Alice Ada Cost born to Richard Cost and Sarah Arnet (Dec.)

1860      [6 is written over a 5] George Thompson Howe born to John and Sarah Howe

1862     Sarah Varina born to [ditto marks = John and Sarah Howe]

1861?)   Jessie Fremont born to Richard and Sarah Cost

1859     Nancy [ditto marks = born to] James and Molly King

1859     John Howe & family settle in Carrollton

1866(?)  Josephine [ditto marks = born to] James and Molly King
             Naomi [ditto marks = born to] Richard & Sarah Cost

1869      Mary [ditto marks = born to Richard & Sarah Cost]

1859(?)   William Levi born to D H & Amelia Salyers

1864?    Ruth Salyers [ditto marks = born to D H & Amelia Salyers]

1861?    Rudolph Ferdinand [ditto marks = born to D H & Amelia Salyers]

1869     D. H. Salyers goes to Arkansas
            Elizabeth Howe dies at 21

1873    Wm F. Howe married Louise Winslow [in] Carrollton

1874    Charles D. Salyers married Katharine King

1874     David H. Salyers dies in Arkansas

1876    [Brothers] John [Irvin] and Robert Howe go to Europe for 9 month trip

1877    Sarah Brown Howe dies

1877    Lillie (Margaret Elizabeth) born to Wm. and Lou Winslow Howe

1875    Charles born to CD and Katharine Salyers (lived one day)

1876    James [ditto marks = born to CD and Katharine Salyers] lived five months

1878    William Levi, 3rd son born to [ditto marks = born to CD and Katharine Salyers]

1878(?)  Henry Cost dies in Cincinnati

1877     T.D. Salyers married to Miss Knox of Vevay, Ind.

1879    Louise born to T[homas] D. Salyers & wife

1879    John J. Howe born to Wm & Lou Howe (Nov. — same night as —

1879    John Howe senior marries Jane Bell widow (from Cincinnati) with one (living)     daughter Katharine

1878    John I[rvine] Howe marries Lucy Froman (of Ghent)

1879    Lucy, wife of John I. Howe, dies by accidental drowning with unborn child (in     Covington)

1880    Robert King Salyers born to CD & Kate Salyers

1881    John I. Howe marries Miss Emily Bender Lynn, of Covington

1881    George Thompson Howe dies of tuberculosis in Colorado

1881    Alice Ada Cost meets Robert Howe at St. Paul’s Church (Methodist)

1878 or 79    John I. & Robert J. sent by father [John Howe] to Cincinnati to establish branch to sell products of woolen mills

1882    March 25, Alice Cost and Robert Howe become engaged, married 11th October     (same year)

1883    Sarah Eva Howe born to Alice at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati Aug. 10

Coming in the next post: Howe-Salyers Chronology Part 2, from 1883 to 1915, plus some additional "forgotten" earlier years and a few notes about Sarah's grandchildren born in the 1940s.

Second Page of Sarah Eva Howe's Family Chronology

Bits & Pieces: Who Are These People? A Few Mystery Photos from Sarah's Scrapbooks

Our scrapbooker Sarah Eva Howe saved many photos in her scrapbooks. Unfortunately, she didn't label all of them.

Because of their placement in one of the earliest scrapbooks, I think these people are either members or friends of Sarah's Cost ancestors, who lived in Cincinnati. I can't know for sure, but maybe someone out there can identify them.

"Tallie Ebbie"

 

Jones? Or Ames? He may or may not be a Methodist minister.

A Sweet Little Girl

 Mystery Woman #1

Mystery Woman #2

 
Two men posing in the same style as Sarah's father, Robert James Howe. The post dated August 11, 2016, speculates on the location and situation.


 

 Four young women, all dressed in white. Debutantes ready for their cotillion? Sisters? Cousins?

Last but not least, another image of women. This time we have names. Isabel Somerset is on the left. Frances E. Willard is on the right. Both were strong national leaders in the temperance movement during the 1880s and '90s. The Howes were strong leaders of the movement at the local and state levels and attended conventions supporting the movement. They may have met these women there, or maybe the photo was distributed or purchased at a convention.

The name of the woman in the center is not so easy to decipher. Martha Bensley Bruere was a temperance leader, but I can't match that last name with the handwriting.

Thoughts?

Bits & Pieces: Poetry, Music, Student Rosters, Skirt-length Scandal, and Playing Detective with An Old Photo

Bits & Pieces is a continuing series of posts containing scrapbook snippets that have great info but are too short for stand-alone posts. Some of these small items are too good to leave behind.
 

 1. Sleep Sweetly

Just reading this pleasant, lilting verse is relaxing! I found this in one of Sarah's earliest scrapbooks. The reference to "in this pleasant room" makes me think it would make a welcoming and decorative piece for a guest bedroom.

One web site attributes the poet to Victor Hugo (1802-1885); another site disputes that. When world-renowned biochemist Roger J. Williams was traveling, he saw the poem on the wall of a bedroom in which he stayed. He memorized it and recited it to himself nightly His assistant read it at his funeral in 1988.

  2. News Flash! Teachers Refuse Order to Wear Longer Skirts!

When the Hazel Park, Michigan, school board decreed that teachers wear skirts no shorter than 10 inches above the floor, the teachers protested with a unanimous NO!

Women on the school board argued that the "smock measure" (so called because teachers could opt to wear long smocks over their shorter skirts) was necessary to "protect the moral integrity of the youth of Hazel Park."

The local PTA supported the teachers.

The issue got publicity in papers near and far, so I was able to date the battle to late September/early October 1927. I'm intrigued that Sarah posted this newspaper clipping in her scrapbooks. Maybe there was a similar issue in her local schools.

I don't know which side won, but my bet is on the teachers.

 

 

 

 

3. The Evolution of Carrollton High School, 1880s-1890s

Continuing with the "schools" theme, here's a clipping about the students and faculty of Carrollton, Kentucky, high school from the opening of the school in 1887 to the early 1890s. I found the continuation of the article a month after posting this.

The crayon marks are something only a Salyers could love. James R. Salyers, a son of the scrapbooker Sarah Eva Howe Salyers, saved lots of clippings, and he marked almost every one of them with crayons. (Check out the Salyers surname and Carroll County files in the Kentucky Historical Society library in Frankfort.) In this clipping, he underlined the name of his paternal grandfather. The black line draws the eye to a paragraph that includes the names of several relatives and friends.

The final paragraph lists the roster for 1890 and 1891. What a gold mine for researchers trying to attach their relatives to a time and place! Below are the surnames that appear in the article. Unfortunately, the article's condition make some names impossible to read.

Fishback, Vance, Kipping, Blessing, Salyers, Weaver, Bridges, Hafford, Smith, Goslee,  Hunter, Walters, Beetem, Bergen, Hart, Meek, Palmer, Netherland, Shepherd, Stringfellow, Wilson, Bowling, Steele, Howe, Willis, Donaldson, McCrackin, Raney, Forbes, Sanders, Baker, Caldwell, Jett, Kirby, Schuerman, ???tem, Stout, Ga??es, Darling, Melcher, Hennessy, Moreland, Brash??, Giltner, Foster, Meade, Grobmyer, Whitehead, Cox, Butts, Barrett, Crouch, Mitchell, Bond, Bailey, Dem??, Phillips, Roberts, Vallan???, Arnold, Adcock, Booker, Driskell, Duvall, Hayden, Goughton, Horan, Morgan, . . .


The continuation of this article includes these students of 1890-91: Clarence Nugent, Amelia Pryor, Otis Steele, C??? Wilson, Gideon Wood, Cora McCracken (misspelled CcCracken), Bennie Cox. It also includes the names of  Carrollton school system faculty members up to 1917-18.

4. Leonora's Piano?

The Howe and Cost families of Cincinnati appreciated fine music. Many of the girls and women in both families played piano in their homes, in recitals, and at church.

I think this warranty certificate, dated 1903, may represent the Howe family's purchase of Baldwin piano #7590. Leonora Alice Howe turned 7 years old that year, a perfect age to begin learning. She showed musical promise, so I can imagine her parents, Robert James Howe and Alice Ada Cost Howe, supporting her early talent. Their support was rewarded. Leonora became a sought-after piano soloist, accompanist, and teacher.

5. Whose House This Is I Think I Know

This was the Carrollton, Kentucky home of Will and Sarah Howe Salyers and their children. Their youngest child was born here in 1915. Maybe the others were born in this house, too.
 
In the buggy, there are two babies. (That is difficult to see, but I found a notation to that effect.) This helps date the photo to 1910. Twins James R. and Mary Alice Salyers were born in April of that year. The person standing in the doorway is Sarah Eva Howe Salyers. Wearing the shorter dress is Sarah's 13-year-old sister, Leonora Alice Howe. The woman in the long dress is apparently one of their cousins. All of the dresses are dark, perhaps black. They could be mourning clothes. Sarah's maternal grandfather Richard Henry Cost died in July 1910.



 

The 'Influence and Beneficial Effect' of Cousins

 Sarah Eva Howe was devoted to her family, both immediate and extended. As I look through the scrapbooks, reading her essays, letters, and notes, the relative I see most often mentioned (other than her parents and her sister) is her first cousin, Jenne Winslow Howe.

Jenne (to this day remembered as "Cousin Jenne" by Howe descendants) was the daughter of William Ficklin Howe (Sarah's father's brother) and Louisiana "Lou" Winslow Howe. She was born in 1883, the same year as Sarah, so it's easy to imagine the two girls playing together, walking to school together, sharing secrets, giggling about boys. They were in the same grade in school and usually in the same class. In 1898, when they were about 15 years old, they traveled to Louisville together to visit friends. As my grandmother might have put it, the two girls were "thick as thieves."

Jenne, unlike Sarah, completed high school. Apparently, she never married. She lived with her parents on Fifth Street and later Sixth Street in Carrollton, Kentucky. Her brother John J. Howe, an attorney, and sister Lillie M. Howe, who taught across the river at a college for women in Oxford, Ohio, also lived there. I have found no stories or documentation that either of them married. Their father died in 1916, when Jenne was 33. She and her two siblings continued to live with their mother.

Jenne's occupation is listed as "none" on the census forms until 1940, when her occupation is "teacher." By then she was 57 years old. I speculate that she was forced into the workplace when her brother died in 1939. He had probably earned a handsome income as an attorney, and Lille's income as a teacher was not enough to support the household.

In 1944, when Jenne was 61, her mother died. Two years after that, sister Lillie died. With her parents and her five siblings gone, Jenne was the last of the William F. Howe family. My husband, her first cousin twice removed, remembers visiting Cousin Jenne in Carrollton. He recalls that she was active in her church and community, that she always drove a late-model car, and that her home was nicely furnished. He remembers her being fun to visit. Being a typical little boy, he also appreciated that she liked candy and ice cream and had some on hand to share with him when he visited.

Jenne died in 1957.

On the scrapbook page that launched this post, Sarah wrote this about the value of having cousins:

I just can't say enough, tho I didn't realize it so much at the time, of the influence and beneficial effect on me of knowing and playing with the Howe cousins and their friends. Aunt Sallie Froman's¹ children were too young for me to really enjoy them so much – besides, I saw them so seldom; and Mama's brothers² were great comrades, her sisters Lee and Naomi³ too, and made much of me when I visited there, but they again were not with me much, and besides treating me like a favorite doll or pet ... . Of course from Harry and Morris I learned the latest "music hall" songs and from Aunt Momie⁴ and Lee the first marvelous drafts of mythology stories from Tanglewood Tales⁵ ...

Sarah's reference to her Howe cousins would include Jenne and her siblings, the children of her father's brother. Other Howe cousins were either too old or too young or lived too far away to be Sarah's companions. On her mother's Cost side were teen-aged aunts who treated her "like a favorite doll" and young uncles who were close enough to Sarah's age to seem more like cousins. (Read more about that in the post dated September 8, 2016.) So her first cousin Jenne Howe was Sarah's first and favorite playmates.

ENDNOTES
¹ Sarah Varena "Sallie" Howe (1862-1950), sister of Sarah's father; wife of Herman M. "Mack" Froman.
² Richard Henry Cost, Jr. (1876-1949) and Morris Elliott Cost (1879-1961)
³ Mary Naomi Cost (circa 1869 – ??) and Ida Lenora Cost (1874-1921) 
⁴ A nickname for Sarah's aunt Mary Naomi Cost
⁵ Tanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne (published 1853) was a re-writing of well-known Greek myths. Electronic versions of the book are sold on Amazon.com and offered free of charge by Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/976.

18 Descendants of Daniel Cost (1771-1860) and Mary Fisher (1773-1843) – All on One Scrap of Paper

Now and then, as I turn the pages of Sarah Eva Howe's scrapbooks, I find a departure from family stories. I find genealogy! You've already seen an example in "The Immigrant Ancestors: John and Sarah Brown Howe (June 24, 2016).

Today I post a handwritten account of some descendants of Sarah's second great-grandparents Daniel Cost and Mary Fisher. The document is on a half-sheet of paper, obviously vintage with multiple fold lines. It offers no clue about who wrote it. It provides no date, either, but there are clues. The latest generation includes Sarah's grandfather Richard Henry Cost, born in 1831, and younger siblings born circa 1852, so the genealogy was written that year or later. Even without offering the specifics we want, this scrap of paper is a treasure and a valuable guide to researching this family.

A tip for making sense of the written genealogy: The descendants listed on the left side are the children of Daniel (c1771-1860) and Mary (c1773-1843). On the right side are the names of the children of Daniel and Mary's son Henry Cost and his wife Mary Arrison/Arison. My transcription below the image may be easier to read and follow.

In this transcription, I made best guesses when interpreting the handwriting, and I added a few punctuation marks for clarity. My own comments are in brackets.

Daniel Cost born about 1771 – married 1801 Mary Fisher in Baltimore, Md. Died at age of 88 years (or 89). Dan'l Cost was an orphan – raised in Fredricksburg Md. and was bound to the parties that educated him, by name, Col. Boyer, Pa., was of German parentage – they were killed by the British & D.C. [Daniel Cost] was taken by officer of the revolutionary army (Capt. Boyer) at 12 years of age and raised by him.

[I am unclear on whether the "German parentage" refers to Boyer's parents or Daniel Cost's parents. Both surnames could be derivations of common German names (Kost/Kast; Bayer/Bauer) but also could come from other nationalities. I think the writer was referring to Daniel's parents.]

Parents of –
Henry Cost – (Born - Died) – married Mary Arrison
John – married Virginia Riggs
Daniel  –
Maria    "  Arbuse Bruce [The marriage record says Ambrose Bruce.]
Susan    "
Betsy     "  Peter May
Frances  "  Bryant Bruce 
Stephan   –

[Note at bottom of page] Mary Arrison – born 1810 Lancaster, Pa. Had a brother – mother & a sister named Betsy

[Henry Cost and Mary Arrison were] Parents of
Stephan Cost – dead – place unknown – was slightly lame and disappeared somewhere  near 22 or 24 years of age
Mary Ann    –     married Alfred White
Richard Henry –       "     Sarah E. Arnet
Sophia                      "     Anthony Blair [?]
Joseph                     "      Louisa Sneider
Alice                         "      Thomas Wise
Lida                          "      John Morehouse [?]
Julia                      –––      (dead)
Emma                       "      Charles Starr
Mathew                 –––     died in infancy

Bits & Pieces: Uncle Harry, Life-threatening Illnesses, Carrollton Social Notes, The Town's First Electric Streetlights

Bits & Pieces is a continuing series of posts containing scrapbook snippets that have great info but are too short for stand-alone posts. Some of these small items are too good to leave behind!

1. Sarah's Uncle Harry

Richard Henry Cost, Jr., a.k.a. Harry, must have been quite a character. Sarah estimated the photo's date as 1899 and wrote this caption: "Harry Cost acting as Hebrew vendor at his office."

That leaves us wondering: Why was Harry acting as a Hebrew vendor? Was he in a play? Was he just being goofy? How frustrating that we'll never know!

I'm not having much luck finding information about Harry, but I'll keep on digging.

As you may have seen in a previous post, Harry was Sarah's uncle (her mother's brother), but he was just seven years older than Sarah. Her references to him are rarely preceded by "Uncle," and I think they were probably more like cousins than uncle and niece.

2. Family Battles with Bronchitis, Pneumonia, and Typhoid Fever.

Writing in later years, Sarah recalled her family's battles with life-threatening illnesses. Her baby brother Chandler was just 19 months old when he died of pneumonia on November 10, 1889. No wonder Sarah understood her mother's tears when baby sister Leonora was so ill in January 1898. A transcription follows the image of Sarah's handwriting.

Christmas, 1897, and Leonora’s first birthday came – a rather quiet Christmas, and soon after New Year’s that brought in the momentous year of 1898 (to the U.S. as well as to us), Leonora was very sick, with bronchitis. I remember seeing Mama stitching cotton batting into a little shirt, to keep her warm in her cradle, and the tears dripping as she did, for she remembered Chandler’s sickness and death at almost that age, with pneumonia. Mama was almost 37 when Leonora was born, and 38, of course, Christmas of ’97 (she was born Dec. 24, 1859) – and Papa had his 43rd birthday Jan. 18 of ’98. His hair was already completely gray, indeed I can’t remember him (and I do remember him from the time he was 31 and I was 3) with his hair anything but gray! Perhaps the very terrible spell of typhoid fever he had the year I first remember him left it that way. Typhoid was something in those days – Papa in bed 13 weeks and in 1890 Harry was in bed with it for four or five months.

3. An 'A' Grade on the Subject of Books

On April 2, 1897, Sarah Eva Howe did a school assignment, writing a response to the question "What Are Books Good For?" As usual, she got the top grade, an A. Here are excerpts from that theme, which was written on stationery of Carrollton Woolen Mills, a Howe family business.

If anyone had propounded that question to me, casually, I should have answered promptly: "To read," as that is the use to which I generally put them, but in an essay one should be more lengthy. Books are the heritage of all nations. It seems wonderful that a man can write down his very thoughts, and hundreds of years afterward, have them read by multitudes of people; but such is the case. ... Books of Theology, chief of which is the Bible, the Book of all Books, which combines poetry, story, history, prophesy, letters, proverbs, songs, facts, trite sayings, and which gives the oldest accounts of any book. ... Books of fiction serve to entertain, amuse and often instruct us, while many such books have a pure moral tone. Such books, if not misused, are very interesting and healthful and helpful to all; but the so-called French novels do very little or no good to either our minds or bodies.

4. Carrollton Social Notes 1895, 1896, 1897

A clipping from the Carrollton Democrat newspaper (publication date unknown) revisits what was happening in 1895.

• W.T. Mosgrove sworn in as deputy sheriff. 
• Matt Bridges admitted to Carroll county bar. 
• Water works contract for Carrollton let for $19,755.64.
• T.R. Bridges sailed for Europe
• June 18, first issue of Carrollton Commercial, Republican. (Ceased publication October 8.)
• July 28 – Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Leachman, 83 and 82 respectively, celebrated 60th marriage anniversary.
• September 6, fire destroyed five buildings for Mrs. Gertrude Smith, C.D. Salyers' tin store, Browinski & Son's drug store, Kuhlman's shoe store and Dinkelspiel's stores; loss $60,000. (See the post dated September 15.)
• Oct. 31, earthquake at 5:12 a.m.
• Marriages: On January 9, 1895 G.W. Wells and Miss Cora Thompson at Worthville. June 11, Dr. B.L. Holmes and Miss Elizabeth Sanders. William Hill and Miss Dollie Latty. November 13, Barney Jeter and Miss Emma Sims. December 17, A. L. [or D?] Metcalfe and Miss Melissa Brindley. On December 26, 1895, John R. Davis and Miss Margie Cruse were married, Rev. Robert Hiner, D.D., performing the ceremony at the Southworth House in Carrollton. On the same day Dr. Hiner performed the marriage ceremony for Curtis Jackson and Miss Emma Dawson of Worthville community, a wedding trip to Glencoe following.
• Michael Gill, 54, member of the fourth Kentucky Cavalry, C.S.A., died at Carson. His wife and several children, among them Miss Katie Gill, milliner here, surviving.

Published in the newspaper on January 1, 1896:

• W.R. Fisher sold two cottages on High street to E.C. Smith for $1,000 cash.
• Miss Sue Callendar, of this city, was married to Brent C. Wells, of Louisville.
• Mrs. Harrison Corn, who has been ill, suffered a relapse last week, but is now somewhat improved.

Published in the newspaper on January 2, 1897:

• Jett Bros. opened their new opera house, the Richland, with about 600 people present to see the historical drama, "The Man in the Iron Mask," Tuesday, December 29, 1896.
• The new K. of P. hall was dedicated at Ghent December 30, 1896. [K. of P. stands for Knights of Pythias, an international fraternal and benevolent organization.]
• February 2, 1896 – Elder G.M. Anderson called to Christian church. 
• February 27, Rev. O.M. Huey called to Baptist church. 
• April 2, Mrs. Mary Conway's 98th birthday. 
• September 21, Rev. Wm. Shoesmith sent to M.E. church. 

 

 5. Street Lights in Carrollton

From an undated clipping from the Carrollton Democrat, this remembrance of Carrollton in 1898:

On Saturday night, April 16, the touch of a small lever sent a 220-volt current through 16 miles of wire in the city of Carrollton. Twenty-six arc lights, of 2,000-candle power each, on alternate street corners, illuminated the streets. The new electric light plant was said to be the best and most complete of its size to be found anywhere. The Carrollton Democrat issued four extra pages in celebration of the event.