In my elementary school years in Danvers, I was moved from school to school, each September starting in new place. I've written about this in a column published in the Danvers Herald Thursday September 3, 2015. It was posted online today; you can read it by clicking this:
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Joshua Ward House
Cousin Stuart sent me a newspaper clipping about a new chapter in the history of the Joshua Ward House on Washington Street in Salem:
Ward House in Salem to Host Chic Hotel (Salem News, Aug 17, 2015)
Our family has connections to this house, and I recall a lovely tour by Bob Murphy, then owner, in May 2009. He eagerly showed us the bedroom in which President George Washington, as a guest of Joshua Ward in 1789, had slept. Bob was in the process of restoring that room, working on some of the window shutters.
Most of the rest of the house was devoted to his business, the Higginson Book Company. My head is now spinning with questions. When did Mr. Murphy sell the house? Does his book business continue? Apparently so. See http://www.higginsonbooks.com/
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| For more photos of my 2009 visit, visit my photos of Joshua Ward House tour (In that gallery, scroll down to follow the tour in sequence, with captions.) |
Most of the rest of the house was devoted to his business, the Higginson Book Company. My head is now spinning with questions. When did Mr. Murphy sell the house? Does his book business continue? Apparently so. See http://www.higginsonbooks.com/
Today I located a January 2014 announcement of the house being for sale, but it doesn't mention Bob Murphy.
For Sale in Salem: Warning, Possibly Haunted (Salem Patch, January 2014)
"The Joshua Ward House in downtown Salem is up for sale."
In 2008 I wrote a piece about my family's connection to this house. See Which Joshua Ward?
Now I probably should write an update.
Now I probably should write an update.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Tintype: 5 women
This summer I discovered, among miscellaneous family papers, an old bent tintype in a torn paper casing. The image on the small piece of metal (measuring 2 1/4 " x 3 1/2") shows five well-dressed women.
According to the faint pencil notes on the back of the paper case, my great-grandmother Elizabeth Perkins Stanley (Mrs. Andrew Nichols, of Danvers) is one of these ladies:
Which one is she? Who are the other women? When was this taken? Why? What was the occasion?
Answers to some of these questions are emerging, but this is an on-going research puzzle. If you have any information to add, please submit a Comment or contact me via the email form. Thank you!
Today I learned an important clue: the tintype photograph is a direct positive process, resulting in a reversed, or MIRRORED image. See
https://www.consortiumlibrary.org/blogs/archives/2010/09/03/photos-in-the-archives-tintypes/
Richard Trask, of the Danvers Archival Center, writes, "The image is a Ferrotype (tintype), a thin sheet of metal coated with a dark lacquer used to support a photographic emulsion. This image was placed into a decorative paper mat. I believe it dates to the late 1870s/early 1880s."
Below is a scanned image of the back side of the paper case, including penciled notes (which may have been added much later, and are incomplete, only identifying four women):
Here's what I have deciphered so far, with help from Richard Trask, my cousin Janet Derouin, and a magnifying glass:
After some hours spent searching the Internet and reading old Danvers documents (accessible via Google Books), I can now add more information about these four women and their connections to Danvers history. I will number them here, and I may eventually create a separate blog entry for each.
1. Maria Louisa Fowler (probably unmarried at time of this tintype)
"Maria Louisa Fowler is the daughter and ninth child of Samuel Fowler, the builder of the Fowler House in Danversport, Massachusetts." See portrait. See also photo of her in the parlor of the Fowler house in Danversport.
Online, I found a genealogy of the Lummus/Lumas/Loomis family (in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 1917). Maria Louisa Fowler was the 3rd wife of John Lummus, a miller and grain dealer at Danversport. They married June 3rd 1890.
2. Elizabeth Perkins Stanley (Mrs. Andrew Nichols) (1836-1929)
My great-grandmother. See a photo and her obituary in a blog entry I wrote in July 2014. She was a founder of the Unitarian Congregational Church of Danvers, and an active volunteer there and with many other community organizations.
3. Mary Anne Catherine Perkins (Mrs. L. J. Livermore) (1823-1906)
Her husband, Rev. Leonard Jarvis Livermore, was pastor of the Unitarian Congregational Church of Danvers from 1867 to his death in 1886.
4. Clara M. Corning (Mrs. Phineas Corning)
5. [5th woman not yet identifed]
According to the faint pencil notes on the back of the paper case, my great-grandmother Elizabeth Perkins Stanley (Mrs. Andrew Nichols, of Danvers) is one of these ladies:
 |
| (Click on image to enlarge) |
Answers to some of these questions are emerging, but this is an on-going research puzzle. If you have any information to add, please submit a Comment or contact me via the email form. Thank you!
Today I learned an important clue: the tintype photograph is a direct positive process, resulting in a reversed, or MIRRORED image. See
https://www.consortiumlibrary.org/blogs/archives/2010/09/03/photos-in-the-archives-tintypes/
Richard Trask, of the Danvers Archival Center, writes, "The image is a Ferrotype (tintype), a thin sheet of metal coated with a dark lacquer used to support a photographic emulsion. This image was placed into a decorative paper mat. I believe it dates to the late 1870s/early 1880s."
 |
| My recent photo of the pieces of this tintype |
Below is a scanned image of the back side of the paper case, including penciled notes (which may have been added much later, and are incomplete, only identifying four women):
Here's what I have deciphered so far, with help from Richard Trask, my cousin Janet Derouin, and a magnifying glass:
"Standing from left to right
Maria L. Fowler Mrs. John Lummus
Elizabeth Perkins Stanley Mrs. Andrew Nichols
Perkins Mrs. Rev. Leonard Jarvis Livermore
Mrs Phineas Corning, a Shoe
manufacturer at Danversport "
After some hours spent searching the Internet and reading old Danvers documents (accessible via Google Books), I can now add more information about these four women and their connections to Danvers history. I will number them here, and I may eventually create a separate blog entry for each.
1. Maria Louisa Fowler (probably unmarried at time of this tintype)
"Maria Louisa Fowler is the daughter and ninth child of Samuel Fowler, the builder of the Fowler House in Danversport, Massachusetts." See portrait. See also photo of her in the parlor of the Fowler house in Danversport.
Online, I found a genealogy of the Lummus/Lumas/Loomis family (in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 1917). Maria Louisa Fowler was the 3rd wife of John Lummus, a miller and grain dealer at Danversport. They married June 3rd 1890.
2. Elizabeth Perkins Stanley (Mrs. Andrew Nichols) (1836-1929)
My great-grandmother. See a photo and her obituary in a blog entry I wrote in July 2014. She was a founder of the Unitarian Congregational Church of Danvers, and an active volunteer there and with many other community organizations.
3. Mary Anne Catherine Perkins (Mrs. L. J. Livermore) (1823-1906)
Her husband, Rev. Leonard Jarvis Livermore, was pastor of the Unitarian Congregational Church of Danvers from 1867 to his death in 1886.
4. Clara M. Corning (Mrs. Phineas Corning)
5. [5th woman not yet identifed]
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