29 Thursday Sep 2022
Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Genealogy
So, I’m still here, but I’ve been mostly enmired with book-related stuff. But! There are three new posts at the “book blog” with additional information and photos of people and things in the book contributed by folks I’ve met since publishing The 1903 Jackson Corners Signature Quilt.
Enjoy!
31 Thursday Aug 2017
Posted in 19th Century, 19th Century Photos, 20th Century, Art, Genealogy
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[Updated with some new information, 6/18/21]
Among the documents, photos, and books I inherited from my grandmother, Clara Losee, were a handful of Victorian miniature paintings created by a woman called “Mrs. M. J. Manier”.
The paper is only 2″ wide. “Above, below, where e’er I gaze, Thy guiding finger Lord I trace” from a hymn “…Lord I view traced in the midnight planets’ blaze”
On the reverse of her carte-de-visite, Clara’s mother-in-law Rosalie Fraleigh Losee had written: “Mrs. M.J. Manier who was an adept at painting flowers in water colors & who decorated the wedding cake for Lucy Irene Curtis when she married John A. Fraleigh June 14, 1871 & who decorated he cake for their daughter M. Rosalie when she married Harvey Losee, Sept. 5, 1906.” Included in the collection are a calling card, her photograph, a larger painting in the pages of a Victorian friendship album, a tiny framed painting, a little packet that unfolds to reveal a Christian verse, and a painting backed with ribbon (perhaps a bookmark) with a Christian verse.
Her work is beautiful but until recently, I didn’t really know who she was. Fortunately, in 1900, she was living in Red Hook with her sister, so the data started to link up to pull her story out of the past and into the light.
More Christian quotes inside…
Mary Jane Moul was born in June 1832 to Philip Moul and Christina Shook of Red Hook. Her parents married 1 Feb 1816 at the Reformed Church in Upper Red Hook–the same that Rosalie Fraleigh Losee and her family attended. The Curtis and Fraleigh families, however, we Methodists.
Mary Jane married William Manier born in 1817–a man 15 years her senior. They had two children, John born c. 1851 and William C. born c. 1854. William died sometime before January of 1854 when John Curtis of Red Hook wrote on 9 Jan 1854 about deaths that had occurred in last two years in his diary:
…and there followed Mr. Manier; in the midst of life and health, he sickened and died. His young wife and child disconsolate. He discovered his errors in time to secure his portion in Heaven.”
Her sons were both clerks throughout their lives. John married Sophie Smith and removed to Binghamton, NY. They did not have any children. John died in 1926 in Binghamton. William C. married Jessie H Lord and had one child, a daughter whose tombstone simply reads “Baby Lu”, died 1 Jan 1885. They are all buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in New Lebanon, Columbia County NY.
In 1850, Mary Jane and her husband lived with her parents and sister Hannah (20 Oct 1820-9 Jan 1904, then the widow Shook) and her son Lorin Shook in Red Hook. In 1860, Philip and William had both died and Hannah and Lorin moved out. Lorin was old enough to be on his own (he married after 1860 Harriet Hermance) and Hannah remarried, possibly Isaac Cookingham. This was the same household situation in 1870. According to the New York State census of 1875, Mary Jane and her sons who were in their early 20s moved to Binghamton, they had a domestic servant in the home as well. Also residing there was Alexander Manier and his family, who appears to have been a brother to her late husband William. He, his wife and children, and Mary Jane’s son John and his wife are buried in the Spring Forest cemetery in Binghamton.
Mr. J. Manier calling card – probably her son, John.
In 1897 Robert W Manier of Binghampton made a request to the people of Rhinebeck in the local paper looking for info on John Manier from Dutchess County who served in the Revolution and his son John Manier of Rhinebeck who was a member of “Captain Obadiah Titus’ company, Delamater’s Regiment of New York Militia” in the war of 1812. He was doing family history research. Robert’s father was James W, son of Alexander, son of John Manier. It is likely that the John Manier in the War of 1812 he was interested in was his great-grandfather (and William Manier’s father).
Rose painted on a page in a Victorian autograph album, probably belonging to Lucy Curtis.
Initials R.C. – label on reverse reads “nee Canfield” or Lucy Curtis’ mother, Rachel Canfield Curtis.
In 1880, Mary Jane and her family were still in the same location, but then with John’s new wife Sophia Smith and her mother Jane W Smith. Son William had moved out. I couldn’t find her or son William in 1892, but in 1900 Mary Jane is back with her older sister Hannah (also listed as a widow) in Red Hook. Hannah died in 1904 so in 1910 Mary Jane got shuffled around again, going to live with her son William and his wife Jessie in Brooklyn. William died 7 Dec 1912 and Jessie died 30 Jan 1919.
Mary Jane Moul Manier died 13 Mar 1917 in Binghamton (probably having had to move yet again to be with her son John after son William’s death) and is buried in the Lutheran cemetery in Red Hook with her husband, sister, and parents.
BURIED AT RED HOOK The remains of Mrs. Mary J. Manier who formerly resided in Red Hook, and who died in Binghamton, March 13 were brought to Red Hook on Thursday afternoon and buried in her plot in the Lutheran cemetery. She was 85-years of age, She leaves one son, John Manier, of Binghamton.
– Hudson Evening Register 14 May 1917
10 Monday Jul 2017
Posted in 19th Century, 19th Century Letters, Civil War
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153 years ago today, Frank C Heermans died 10 Jul 1864 at Andersonville prison. He was born born c. 1842 to of Abraham, son of William (my ancestor), son of Abraham Heermans of Kingston, a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The below letter to his cousin William G Hall was written a month before his regiment would fight in Gettysburg. I do not know if that’s when he was captured. The scans were sent to me by my distant cousin Peggy Duff, who I believe got them from the Dutchess County Historical Society.
Headquarters 20th Regt N.Y.S.M.
Camp A Halls landing at the mouth of the Potomic Crick Vir. June the 5, 1863
Dear Cousin
I take this opportunity to answer your last letter wich I received last night it found me as well as can be expected for a souldier hoping that these few lines will find you and all the rest of the friends at home the same, you wrote your letter the same day that we was fighting the battle of Fredericksburg (December 1862) I presume that you saw the full particulars of the fight in the papers, but for all that I’ll try to give you a little discription of the fun that I passed through. We crossed the river on Friday at one O’ck and at three O’ck we had the most of our troops acrossed then the rebils commenced to shell us, the first one that they shot bursted over our heads the second one come very near killing the colonel of the 23rd Regt he was siting on his horse behind me some three ro…(?) it just passed his head and bursted it wounded two men in his regt by this time our battaryes open upon them and silenced them, then we was marched some two miles farther down the river, they did not trouble us eny more that night. The nex morning we packed up redy for a fight, at nine O’ck the ball commenced we was under constant fire untill after dark, at three O’ck in the afternoon there was three Co of our Regt was ordered out to a road as fi…(?) the Companies was A. R. J. we was on the left and just before we reached the road John R. Margas and Nickle Gilroy got shot John R. got shot in the arm and Gilroy in the cheek we laid three days and three nights in front of the enemy and it seemed like three weeks to us, we lost only some thirty men in our Regt, but thank God I never want to see another such a fight for I can’t begin to discribe it to you, a Saturday night we laid in a ditch and you could hear the wounded boy groaning and hollowing for help, but the nex morning we took care of them a Monday night we crossed the river and cheeted rebs, we have bin here I believe ten days. To day we are doing extry duty at present unloading boats with army supplies such as hay, Oats, Corn Be (?) but the word is now that we are agoing back to General Burnsides headquarters to do guard duty to wich is only six miles from here so now I must draw my scribling to a close for I don’t believe that you can read half of it
Please wright soon and oblige your sincere friend and Cousin
F C Heermans to William G Hall
The below information about the 20th NY is from the New York State Military Museum.
(The 80th Infantry Regiment of the Twentieth New York State Militia; Ulster Guard) was active at South mountain and Antietam, encamped at Sharpsburg for one week and marched through Crampton’s gap, Leesburg, Warrenton and Stafford Court House to Fredericksburg, where it participated in the battle. Winter quarters were established soon after near Hall’s landing and occupied until Jan. 7, 1863, when the 80th was assigned, to the provost guard brigade, with headquarters at Brooks’ station and remained on duty at army headquarters until after the battle of Chancellorsville. In June, 1863, the regiment was assigned to the 1st brigade, 3d division, 1st corps, and was closely engaged at Gettysburg, where it lost 170 killed, wounded or missing out of 287 engaged. It suffered most severely in the repulse of Pickett’s charge on the last day. After the battle of Gettysburg, the 80th was again ordered to headquarters for provost guard duty and continued in this service until the end of the siege of Petersburg, when it shared in the final assault, April 2, 1865.
03 Saturday Jun 2017
Posted in 19th Century, Education
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Back in 2015 I published letters to my 2nd great-grandmother Mary Elizabeth Knickerbocker of Madalin (Tivoli), Dutchess County, NY from her classmates at the Poughkeepsie Female Academy sent between 1853 and 1855.
The first article about the school is here.
Recently, I found a brochure and a sort of program tucked in with things belonging to her (then future) husband Dr. John E Losee of Upper Red Hook. Below are the pages from the “program”, and below that are three pages from the “brochure” which is undated, but is definitely of the same period.
