The above is a photograph of my great-grandmother Eunice Eliza Ward Rae's autograph album from 1882. I thought it might be fun to do a post about it, with a transcription of and commentary on the contents. I did internet searches for the names in the album and in some cases was able to find the people who signed them on ancestry sites, or find other references to them online. I also consulted my father about the names with the idea that he might have known some of his grandmother's peers or other members of their family, or at least have heard something about them. Dad was born in 1938 and did not recognize many of the names that were written in the album a half century before that, but what little he was able to tell me I have included here.
If you're someone who has stumbled across this post because you were searching for information about someone on your family tree and their name appears here, please do let me know via comment or email. It would be cool to learn a little more about the people who wrote in this album.
Autograph albums were very much in vogue in the late Victorian era. Laura Ingalls Wilder was given one in 1881, which she wrote about in her novel Little Town on the Prairie. There was no photo or illustration of Ingalls Wilder's autograph album in the novel, but when I did some googling I was taken aback to find that Ingalls Wilder's album was nearly identical to my great-grandmother's. In the novel, Ingalls Wilder describes her album as red with the words "Autograph Album" embossed in gold on the front cover, with pages "of different soft colors". The photograph of her album suggests that this description was not accurate. Eunice's album certainly has no gilt on its cover, and the pages are not of different colours.
In Ingalls Wilder's novel, Caroline Ingalls tells her daughters that "autograph albums are all the fashion nowadays", and that "all the most fashionable girls in Vinton have them" (Vinton, Iowa being the school where Mary Ingalls was attending a school for the blind). Laura's schoolmate and archenemy Nellie Oleson, who didn't have one, claimed that they were "out of date", and that she "used to have one", but "wouldn't have one of the old things now", and that it was "name cards that were all the rage". I think we can put the autograph album diss down to mean girl sour grapes, as Laura and her friends did, but it is true that name cards were very popular at that time as well. I also have a little collection of lovely little name cards that were given to Eunice.
The frontispiece of the album. The binding is in rough shape and there are loose pages. I'd like to get the album repaired and rebound sometime.
This is the next page, which seems to have the price of the album on it, which indicate that this album cost 50 or 80 cents. The letters under the slash are maybe Em or Err. I don't know what that means.
Miss Eunice E Ward
Scott 1882
My great-grandmother was born on December 6th, 1871, and died June 8th, 1950. She would have been 10 or 11 when she got this album, and so I very much doubt that that her name is written in her own handwriting as that is some seriously accomplished copperplate script. One of the pleasures of looking at this album is seeing some of the beautiful penmanship in it. The "Scott 1882" was clearly written by a second hand -- perhaps Eunice's. The date seems to have been originally 1881, and the "1" was corrected to a "2" in darker ink.
Scott was a former township and municipality in Ontario, Canada. In 1974, it became amalgamated with the Township of Uxbridge.
Some friends may wish thee happiness
Some others may wish thee wealth
My wish for thee is better far
Contentment blest with health
E Ross
Friendship between us
shall ever flow
Free as a running river
And friendship shall ever
glow. Changeless forever.
Eliza Christ
This inscription was originally written in a faint ink, and someone, possibly Eunice herself as the handwriting doesn't seem to match, has written over it in a darker ink, perhaps in an effort to preserve its readability.
Eunice Eunice wonnt you come out tonight
Eunice Eunice the stars are shining bright
Put your hat and jacket on
Tell your ma you wonnt be long +
Ill meete you just around the corner
Spelling errors are original to the text, and I can't even begin to decipher the signature/initials.
Eunice,
One by one our friends go from us,
To their happy home up above
Where no pain or sorrow meets them,
Jesus greets them with his love.
George Armstrong
15/2/83
I think that signature reads as George. Other than that, the handwriting is certainly clear and beautiful.
To Eunie,
Remember me when death shall close
These eyelids in their sweet repose
When evening gale shall gently wave
The grass upon your school teachers grave
Hannah [unclear] Usher
May 23, 1983
There is something written between "Hannah" and "Usher", but I can't make it out. The inscription suggests that Hannah was Eunice's schoolteacher... or perhaps a fellow classmate who didn't particularly care for their schoolteacher. My great-grandmother Eunice was called Eunie as a nickname throughout her life. I guess as a name it's at least... not worse than Eunice?
To Eunie,
Within this book so pure and white
Let none by friends presume to write
And may each line in friendship given
Direct the readers thought to Heaven.
Your cousin
Thea
Dear Eunice
In the wreath of your affection
Twine one bud for your friend
E. Beatrice Dougherty
April 12th 1889
To Eunice
Faithful frend and
loving hearts honor's shield fell
darts
T. Thompson
Jan 31 th 1883
This person seems affectionate if a little incoherently so. I'm not sure what that first initial is, but am guessing it's a T from its likeness to the T in Thompson.
To Eunice
Live for those that love you
For those whose hearts are true
For the heaven that smiles above you
And the good that you may do
Remember me
Anna Madill
Jan 30th 1883
To Eunice
I thought I thought I thought in vain
At last I thought I would sign
my name
Yours truly,
Tillie Baker
Dad remembers Tillie Baker, and although he did not know her well, he said that she lived at Baker Hill and taught piano.
To Eunice
Pleasant dreams
Sweet repose
Angles guard
Your little toes
Ida Grieve
Jan 30th 1883
To Eunice
In this wide world the fondest
and the best
Are the most tried, most troubled,
and distressed.
E. McKnerr
To Eunice
The Ocean may between us roll
And distant be our lot
Though we should part to meet no more
Dear youth forget me not.
John Turner
Eunice
I wish thee health
I wish thee wealth
I wish thee gold in store
I wish thee Heaven after death
What could I wish thee more
Oliver F. Birchard
Feb. 14th /83
I believe that the Oliver who wrote this inscription was Oliver Franklin Birchard, who was born in Mount Albert, Ontario, in 1867 and would have been 15 at the time he wrote this on Valentine's Day in 1883.
To Eunice.
For in the stormy paths of life
You kneed an umbrella
And may you get to uphold it
A handsome young fellow.
E.E. Birchard
Jan. 28th, 1883
The Oliver Franklin Birchard I found had eleven (!) siblings, but none with the first and second initials E.E. I think this E.E. Birchard was his first cousin, Eli Edgar Birchard.
To Eunice --
Love many trust few
And always paddle
Your own canoe
David Turner
Scott
Feb 20th
1883
To Eunice --
I will not wish you every Joy
For that is seldom given
But may you bear life burden well
And find at last your home in heaven
R.W. Usher
Scott
Feb the 1
1883
To Eunice --
May one by one your deeds of kindness,
One by one your words of love,
Fit you for home in heaven,
For your home sweet home above.
Forget me not___
Abbie Card
Scott
Janu. 30th
1883
Dad knows a few families of Cards from the Stouffville area, and there is a Card's Hardware & Appliances store in town that was established in 1968. There are other Cards who signed this album.
To Eunice --
The ocean may between us roll
And distant be our lot
Though we should part to meet no more
Dear Eunice forget-me-not
Your Friend
Jane Grieve
Scott
Jan 30th
1883
To Eunice
"Friendship is a silken tie,
That binds two hearts together,
And if you never break that tie,
We shall be friends forever"
Yours in sincerity
Fanny Barnes
Bloomington April 11th/88
My great-great grandmother Rae was a Frances Barnes, who was always called Fanny, and she became Eunice's mother-in-law upon Eunice's marriage in 1895. However, this autograph would not have been the work of Fanny Barnes Rae, as she married my great-great grandfather in 1865 and would have signed herself Fanny Rae to anything she wrote in 1888. I've been unable to identify this Fanny Barnes, but it's quite likely she was a member of the same Barnes family.
To Eunice
May all your years in Joy be past.
And each prove happier than the last.
Bella Turner
Feb 13th/83
Dear Eunice
Whatsoever ye do in word or deed,
Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus
Yours Sincerely in the Bonds of Friendship
Libbie Rose
Bloomington
Nov 4th
1889
I know a family of Roses from the Stouffville area, and two sisters from that family were schoolmates of mine, one of whom was a roommate of mine in college, while the other is on my friends list on Facebook. I knew the friendship between our two families dated back to our grandparents' time, but it seems it may have gone back even further than that. However, when I messaged the one I'm in touch with on Facebook, she said she didn't know of a Libbie Rose on her family tree, so Libbie may not be related to her. Libbie Rose could even have been a double first name rather than a first name and surname.
wen you get old and
cannot see Just on Your
Specks and think of me
Mrs. Robert Jones
To Eunice
As you go sailing down the stream of life
In your little bark canoe.
May you have a happy time.
And room enough for two.
Remember me
Alfretta Grieve
Scott
Jan 30th, 1883
Remember this and bare in
mind a constant friend is
hard to find and wen you
find one brave and true
change not the old one for the new
Mrs Robert Jones
Eunice
Long may you live
Happy may you be
When you get married
Come and see me.
Written by Jno Card
Jan 28th 1883
Eunice
A gentle word is never lost
Oh never then refuse one
It cheers the heart when tempest tossed
And lulls the cares that bruise one
S A W
To Eunice
If you wish to impart
With the heavenly joys
Think more of the Lord
And less of the Boys
Your Friend
MaryAnn R
To Eunice
"It is better to weave in the web of our life
a bright and a golden filling
And to do God's work with ready hearts --
And hands that are swift and willing,
Than to snap the delicate minute thread
of our curious live asunder,
And then heaven blame for the tangled ends
And sit, and grieve and wonder."
Yours Sincerely,
H.J. Hoidge
Feb 1st 1886
To Eunice
Acknowledge the Lord
in all thy ways and
he will direct their paths
J.M. Usher
To Eunice
May this Album be a wreath to thee
Sacred to love and memory
May every line or flower
Be a true bright gem of constancy.
Bertha Lapp
Dear Friend
Fall from the housetop break your back
Fall from the top mast to the deck
Fall like a star in the heavens above
But never never fall in love.
And remember
Your Friend Eva
Dear Eunice
As the flower fadeth
When its work is done
Have your mission finished
When your race is run
Lillian Steel
To Eunice.
When the golden sun is setting,
And your heart from care is free
When o'er a thousand things your thinking
Will you sometimes think of me?
A.W. Steel
Prospect Farm, Nov 1st, 1883
Miss E. Ward
May oft your days,
In Joy be passed,
With friends to bless and cheer!
And each year exceed the last
In all that earth holds dear.
---------------
Remember me when this you see
Though many miles apart
[?] from a friend you may defend
That loves you from the heart.
Nov 24th/83
The wish of a friend
M.E. Card
Tecumseth
Miss E Ward
Choose your Friend wisely
Test your Friend well
True Friends like rarest gems
Prove hard to tell
Pollie E Allin
Lincolnville
Nov 22
18.8
To Eunice
When rocks and hills divide us
And you no more I see
Just take your pen and paper
And wright a few lines to me
Freeman Birchard
Feb 19 1883
Freeman Birchard was probably Freeman Clark Birchard and younger brother to the Oliver Birchard who had signed Eunice's album just five days previously.
Eunice
This book passed around and thither came
You ask me to write, so here is my name
I'd write it better if I could
But nature said I never should
Remember me
E K Birchard
Jan 31st, 1883
Another Birchard. I think this person may have been Eleonor Kay Birchard, who was Oliver and Freeman Birchard's first cousin and a sister of Eli Birchard's.
Eunice
Remember me
When this you see
Though you and I
May distant be
Ida Brent
Jan 31st
1883
Miss Eunice Ward
Bloomington Ont
My theory is that this one was written by Eunice herself.
Eunice
If ever deep waters between us shall roal
And toss their wild waves oer the sea
And thoughts of loved ones are filling your soul
Please cast a few thoughts upon me
Ada Birchard
Jan 31st
1883
Ada was probably Ada Mary Birchard, sister to Eli and Eleonor and first cousin to Oliver and Freeman.
To dear Eunice
In the garden of your heart
If thier is a vacant spot
Plant in this this little flower
That they call for-get me not
Priscilla Crosier
Utica Reach
Feb 1th
year 1883
The little sticker at the top of the page bears the words "Faithful and true".
To Eunice
My friend I'll ever be
Whatever be thy lot
And as each new year dawns
Do then forget-me-not
J. McKnerr
To Eunice
There is another Album
Filled with leaves of purest white
Where no name is ever tarnished
But forever pure and bright
In gods album the book of life
May your name be penned with care
And all who have here written
Have there names forever there.
Sarah G. Usher
Scott
Jan 31 1883
To Eunice
Remember me this when you
see. A donkey with a broken knee
James H.E. Card
To Eunice
The wide Ocean may between us roll
And distant be our lot
Though we should part to meet no more
Dear Eunice forget-me-not
Levi S. Birchard
Feb 13th
1883
Levi Samuel Birchard was Oliver and Freeman's brother, and first cousin to Ada, Eli, and Eleonor Birchard.
Dear Eunice
May your cross be strewn with flowers.
Florence Rae
Sept 15th
1890
Eunice's husband, James Edward Newton Rae, whom she married in 1895, had a sister named Florence Rae, so this autograph was likely the work of Eunice's sister-in-law-to-be.
To Eunice
Mind not what others say
Be thou true
P.P. Steel
Prospect Farm. May 84
Dear Grandma --
Out in the forest carved on a tree
two little words remember me
Your Granddaughter Jean Rae
Dec. 30th
1943
No need for me to google this name in hope of identifying the person. Jean Rae was my aunt. Born in August 1934, she would have been just nine years old when she signed her grandmother's autograph album over eighty years ago.
To Eunice
Forget me not I only ask
This simple boon of thee
And let it be an easy task
Sometimes to think of me
Mrs M A Pipher
Oct 1889
To E
Compliments
of
The Season
To Eunie
Gods first gift life,
His best gift Christ, His last
gift Heaven.
May we so use the first
that by the best we may
obtain the last
Maggie H. Stark
Bloomington July 24th
1889
To Eunice
As shure as comes your wedding
day. this preasant will I send.
In Shun Shine use the brushy
part" in storm the other end"
Wm Steel
Bloomington May 23/84
That's rather a nice little drawing of a broom. Hilariously, someone has tried to copyedit this autograph by striking out the superfluous "h" in "sure" and "Shun Shine", though not the extra "a" in "present" nor the punctuation or capitalization issues.
To To Eunice
May you live long
May you live happy
May you get a Man
That never gets snappy
Minnie M. Steel
Eunice
Sow love and taste its fruitage here
Sow peace and reap its harvest bright
Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor
And find a harvest home of light
Mrs. L. Pipher
Bloomington Ont.
Oct 28th 1889
To eunice
When on some distant hill you stay
And gently view the closing day
Think of a friend you cannot see
But think that I remember thee
Barton F Ward
July 15
This one was written by Eunice's brother/my great-great uncle, Barton Francis Ward.
To Eunice
Way back here almost out of sight
I write my name with all my might.
Lillian Steel
Their are treasures for the lowly
Which the grandest fail to find
Theres a chain of sweet affection
Binding friends of kindred mind
We may reap the choicest blessings
From the Poorest lot assigned
M E Ward
I believe this one was written by Eunice's mother/my great-great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Claughton Ward.
No time shall change my firm regard
Nor vanish thoughts of thee
But I will feel a sweet reward
If thou'd remember me
F Ward
I believe this one was written by Francis Ward, Eunice's father and my great great grandfather.
When this you see remember me
And bear me in your mind
Let all the world say what they will
Speak of me as you find
B F Ward
I believe this one was also by Eunice's brother Barton, but some years after the previous autograph, as his penmanship has improved considerably.
Say if no more our converse sweet
These blessed hours shall flee
Say if no more that we do meet
Thou will remember me.
E Mitchell
And finally, the embossed back cover of the album.
Despite all my googling and questioning and pondering, this album ultimately told me very little about my great-grandmother or those who autographed it for her. But then, that's the nature of memorabilia: wonderfully suggestive to those who were there, and frustratingly opaque to those who weren't.
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