TERWILLIGER FAMILY - early 1900s Photo, Roselle NJ

This is the only photo which has my maternal grandmother, her two brothers, her mother, and her Terwilliger grandparents all in one photo. There are two additional women in this photo who may not be related.  By elimination, I can assume that my grandmother's father "Grove" is the one taking this photo. Wish I knew more. And I look at the three photos on the back wall with sad eyes, wondering where on earth they ended up! 

My mother wrote on the back of this photo, identifying most of the individuals, in relation to her, and she dated it "Dining Room, Roselle NJ, 1903-1909".  Note that James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER and his wife moved to Roselle in the early 1900s.

• Starting on the left (front), is my 2nd greatgrandfather, James M. TERWILLIGER. He would be 75-80 years old, although he seems rather fragile/older than that, somehow. 
• Next to him behind the table, is his wife, my 2nd greatgrandmother, Harriet F. BUELL Terwilliger, about 70-75 years old. 
• Next, the young woman with dark hair is Vera Stinson, a boarder with the family (as seen on the 1910 Census of Roselle NJ). 
• The older woman behind Vera is not identified on the photo, and I cannot guess her identity or relation to us. 
• Next, sitting at the table, looking down, is my greatgrandmother,  Clara Augusta "Gussie" GRAVES Terwilliger, also known as "Madee" (pronounced Maw-dee).  She would be in her mid-early 50s here. 
• On the very right, seated at the table is my mother's mother, my grandmother, Marguerite "Daisy" "Peggy" Josephine TERWILLIGER, also known as "Pete" (from nickname of  Pepita), whom we called "GrandPete". Here she is about 27 or so. 
• Standing behind is the elder of her two younger brothers, George Walter Terwilliger, aged about 24ish years.
• And finally, the taller and younger of the two young men, standing directly behind his mother is Harold "Hal" Graves Terwilliger, aged about 18 yrs old.

By 1910, a few years more or less after this photo was taken: 
- George married Hazel Belle Hubbard in 1909; he died in 1970, aged 88 yrs
- Harold married in 1935 to Carola Bischoff; he died in 1976, aged 88 yrs
- Marguerite married Charles Edward KUHN in 1910; she died in 1973 aged 93 yrs.  
- James M. TERWILLIGER died in the fall of 1909, aged 85 yrs..  
- Harriet, his wife, died about a year later, aged 82.  
- Grove died in 1929, aged 73.  
- Clara, his wife, died in 1955, aged 98 yrs. 
- Clara's mother, also named Harriet, died in 1929 at the age of 102 yrs. 

If you have any questions about the people in this photo, I'd be happy to answer them.  And if you have any information or corrections, please let me know - I'm always happy to correct my errors!  Contact me via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below.  

James M. TERWILLIGER, 1825-1909

   From all the wonderfully helpful links and comments I received from Albert Riezobos in Winnipeg, I decided to add some photos of James M. Terwilliger, and describe him further.  James is the father of James Grover "Grove" Terwilliger, whose Souvenirs Album I am documenting page by page by page over the coming year.  It's big.  And has lots of unusual items, names, calling cards, memorabilia and more.

   There are very few photos of  James Sr. - but since the early Album pages show items about Grove's father and friends/colleagues, it seems reasonable to at least give a smidge of information about him.  These are his "official" Senate photos.

   James Sr. was the eldest son of John S(imon) Terwilliger, b. 16 Sep 1800 in New Scotland, Albany, NY.  John married 3 times, firstly to Margaret Reid from Scotland, with whom he had 5 children:  James M., George, Nancy, Jane R., and Mary E.  Margaret died 11 Dec 1838 in DeWitt, Onondaga, NY, about 19 months after the 5th child, and John married secondly to Jane DeGraff/DeGroff, in 1841.  There were 3 girls born this time, Jane, Sara, and Lida; however both Jane and Lida died before 1850, and John's wife Jane also died in 1849.  John married one more time in 1856 to a widow, Harriet M. Ives, with whom there were no more children.  James Terwilliger and his son, Grove, were quite close with their extended family, and there were numerous social events described about visits, picnics, and more.  Sara, the only living stepsister of James Sr., lived with him and his wife for a time.

   James M. Terwilliger married Harriet F. Buell in 1851; she was the youngest of 5 (4 girls, 1 boy) of Grover Buell & Charlotte Bortle [a brick wall of mine].  They had two living children, James Grover "Grove" Terwilliger, b. 27 May 1856, and 8 years later, Harry Reid Terwilliger b. 9 Apr 1864 [the Reid from James mother's surname].  Both boys were born in Syracuse where the Terwilligers settled by the time of the 1860 Census.

   In 1851, he bought a half-interest in "The Syracuse Journal," as it was known at this time, and was listed as a "publisher" on the 1870 Census for Syracuse.  Although he sold his interest around this time, he repurchased it by 1871.  I am not certain of the reasons for this activity.  The family was relatively wealthy, and enjoyed an active social life, with invitations to social events such as the Ball of the Prince of Wales in October 1860.

   He was an active member of the Odd Fellows, and was Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge from 1884 to 1894.

   James Sr. was active in politics both locally, and state-wide.  For example, he was selected to be secretary at the first Republican Convention in 1856, held in Philadelphia.   Earlier he was elected in DeWitt, Onondaga, NY, on the 1847 "Whig Ticket" as well as on the 1848 "Temperance Ticket".    He was also a Clerk of the State Senate (NY), from 1856 to 1860, and the above 3 photographs show him dressed up for his official photographs.  In 1864 he was acting secretary of the Republican National Committee.  He was Deputy Collector for the Port of New York in 1870-1871.  In addition, from 1860-1870, James Sr. was secretary of the NY State Republican Committee.

   As stated in several obituaries published the day after his death, he retired from business and official activities in 1893.  And in 1905, he and his wife, Harriet, moved to Roselle, New Jersey, to live with their eldest son, Grove [James Grover Terwilliger] and his wife, Gussie.  James Sr. died 18 Oct 1909 at his son's home, and Harriet died 14 months later 4 Jan 1911, also at her son's home.   Both are buried side by side, in Oakwood Cemetery, in Syracuse, Onondaga, NY.  Their son, Grove, is buried nearby.


(Details above are taken from items in the Terwilliger Souvenirs Album filled out by his son Grove, as well as New York state and federal Censuses, plus newspaper articles in Syracuse and New York, NY.  Thank you Albert for your sluething!)

If you wish further information on any of the above, please do contact me, and I'll be happy to provide whatever information or details I may have.  More about the Souvenirs Album may be found by clicking on the link here   Thanks for reading my blog about this interesting ancestor of mine.