52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 24, Heirloom: TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes. Last week's theme was Wedding, but I didn't follow the theme.  This week, the theme is Heirloom.

We have very few 'heirlooms' in our family, when I compare with other friends... No pieces of furniture, interesting sets of dishes, clocks from far away lands, jewellery, books signed by my ancestors, letters. No, there's none of that. But...

The biggest 'heirloom' I have and hold, is the incredible TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM, from my great-grandfather, James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER.  He is my mother's mother's father, and this line goes back to when our original settlers arrived in New Amsterdam in 1663, on the ship "Arent" [the Eagle].  Note the vertical wall boundary on the right - this, I believe, is the site of Wall Street! 

To the right is a photo of the old, worn, Album. I am very grateful to have received excellent guidance in keeping the album 'comfortable' in order to reduce the deterioration. One day, perhaps, I might be able to pay for an Archivist to assist in protecting it further. Items in the Album are dated from 1840-the very early 1900s.

Here is a link to my other blog, where I am very slowly inventorying every page of this Album. It's a slog. Sometimes I'm very excited or amused about the pages, other times, I have no idea why I'm doing this. There are pages towards the back which contain wonderful details leading me to more of my ancestors: the ORMSBEE relatives, more of the GRAVES and TREAT relatives. I want to dip and pick which pages to do, but the truth is, each page needs to follow logically and methodically, so that it is - in fact - inventoried. At the rate I'm going, it will take 5 more years! Ah well. One page at a time.  

Some pages include photos - here's one example, which I won't be getting to for many months. I have no idea who those people at the bottom of the page might be... not a clue. Dates? Names? Relationships? Reasons for the photos?  Are they related to the various ephemera on the same page, or randomly glued down? No idea. 


One page more or less in the middle of the Album which is particularly fascinating, is what I call his "Button Page".

Filled with various political buttons, this page has many names for political election compaigns, as well as other ephemera pinned to the page.  But there are many pages to go before I even begin to inventory this page.  And I'll likely need an American to help me with who's who when!

And, finally, here is the final 'page' - the inside back cover of the Album. Filled with newspaper articles, obituaries, and other details of people.  I had no idea who most of these individuals were until I began my genealogy searches.  I can hardly wait until I can inventory each one of those newspaper articles!  Not all are labelled with dates of the publication, nor with the publication title itself.  More research will be needed of course... Never-ending.  

If any of these people are your ancestors as well, please contact me via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below. I would love to learn more about my various ancestors. 

Blogger is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No.12: "Same" - Grove TERWILLIGER

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was "Luck of the Irish,"  and this week, SAME, as in same as me.  This was difficult - no one had my same name, although there were a few "Cecelia" names. No nurses.  No similar experiences... Ah. But there WAS an ancestor who had a very similar passion for family history:  my great-grandfather, James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER.  

That's right - THAT Terwilliger, the one who made a huge many-paged Souvenir Album, filling it with obituaries, letters, cards, tickets, and other bits and pieces of his life.  His Album inspired me to continue searching for more information about my ancestors, my 'larger' family. I had started several years before I retired, thinking it would be a way to know how I related to a much broader range of family members. 

On a separate blog I am attempting to inventory the entire Album, page by page, name by name, event by event. Here is my other blog, TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM, where you can follow along.  There are about 120 pages, and I'm only up to page 34!  

A dozen years ago, when I opened my deceased grandmother's box, and dug into one package and box after another, I was surprised and disappointed to find nothing of apparent value.  No gorgeous jewellery or beautiful silk dresses or scarves, no lovely hand-sewn or embroidered keepsakes. I put it away after poking in it casually, thinking I'd look more closely when I had more time.

And, when I did have time to be more thorough, I was thrilled to find so many genealogy and family history clues. Here are only a few of the genealogy/family history items:

1.  Several detailed genealogies my grandmother's brother Hal Terwilliger had drafted out for her in order to qualify for membership in either The Holland Society, and/or for Daughters of the American Revolution, and including photocopied pages from several surname history books. Names: TERWILLIGER, GRAVES, GRISWOLD, MERWIN, MORGAN, TREAT.
2.  My grandmother's typed out "Memoirs", dictated to a friend of hers about 5 years or so before she died here in Vancouver.  I must get these many pages into a blog at some point in the future.
3.  Several notes/letters, again from her brother Hal Terwilliger, about how we related to several famous surnames, or important places.
4.  A timeline list of my grandmother's medical events in her handwriting. 
5.  Photographs of my grandmother and her children, with her own mother, and grandparents.
6.  A bag of very cheap costume jewellery (sigh!), quite out of date, not taken care of, and not particularly valuable.  I wanted to find them attractive or valuable for any reason, but - no.
7.  A huge bulky heavy box, which, when unwrapped and all the tape sliced through, showed a huge book, labeled "TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM." Very large, it is 17"x14"x6" - large, and heavy, and in fair-medium shape.

This Album is a different kind of treasure chest. It contains so many useful items about my great-grandfather's social and family life, including several pages with family obituaries and newspaper articles about a number of relatives. It was from these pages of history, as well as pages of wedding cards, that I was able to prove various family relationships and add to my family tree. Many clues are in this Album, and I keep finding another one, and another one, as I inventory each page. I'm impatient to get to the end.

Did I do a similar Album?  No. Although one year my mother [his granddaughter] made separate photo albums for all three of us children, when I was about 28, starting with the phrase "In the Beginning...".  And I did something similar for my own 4 children.  

No, it wasn't making such an Album which is the "Same" relationship.  Rather it is the passion to save family history, to remember family members through various means, to pass on knowledge of one's family - that is the "same." 

I'm sure if he were alive at this point in time, he would be thrilled to be doing genealogy research on his/our relationships. Yes, I doubt his eyes would glaze over - he'd probably want to go with me on trips to find more information, and tramp over cemeteries!  

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - My great-grandmother & plane, 1927

On the back of this photo is written (in my grandmother's handwriting): Madee ('mother') took this plane in 1927.  She would have been about 70 at the time.

An intrepid traveller, she lived to 97 years, buried on her birthday 5 Nov 1955 in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York. Clara Augusta "Gussie" "Madee" GRAVES m. James "Grove" Grover TERWILLIGER on 2 Oct 1879, Syracuse, Onondaga, NY.

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.  

(Almost) WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Two James TERWILLIGERS

My 2nd great-grandfather, & his son, my great-grandfather, two James TERWILLIGERS; through my maternal lines.
I particularly appreciate the visible differences in clothing and hair styles of these two men, with photos taken about 30 years apart.  Both photos found in the younger son's TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM.

Taken in approximately 1860-1865, the photo to the right is of James M. TERWILLIGER, likely as a formal photo for the Senate.  James would be in his 40s here.  I would love to know what on earth his middle name is, as I have yet to see any document with his full name.
Born on 30 January 1825, New Scotland, Albany, New York; and died 18 October 1909, Roselle, Union, New Jersey, at the home of his elder son, below.

This is James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER, the eldest son of James M. TERWILLIGER, above;  the photo taken approximately 1885-1890.
Born 27 May 1856, Syracuse, Onondaga, New York; and died 17 March 1929, Syracuse, Onondaga, New York.