Mary Schott's Autograph Album

The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has in its collections an autograph book owned by Sandusky resident Mary Schott, with autographs collected when she was a young woman. She was born in 1860; the album covers the years 1881 and 1882. By looking through the pages of the album, one can learn about her friends and acquaintances, as well as discover the style of writing and humor of the late nineteenth century, often known as the "Victorian Era."

On June 9, 1881, Mary’s friend Teresa Missig wrote to Mary:

“There is no death of kindness

In this world of ours,

Only in often blindness

We gather thorns for flowers.”

 Beside Teresa’s poem is a sentence written in the shape of an anchor:

“May Faith Hope and Charity Anchor thee safe into eternity.”

 

Lizzie Zipfel, later Lizzie Feick, wrote a verse to Mary on Oct. 12, 1881:

 

“Don’t forget me when you are happy,

Keep for me one little spot,

In the depths of thy affection,

Plant one sweet “forget me not.”

Lizzie Zipfel was about 17 when she wrote her message to Mary. She is pictured here later, when she was Mrs. Feick

Fred Westerhold wrote to Mary on March 4, 1882:

 

“On life’s rugged road,

As we journey each day

Far, far more of sunshine

Would brighten the way.

If, forgetful of self

And our troubles, we had

 

The will, and would try

To make other hearts glad.”

 

Sometime after 1882, Mary Schott married Mr. Joseph Robertson, but by 1900 she was widowed, and living with her sister, Eva Schott Missig. Mrs. Mary Robertson died on her 90^th birthday in 1950. She had been a lifelong member of St. Mary’s Church.

Anna Gilbert’s Autograph Book

Anna Gilbert, daughter of George and Anna Gilbert, is pictured above in her graduation picture from  Sandusky High School in 1892 The picture was taken by photographer J.M. Lloyd. In 1884 Anna received an autograph album as a Christmas gift. The autographs Anna collected range in date from 1884 to 1890. Several of the verses written to Annie were decorated with colorful illustrations.

On February 14, 1885, E.A. Gilbert wrote this verse encouraging Annie to think of the author, even if she were to live far away in the future:

Minnie Carter signed this verse in 1886:

George M. Stevenson suggested that Anna was the female pictured on the page on which he signed his name.

Anna Gilbert lived to the age of 96. She passed away on January 17, 1970, at the colonial Manor Nursing Home. An obituary for Anna Gilbert appeared in the January 16, 1970 issue of the Sandusky Register. Anna was a retired bookkeeper, and had been employed at several area businesses, including several wineries, the former Roberts Motor Company, and Harten and Brooks Motor Sales.

Emma Meyer’s Autograph Book

Autograph books have long been a favorite of graduating students, providing them with a memento that contained verses and signatures written by their friends and classmates. Emma Meyer received this autograph book from her brother Frank about 1883. Emma was living at 323 Tiffin Avenue in Sandusky, Ohio at the time. The booklet was entitled the “Golden Floral Album.” Colorful pictures have been glued to some of the pages of the autograph book.

Below is the verse signed by Eva Bitter:

It reads:

“To Emma”

May you path be strewn with roses.

Fair and flowery to the end;

And when your body in death reposes.

May your Maker be your friend.

                                    Is the wish of your

                                    Friend Eva Bitter

Aug. 24, 1883

The signatures that Emma collected were from people in several  locations, including Catawba Island, Norwalk, Columbus, and Louisville, Kentucky, suggesting that Emma carried the autograph book with her while she traveled. John Miller, from Bellevue, who would later become Emma’s husband, signed her autograph book.

Autograph books can help you learn more about your ancestor and the times in which they lived. Long before cell phones and Facebook, the humorous verses and Victorian illustrations contained in Emma’s autograph book provide us with a brief glimpse of the customs of young adults in days gone by.

Marcia Coburn of Southbridge, Massachusetts

In the holdings of the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library is an autograph album that originally belonged to Marcia Coburn of Southbridge, Massachusetts. The entries cover the years 1831 through 1833, and many are written by students of the Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy. Wilbraham was one of the oldest educational institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Vinton Memorial, available full text at Google Books, tells us that Marcia Coburn married George A. Vinton in 1838. They had four children before Marcia Coburn Vinton died at the age of 38 in Southbridge, June 25, 1854.

Here is a verse written from George Vinton to Marcia Coburn:

"Avoid contention, friendship cultivate,
Respect, but never fawn upon the great:
Aim not to make thy friends his thoughts reveal
With seeming openness they own conceal –
Speak peace where discord reigns, assuage the floods,
And for revenge, persist in doing good.
Let proper objects never want a tear;
Excuse mistakes - in friendship be sincere.
Be envy banished from they generous heart,
Tell not the secrets which they friends impart;
In speaking of thyself, nor praise, nor blame,
And dread to be a slave to common fame."

Yours in true Friendship.

George A. Vinton

Below is another entry which was written at Wesleyan Seminary in 1831.
One of Marcia Coburn Vinton’s daughters, Evan Vinton, was a pioneer resident of Sandusky, Ohio. In 1871 Evan Vinton married Charles E. Bouton, who was elected Mayor of Sandusky in 1895. Though specific details are not known, Marcia’s autograph album was passed down to Lucia McCune, an area resident. Lucia donated the autograph album of Marcia Coburn to the Sandusky Library in 1962.

This hand-tinted cabinet photograph was found inside the autograph book. We do not know who this person is; although it could be Marcia Coburn Vinton, it likely is not, because she died in 1854, before this style of photograph became popular. It could also be her daughter, Evan Vinton Bouton.