Funeral Notice of Mrs. E. P. Ingersoll

 

Volume 52 of The Bible Society Record of the American Bible Society, reported that Rev. Edward Payson Ingersoll, son of William and Samantha Bassett Ingersoll, married Julia DeForest, daughter of Tracy R. and Julia Sutherland DeForest on September 11, 1860 in Cleveland, Ohio. Rev. E. P. Ingersoll was the pastor of the Congregational Church in Sandusky from 1863 to 1867. He later served churches in Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Brooklyn, New York. A New York Times reporter wrote that Rev. Ingersoll gave an “exceedingly interesting discourse” in Brooklyn in July of 1867.

Miss Jessie Wilcox donated several items to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library, including the funeral notice of Mrs. Ingersoll. Julia Ingersoll passed away in August 1865, after only three years of marriage. Her funeral was to take place at the Sandusky parsonage at No. 9 Hancock Street, with burial to be in Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Ingersoll left behind two little girls, Annie and Alice, both under five years of age. Rev. Ingersoll married Helen Abbott in 1866. By 1880 Rev. Ingersoll, his wife and two daughters, as well as Helen’s sister Kate Abbott, were living in Brooklyn, New York. Rev. Ingersoll died on February 5, 1907, and he is buried in Cleveland’s Lake View Cemetery.

An interesting side note is that Julia DeForest Ingersoll was a cousin to radio pioneer Lee DeForest. Pedigree charts from the Worldconnect portions of Rootsweb indicate that Julia DeForest was the granddaughter of Gideon and Hannah DeForest, while Lee DeForest was the great grandson of Gideon and Hannah DeForest.

Funeral Notice for David Adams

The funeral notice for David Adams invites friends of the young man’s parents, Thomas P. and Eliza Hurst Adams, to his funeral, to be held at the Adams residence on September 8, 1853.

At the top of the notice is an image of a tombstone next to a willow tree. Bertram S. Puckle wrote in his book Funeral Customs: Their Origin and Development that: “The weeping willow, by reason of its form trailing and bowed in grief, as its name suggests, caused it to be frequently planted in such a position where it might overhang a favoured tomb, like some perpetual mourner.”

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Adams may not have lived  in Erie County, or lived here only briefly, as their name does not appear in the 1850 or 1860 U.S. Census for Erie County. Unfortunately, we do not know the location of the David Adams residence.