GAZE AT MY AUTOGRAPH ALBUM
ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS
[Thanks to Larry Foster for colorized photo]
the autograph book of my great - grandmother
Sarah Elisabeth Hartman Lindsey (1856 - 1937),
filled in as she traveled west in 1886 - 1894,
from Indiana to Illinois to Nebraska.
More recently I have come across
the Autograph Book of my great - grandmother
Anna Mary Miller Heideman (1862 - 1923)
begun Christmas 1884
resumed 1902 & 1907
The dedication on the front flyleaf,
indicates that the books was a gift
to Anna from her youngest brother Jacob
"If you want a good laugh
gaze at my Autograph Album.
Anna M. Miller"
I'm including this page from near the front because
it includes the date: "December the 21st [?] 1884"
Plus, I love the side-note: "A Mary Christmas"
You may recall that Will gave Anna
a small New Testament in March 1879
They were married a year later ~ March 9, 1886
I have Anna's engagement ring, engraved
~ W.M.H. to A.M.M. Sept 27, 85 [1885] ~
As you can see here, William has already
dropped the final "n" of "Heidemann"
comes a dated entry from Nathaniel Reider,
a friend who would marry Anna's sister
Alice the following Spring ~ April 23, 1886
Notice also that Nathaniel had created
his own personalized photographic postage stamp!
of Nathaniel's colorful calligraphy
which seems to be scribbled over in red pencil
probably by a little child at a later date.
seems to have put away, perhaps even forgotten about,
for 17 years, until suddenly some entries appear from
Anna's daughter Rovilla (my grandmother) and Anna's nieces
(the 3 older children of Alice and Nathaniel).
Edna (b 1889) would have been 13 at the time,
and she chose some lines from Tennyson:
went with the tried and true:
seem to be well - versed in the
classic autograph album rhymes of the day!
until 1907 when Anna's youngest child,
11 - year old Melville (b 1896) fills a page:
I am entertained by this friend
who chose irreverence over piety
and had the final word on the back inside cover:
While her primary focus is on puncuation,
these few lines capture perfectly
the intended message -- "Remember me!" --
of every simple rhyme, prayerful hope,
playful proverb, or sentimental couplet
that ever made its way into an autograph album:
"Writing embodies human hope We hope to project ourselves into the future, beyond the moment of forming words on paper or screen. We also hope our words will transmit our feelings or stand in for us, capturing our tone of voice even when we're not there." (pp 4 - 5)
From Periods to Interrobangs,
How Punctuation Remade the World
*********************
MORE FAMILY STORIES TO COME
in the meantime . . .
Lots of Family Pictures: Calendar 2024
Calendar 2025: #1 ~ #2 ~ #3
Photo Ablums: Gravestones & Grandparents
There's no vocabulary for love within a family,
love that's lived in but not looked at,
love within the light of which all else is seen,
the love within which all other love finds speech.
This love is silent." ~ T. S. Eliot
ENTIRE SERIES:
Family History #1
Family History #2
Family History #3
Family History #4
Family History #5
Family History #6
Family History #7
Family History #8
Family History #9
Family History #10
Family History #11
Next Fortnightly Post: Family History #12
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blogs
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com
Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com
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