Daguerreotype ~ Not an Alcott

In August 2016, I shared images of this daguerreotype that my second cousin sent to me. I wrote two posts about it: Tuesday's Tip ~ Analyzing a Daguerreotype and (Almost) Wordless Wednesday ~ Is This Eliza May Wells?

The photographer's imprint in the lower left-hand side of the case: A. H. Knapp, 123 Wash. St., indicates that this was produced in Boston in the 1850s.

Even though I theorized that this was an image of our common second great-grandmother, Eliza May Wells, my cousin was convinced that it was an image of Louisa May Alcott's sister, Anna (Alcott) Pratt. (You can see an image of Anna here.)

It should be noted that Eliza and Anna and Louisa were related. Eliza's grandmother, Elizabeth Sewall May, and Anna's and Louisa's mother, Abigail May, were sisters: daughters of Joseph May and Dorothy Sewall. I explained the maze of relationships in my post: Cousin Louisa May Alcott.

On December 1, there was a newspaper article in the Boston Globe about another image of Anna Alcott Pratt that had come to light entitled: Never-before-seen photo of Louisa May Alcott’s sister found in old album. The article mentioned the name of the executive director of Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, Jan Turnquist. I contacted her through the website and she kindly replied with a phone call to let me know that no, this woman is not a member of the Alcott or Pratt families.

Therefore, until another images comes along to help us out, I'm returning to my original theory of who this is: my second great-grandmother, Eliza May Wells (20 Aug 1839 - 18 Sep 1880) who would have been 16 years old in 1855. She is the only woman in my database born between 1830 and 1840 who was likely to have been in Boston in the 1850s for a photograph.

Of course, she could be a collateral relative who may not be in my database.

Louisa (May) Greeley (d. 1828) - 52 Ancestors #29

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is Musical: There seems to be a musician in every family. Who is the one in yours?

There are many musical members of my extended family, though very little is documented earlier than me (see if you can find me in the photograph at Dedham Choral Society's website) or my mother. As noted in my post about my 4th great grandfather, Joseph May, his was a musical family. His daughter, Louisa May, likely enjoyed music during her short life.

Louisa was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Joseph May and Dorothy Sewall, born in Boston on December 31, 1792. She was baptized at King's Chapel, Boston, on March 22, 1793. At not quite 21 years old, she married Samuel Greele, as his second wife, in Boston on October 19, 1823:

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Boston Marriages (image 4974 of 60705)

Samuel Greele  +  Louisa May, married by
                                                Rev. James Freeman, D.D.  19 Octr. 1823

Her two children, both born in Boston, were Samuel Sewall Greeley, born October 11, 1824, and Louisa May Greeley, born January 1, 1827. Sadly, these two children likely had no memories of their mother, as she died on November 14, 1828, of "Bilious Fever."

Surname Saturday ~ May of England and Boston, Massachusetts

East Sussex, England
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

My immigrant May ancestor is John May. He was born in Mayfield, Sussex (now part of East Sussex), England, about 1590.

He was captain of "The James," a ship which sailed between London and New England. Ultimately he settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts, by 1640. His first wife's name is unknown; she died on June 18, 1651, and is noted as "Sister Mayes" in the Roxbury Vital Records.

He had at least two sons with this first wife, John and Samuel, as they are acknowledged as arriving in New England with him.

At some point, he married a second time, because a wife is mentioned in his will, though she is not named.

His will is dated April 24, 1670. It references his house, his land (to be divided between his two sons, John and Samuel), and his carpenter's tools (which were left to his son John).

Immigrant John died on April 28, 1670, in Roxbury. I descend from both his sons down to my maternal grandfather (in three ways, as noted below).

Close to Home - Joseph May of Boston - 52 Ancestors: #9

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is "Close to Home."

I have lived most of my life in suburban Boston, Massachusetts. My parents, my grandparents, and my great-grandparents all were born outside of Massachusetts. Only three of my 16 2nd great-grandparents were born in Massachusetts. (See my "heritage pie chart" for those sixteen here.)

Joseph May

However, I do have plenty of earlier Massachusetts ancestors. One prominent Boston ancestor is Joseph May, a 4th great-grandfather (and my 5th great-grandfather; I descend from him two ways).

He was born in Boston on March 25, 1760, one of thirteen children of Samuel May and Abigail Williams. He lived his entire life in Boston.

He attended the Latin school and was there until the outbreak of the Revolution. At that time, his family began to associate themselves with Old South society which identified with the patriot movement. Joseph was a talented singer from a young age and supposedly sang at Old South as a youth (as well as enjoyed music and singing throughout his lifetime). Joseph's father moved his family from Boston to Connecticut for a short time during the war for their safety.

The Old South society used King's Chapel for its services between 1777 and 1783 (because the Old South Church was being used by British troops), and when Old South returned to its own church in 1783, Joseph remained at King's Chapel, becoming very involved with the church and close friends with the ministers who served here.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Samuel Greeley and Eliza Wells 1866

The website of New England Historic Genealogical Society at AmericanAncestors.org has a wealth of information in its databases (a benefit of paid membership). The Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910, is a database I could spend lots of time exploring.

Following is a record of the marriage of my second great grandparents, Samuel Sewall Greeley and Eliza May Wells.

My second great grandfather, Samuel Sewall Greeley (1824-1916) married twice. He married first, Anne Morris Larned in 1855 in Chicago. She gave birth to four children in less than eight years and died in 1864. Samuel returned to Massachusetts to marry his second wife, a first cousin once removed, Eliza May Wells. I discussed this family a bit when I wrote about my relation to Louisa May Alcott.

Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910. (From original records held by the Massachusetts Archives.
Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004).
Marriages, volume 190, page 276b, line 32.

Close up of the left-hand side

Close up of the left hand side confirms the wedding date, September 5, 1866. Samuel's place of residence is Chicago, Illinois, and Eliza May Wells' residence is in Brookline (where, in fact, she is listed in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census with her parents). Her age is correct; she had just turned 27 years old. However, Samuel's listed age should be 41. He was a Civil Engineer in Chicago (which is how he served the Union in the Civil War). He was born in Boston and she in Cambridge.

Close up of the right-hand side

Samuel's parents were Samuel (they are fourth and fifth in a line of Samuel Greeleys) and Louisa (daughter of Joseph May and Dorothy Sewall) and Eliza's parents were Thomas G. and Elizabeth (granddaughter of Joseph May and Dorothy Sewall). This is a second marriage for Samuel and a first marriage for Eliza and they were married by F. H. Hedge, pastor of First Parish, Brookline.

Interestingly, other (secondary) sources (Willis genealogy and May genealogy) indicate that they married in Cambridge, so this is an interesting find. The couple returned to Chicago, where they had five children, only two of whom lived to adulthood, and only my great grandmother, Ethel May Greeley had (three) children.

I descend from this couple as follows:

Samuel Sewall Greeley  and  Eliza May Wells

(1824-1916)                        (1839-1880)

|

Ethel May Greeley

(1875-1931)

|

Lowell Townsend Copeland

(1900-1974)

|

My mother

|

Me

Cousin Louisa May Alcott

This past summer, I read Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen, a must-read for fans of the story of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. There are several references to family members in the book, many of whom are relatives of mine, direct ancestors and cousins.

The first chapter gives a little genealogy of Louisa May Alcott's ancestry. Since I am descended from her maternal grandparents, it adds to what I know about Joseph May (1760 - 1841) and Dorothy Sewall May (1758 - 1825), my 4th great grandparents.

The names in red below are daughters of Joseph and Dorothy.

Reisen refers to Louisa May Alcott's cousin, Sam Greele several times. This is (my 2nd great grandfather) Samuel Sewall Greeley (1824 - 1916), whose mother, Louisa May (1792 - 1828), was an older sister of Louisa May Alcott's mother, Abigail May (1800 - 1877). According to Reisen, the author was named after her aunt Louisa. (And Louisa May Greeley (1827 - 1903) is the name of Samuel Sewall Greeley's only sibling.)

On page 132, Reisen notes that Louisa May Alcott wrote in her journal about the death of Annie, cousin Sam Greele's wife, in January 1864, and about attending the wedding of her cousin Sam (Samuel Sewall Greeley) to their mutual cousin (his second wife) Eliza May Wells in September 1866. These are my 2nd great grandparents.

Eliza May Wells (1839 - 1880) is not a first cousin, but the daughter of a first cousin of Louisa May Alcott (1832 - 1888) and Samuel Sewall Greeley. Eliza's mother was Elizabeth Sewall Willis (1820 - 1900), daughter of Elizabeth Sewall May (1798 - 1822), a sister of Louisa and Abigail. (This makes Eliza May Wells a first cousin once removed of her husband, Samuel Sewall Greeley, as well as Louisa May Alcott.) Harriet Reisen also suggests that Louisa May Alcott's sister Elizabeth (1835 - 1858) was named after this sister of her mother's.

Occasionally in the book, Reisen also refers to Wells cousins and Willis cousins. These are also relatives.

If you haven't already figured it out, this family can get confusing. Cousins married cousins, and many names are used over and over, especially if someone died young, either as a child or young adult. It doesn't help that I am descended from Joseph May (1760 - 1841) and his wife Dorothy Sewall (1758 - 1825) in two different ways.

Louisa May Alcott's descent from Joseph May and Dorothy Sewall > Abigail May > Louisa May Alcott.

My descent from Joseph May and Dorothy Sewall > Louisa May > Samuel Sewall Greeley > Ethel May Greeley > Lowell Townsend Copeland > my mother > me.

       Louisa May Alcott is my first cousin four times removed. 

My descent from Joseph May and Dorothy Sewall > Elizabeth Sewall May > Elizabeth Sewall Willis > Eliza May Wells > Ethel May Greeley > Lowell Townsend Copeland > my mother > me.

       In this case, Louisa May Alcott is my first cousin five times removed.