Tag Archives: Elizabeth Sweet Briggs

A book from 1849, signed by my great great grandmother and great grandfather

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I possess a book that belonged to Elizabeth Sweet Briggs VanScoter (my great great grandmother) and her son Frank Miles VanScoter (my great grandfather).

Read more about Elizabeth Sweet Briggs VanScoter here. She is on the right in this photo (cabinet card), likely taken in the 1870s.

Below are their two children, Frank and Eva, and this photo is from 1872-1875, going by the fact that Frank looks in the range of 12-15 years, and Eva looks 15-17 years.

Since these photos were taken in a similar time frame, you may think the parents look a bit old to have teenagers? Merritt and Elizabeth married late in life, when he was almost 50, and she was 37. When Frank was born, Merritt was almost 54 and Elizabeth was 41. Therefore if Frank was 12 and Eva 15 in the photo, Merritt was 66 and Elizabeth was 53. I think they look about those ages in their above photo.

But the book! The book I possess was published in 1849 and is entitled:

Proverbial Philosophy, a Book of Thoughts and Arguments by Martin Tupper.

Elizabeth Sweet Briggs signed her name to the book along with the date of August 2, 1854 or 1859. Since she married Merritt in 1855, I think the date is 1854 since she signs it Briggs. The name and date is fading and getting hard to read.

She apparently passed the book to her son Frank (my great grandfather) or he acquired it when they died, and he signed his name to it also: Frank VanScoter and the year 1892. His signature is still clear and readable.

Here is a photo of Frank VanScoter when he was 33 years old in 1893, about the same time he signed the book.

It ended up with Frank’s daughter Leota, who was my grandmother. Then on to my father, and now I have it. It is mildewy, not surprising for such an old book which was unfortunately stored in a basement for a long time. I’ve taken measures to keep it preserved now as well as possible.

I’m glad they signed their names and date to the book as it gives it personal significance for me. I have other photos and items that belonged to Frank, and there will be more posts to come.

Finally, here is a photo of myself holding the book.

Merritt VanScoter and Elizabeth Sweet Briggs, my great x 2 grandparents – photos

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Finally I move forward in time again, to where I possess personal photography.

Merritt VanScoter and Elizabeth Sweet Briggs are my great, great grandparents. Merritt was born March 17, 1806. He was one of 13 siblings born to Elias VanScoter and Mary Halstead. Last night I jotted out informally on a sheet of paper the names of all 13 siblings, and after each of their names – the names of their children. I was trying to get a sense of all the cousins ( a lot! ) my great grandfather Frank had.

Merritt married Elizabeth Sweet Briggs on Dec. 25, 1855 at Versailles, NY. Elizabeth was born May 21, 1818 and her parents were Jacob and Nancy Briggs. Merritt was a harness maker. They lived at Garwoods, NY where they both died: She on Aug. 30, 1888 and he on Feb. 28, 1891. They had 3 children:

Evalyn Havens, b. Feb.18, 1857 at Fredonia, NY
Harvey M., b. and d. in July, 1858
Frank Miles, b. Jan. 20, 1860 ** my great grandfather

Above info can be found on pages 618 and 620 of the VanScoter book.

Note some ages. Merritt and Elizabeth married late in life. He was almost 50, and she was 37. When my great grandfather Frank was born, Merritt was almost 54 and Elizabeth was 41.

I have a book that was owned and signed by Elizabeth Sweet Briggs on August 2, 1854 or 1859, and then signed by Frank Miles in 1892. I will have another post about that book with photos. Frank must have acquired it after Merritt died in Feb. 1891.

A note about Merritt’s name. In formal and informal family documentation I observe Merritt’s name spelled in varying ways – such as Merik and Merih. Maybe this had to do with how the name sounded when pronounced?

Below are two photos of Meritt and Elizabeth found in a family cabinet card album in my possession. The photos are not dated, however one can narrow the date possibilities to about 20 years between 1866 to 1888. How so? Cabinet cards did not exist in the U.S. until 1866 so that is the earliest possible date. Elizabeth died in 1888 so it can’t be past that date. Cabinet cards were at their height of popularity in the 1880’s, and declined after that. They look older to me in the first photo, so I am “guestimating” the first photo was in the 1880’s and the second in the 1870’s.

In the album, these 2 photos are identified as them. The second one is identified clearly as “Merik VanScoter, Pa’s father and mother” in my grandmother Leota’s handwriting. “Pa” would be her dad Frank Miles. The first photo is identified in my dad’s handwriting simply as “Grandfather VanScoter.” My dad went through this album with Leota before she died and he added notes of clarification about some people. Leota must have said “that is my grandfather VanScoter.” Also remember that Leota would not have known her grandparents as they died before she was born.

When I look closely at these photos, I have some doubts/questions. Merritt’s hair puzzles me. I think they look older in the first photo, however his hair is more grey and his mustache has some darkness. But in the second photo, while they both look younger, his hair is all white. How can that be? If your hair goes white, it does not return to grey or dark. Each photo was taken by a different photographer. Perhaps lighting and technique comes into play? (I highlight my hair and in some photos my hair can look rather dark and in other photos rather light.) I looked at these photos under a good light with a magnifying glass, and his forehead and the hair on his head looks quite the same – even the wave/style to it – except in the first photo his hairline has receded and his hair also looks thinner. This would make sense with aging, but not the change from white to grayish hair. Elizabeth’s face is a bit different as she has jowls in the first photo, that I do not see in the second. Jowls do develop with age.

ANYWAYS – perhaps I over analyze these photos. If you have experience in identifying people in photos, your opinion welcome. I guess I have just a little doubt that each of these photos are the same couple? But people do change in appearance as they age, and 10-15 years can be significant. In addition, these two photos could be as much as 20 years apart.

Photo #1. This photo is first in the album.

Photo # 2. This photo is second in the album, a page forward.

 

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