Featured 1880 Book

I can't remember where I got this book but I've had it for 20+ years. It's pretty neat with some great stories and famous duels. It looks like it was a Christmas present see pic with 12-26-1880 date.
It's titled great events of our past century. The pages are in excellent condition for it's age, no creases ect. The cover is leather and in poor condition and it's somewhat difficult to read due to the language of that era. It looks like it cost $20. Very interesting though to say the least.

 

Um...find one for me!

 

I love the name of the owner. Gideon S. Wilbur has a nice ring to it, IMO.

I found two people with that name listed in Find A Grave. One died in Cass County, Michigan (lived 1820-1905) and the other in Middlesex County, Connecticut (lived 1860-1945). It seems more likely to be the one who died in Michigan. He was originally from Seneca County, NY. Although it might be neither of them.

And his wife chose not to sign her name in the book. Just "from Your Wife." That seems very much in keeping with the times!

 

The one in Middlesex County, CT was a blacksmith in 1880 and married (although perhaps only recently) whose age was given as 24 in the census. He and his wife were living with the wife's parents. He was born in NY too.

When I saw how young, I was wondering whether it might have been someone older - sort of a look back at the events of his life.

 

Obviously a laugh-a-minute couple. She doesn't have a particularly educated hand. And there is a poignant touch of self-improvement about her gift, isn't there?

Debora

 

Me, too. That's why I was thinking that it would more likely be the one in Michigan.

 

I checked out Michigan Gideon, who was still married to his one and only wife Louisa in 1880. 37 years of marriage at that point and she signs her gift "Your Wife"?

 

One of my great-great-grandmothers died in 1900 and her newspaper obituary didn't mention her actual name anywhere. Just called her Mrs. [Husband's name]. And it never mentioned the names of her parents, or anything. If I wouldn't have already known who she was it would have been impossible to tell!

The obit was one of the useful types in that it gave some personal characteristics that were interesting. For example, her father had died when she was about 13, and it says that she worked on the farm, was strong, and could do as much work as any man! That helped me to visualize her a bit.

That being said, I don't know how she might have inscribed a book to her husband.

 

I find the inscription/signature "Your Wife" rather telling............sort of like "Your Best Friend Forever" or the like. She was proud to be his wife, and he may have called her Wife...............there is no rhyme or reason that one can calculate without being a party to the relationship.

It sort of like the pearl encrusted letter "D" pendant we found among an aunt's jewelry when she died. It took us years of mentioning it to friends and other relations before we found out it had belonged to her mother. Her mother's maiden name was Baer - her future husband's name was Bader - when he proposed, he gave her the pendant and asked her if she would allow him to add a "D" to her name..............but on it's own, a "D" pendant made no sense within the immediate family.................

 

That's a cool story, Mansons.

 

Indeed! And what a clever proposer!

 

Well, it was surely romantic - and NOT done on a TV screen in front of a gazillion - people while he was wearing a dachshund mascot outfit and she had a dripping ice cream cone in one hand and a squalling, messy diapered baby in the other.............

my, how times have changed.....................

 

Nice book and nice research!

 

Love this story.