PERSONAGES ON THE HISTORIC PICTURE 1894

HISTORIC PICTURE OF THE HOUSE DATING FROM 1894

Original picture from a glass negative: research and reproduction by Dennis Fuller, 

Canaan Historical Society, Canaan, Vermont.

Same picture with associated names

from “West Stewartstown Memories”, The Town of Colebrook, 

M/S Printing, Second Printing, July 2000, Page 169. 

 

On a historic picture of the house from around 1894, Tom (Thomas W) Piper (b.1867, Stewartstown, d.1921), now 27 years old, and a grocery salesman, is the owner of the house. In 1892, he buys the house with his newly married wife Mary Cole and the help of his father William and mother Olive Piper. The picture is taken after the death of Thomas’ first wife Mary Cole (b.1871, d.1894, m.1890) and before his second marriage with Viola Thrasher (b.1869, d.1916, m.1895). We recognize Thomas’ father, William Piper (b.1826, d.1896) who died two years after the picture was taken. Also present is Thomas’ mother, Olive Alice Keysar 62 (b.1832, d.1916, m.1851), and Thomas' older brother, Fred Bill Piper (1857-1927). Thomas’ future wife Viola “Ola” is present on the picture, by his side, sitting in The high-wheeled buggy in the foreground on the left, which was the "luxury vehicle" of 1894. 

By 1894, the Piper family had been integral to the town's development for over a century, tracing back to the original Thomas Piper who settled on "Piper Hill" in the late 1700s. They all stand in front of The Piper's residence on Washington Street, itself is a classic example of Connected Farmstead Architecture. This "continuous" style—linking the main house to the barn via a series of "ells".

                                            Lee Otis when older (date mid-1900)

Lee Otis Parker (b.1883, d.1961), only 11 years old on the picture, is the son of the well know carpenter Ephriam Smith Parker (b.1838, d.1921, he operates a lumber shed and carpentry shop on River Street) and Olive Piper’s cousin Phoebe K Keysar (b.1844, d.1921, m.1870). Phoebe is the daughter of John Keysar (b.1816, d.1891, lived in Clarksville), the younger brother of Olive’s father, Benjamin Young Keysar (b.1811, d.1852). 

 

The Parkers live one house North of the Congregational Church on Washington Street, while the Pipers's house of the historic picture presented above is located one house South of the Church. You will find a picture of Ephriam Parker's house in the book "Stewartstown Memories" page 43.

Mary Ann Hibbard Chamberlain (Chamberlin) (b.1835, from Hereford, Québec). The Chamberlains and Pipers were linked through marriage and property. Mary Ann was likely a neighbor or a relative by marriage.

Her first marriage in 1855 was with John Moody Hilliard (b.1826, d.1874), with whom she will have 8 children. Her second marriage in 1877 was with her 10 years younger present husband, George H. Chamberlain (b.1848), a local farmer. They live nearby on Main Street. She is part of the Piper’s family; from her first marriage, her oldest daughter Isabelle L (Belle) Hilliard (b.1857, m.1878) is married with Fred Bill Piper, Thomas Piper’s older brother. 

She is also the mother of Mary Eliza Hilliard (b.1862), the wife of Benjamin Howard Blodgett (b.1858, m.1878), and parents of future Dr. John M Blodgett (b.1880). But, more importantly, Benjamin Howard Blodgett, is the son of John P Blodgett and Josephine S Keysar, Olive Alice Piper’s younger sister. 

To summarize, Mary Ann's daughter Isabelle (Belle), is married with Thomas Piper’s brother, and her other daughter Mary Eliza is married with Olive Alice Piper’s nephew. 

In this picture, You can see the transition in Victorian fashion. The women are in long, dark, high-collared dresses, while the men are in heavy wool suits and hats. The women's "leg-o-mutton" sleeves (puffed at the shoulder), the high-waisted skirts,  and the men's stiff bowlers hat, stiff collars. and frock coats are textbook 1890s fashion, transitioning from the heavy Victorian era into the more "practical" Edwardian style. This is the peak of the "Gilded Age" in rural New England, where even small-town residents dressed in their finest for a professional photograph.

      

 One of the two is Jessie Rowell, which one and who is the other one? 

Jessie May Rowell (b. 1875, d.1967, m.1899 with Lingan W. Jewett) is only 19 years old on the picture. She is the niece of Ellen Flanders Rowell (1834-1907, m. 1854), the wife of Thomas Henry Mayo (1826-1907), an important figure in West Stewartstown as an artist-painter; also, the Mayos are close neighbors, living across the road on Main Street. Jessie May lives on High Street in West Stewartstown (the street just above Washington Street) with her father Sommer Rowell (Summer), a "carpenter", and her mother Julia (Juliette).

Three young man's names are written under the picture: Jerry Almon Terril (25), Hugh Savage (27), and Ernest Cole (25), we do not know which picture belongs to who. But, we know a bit of history about each one of them:

As a second source of income, the piper’s generally had a “boarder” (or roomer) living with them. At the time of the picture, Jerry Almon Terril, 25 years old (b. 1869, in Clarksville), was likely a boarder. Later on, in the 1900 US Census, he is a boarder in the Norton Haynes household also on Washington Street, West Stewartstown. He works as a "saw setter" at the saw mill.  Jerry will become a known figure in local town reports and a local farmer and is frequently mentioned in town reports as a "Road Agent"—the person responsible for maintaining the rugged dirt roads of Stewartstown.

Hugh Savage from Thedford Mines, Québec (b. 1867, 27 yo) is a railroad station agent for the Upper Coos Railroad in West Stewartstown. The railroad had been recently completed in 1887 and was essential to the economic success of region. Of interest, he will marry in 1896 the daughter of A.B. Quimby, Jennie May, living in the house across the street from Pipper's house on the corner of Mill Street. Hugh would likely have been a peer of the younger Pipers. A member of the Savage family who were early pioneers in nearby Colebrook and Stewartstown. Ultimately, in 1913, Hugh Savage will return to live in Canada, more specifically in Alberta, with his wife Jennie May and three children. More about the Quimby family in the page on West Stewartstown: the Village .

Where is Ernest Cole?

Ernest Cole (Earnest Clinton Cole, b. 1871) named on the picture turns out to be Thomas W Piper's brother-in-law from his first marriage with Mary Elmira Cole who died in 1894 before this picture was taken. Ernest would be 25 years old on the picture (He marries Miss H. J. Weeks of Canaan Dec 25, 1896).

The three persons of the same age would be Jerry Terril, Hugh Savage, and Ernest Cole. The dilemma is that we can see 6 males on the pictures, but 7 names in the caption are boy's names (Tom, Lee, William, Bill, Ernest, Jerry, and Hugh). We see 5 females on the picture, but only 4 names in the caption are girl's names (Mary Ann, Jesse, Olive, and Ola). 

Lee is considered a gender-neutral name, and as such could be a female, but there is very little doubt that the young boy from the picture is Lee Otis Parker, with too many facial features similar to his picture at an older age, his relation to the pipers, and close proximity. This assumption is also substantiated by the corresponding Lee's age.

Help would be welcome to solve the mystery? 

What makes this image historically significant is the inclusion of the "Washington Street Neighbors." In the 1890s, the village of West Stewartstown was a tight-knit ecosystem of families who shared labor, resources, and governance: men like Jerry Tirrell and Hugh Savage were not just neighbors; they were the "Road Agents" and timber-men who built the infrastructure of the North Country. The inclusion of Ernest Cole, Jesse Rowel, and Lee Parker highlights the social custom of "Neighboring." 

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As you may have noticed, Mary Ann Hibbard Chamberlain is wearing a type of dress ''à la mode'' for the time:

Article in The Frontier Gazette 1896:

The "Leg-o-Mutton" Sleeves 

Some women in the photo are wearing dresses with massive, puffed upper sleeves that taper at the wrist. This specific "gigot" or leg-o-mutton style exploded in size starting around 1893, peaked in 1895–1896 (becoming almost comical in scale), and then rapidly deflated and disappeared by 1899. High Necklines and Small Waists: The high-collared bodices and the "hourglass" silhouette created by the wide shoulders were the hallmark of the mid-1890s.

At least 2 of the ladies are wearing ''hats of the season'' as per The Frontier Gazette 1895:

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It was exciting to find another photo from the 1900s at the Alice M. Ward Memorial Library, Canaan Public Library, VT, with Viola Thrasher (Mrs. Tom Piper) and Annie Chamberlain (Mary Ann Chamberlain):

Mrs. Viola Piper is the third from the left top row and Mrs. Chamberlain is in the middle of the first row (6th from the left). They were giving a theatrical play at the theater. 

I wonder if this is related to the young ladies of Canaan and West Stewartstown presenting "Ye Hatchet Familie" to the public at G.A.R. Hall (Essex County herald, Feb. 26, 1897), since the photo dates from that same period?

Location of Jacobs' Store and later Loverin's Store, at the corner of Main Street and River Street.

Now, where Salomon store is located. 

The second floor served as theatre and meeting room.

 

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A detailed map of the village with the names of its inhabitants from 1892, the year the house was acquired by the Pipers:

Advertising for the train schedule in The Frontier Gazette 1896:

Sources:

New Hampshire State Atlas 1892, New Hampshire. Published by D. H. Hurd & Co. in 1892. Available on line: http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/4298/Dalton++Stewartstown++Carroll++Stewartstown+West++White+Mountain++Harts+Landing/New+Hampshire+State+Atlas+1892/New+Hampshire/

“West Stewartstown Memories”, The Town of Colebrook, M/S Printing, Second Printing, July 2000, Page 169.

Pictures courtesy from The Alice M. Ward Memorial Library, Canaan Public Library, VT