Attending Plymouth Church

I've recently been getting back into family history work, with a focus on ancestral activities in Brooklyn in the 1800s.  I figured this might be a good time to reactivate this blog, sharing some of the things that I've discovered.

To jump right in... we know that the Harrison and Williams families attended Plymouth Church, where they regularly heard the famous abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher preach.  Beecher presided over the wedding of Mary Ellen Harrison to Henry Clay Williams, in October 1866, and later at the funeral for their fifth son, William Street Williams, in December 1877.

Their eldest son, Frederick H. Williams, later wrote of his father:

"For many years he regularly attended Plymouth Church under the pastorate of Henry Ward Beecher, but whether he was a member I do not know.  He also attended the Wed. night prayer meetings but I think he never took any active part as he never spoke in public."

I've been particularly interested in finding any additional details about the family's involvement at Plymouth Church.  I have visited the church itself briefly (I hope to return for a full tour in the future), conducted research online, and made research trips to the New York Public Library and twice in the last year to the Center for Brooklyn History's Othmer Library.

I haven't found any clear record of Mary E. Harrison's parents joining Plymouth Church, though I feel quite confident that they attended.

I've had better luck with Mary and Henry.  Several sources show Henry C. Williams joining the church in 1869 as member number 2666.  This was a year after Frederick was born.

In my research at the Othmer Library, I came across a handwritten record of Henry C. Williams' admission.  From the Regular Meeting on April 2, 1869, the entry is as follows:

Meanwhile, Mary appears in a record of deaths among the congregation, listed as "Mrs. Mary Williams", member number 3410.  I haven't been able to find further documentation about her membership, but comparing that number against others suggests that she joined the church in 1873.  That was the year their third son, Francis, was born and then died, just shy of four months old.

Henry and Mary would instill strong religious principles in their sons.

Frederick H. Williams and Alice Corbett joined Plymouth Church, under pastor Lyman Abbott, not long after their 1893 wedding.

I'll share more of my findings on the family activities in Brooklyn, soon. 

Flowers for General Grant

One of the interesting anecdotes from my great great grandfather's memoir reads as follows:

One Decoration Day in the '80's, I saw, riding in the same carriage, in the parade, Gen. U. S. Grant and Gen. "Phil" Sheridan.  Years later I learned that at the reviewing stand the procession halted a few minutes; a lot of little girls all dressed in white, stood at attention while one went forward and presented a bouquet of flowers to Gen. Sheridan.  Gallant Irish gentleman that he was, he lifted her up and kissed her.  Another then gave Gen. Grant a bouquet, so, not to be outdone, he likewise picked her up and kissed her.  This little girl was "Allie" Corbett who later became my wife and told me of the incident when I spoke of seeing these two men at that time at another point.  So, altho Gen. Grant kissed her first, I got the girl!

I tracked down more information about this, including accounts from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and the History of U. S. Grant Post No. 327.  While they differ in some of the details from Fred and Alice's recollections, the core of the story is still the same.

The parade took place on Friday, 30 May 1884.  The notables arrived in carriages on a ferry from New York City in the morning, proceeding along Broadway to Fourth Street (today part of Bedford Ave) and then onto Bedford Ave.  The crowd at this point was sedate.  "The reception was essentially a military one, for the populace sent up no cheer, there was no waving of handkerchiefs, and scarcely any tokens of recognition of the guests were given except occasionally by Grand Army men.  General Grant looked sad and melancholy, not even the faintest sign of a smile lighting up his countenance."

The parade route.  A: Knapp residence, #87 Bedford Ave.  B: Reviewing stand.
C: Corbett and Williams residences, #26 and #28 Lafayette Ave.

The parade stopped at the corner of Bedford Ave and Ross Street, where the dignitaries stepped into the home of Joseph and Phoebe Knapp for a reception - which I'll describe in a moment.  After that, the parade continued along Bedford Ave to Lafayette Ave, turning onto Clinton Ave, Myrtle Ave, and finally Washington Park (Cumberland St) to reach the reviewing stand at Fort Greene.

Grant and Sheridan were taken by a back route to the reviewing stand, rather than continuing as part of the parade.  I suspect, given the location of the parade route and the Williams home (next door to the Corbetts), that 16-year-old Fred saw the latter part of the parade, near the reviewing stand.  The crowd for the latter part of the parade was larger and livelier.  "The sidewalks were crowded with spectators all along the line and there was not a house that was not decorated.  Some residences were completely hidden from view with bunting and one would think that the ships in the harbor had been shorn of all their flags. ... The procession took almost an hour and a half to pass a given point. ... The paraders went by in good order and excited general admiration by their steady movement."

The presentation of flowers took place not at the reviewing stand, but in the music room of the Knapp home.  Joseph Knapp had built a grand room to present both music and art, for his wife Phoebe Palmer Knapp who was a composer and church organist.  It had a 24-rank pipe organ and a stained glass roof.

General (and ex-President, though he was still commonly referred to by his military title) Ulysses S. Grant was dressed in civilian clothing that day.  At the reception, he "stood just before the largest painting in the elegant gallery" - Adriaen van de Venne's 'Proscribed Race'.  General Philip "Little Phil" Sheridan - then General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army - was in full uniform.  "His broad yellow silk sash making an imposing sweep across the swelling front of his coat, [he] brought his head within the frame of Carlos Duran's 'Fruit Girl.'"  The house was filled with plants and Grand Army emblems, and about 300 invited guests who lined up to meet the gentlemen.

Gen. Sheridan, ca. 1855-1865

Gen. Grant, ca. 1870-1880

About ten o'clock, "six white-robed girls, each bearing a bright bouquet, marched through the throng and halted before General Grant."  Blanche Calvert presented flowers to Grant, reciting a short speech.  Grant "kissed Miss Blanche and all the other girls, as their grandchildren and great grand-children shall doubtless hear."

"Miss Alice Corbett [age 12] had a bouquet for General Sheridan, to whom she said: 'We welcome you to our city of Brooklyn, because we have often wished to see you, and we hope you will come soon again to smell our sweet Brooklyn flowers.'  General Sheridan, not to be outdone in any little manner of gallantry, immediately kissed Miss Alice, as likewise also such others as came forward."

The other four girls - Edna Pitcher, Ella Bronson, Minnie Reid, and Glenna Knight - then presented their flowers to the hosts and two other guests.  The six girls had been selected because they were daughters of members of Brooklyn's G.A.R. Post No. 327 (later renamed in U. S. Grant's memory), which had organized the reception.

So, while the details differ, Alice Corbett did indeed receive a kiss from General Grant in addition to one from General Sheridan, to whom she presented flowers.

Sources:

History of U. S. Grant Post No. 327, Brooklyn, N.Y., including biographical sketches of its members, by Henry Whittemore, Detroit, 1885; in part quoting the Brooklyn Times, 30 May 1884.

"Fallen Heroes -- Decoration Day Exercises in Brooklyn", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Fri 30 May 1884, p4.

"Joseph F. Knapp Residence" listed on the American Guild of Organists NYC chapter's website.

Map from Atlas of the entire city of Brooklyn, complete in one volume, 1880, courtesy NYPL Digital Collections.

Portraits from the Brady-Handy collection at the Library of Congress, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Family papers.

Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn

My latest find is this pair of photos of the block in Brooklyn where several of my ancestors lived.  This is the south side of Lafayette Avenue, between St. Felix Street and Ashland Place (formerly Raymond Street).  The eight houses on this block were built in 1857.  From left to right, they were #36 through #22.  The block was razed in 1905 to make way for the new Brooklyn Academy of Music building which still stands there today.

The condensed family history on this block: #28 was home first to the Harrison family - Frederick H. Harrison, his second wife Caroline Cutler, and two daughters from his first marriage: Mary and Hattie.  Mary E. Harrison met Henry C. Williams at a dance, and he called on her at the house.  They were married there by none other than Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.  In 1878, Mary and her father Frederick passed away within a few months of each other.  Two years later, Henry C. Williams moved into #28 with his second wife Mary Sellers, and his and Mary Harrison's sons: Freddie and Harry.  Caroline Cutler Harrison still lived with them for a time.  Meanwhile, the Corbett family - Marshall J. Corbett, Alice Waldron, their son and four daughters - lived next door at #26.  Frederick H. Williams courted one of those daughters, Alice E. Corbett, and they married in 1893.  After setting up house nearby and having their first child (Marshall), they moved into #28 to help take care of Fred's father.  The Corbetts left #26 and moved to Corbettsville, New York, in 1893.  The Williamses left #28 and also moved to Corbettsville, in 1898.

Frederick H. Williams described the house at #28:

It was one of those red brick, three story and basement houses, in the center of the block. ... The dining room and kitchen occupied the basement, about three feet below sidewalk level.  On the next floor, a huge parlor with an "extension" ran the length of the house, used only when callers came or on Sunday evenings when father and mother sang hymns and simple little songs like "Annie Laurie".  At the front end of the parlor between two large windows was a "pier glass" extending from near the floor almost to the ceiling and framed in gilt.  On either side in the corner stood a couple of busts on their pedestals, one of John Bright and the other of [Richard] Cobden, for my grandfather was a "free trader" and admired those two Englishmen.  Some of the chairs and sofas were covered with a rose colored silk plush which we thought very right and beautiful.

On the second floor front was a large bedroom with an alcove used by father and mother; this was also the family sitting room where we played or studied our lessons.  Back of this was another large bedroom -- Harry's and mine.  All rooms were large and high ceilinged in those old houses.  On the third floor were four more bedrooms -- [two for guests, one for the cook and one for the housemaid]. ... Our houses were lighted by gas, a chandelier having from two to four jets and the light so dim by modern standards that I wonder our eyes did not give out early.  As the lights were quite high, we sometimes had a bright oil lamp on the center table to study or read by.

Richard Cobden

John Bright

Sources:
Special thanks to the Brooklyn Historical Society - I found these photos by searching their image database.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 10 Jan 1905, illustrated supplement page 1.
New-York Tribune, 19 Feb 1905, page 7.
Wikimedia Commons.
Family papers.

Green-Wood Cemetery

I've been bitten by the cemetery bug!  It was bound to happen sooner or later.

On a recent visit with my parents (and after quite a bit of preparation), we visited family grave sites in Brooklyn and New Haven.  I'll share things from New Haven later.  For now, here are some photos from the Williams family plot in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.  It includes my 2x great-grandmother, Alice Corbett Williams, and my 3x great-grandparents, Mary Ellen Harrison and Henry Clay Williams.

The outing raised a new question (as these things often do).  There was a Sarah Williams buried in the family plot in 1887, and I don't know yet how she connects with the family.  A cousin, perhaps?

If anyone else in the family visits Green-Wood, it's worth pointing out that the famous clergyman and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher is also buried there.  Mary E. Harrison and Henry C. Williams attended Plymouth Church, and Beecher conducted their wedding in 1866.