April 27, 1851 - Caroline and Serena go to the country

Sunday 27th (April)

Arose rather early, Father ate his breakfast…?. Caroline and I thought we would go in the country. So Jamie got the horse and carriage, and as father went out the front door we went out the side door. Got there about 20 minutes past 11 but found no one at home. Lot [Lothrop] came in presently and said they had all gone to the funeral of Mrs C’s baby. He got dinner about 2 (?) When A[bigail] and the rest arrived, dinner was again prepared for them. Abbey was quite cool towards me and also Caroline, matters however were soon explained. Lot and I went down in the woods (?) gathered some wild flowers and then came to the house, we soon started home but stopped in to (?) Aunt Roxana’s home had ..?.a beautiful conversation. We then started home but as the carriage broke down with us we were obliged (to tie ?) it up which made every one laugh that passed us. However we soon got home and we found Mr P[rentiss], father Aunt C[harlotte] and Mrs Wells.

Serena and Caroline have decided to visit the home of Caroline’s father-in-law John Wilson in Green Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. Caroline lived here before the death of her toddler Joseph in January and now seems to drift back and forth from the farm to Serena’s home. Abigail and Lothrop are Serena’s cousins. Abigail is unmarried, about thirty years old, and has inherited the role of housekeeper after the death of her mother. She may wish that Caroline would stay on the farm and help her.

Lothrop is a family name. John Lothrop was a leader of the first Congregationalist church in England during the time when religious dissent was persecuted. He and his congregation were discovered holding a church meeting in Blackfriars on April 29, 1632. He was imprisoned for two years and then freed on the condition that he leave England. He sailed on the ship Griffin to Boston in 1634. Mr. Lothrop was the first regularly settled minister of the First Parish in Scituate, consisting of sixty-three members.  He took charge of it Jan. 18, 1634-5.  He and twenty other heads of families founded Barnstable five years later, Oct. 11, 1639. John Lothrop is Serena’s fourth great-grandfather.

Aunt Roxana Nye’s home seems to be nearby, so she must have moved to Maineville after this time. Maineville is about thirty-five miles from Green Township, too far away to stop by. Roxanna and Joseph Nye have not been found in the 1850 US Census.

Serena says that they were obliged to tie up the carriage after it broke down. Apparently she did not mean that they had to tie up the horse. She must mean that they needed to tie broken parts together, otherwise they would not have reached home without sending for help.

April 24, 1851 - Our house was on fire

Thursday 24th (April)

Went to school as usual also as usual, the girls tormented Mr Bowers. Came home at (?), and returned but as I and Mr (?) met, I was rather late. Nothing special occurred, returned in the evening, and Thomas S[pooner] came up. Our house was on fire however which is one piece of news.

James W. Bowers is the Professor of Penmanship at Serena’s college (Cist 68).

Fires are frequently reported in the Cincinnati newspapers but if Serena’s house was really on fire, the fire was not significant enough to be mentioned. The fire in the clothing store of P. Solomon, reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer, was six or seven blocks from Serena’s home. She may have walked past the site on her way to school.

The Cincinnati Enquirer April 25, 1851

Sunday 20th (April)

In the morning Libby and Mira went up to the Cathedral, Caroline and I went down to Mr Pagington’s with Father, heard a splendid sermon and returned. Libby was quite sick in the afternoon, however Thomas came up which cheered her up. In the afternoon I did not go to class as I had no money to take with me. Thomas S[pooner] and Thomas H[unt] came and staid to tea. After tea we all went to church, heard a poor sermon and returned, retired quite early.

This is Easter Sunday. Jenny Lind attends church today, in black, and is recognized by no one (Ware and Lockard 90). The Cathedral is probably St. Peter’s Cathedral, Roman Catholic, on the southwest corner of Plum and 8^th Streets (Cist 77). Why do Libby and Mira, who are Methodist, visit the Cathedral? Is it possible that they think they might spot Jenny Lind there?

Mr. Pagington’s church is not mentioned in Cist’s Cincinnati in 1851.

Serena mentions that she does not attend her church class because she has no money. This is one of the two times that Serena mentions money. She asked Uncle Henry for two dollars on April 9. Could she be trying to get together enough cash to buy a ticket to hear Jenny Lind? 

A member of Jenny’s troupe wanders about the city today. He observes: “It is apparently a city whose rapid growth has been too quick to allow cleanliness and neatness the chances of expansion. Some sixty years since a few log houses, and a wooden chapel, were all that marked the spot which was so soon after to be the abiding place of a large and wealthy city. Its situation is charming. Almost surrounded with small hills, and placed in the corner of a bend in the stream of the Ohio, it will, when it has partially finished its singularly rapid growth, and can find time for the development of its advantages on the side of comfort, be, I should imagine, one of the finest cities in this portion of the States (Rosenberg 206).”

 

The Cincinnati Enquirer March 25, 1851

April 17, 1851 - How much they were pleased with hearing Jenny sing

Thursday 17th (April)

I went to school, but was disappointed at finding Mr Lippitt sick. However we recited. The day passed off as usual. I went home in the evening and found the folks preparing to go and hear Jenny Lind.  I went down to William L[ewis] with Cousins E[lizabeth] & C[aroline]. I met Thomas H[unt] and he went along spent a very pleasant evening had a pleasant walk home but had to run most of the way. I heard them tell how much they were pleased with hearing Jenny sing.

Who are the folks that are going to hear Jenny Lind tonight? Father and Libby? Why isn’t Serena included? Why doesn’t Thomas Hunt go to hear Jenny Lind? Does this have anything to do with the problems that Libby and Thomas seem to be experiencing? William Lewis, Serena’s cousin, and his wife Virginia Baldwin Lewis must have attended Jenny Lind’s concert on Monday.

 

The Cincinnati Enquirer April 18, 1851

 

 

The Cincinnati Enquirer April 18, 1851

 

 

The Cincinnati Enquirer April 18, 1851

 

April 14, 1851 - The Jenny Lind Concert

 

Monday 14^th (April)

Rather a pleasant morning but as I did not arise very early I did not feel much like going to school. However I went, and recited poorly. Came home in and there was quite an excitement about going to hear Jenny Lind sing. We saw quite a show, Mira and her beau went, and had to climb six steps before they could get into the hack into which they were to ride. They got off finally. Libby felt very bad because she could not go. Cousin E[lizabeth] and Mr B[igger] went down to William Spooner’s, Libby, Caroline and Thomas H[unt] are over to Aunt Chelita [Charlotte]. Father and I are sitting alone at home.

There is excitement about going to hear Jenny Lind sing, but who is going? It seems that Cousin Mira and her beau are the only family members that will attend the concert. Marcellus Hagans does not want his sweetheart to walk on this special occasion. He is just starting out professionally and does not own a carriage, so he hires a hackney coach. He does not realize how difficult it will be for Mira to climb the narrow steps wearing her concert finery with a long skirt and voluminous stiff petticoats. Serena sits comfortably across the street observing Mira’s difficult climb.

Libby is disappointed, but Serena does not seem to mind missing the concert. She does not complain about sitting home alone with her father.

Aunt Charlotte is Charlotte Goforth Lewis, the wife of Serena’s Uncle Samuel.

 

The Cincinnati Enquirer April 15, 1851

“The theatre, on the opening night, was completely filled, and crowds packed the street at the side of the building peering through the windows beside the first circle. Their continual clamor necessitated the police firing several shots into the air in order to disperse them. The vigorous yells and shrieks which followed cause a considerable annoyance (Hansen 117)”.

 

April 9, 1851 - Introducing Catherine and William Spooner

Wednesday 9^th (April)

Quite a pleasant morning, but was obliged to walk to school alone. We had quite an interesting lecture from Rev Dr Simpson, and also from Mr Mathews teacher of some Academy I do not know which. Things went on as usual until noon when I came home to dinner and after dinner went down to the pork house and asked Uncle Henry for 2 dollars but he would not give it to me, so I went to school and in the afternoon stopped, but could not get it so I came home and expected to have a scolding but she had gone downtown, so I escaped it. In the evening I studied my lessons, and then went into Cousin Maria’s, and after a little while came home and Catherine S[pooner] and William S[pooner] came in, Father came home about 9 or 10 oclock in the evening, but was dreadful sick.

Perhaps Mr. Mathews is Charles E. Matthews, A.M., Adjunct Professor of Mathematics and Secretary of the Faculty at the Woodward College and High School (Cist 69). M. Simpson, D.D., is the editor of the Western Christian Advocate, a weekly publication of the Episcopal Methodist Church in Cincinnati (Cist 74).

Catherine S and William S may be Catherine and William Spooner. William Lewis Spooner has a hardware business at 198 Main and lives on the south side of 9^th between Walnut and Vine (Williams’ Cincinnati Directory). He is Serena’s cousin, the son of Reed Spooner and Abigail Lewis. He was born in 1818 and married Catherine Smith in 1840. They have three children living in 1851 – Lemuel Reed Spooner (10), Edmund Dana Spooner (8), and Charles Wiley Spooner (6) (Spooner 151).

 

It is official! Jenny Lind is really coming to sing at the National Theatre in Cincinnati.

 

                                                   The Cincinnati Enquirer April 10, 1851                                                                      

 

April 5, 1851 - Uncle Samuel's family

Saturday 5^th (April)

Arose rather early but did not get done the work until very late. In the afternoon Aunt R[oxana] and Jimmy [Wilson] came in town and such talk as I have heard before, but am ashamed to tell it. They went home we dressed ourselves, I studied my lessons, and after tea Mr B[igger] and Mr H[unt] called. C[aroline] and I went to bed but I do not know what time the others came up to bed. In the afternoon however, Mira’s beau came and spent the evening with her.

Serena’s aunt Roxana is the younger sister of Serena’s father, Albert.  Roxana's first husband, Timothy H. Wilson, died in 1835. Jimmy is their son, James Wilson, who was born October 12, 1832. Roxana’s second husband is Joseph T. Nye. The 1860 Federal Census shows them living in Maineville, Ohio. We wish that Serena would have been less ashamed of the talk and had told us about it.

Mira is Almira Lewis, the daughter of Uncle Samuel Lewis and Aunt Charlotte Goforth Lewis. Mira was born October 3, 1831 (Cook 962). Uncle Samuel and Aunt Charlotte live on the east side of Broadway, between Woodward and Liberty (1850-51 Williams' Cincinnati Directory). Their home is across the street from Serena’s home. This allows Serena a good viewpoint for cousin-watching.

The 1850 U.S. census lists the value of Samuel’s real estate at $60,000. Samuel Lewis is one of the five brothers of Albert Lewis. Another brother, Henry Lewis, lives nearby, on northeast corner of Main and Webster (1850-51 Williams' Cincinnati Directory).  His real estate is valued at $70,000. This home may be the “old Woodward mansion” inherited from the uncle of Henry’s wife Abigail (Old Woodward 12).These homes would be valued at over $1,500,000 in 2010 dollars. They are relatively fine homes, but by no means the finest. The real estate of Nicholas Longworth, former law partner of Samuel Lewis, is valued at $2,000,000 in 1851 dollars. Charles Cist reported that, in 1851, 5360 individuals own the houses that they occupy (Cist 73). Many of the real estate values shown in the 1850 Federal Census are less than $5000, or $147,000 in 2010 dollars. Samuel and Charlotte also own a farm in Green Township, Hamilton County, Ohio.

The 1850 Census shows that Samuel and Charlotte’s household included their 24-year-old son William, Professor of Languages, and Samuel Lewis, age 5, probably their grandson. Little Samuel may be the son of Rev. Joseph Lewis, eldest son of Samuel and Charlotte, who died of consumption (tuberculosis) on November 3, 1850.  Little Samuel’s mother, Martha J. Keeley Lewis, died in 1846 (Cook 962). The spacious home was also shared with Jeremiah Goforth, age 50, and Virginia Goforth, age 82. They may be Charlotte’s brother and mother. Finally, Mina Potter, age 22, born in Germany and probably a servant, lives with them. Samuel and Charlotte’s daughter, Almira (Mira), was not at home when the census was taken. She may have been living at school. The 1850 US Census lists an 18-year-old Almira Lewis, born in Ohio, attending the Pettyman Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies in Wilmington, Delaware. Charlotte’s sister, Jemima, lived in the Lewis household for many years (Petit 161). Uncle Samuel and Aunt Charlotte have buried four of their six children: Baby Martha died in 1826, little Samuel died at the age of four in 1845, Elizabeth died of consumption at the age of 19 in 1847, and the Rev. Joseph Lewis died in 1850 (Cook).