Thursday, April 28, 2016

Autograph Book Signed in Pittsburgh and Fredericksburg

The first page is signed "Susie Jane Lowery, Pittsburgh Penn." She owned this autograph book as a teenager, before her Manhattan marriage to a Pittsburgh-born banker, before her two daughters were born, and before her husband spent time in prison.

Susie was the daughter of John T. and Martha Lowery and was born in 1862 in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1887, she married David J. Richardson in Manhattan, New York. By 1900, they were living in Allegheny City (now the North Side of Pittsburgh) with their two daughters Lilia and Marguerite. In 1909, husband David was convicted for his role in the 1908 collapse of the Cosmopolitan National Bank in Pittsburgh. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison and released early in 1912.

I found Susie's autograph book with signatures from 1879 through 1883 in a Pittsburgh antique store. It's slightly warped from apparent water damage and some of the pages are faded, but it contains many signatures and printed calling cards. Here are two of the signatures:

From Susie Jane Lowery's autograph book dated 1879:  Arthur von Senden
in Pittsburgh, Pa. and George A. Walker in Fredericksburg, Va.

Some of the other people who signed the book include:

     Flora A. Baker - Morgantown, West Virginia     
     Charles Black - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
     Isabel D. Boyce
     Mamie Brye
     Albert Cline - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
     John M. Griffin - Fredericksburg, Virginia
     Charles Haley
     John B. Hughes
     Kate Mandis - Fredericksburg, Virginia
     Sadie McCrum - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
     A.L. Minnemeyer
     Florence Oliver - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
     Paul Pry
     D.F. Sawhill - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
     A.E. Sprague
     Linda Word - Richmond, Virginia

I'd like to return the book to a descendant of Susie Jane Lowery Richardson, so let me know if she's in your family tree.

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