Who was Letitia McDowell?

Post by **marilyn morning** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:52 am

Letitia McDowell is the name inscriped on the inside cover of a book, that I had inherited from a Morning relative of mine from Massachusetts, USA.

The book is very old and the cover is crumbling right before my eyes. There are a few pages missing and the publishing date is among them.
If I had to guess how old this book "Tales of Shakspeare" is, I would say it's more then 100 years old and I base that on the condition of Mary Morning's childhood bible that is dated 1897.

I've checked the SSDI, IGI and Rootsweb, but nothing jumps off the page to give me a clue as to who she was or how she was connected to my family? McDowell is not a family surname in my tree. I want to guess that she may have been a childhood friend of my gg aunt Mary Morning born on 6 December 1887 in Grafton, Massachusetts

If anyone out there is researching the surname of MCDOWELL, Letitia in the Grafton or Millbury area of Massachusetts, then get in contact with me. This book could belong to your family.

Regards
Marilyn

P.S. The next time at the Massachusetts Archives, I must remember to check and see if there is a Letitia McDowell born in Grafton around 1887.

Post by **AndrewP** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:05 am

Hi Marilyn,

Is this book the illustrated version? If so (assuming I have found the right book) it should be no older than 1899.

http://www.eldritchpress.org/cml/tfs.html

Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb, 1807
Illustrated by Arthur Rackham, 1899, 1909

All the best.

AndrewP

Post by **marilyn morning** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:43 am

Hi Andrew,

Yes, that's the book alright! Silly me, I forgot to check the online catalog for the Massachusetts Archives for Letitia's birth. She wasn't born in Massachusetts.

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/vitalrecords ... earch.aspx

Regards
Marilyn

P.S. Letitia did try to preserve the pages of this book with sticky tape. If I'm not able to find the family, then maybe I should donate the book to a society for preservation? Any suggestions would be welcome for consideration.

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:07 pm

Hi Marilyn,

Ancestry has a bunch of McDowells around Boston, mostly from Ireland and none named Letitia. There are Letitia McDowells in CA and IL in 1930, NJ 1895, Allegheny, PA and two in Philadelphia, PA in 1870, OH in 1900 and NY in 1910.

If your book is the one illustrated by Arthur Rackham, you might want to check the value of it some where. Some of Rackham's illustrations sell very well!

Carol

killearnan · Post by **killearnan** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:24 pm

Marilyn,

Possibilities that immediately spring to mind (well, after not finding her in the NEGHS databases

....):

1) Letitia was her middle name, so the records have a different name listed......

2) She was born after 1880 (or before 1880 in another country, or is hiding in the 1880 census after being born in a state other than MA) and married by 1900........or immigrated after 1900 and married by 1910 --- well, you get the picture....

3) She's in the MA records but the name is so butchered compared to what you have that we're not finding her.

4) There's no connection - the book was purchased used.....is there an actual dedication to someone or just the name inscribed?

BJ

Post by **marilyn morning** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:17 pm

4) There's no connection - the book was purchased used.....is there an actual dedication to someone or just the name inscribed?

Hi Bj

Now there's a possibility that I never thought of

Just the name inscribed on the inside cover and the first page.

Regards
Marilyn

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:23 pm

Hi Marilyn
It's of no help whatsoever, but I have a good number of books, including a "Shakespeare; the complete works" (just to keep with the spirit of the thread!!) which have been picked up at 2nd hand book places or in the case of the Shakespeare, rescued, along with several other books, from a paper recycling bin

...all with names in the front covers.

Saddo that I am, I actually went on a wee family search a year or so ago for the Shakespeare book's owner....his family appear to have ended up in Scotland, but he was born in England. A small pocket of persons with the same surname seem to have lived locally. Suspect the book ended up in the skip as the result of a death and/or house clearance. One of my best finds, that one....

It's been very useful.

Best wishes
Lesley