Aunt Sophie's Visits

 

While researching Christmas trees a few years ago, I encountered a series of stories in Godey's. "Aunt Sophie's Visits" were published in fourteen installments between 1857 and 1864. In each story, the eponymous heroine visits a relative, and gives them life advice. They are the sort of didactic story which I find enlightening about household details, so I started tracking them down.

While most of the stories are less useful for material culture than I had hoped, I think they offer some interesting insights into ideals about how families and marriages should function c.1860.

I. (November 1857) Aunt Sophie visits a newly married niece, and advises her on self-care.

II. (December 1857) Aunt Sophie instructs a different niece on preparing a Christmas tree [with strings of parched corn, dyed egg shells, riddles, lace bags of sweetmeats, paper ornaments, and wax lemons.]

III (July 1858) Aunt Sophie helps her nephew and his wife lay foundations for a good marriage and dealing with the loss of a child

IV (November 1858) Aunt Sophie teaches her husband's nephew to save and not to be extravagant with money.

V. (March 1859) Aunt Sophie advises her sister-in-law on being a stepmother, and the family comes together after the death of a child.

VI. (July 1859) Aunt Sophie visits her niece, and helps her niece's new husband realize that a person can be good without being dour. Includes references to picnics (with outdoor dancing), summer amusements, and Fourth of July celebrations.

VII.(March 1860) Aunt Sophie advises her brother and sister-in-law about assessing the character of their daughter's suitor.

VIII. (October 1861)  Aunt Sophie cautions her niece about pride and shows kindness to a worthy friend fallen on hard times.

IX. (April 1861) Aunt Sophie visits her sister, models moderation in diet, and advises her niece on the salutary benefits of anticipating pleasant events.

X. (November 1861) Aunt Sophie helps her niece and her niece's husband to find contentment in their marriage, which started inauspiciously.

XI (February 1862) Aunt Sophie advises her friend(?) to help raise her motherless nephew, to the great improvement of his character.

XII (August 1862) Aunt Sophie visits her nephew's widow, and encourages her to have her children help with the household work--easing their mother's cares while providing structure for the children and helping them develop industrious habits.

XIII:(November 1862) Aunt Sophie advises her niece-by-marriage on balancing household and social duties (with bonus Wholesome Menus for Entertaining).

XIV (June 1863): Aunt Sophie advises her sister-in-law and nieces about choosing good reading material, including a cautionary tale about the dangers of bad novels and positive observations on the sublimity of nature.

*XV: (October 1863) Aunt Sophie, with her husband and two of their children, visit some old friends who have moved away. They discuss finding contentment in old age as in youth, and on the importance of avoiding addictive substances (tobacco and alcohol).

*XVI: (June 1864) Aunt Sophie visits her brother, and helps her new sister-in-law adjust to her new home. Much of the story is told from Mary's perspective, as a poor, but cheerful and hard-working orphan, wife and widow.

 

In the September 1863 issue of Godey's, a short notice announced the death of Lucy N. Godfrey in her home at Bethlehem, Vermont on May 21, 1863. The June 1863 issue, with installment XIV of the Aunt Sophie stories, would have been delivered the week she died. The announcement mentioned that the editors had one or two more of Mrs. Godfrey's stories on hand; these appeared in the October 1863 and June 1864 issues.

I was curious about the author's life, and how it may have related to her writing, which is focused on ideas for domestic harmony. Lucy Newman Godfrey  (1829-1863) was the eldest of eight children. She appears to have spent her whole life in the vicinity of Brattleboro, Vermont, among a closely-knit family. At age twenty, she married Hartwell Godfrey, a mason five years her senior. Their only child was born in 1857, when Lucy was twenty-six and Hartwell thirty-one. In the only census taken during their marriage, Lucy and her son were living with her parents and siblings, while her husband boarded in New Jersey

Lucy's brother, George Newman Jr., may have had a wife named Lydia who died in 1857, the same year that he married a Sarah Caldwell. The fifth "Aunt Sophie" story, published in early 1859, features the heroine meeting her younger brother's second wife and advising her on relating to her stepchildren.

Lydia K. Newman, Lucy's possible sister-in-law, was predeceased by her daughter, Mary (1850-1853) and infant son, Orrin (1856). Stories three and five (published 1858/1859) include a family coping with the death of a child. The extended Newman family, unfortunately, experienced this grief multiple times in the years to follow.

In January 1863, Lucy's husband died of consumption, leaving her a widow with a 6-year-old son. In the final "Aunt Sophie" story (written by May 1863, published 1864), the character Mary's husband dies suddenly of consumption, leaving her a widow with several young children; her greatest help and comfort is her oldest son, aged 8.  This story differs from the others, in that much of the narration is Mary telling her history to Sophie; most characters' backstories are given by the omniscient narrator, or by Sophie talking with a third party. The story also focuses on a second marriage for two parties: a melancholy widower who is financially secure, and a persevering widow who has always been poor. With a minimum of Sophie's advice (that Mary needed to resume some of her former occupations), the marriage provides them both with stability and companionship. I have to wonder if that's how Lucy hoped her own life might proceed after widowhood.

The rest of what I could find on Lucy Newman's family:

I could not find a Bethlehem, Vermont, so either the place-name has changed or Godey's made an error. However, all of the other details fit Lucy Maria Godfrey, neé Newman, who died of consumption at age 33 in Brattleboro, Vermont on May 21, 1863. She was survived by her six-year-old son, Nelcour (1857-1872). Lucy's husband, Hartwell Godfrey, predeceased her by four months, dying of consumption on January 24, 1863. Both were attended in their final illnesses by a William S. Newman, who may have been a relative. Lucy is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Brattleboro, Vermont, with her husband and son, and many of of siblings' families. 

Lucy Maria Newman Godfrey (1829-1863) was the oldest daughter of George Newman (1783-1872) of Sekonk, Rhode Island/Massachusetts* and Lydia Lee Newman (1807-1888) of Vernon, Vermont. Lucy was born in Brattleboro Vermont on June 28, 1830**. Her father was a machinist, and later in life, president of a savings bank.  In 1850, Lucy was living with her parents, and seven younger siblings: George, Mary, Julia, Laura, Albert, and twins Ira and Ida. George Newman and eldest son George Jr. were both mechanics; their neighbors included two clerks, a carpenter, a conductor, a printer, and a shoemaker. 

Lucy M. Newman married Hartwell R. Godfrey on February 5, 1851, in Brattleboro, Vermont, with Rev. Addison Brown officiating. Hartwell was a mason/bricklayer, five years older than Lucy. He was also from Vermont, and in the 1850 census, he was boarding in Brattleboro.

The 1860 census saw Lucy married, but staying with her family. George Jr., now married to a woman named Sarah, is the head of the house, but his parents, older sister Lucy, and all younger siblings save Mary are in residence. A three-year-old "Nelson Newman" is probably Lucy's son Nelcour Godfrey. Hartwell Newman is in Keene, New Hampshire during the census. As they were all together again in Brattleboro in 1863, I suspect that Hartwell was away working during the 1860 census. It's also possible that they all lived in Keene and she just happened to be visiting family during the census [there were other families living in the same boarding house as Hartwell.] Alternatively, they may have been separated, or she may have lived full-time with family while he moved between building projects. There's unfortunately not enough of a paper trail to establish their household make-up or its longevity.

George Henry Newman, Jr. (1831-1902) was a mechanic/machinist like his father, and later a cotton manufacturer and capitalist. He married Sarah Caldwell (1835-1887?) in 1857; the couple had at least two children. Sarah appears on the 1855 Massachusetts census as a Lowell mill girl. In 1869, George married Mary Delia Chase (a widow); Mary died of dropsy in 1897. He married his third wife, Mary "May" C. Paige Bowers, in 1898. [Sarah, Mary D. and George all share a family monument with George, Lydia, and Ira. Sarah appears in the 1860 census, Mary in 1880; Sarah's death year on the stone ends in 7, but no other source corroborates the 1887 date--and an 1867 date makes more sense with her sharing a monument with both George and Mary. I cannot find George or Sarah in the 1870 census. There may well have been an earlier wife and/or a third George Newman, as the Vermont vital records give a Lydia Newman, wife of George, dying in 1857 (not to be confused with Lucy's mother Lydia (also married to a George Newman) who lived until 1888).  This Lydia K. Newman would have been five years older than George Jr.; she and her two children are buried 100 miles north of Brattleboro, in Orange County, Vermont. There are a cluster of Newman graves in the area from this period, which indicate a separate family or branch thereof. However, with no records between 1850 and 1857, George could have married, lived in Orange County for several years, and then returned to his parents after his wife's and childrens' deaths. ]

Mary Lavinia (1833-1911) married William C. Bryant, a tailor, on May 15, 1854. They had three children (Harriet, William, and Lillian) born between 1855 and 1860. Willie died in 1861 at age 4/5, and was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery with his parents and mother's family.

Julia Elizabeth (1840-1910), married a man named Boyden between 1860 and 1864. The couple had one son. In 1868, Julia had remarried, to a manufacturer named George Henry Ryder or Rider; the couple also had one son. George Ryder had been a corporal in Co. B., 16th Vermont Infantry between August 1862 and August 1863.

Laura Emma Newman (1844-1924) married James Wiggin, a minister, between 1860 and c.1865. They had at least three children and were living in Boston in 1880.

Albert (1847-1923) worked as a mason, and married Cordelia A. Morse Underwood (a widow) in 1873. They had at least four children.

Ira (1848-1864) died of meningitis, aged 16, on February 15, 1864. He was buried in Brattleboro with his parents, in the same cemetery as Lucy and her husband.

Ida (1848- 1920) lived with her parents through at least 1870; by 1880 she had married Henry Dean, a physician from Massachusetts, and had three children. Her widowed mother was living with her in 1880.

*Variously given as being from Massachusetts and from Sekonk, R.I. The town is on the border, immediately east of Providence, and has been disputed between the two states. Since 1862, it is part of the state of Massachusettts.

**Vermont vital statistics give her birth date as June 28, 1830. Her death record has her age as 33 in May 1863. The 1850 census, however, claims she was 21 on/by September 3, 1850. The 1860 census has her aged 30 on August 22, 1860, which works with the June 28, 1830 date; for both censuses to be accurate, her birthday would need to have fallen between August 23, 1829 and September 2, 1829. This would also work with the age at time of death. Any of these sources could have errors, however: census data is only as good as the person reporting it (who could be lying or misremembering), and birthdays fall at different times relative to the census. The birth record is a copy of a transcription from the town records, and also lists another Lucy Maria Newman (daughter of George) born "before Jan 7 1838". The death record may be subject to a -1 error, being mistaken as to the month, and/or looking only at the years.

In the 1850 census, Hartwell was listed as a mason. He boarded in Brattleboro, Vermont with Mary Howe (probably a widow). In the household were Mrs. Howe's 19-year-old daughter, also named Mary, eight male boarders, and three female boarders or servants. Except for a 40-year-old mason and his 14-year-old son (or nephew), and a 19-year-old woman, all the boarders were in their 20s. The men's trades are given as 3 shoemakers, 2 masons, 1 musical instrument maker, and one with no trade. Hartwell appears to be in Keene, New Hampshire in the 1860 census. He is listed as a bricklayer from Vermont, boarding in the Cheshire House hotel run by Elijah and Eliza Holbrook. Aside from the five Holbrook children (the eldest daughter acting as a domestic, the younger all in school), the residents included a sawyer/clerk of court with his wife; gas company agent; hab. & cap manufacturer with wife and son; a clerk; another clerk with wife and son; a carpenter/joiner and a hotel clerk who appear to be brothers; a hosteller; a merchant; an express agent; a surgeon-dentist; a tailor; another carpenter/joiner; a gun maker; a brick-layer; and a sawyer/member of congress with his wife and children (5 daughters, 1 son). The single female residents included two cooks, a milliner, a seamstress, a chambermaid, a table waiter, and a domestic. Some of these women may be employed in the hotel; one cook, the milliner and the seamstress were born in New Hampshire; the other four were all Irish-born women in their 20s.