Memories of the Coes 12: Literature

I have been thinking of the literature that came to our home in those early days, and it seems to me it was most creditable. I know there Godey's and Peterson's and Arthur's Magazines around, but whether they were still coming through the mail or were brought from the attic I cannot tell. I think there was the Weekly Le Roy paper, I think the Le Roy Gazette. Ballon's Magazine and T.S Arthur's, perhaps not both at a time, - I am quite sure the New York Christian Advocate (Methodist.) The Ladies Repository, a combined religious and popular woman's magazine, published I feel sure, by the Methodist publishing house and something like Ladie's Home Journal, without fashions, - in form like the American. Of course there were very few illustrations, if any, but always at least one steel engraving. how i wish I could get a pile - assorted - of the above magazines! Before I could read we had the Youth's Companion. I believe it was a four page publication when we first had it. How we children loved it! It was quite a victory to be the first to get it, and I think occasionally there were tears from the losers. Of course we got the mail only when someone went to Le Roy, or possibly some thoughtful neighbor brought it with his own. We were a family of readers, but I was the "bookworm." That may have been chiefly because I cared less for, or was not strong enough to engage in out door sports or rambles. After I read about every word of the mail, I would go for the old magazines, or the books we had, - not many of them were stories. I believe our early Methodists frowned on all works of fiction. Novels were taboo. many of our books were of the Civil War period "Admiral Faragut and our Naval Commanders." the exciting "Nurse and Spy" lives of various heroes. There were "Heroines of History" sketches of - mostly- famous queens, Elizabeth, Mary of Scotland, Marie Antoinette ,Joan of Arc. What seemed to amuse the family most was when I had recourse to the fine print of Josephus' "History of the Jews." Of course, I read the Bible but father read in that aloud every day, and we studied parts of it for Sunday School. Mother always read it to herself evenings before she went to bed. 

I believe I was rather quick-witted, and could say things that passed for wit. I think I was rather a pet with father and Ezra, and I wonder if I was somewhat pert and spoiled. It is possible the folks at home petted me because the Twins attracted to much attention from visitors and strangers. I think they were pretty little creatures, judging more from photo graphs than from memory, especially of those early years. There were so exactly alike, with pretty dark eyes, auburn hair which mother curled, clear fair complexions, each was well worth looking at if there hadn't been two. If one was sick, mother said the other was sure to be, at least within a day or two. A favorite trick of visitors was to take them out of the room and when they came back get father to try to name them correctly. Father used to say "Sis" impartially to try and name them correctly. When they were big girls, about 12, they had a teachers at Lime Rock, Julia Mills, who boarded at our house a term or two when she taught. She did not pretend to tell them apart. I never had any trouble in telling them apart. I was always proud of them and the attention they attracted. They never needed other friends. They always seemed sufficient to each other. 

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Patty's notes on this entry

Godey's  magazine - Godey's Lady's Book and later Magazine was published in Philadelphia from 1830-1878. 

Peterson's magazine - Peterson's magazine was  launched in 1842 as a cheaper competitor to Godey's Lady's book. Subscriptions to Peterson's cost $ 2/year as opposed to $3/ for Godey's. It was published until 1898 when it was merged into Argosy magazine. 

Arthur's magazine - Arthur's Lady's Home magazine was published by Timothy Shaw Arthur from 1852-1898. Originally it was a monthly publication with articles from Peterson's weekly magazine. 

Le Roy Gazette - The Le Roy Gazette was the local weekly newspaper in Le Roy, Genesee County, New York from 1826-1993. 

Ballon's magazine - I haven't been able to identify Ballon's magezine

T.S. Arthur's magazine - see Arthur's magazine above

New York Christian Advocate (Methodist) - Probably the Christian Advocate magazine originally published in New York City by the Methodist Episcopal Church from 1826 through 1973. 

The Ladies Repository - The Ladies Repository was a monthly publication of the Methodist Episcopal Church from 181841-1876. 

Ladies' Home Journal - Ladies Home Journal was published from 1883-2016. 

The American - Possibly The American Magazine published from 1906-1956. The magazine originated in 1876 as Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine and after a few name changes, became The American in 1906.

Youth's Companion - The Youth's Companion was a children's magazine published from 1827-1929, when it merged with the American Boy. 

Admiral Faragut and our Naval Commanders - Farragut and our Naval Commanders by Hon. J.T. Headley was published in 1867 as a companion volume to his 1866 work "Grant and Sherman and Their Generals."

Nurse and Spy - Nurse and Spy in the Union Army: Comprising the Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in Hospitals, Camps and Battlefields was published by S. Emma E. Edmunds in 1865. 

Heroines of History - The Heroines of History by John S. Jenkins was published in 1851. 

Josephus' "History of the Jews" - Titus Flavius Josephus was a Roman-Jewish historian born in the first century CE. He wrote several histories, including The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews. They were republished multiple times in the nineteenth century - often a  compiled volume of his writings. 

Father - Albert Coe (1827-1907). Son of Ezra Coe and Elizabeth Ann Sornberger. In 1850, he married Deborah Prentice (1833-1910, daughter of Southwick Prentice and Elizabeth Ann (Betsy) Smith). Albert and Deborah had five children,  Mary Isadore (1851-1924), Ezra Frank (1853-1942), Elizabeth Ann (1962-1956), Clara Addie (1864-1950), and Carrie Evelyn (1864-1948). Elizabeth Ann Coe, wife of Charles Joslin Call, is the author of the Memories of the Coes.

Ezra - Ezra Frank Coe (1853-1942) son of Albert Coe and Deborah Prentice.

Clara Addie Coe (1864-1950) and Carrie Evelyn Coe (1864-1948)
Photo courtesy of Marion Sperry Howe

Marion's blog with Coe photos is at https://mlsperry.blogspot.com/2020/07/coe-family-this-post-presents-pictures.html

the Twins - Clara Addie Coe (1864-1950) and Carrie Evelyn Coe (1864-1948), the two youngest children of Albert Coe and Elizabeth Ann Sornberger. Clara married James Daniel McEwen (1861-1901) in 1890. They lived in Wichita, Sedgewick, Kansas and had two sons. Harold and John. Carrie married Frank Lincoln Walkley (1867-1961) in 1894. They lived in Le Roy, Genesee County and had five sons, Fred, Albert, Clarence, Floyd and James.  And no - I have no clue which twin is which in the photo! 

Lime Rock - a section of Le Roy Township in Genesee County located between Le Roy and Caledonia. Lime Rock is about 5 miles east of Le Roy. Albert Coe's farm was 2 1/2 miles east of Le Roy, so about halfway between Le Roy and Lime Rock. 

Julia Mills - Possibly Julia Phelps (1854-1922, daughter of Israel Phelps and Emily Robertson). She married William Henry Mills before 1880. They lived in Genesee County. In 1872, she was attending Ingham University in Le Roy. 

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