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Years ago, about 1968, I received from my grandfather, Walter P. White, Sr., a collection of 4 x 5 and 5 x 7 glass plates photographic negatives made by his father, Frederick Henry White. These images, mostly of his family, were made in Milwaukee between 1896 and 1899. It is interesting to get a glimpse back into their lives. All but one of the family members shown in these photographs are descendant from Asa Cossitt, Jr. and Rachel Seymour Steele. Their eldest daughter, Sarah Maria Cossitt, married George Cossitt White (her 1st cousin and a descendant of Asa Sr.) and the eldest of their children was Frederick Henry White. The one family member shown who is not a descendant of Asa and Rachel is Frederick's wife, Frances Ludington.

The collection consists of 39 4" x 5" plates and 28 5" x 7" plates. All the 4 x 5 plates were exposed in 1896 and all the 5 x 7 plates were exposed in 1897-1899. Frederick must have done some editing as the 4 x 5 plates are numbered intermittently from 7 to 131 and the 5 x 7 plates are numbered intermittently from 7 to 93. Additionally, there is one 5 x 7 plate with the number missing and an additional 7 plates with no number or label (alas). This suggests that he exposed at least 224 plates and more likely at least 231 or 232. It is easy to imaging that Frederick culled his plates due to poor development or movement of his subjects as his exposures were typically about 8 seconds long. All 67 surviving plates are reproduced here.

All plates are shown below in reverse chronological order. The titles are those used by Frederick.

There is labeling on all but 7 of the 67 plates. In this labeling Frederick referred to himself as "Papa", his wife Frances as "Mama". His first cousin, Sarah Lavinia White Van Pelt, was called Mrs. G. B. Van Pelt. His sons, in birth order, were called Fred, Harry, Bud (or sometimes Budd or George), and Walter. His nephew Garrett was called Garrie. There are only two pictures of his eldest son, and namesake, Fred. He was 15 1/2 in January 1896, the time of the earliest pictures. Was he away at school most of this time? And Frederick's sister Sarah Lavinia (Aunt Vinnie) only appears in one picture. Why is that? Also seen are Frederick's mother, Sarah Maria Cossitt, and two of his first cousins, Fannie and Mary (May) Cossitt, daughters of Pearl Steele Cossitt.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Brief Genealogy

See also posting called Genealogy Graphic

Asa Cossitt (1754-1838), son of Rene Cossitt, Jr., married Mary Cole (1755-1813) and had multiple children including Asa Jr. (1783-1826) and Mary Lavinia (1786-1877). Asa Jr. married Rachel Seymour Steele (1784-1850) and among their children were Sarah Maria Cossitt (1815-1901). Mary Lavinia Cossitt married Stephen White (1783-1841) and among their children was George Cossitt White (1816-1890). George married his 1st cousin Sarah Marie Cossitt. They were both from Connecticut but moved to Milwaukee in 1856 when he became a Special Partner in the firms of Atkins Steele and Company. It subsequently became Atkins Steele and White: Coats and Boots. They had five children, two of whom who survived to maturity and had children themselves. These are Frederick Henry and his younger sister Sarah Lavinia.

Frederick Henry White (1850 - 1927) married Frances Ludington (1856-1922). Frances (called Mama in the labeling on the photographs) was the daughter of Gov. Harrison Ludington, the 13th governor of Wisconsin and a mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Frederick did well). In 1890 Frederick was President of Phoenix Lumber Co.

Frederick "Pappa" and Frances "Momma" had five children:

     Frederick "Fred" Henry White, Jr. (1880 - 1936)
     Harrison "Harry" Ludington White (1883 - 1897)
     Frances Ludington White (1885 - 1888)
     George "Bud or Budd" Cossitt White (1889 - 1965)
     Walter Patton White (1891 - 1971) 

Sarah Lavinia White (1854-1944), sister of Frederick and known as "Aunt Vinnie" married Garrett Beekman Van Pelt (1842-1910). They had one child who survived beyond infancy, Garrett "Garrie" Beekman, Jr. (1879-1972).

Fannie and May Cossitt are first cousins of Frederick and Sarah Lavinia White.Their mother, Sarah Maria Cossitt, had a brother, Pearl Steele Cossitt (1817-1892) who authored the first Cossitt Family Genealogy in 1879. Fannie and May are two of his daughters.

In 1909 Frederick and Frances with their three boys, and Aunt Vinnie with Garrett, all moved to Pasadena where they all lived the rest of their lives with exception of Garrett who moved from Pasadena to Santa Barbara around 1960.
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