The Harry Sisters - part 2

In every fairy tale
there's always an adventure
that the heroes undertake
to seek their fortune.

It might be some great task to complete,
or rich treasure to find,
or giant obstacle to overcome.
Yet despite all the risks
the heroes accept the challenge.

The three Harry sisters may have looked like
characters in a children's book,
but beyond the photographs
their lives did not imitate a fairy tale.
Instead theirs was
a story of true fortunes
both sweet and bitter.

For part 1 of this story
click
HERE

In about 1885 in addition to having photographs made of their trio, each Harry sister posed for her individual portrait as well. In this cabinet card photo by the Carlisle photographer, John Nicolas Choate (1848–1902), Angella E. Harry sits in a studio chair with her violin under her chin in playing position. She gives us just a hint of a smile. On the photo's back her name is carefully centered in a fine cursive style, with "Harry Sisters" written in block letters in the lower corner.

In the photo of her younger sister Celestia,  Mr. Choate arranged the smaller girl onto a different chair with a small hassock to rest her feet. Unlike Angella, she is dressed in a lacy white frock with her violin displayed upright on her thigh. On the back is her name in the same handwriting.

L. Celestia Harry
of the
" Harry Sisters. "

This third photo of the Harry sisters shows them standing together in Mr. Choate's studio. Emma, the eldest, and Angella look down admiringly on Celestia in the center as she plays her violin. The older girls wear matching folk type dresses with cute banded shoes and long aprons embroidered with a floral motif. We might assume that the Tyrolean-like dresses were their mother's handwork, as expected of a mother in this era. But Mrs. Emma S. Harry was born in Pennsylvania and the Harry family were not of Germanic descent. So it's possible that their father, Prof. J. B. Harry, engaged a skilled seamstress to make suitable stage costumes for his three daughters.

Once again their names are recorded on the back in the same hand. The clarity of the elegant script leads me to believe that one of their parents signed the names. But it's also possible that one of the girls, maybe Emma, practiced her penmanship on the photos. In any case, the formality suggests the names were added to enhance the photos' souvenir quality.

In the 1880 census the family of Emma S. and James B. Harry lived in Mount Holly Springs, PA but by 1882 they had moved six mile north to Carlisle. Singing master Prof. J. B. Harry had opened a "singing school" there in 1867 which was then his eighth music school in the region. He then boasted of one thousand students which can be taken as a testimonial to his skill as a music teacher as well as an example of how popular vocal music had become.

Northumberland PA Public Press
29 June 1888

The Harry sisters began performing "professionally" in 1882, and six years later in 1888 were still picking up short "reviews" like this one from the newspaper in Northumberland, PA, about 66 miles north of Carlisle on the Susquehanna River. It is likely that Prof. Harry wrote most of the notices himself and then sent them o the newspapers in advance. The sisters Emma Viola, Angella E. and Lydia Celestia Harry were now age 17,  14, and 11 respectively. Their concerts were occasional events in the region and never advertised like traveling music hall artists. Prof. Harry emphasized their violin and vocal talents, their reading and recitations in English, German, and Spanish, and their youth.

_ _

The main problem with promoting children as musical artists is that the shelf life of cuteness is very short. Eventually every child is captured by puberty and transformed into a gangling awkward young adult. So it was with the Harry sisters, perhaps minus the gangling part, as their last performance was reported on May 3, 1890. After that date the trio seems to have stopped all public concerts.

My research might have stopped on that day as well, except for the Harry family's good fortune to  live in Carlisle, Pennsylvania a city that took pride in education. In the 1890 Carlisle, the county seat of Cumberland County, had a population of 7,620. This was small compared to Harrisburg, the state capital, 22 miles east of Carlisle, which had 39,385 citizens, but comfortably in between two adjacent county seats, York and Gettysburg, which respectively had 20,793 and 3,221 residents. 

In this decade Carlisle could boast of 14 churches, five newspapers, two banks, two cornet bands, dozens of fraternal and society lodges, and two important educational institutions. In 1879 on the grounds of an old military barracks the federal government established a large boarding school for Native-American children, called the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The photographer for the Harry sisters, John N. Choate, was under contract with the school to photograph the Indian students. and took thousands of photographs to document this school.

But a more notable educational institution for the city was Dickinson College, a private liberal arts college established in 1783 making it the first college founded after the American Revolution. For almost 100 years it was open only to young men, but in the 1880s Dickinson College began to admit female students into its academic program.

Again fortune favored the Harry sisters as their home in this enlightened community was just a 15 minute walk, less than a mile, from the Dickinson College campus. Included in its 1891-92 college catalog was a list of the freshman class of  '95 with 28 names. Under the Classical Section was Harry, Emma V., resident of Carlisle at Prof. Harry's.

1891-92 Dickinson College catalog
Source: Archive.org

The college was also affiliated with a preparatory school for younger students, effectively a high school. And in the listing for the senior class was Harry, Angella E., and for the junior class, Harry, Celestia, both residing at Prof. Harry's.

Like many colleges, the students at Dickinson produced an annual journal entitled the Microcosm. The one for the 1891-92 school year was filled with witty observations of college life and clever cartoons like this one illustrating Emma's class of '95.

1891-92 Microcosm, Dickinson College annual
Source: Dickinson Archives

Emma V. Harry entered Dickinson in the fall of 1891 choosing the Classical Course of study. There were 32 freshman students in the class of '95, with 18 in the Classical Section. The students were required to take five hours in Latin and five in Greek, following standard textbooks on grammar and studying some of the works of various ancient scholars. Five more hours were devoted to mathematics, both algebra and geometry, and three hours for English study. There were also lectures in anatomy and oratory, which included Voice-building, Drill in Vocal Gymnastics, Gesture, together with Lectures on the Art of Breathing, with Description and Analysis of the Various Organs of Speech.

Tuition at Dickinson College in 1892 cost $50 per year, roughly $1,460 by 2020 measures of worth. Dorm rooms rented between $5 to $12 for the Fall term and $7 to $18 for the Winter/Spring term, the extra expense covering the cost of coal heating. Board was extra, typically $3 to $5 per week. Lab fees were $10 and $15 per term, and all students paid an additional general college service fee of $25 in the Fall and $35 in the Winter/Spring.

Emma Harry resided, of course, at her family's home in Carlisle so she was not obliged to pay room and board fees, and the service fee was reduced for local students. Fees for Angella and Celestia at the Dickinson Preparatory School were less, $28 for the Fall term and $56 for the Winter/Spring term, inclusive of general service fees. As accomplished performers the Harry sisters were already better prepared than most young children their age. In 1891 Emma Harry won a first prize freshman scholarship of $25 for the best entrance examination from the preparatory school students, and the following year was awarded a similar prize for attaining the highest class ranking. 

It was exciting to discover that the precocious Harry sisters were continuing their adventures with higher education at a time when women rarely chose such a college career path. In fact few young women in the 19th century could even aspire to an advanced academic degree since almost all American colleges were closed to women. Surely Prof. Harry and his wife saw the opportunity that Carlisle presented for their three daughters and endeavored to prepare them for college when they realized the girls' gifts for language and music. But a connection to a notable Carlisle family may also have influenced the girls' educational prospects.

Zatae Leola Sturgis Longsdorff Straw
(1866 – 1955)
Source: Wikipedia

The first woman to graduate from Dickinson College was Zatae Leola Sturgis Longsdorff Straw (1866 – 1955). She enrolled in 1884 to study medicine, and graduated from that institution in 1887, becoming a prominent physician in New Hampshire, one of the first female doctors in the state. In the 1920s after women were granted the right to vote, she served two terms in the New Hampshire state legislature.

Zatae was the daughter of Dr. William Henry Longsdorff, also a Dickinson alumni. While checking the Carlisle city directories for James B. Harry, I discovered that in 1882 the Harry's lived at 105 W. Louther St., only a quarter mile from the Dickinson Campus, and in 1887 they were a few blocks further away at 43 E. South St. But their previous address at 105 W. Louther St. was now the home and practice of Dr. William H. Longsdorff. And Dr. Longsdorff and his wife had a large family. Not only did their daughter Zatae graduate from Dickinson, but so did her two brothers and two younger sisters, Hildegard and Jessica Longsdorff, all becoming physicians. 






In 1882 Angella Elizabeth Harry joined her sister Emma at Dickinson College, entering as a freshman, Class of '96, also in the Classical Section. My research used some of the Dickinson College catalogs available on Archive.org, but a better source of detail was found in the Microcosm, the college annual, and the Dickinsonian, the college newspaper, both found at the Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections.

Trying to trace the personal history of a woman in the digital age can be very challenging because inevitably their surname changes to something different upon marriage. Or likewise a some other woman acquires the surname because of marriage. Finding the Harry sisters beyond their time as child entertainers was proving difficult and I was troubled that I was hitting too many dead ends after 1900. So the discovery of all three girls attending Dickinson College seemed an invaluable resource to follow their lives beyond their photographs. What bright adventures awaited these three young women?

 Sometimes a fairy tale can turn very dark.

The Dickinsonian
March 1893, issue 6, p 16

In Memoriam.

Miss Angella E. Harry, daughter of Prof. J. B. Harry, died at her home on Sunday February 5. She was a lovely and accomplished young girl, and a member of the Freshman Class of Dickinson College. The constant calls of anxious friends at her father's house for weeks before her death, and the sorrow which now fills their hearts, tells the deep hold which this lovely daughter has laid on so many hearts. Her characteristic traits were innocence, simplicity, and truth, fullness, and at the same time, most conscientious obedience to her parents and to the commandments of her Savior. Her illness was marked by a sweet submission and childlike faith.

At her funeral, Dr. Reed, president of her alma mater, Dr. Harman and Dr. Yocum, spoke in beautiful and touching language of her many virtues, and her fine mental qualities. The College bell was tolled, and the hymn "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," was sung by a choir of students. Four of her classmates were pall-bearers. As a token of respect the Freshman class sent a beautiful floral tribute.

In the Dickinson College annual
published later that year,
a poem was featured to honor Angella.
The poet's initials:
E. V. H.—Emma V. Harry

1892-93 Microcosm., Dickinson College annual
Source: Dickinson College Archives

In Memoriam

Angela E. Harry
Class of '96
Died February 5, 1893

Angela! 'Tis a music-breathing name—
   As sweet and low as gentle zephyr's sigh;
We murmur it—we call and call again,
   And wait, with aching hearts, thy soft reply;
But ah! thy sister angels claimed their own;
   They called thee ere life's early morn was past;
Thy kindred spirit knew their dulcet tones;
   Their mystic spell in love they o'er thee cast.
When morning's rosy finger paints the sky,
   And birds of spring well forth their liquid lie,
Or when the evening shadows lengthening lie,
   and the wild wind-harps wail their touching moans,
We only hear that music-breathing name,
   as sweet and soothing as the zephyr's sigh;
And, though with aching hearts we call again,
   We never hear thy gentle voice reply.
                                –E. V. H.

This was a devastating shock to the Harry family then, as it was to this researcher now 125+ years later. Angella E. Harry, born October 21, 1874 in Chambersburg, PA was only 18 years, 3 months old. The light of her life was extinguished. How painful it must have been for her two sisters.

But fortune can be terribly cruel.

Carlisle PA Evening Herald
02 May 1895

From a report in the Carlisle Evening Herald
published 2 May 1895.

L. Celestra (sic) Harry

Miss L. Celestra, youngest and beloved daughter of Prof. J. V. (sic) Harry and Emma S. Harry, died at the residence of the parents, No. 514 West Louther street, this morning at 9 45 o'clock, after a lingering illness from a complication of diseases. The deceased was aged 17 years and attended Dickinson College, being a member of the Sophomore class. She was a gentle and kind young lady, respected by her classmates. She was unusually bright and stood high in her class. The hour of funeral will be announced later.

Once again, Emma Viola Harry
composed a poem
in memory of
her beloved younger sister.

1895-96 Microcosm., Dickinson College annual
Source: Dickinson College Archives

In Memoriam

L. Celestia Harry
Class of '97
Died May 2, 1895

Bright flowers all around me may bloom,
   With their fragrance scent woodland and lea;
But my lily-bud frail is faded and dead.
   And all others are naught to me.

Sweet music entrancing may swell,
   With the cadence that ravished of yore;
But the harp-strings I loved are broken and still,
   And these poor chords can charm me no more.

No more?  Nay, beloved, not so,
   'Twas but born of the moment's pain—
For each beauteous thing wafts an echo to me,
   A breath from my lost love again.
                                 –E. V. H.

The loss of two daughters in less than 15 months must have been a heartbreaking blow to James and Emma Harry, and soul crushing for the eldest sister, Emma. The promise of three beautiful girls was reduced to a single hope for one. Lydia Celestia Harry, born October 27, 1877 in Chambersburg, PA was only 17 years, 6 months old at her death on May 2, 1895.

In less than two weeks, Emma Viola Harry
would sit for her final senior exams.
Graduation was scheduled for June 5, 1895

* * *

This is the second of three chapters
about the Harry sisters.
Stay tuned
for chapter 3 next week.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
click the link for more children at play.