Every folk story or fairy tale
contains a message.
A bit of practical or moral instruction
like "pay attention,"
or "don't eat that,"
or "beware of strangers."
contains a message.
A bit of practical or moral instruction
like "pay attention,"
or "don't eat that,"
or "beware of strangers."
But some tales include dark secrets.
Mysterious things hidden because
they are sad, or unpleasant,
or too treasured to share with others.
Mysterious things hidden because
they are sad, or unpleasant,
or too treasured to share with others.
As my story of the Harry sisters has revealed,
the tragic deaths of the two younger girls,
Angella and Celestia at ages 18 and 17,
imbued their beautiful photos
with unexpected sorrow and grief.
the tragic deaths of the two younger girls,
Angella and Celestia at ages 18 and 17,
imbued their beautiful photos
with unexpected sorrow and grief.
But for the eldest sister Emma
this heartache was not unfamiliar.
this heartache was not unfamiliar.
It had happened before.
Like her sisters, Emma Viola Henry sat for her portrait in J. N. Choate's studio but instead of a violin she strums a six-string guitar. On a D major chord too, I think. Her name is also on the photo's back, but unlike the portraits of her sisters, this cabinet card has Mr. Choate's artistic imprint logo on the back and Emma's name is written crosswise to it.
J. N. Choate,
Art Store and
Photograph Rooms.
14 W. Main Street,
Carlisle, PA.
Art Store and
Photograph Rooms.
14 W. Main Street,
Carlisle, PA.
The individual portraits of the Harry sisters—Lydia Celestia Harry, Angella Elizabeth Harry, and Emma Viola Harry—were all taken at the same time as two photographs of their musical trio because in each photo they are dressed the same. The year was around 1885-86 when the three were at their photogenic best. Their names are written on the bottom front, while the back has the same J. N. Choate logo as Emma's photo. In this photo, Celestia, the youngest, stands on the left with Angella on the right, and their older sister Emma sitting center with her guitar. They present a comfortable pose as the sisters gaze at the same point left of the camera, perhaps towards their mother or father.
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| Chambersburg PA Public Weekly Opinion 13 June 1871 |
In 1871, the year Emma was born, the Harry family lived in Chambersburg, PA, about 30 miles southwest of Carlisle. Their father, James Brown Harry, was making a name for himself as a successful music teacher, a "singing master" with a large number of students and choirs spread out among several communities around Chambersburg. That summer Prof. Harry led about 400 of his pupils in a concert, most of whom had so far only received 15 lessons.
Typically he charged students $6 for 52 weeks of instruction with a promise that at the end of that time pupils would be able to read and sing any music placed before them. Regularly each summer he hosted huge outdoor picnics of his students in a pastoral wood near Chambersburg. Thousands attended just for a chance to sing in a mass choir.
Prof. Harry was a member of the Ancient Musical Association, known as the "Old Folks" singing association, a group made up of music teachers, musical scholars, and choir masters in the Pennsylvania region. In the second half of the 19th century, Americans cultivated a new passion for choral music partly driven by the proliferation of new song books and hymn collections. There were also numerous professional troupes of singers who traveled the country performing in churches and theaters. The "Old Folks" association were interested in preserving Pennsylvania's choral traditions.
_ _ _
The year before, in 1870, the US Census recorded that James B. Harry, music teacher, was age 42. His wife Emma S. was 28, 14 years younger. Their household had one child then, a son Wm (William) Benton, age 1, as well as a servant girl, age 17.
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| 1870 US Census - Chambersburg, Pennsylvania |
One of the recurring reports about Prof. Harry in the 1870s was his participation at "Teacher Institutes." These were special conferences for educators put on by a local or state school authority. Over the course of several days, teachers would share methods of instruction on subjects like arithmetic, grammar, and elocution. Guest speakers would lecture on the higher art of teaching children, emphasizing good morals, discipline, and proper character. Prof. Harry provided music, leading the assembled teachers, often 200 or more, in song and occasionally lecturing about music education. Like many entrepreneurs of this era, he had devised his own special "system" for learning to read music.
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| Chambersburg PA Public Weekly Opinion 28 November 1876 |
At the Chambersburg Teachers Institute held in November 1876, Prof Harry brought his two children, Miss Emma Harry and Master Benton Harry, to exhibit their ability in reading. Emma was five years old and Benton was age eight. Neither had attended school but could read exceedingly well. The little boy read German as fluently as a native adult. Their proficiency was so great that Prof. Shoemaker, (a guest speaker from Philadelphia) playfully remarked that he would report Mr. Harry to the Society for the prevention of cruelty to children.
_ _ _
Another report said the children read in a very natural manner, with clear and distinct enunciation. Though there is no mention of them singing, given Prof. Harry's background they were surely very capable of doing so, and probably in German too. The brother and sister's performance was well received by the assembly which no doubt made their father very proud. The 1870s were a time when "family bands" were becoming a popular genre of wholesome entertainment. I imagine James and his wife had long conversations about creating their own Harry family singers and orchestra. In 1876 Angella had just turned three, and by October 1877, Lydia Celestia had joined the family. Potentially the Harrys had a complete quartet of musical children and even a sextet when mother and father joined in.
One other thing
that fairy tales teach
is that fate can be cruel.
that fairy tales teach
is that fate can be cruel.
 |
| Chambersburg PA Public Weekly Opinion 27 November 1877 |
Almost one year later exactly, their hopes were shattered. As reported in the Chambersburg Public Weekly Opinion on 27 November 1877:
Death's Work – Benton Harry, a very interesting child of Prof. Harry, died at his faher's residence in this place, on Thursday morning last of that dread disease of the household—diphtheria. Little Benton as a remarkable child in many respects, and by his intelligence and many manly qualities, which seemed unaccountable in one so young—he endeared himself to all who became intimate with him.
_ _
Just three days before
Benton's death,
Benton's death,
Emma Viola Harry
celebrated her sixth birthday.
celebrated her sixth birthday.
 |
| Emma Viola Harry 1895 graduate of Dickinson College Source: Dickinson College Archives |
First there was the childhood trauma of losing her older brother William Benton Harry to diphtheria. It's possible that Emma was also stricken by this deadly respiratory infection then, but survived. Wealth was no barrier to this disease, as in 1878 the third child of Queen Victoria, Princess Alice who was now the Grand Duchess of Hesse succumbed to diphtheria along with her youngest daughter. Six of her seven children and her husband struggled through the illness and it sparked a major medical study of the cause. A practical antitoxin for diphtheria was not produced until after 1895.
Then in February 1893 Emma's younger sister, Angella Elizabeth Harry, died. The cause reported was "catarrhal consumption," i.e. tuberculosis. This respiratory disease is also caused by bacterial infection and is very debilitating. Though she was reported to be uncomplaining, Angella's sufferings would be terribly distressing for her parents and sisters.
And finally one month before Emma was to graduate from Dickinson College, her youngest sister, Lydia Celestia Harry, died after a "lingering illness from a complication of diseases." From the personal section of the newspapers, Celestia paid a visit to a Harrisburg friend in March 1895, but became "dangerously ill" in April, and then passed away at the beginning of May. Another case of consumption? History does not remember.
June 1895 was to be the end of Emma's senior year at Dickinson, but considering the circumstances of Celestia's collapse, she might be forgiven for not applying full concentration to her studies.
Yet her course grades were so good
that it put her at the top of her class.
Emma V. Harry was made valedictorian
of the Dickinson College Class of '95.
that it put her at the top of her class.
Emma V. Harry was made valedictorian
of the Dickinson College Class of '95.
 |
| Carlisle PA Sentinel 20 May 1895 |
The commencement exercises at Dickinson College included 12 speeches from graduating seniors on topics like "Moral and Religious Instruction in our Public Schools"; "A Great Historic Fossil"; "The Race Problem"; "The Chivalry of the Nineteenth Century"; to "The Solution of National Perils". Emma's valedictorian speech was last and her subject was "Pen Pictures from the Life of Charlotte Corday." This woman seems an unusual choice, as she was a famous martyr in the French Revolution. Charlotte Corday was executed by guillotine in July 1793 for assassinating the Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, an act seen by some as a mark of the early French feminist movement. An earlier speaker's subject was "Madame Roland", another female French republican intellectual who was executed in October 1793, so perhaps this was part of a class study.
But Emma was not through with Dickinson. At graduation her grade average merited membership in the Phi Betta Kappa Honor Society, and she won a senior prize worth $25. Her Bachelor of Arts degree was only a start. She would stay on at Dickinson and in 1896 receive her Masters degree through examination.
 |
| Class of 1895, Dickinson College Source: Dickinson College Archives |
With her talent for language and superior credentials,
it was no surprise that Emma's destiny was to be a teacher.
it was no surprise that Emma's destiny was to be a teacher.
Her first teaching job from 1896-97 was as a high school teacher and assistant principal in West Pittston, PA, about 130 miles north east of Carlisle. The Pittston newspaper said of her, "The new teacher, Miss Harry, is making an excellent impression on the pupils who recite to her. She is very thorough, insisting on going to the bottom of every subject under discussion." Emma also entertained her classes by playing the violin. In 1897 she returned to Carlisle where she taught French at Dickinson College for two years.
But her big break came in 1899 when the school board of New Castle, PA, about 230 miles northwest of Carlisle, near Youngstown, OH, engaged her to teach Greek and German at the New Castle high school. She soon established herself as a valued teacher, becoming head of the language department and earning a salary of $900 at $100 a month for the 9 month school term. Though this was higher than other female teachers, and nearly the same as paid to elementary school principals, it was still $5 a month less than male high school teachers. This gender inequity was the norm for female teachers everywhere in early 20th century America.
However it must have been a good school as in September 1906 Emma turned down an offer to teach languages in Pittsburgh. Though the offer had a salary of $1,200, she felt obliged to honor her promise to teach at New Castle high school.
Another more private pledge was to remain a single woman. This was a time when female school teachers were expected to remain unmarried. I don't know that if it was a contractual requirement in New Castle, but Emma never married and instead chose to make teaching her sole focus and reward in life.
Emma's subjects of Greek and German sometimes included Latin and French, as well as German history. She gave public lectures on medieval history, history of the Lutheran church, and plays of Shakespeare. In 1911 the New Castle Herald published one of her public lectures entitled "Does a High School Education Lead to Citizenship? Is It a Preparation for Life in a Republic?" The answer was very much in the affirmative and filled over 8 full page columns with dense typeface. It also began with a small photo of Emma Viola Harry. At several points in the speech she includes dramatic speeches from fictional characters undoubtedly rendered with theatrical effects she learned in performances with her sisters.
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| New Castle PA Herald 14 March 1911 |
In the census of 1910 Prof. Harry, now 82, still listed his occupation as music teacher but he had moved to Mercer, PA, 18 miles north of New Castle. Meanwhile his wife, living with Emma in New Castle, had aged only 8 years in a decade, listing herself as 58 and married 36 years, when in fact she was 68 and married to James for 42 years. These anomalies might be simple mistakes or an indication that James and Emma S. Harry were estranged and living apart. What is clear is that James Harry still considered himself an itinerant singing master.
But that was about to change.
Prof. J. B. Harry believed he had found buried treasure.
Prof. J. B. Harry believed he had found buried treasure.
 |
| Baltimore MD Sun 24 July 1910 |
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| Baltimore MD Sun 24 July 1910 |
In Baltimore's central business district there was a 300 acre section of land that was reputed to have been leased to the city in the early 19th century for 100 years. Now in 1910 this "lease" had supposedly expired and Prof. Harry believed that he was one of the rightful heirs to the original landowner. The property was reported to be worth $400,000,000. His explanation involved family trees, distant cousins, old documents, and complicated reasons that attempted to establish his claim to this chimerical fortune. Prof. Harry even included his story of saving Harrisburg from General Lee's invading Confederate Army in 1863. Needless to say his argument did not secure any compensation from the city of Baltimore. But it did get his picture in the paper and a few days of celebrity. What his wife and daughter thought of this is not recorded.
Sadly the next summer in August 1911, Emma S. Harry died in New Castle at her daughter's home. Her obituary described her as a woman of unusual intellectual attainments, who always took a great interest in the happenings and important questions of the day. Her certificate of death listed her date of birth as January 18, 1853 making her 59 years. But her ages on the census records of 1870 and 1880 are more trustworthy and she was actually 69, ten years older.
The cause of death?
Tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis.
The final words spoken at Emma Harry's funeral service in Carlisle,
were from Rev. George E. Reed, of Dickinson College,
who had spoken at the services for her two daughters
Angella Elisabeth and Lydia Celestia.
were from Rev. George E. Reed, of Dickinson College,
who had spoken at the services for her two daughters
Angella Elisabeth and Lydia Celestia.
 |
| New Castle PA 1913 High School Annual |
In 1913 the New Castle high school had a new principal who apparently took a dislike to Emma, the head of the school's language department. That summer he asked the school board not to renew her contract for the next term. Former students organized a petition of support for their German/Greek/Latin/French teacher. The possibility of her removal made front page news. At the board meeting, some alumni described her as the best teacher they had ever had in all of high school and university. Her method of teaching foreign languages had allowed several students to successfully advance in college. One former student produced a doctor's certificate to reassure anyone that rumors of Emma's ill health were mistaken, and that she was physically and mentally qualified to teach.
But the board voted rejected their pleas and voted for the principal and against the teacher. After nearly 15 years in the same system Emma Viola Harry was forced into finding a new job.
She found one in Bridgton, New Jersey, about 40 miles south of Philadelphia where she would teach English at the local high school. Over the next year she developed debate teams, remade the graduation commencement oratory (14 with introductions), played her violin and soon endeared herself to her new students. But something was not right, perhaps the $900 salary which was less than what she made in 1906. In the summer of 1915 she applied for a teaching position at a high school in Calumet, Michigan and was hired for the fall.
Emma quickly took out an advert in the newspaper offering most of her household items for sale. Her father, now age 87, would accompany her. Calumet Township is on the upper Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the southern shore of Lake Superior. In winter it gets very cold.
James Brown Harry, singing master, died on September 15, 1918 at the home of his daughter Emma. He was three months shy of being 90 years old.
The cause of death?
Senile, Congestion of lung.
Senile, Congestion of lung.
A month later J. Howard Wert, a close friend
published a touching tribute in the Harrisburg newspaper.
"With Professor Harry music was more than a science or an art.
During a very long life it was with him a passion—his whole being.
He believed that music was one of the great means
by which society might be elated and enobled,
and to it he dedicated his whole life."
published a touching tribute in the Harrisburg newspaper.
"With Professor Harry music was more than a science or an art.
During a very long life it was with him a passion—his whole being.
He believed that music was one of the great means
by which society might be elated and enobled,
and to it he dedicated his whole life."
After bringing her father's body 1,200 miles back to Pennsylvania, it's unclear if Emma Viola returned to teaching in Michigan. But two years later in 1920, the New Castle newspaper reported that she had a position as a research assistant to the principal of the New York State Normal School in Genesseo, NY, 30 miles south of Rochester. This school was part of the State University of New York system and is now known as SUNY Geneseo. However I could find no records of Emma actually teaching there, though she certainly had credentials. Perhaps she took in students for private tutoring in foreign languages or even music.
By the 1930 census, she was living in an Geneeso apartment that she owned, valued at $1,500, but she listed no occupation. She was single, 60 years old, and without any family.
This is when the fairy tale
of the Harry Sisters
becomes very grim.
of the Harry Sisters
becomes very grim.
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| Dickinson College Alumnus February 1935 Source: Dickinson College Archives |
It was a short sentence found in the personal column
of the February 1935 alumni magazine for Dickinson College.
of the February 1935 alumni magazine for Dickinson College.
Miss Emma V. Harry, of Geneseo, N. Y., retired school teacher, is now a patient in a hospital for mental diseases in Rochester, N. Y.
Three years later in 1938, the Carlisle newspaper
ran a legal notice regarding a settlement
of the estate of Emma V. Harry, an adjudged lunatic.
ran a legal notice regarding a settlement
of the estate of Emma V. Harry, an adjudged lunatic.
 |
| Carlisle PA Sentinel 30 March 1938 |
The property at issue was four unimproved lots, each 50 feet by 180 feet, on the Hanover Turnpike in Mount Holly Springs, PA. However Emma was in no condition to contest the lawsuit as she was an inmate of the State Hospital in Rochester, NY, formerly known as the Monroe County Insane Asylum.
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| Monroe County Insane Asylum, Rochester, NY Source:AsylumProjects.org |
Emma Harry's name was listed on the 1940 US Census records. She is line 8 on a page of 40 women whose surname begins with H. The youngest is 17 and the oldest is 90. The average age is 55. Under the columns for Relation and Residence, the census taker has carefully repeated forty times: Inmate and Same house. The only distinguishing information is their name, age, and place of birth.
It is dreadfully impersonal, but most horrible of all is that this is just one page out of 81 pages that record the 3,205 inmates confined to the Rochester State Hospital. An additional 10 pages counted 364 people employed as nurses, physicians, attendants, cooks, and other staff living at the institution.
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| 1940 US Census Rochester NY State Hospital |
The hospital dealt with an extraordinary variety of mental impairments like alcoholism, epilepsy, schizophrenia, etc. and many physical disabilities like limb deformities, leprosy, palsy, diabetes, etc. Some inmates were able to perform simple labor around the hospital. But many others, particularly the senile elderly population, were kept idle. In our modern era many of the inmates from 1935-1955 would never be confined like Emma was. What caused her to be there is unknown. It is the ultimate secret of this fairy tale.
And to make a sad story even more bitter, the records of the Rochester State Hospital are permanently closed to the public, available only to medical researchers on special request. Descendants of inmates can never learn anything about the fate of their ancestor placed into the hospital. And amateur genealogists like me have no chance of investigating the reasons for Emma's commitment.
But thankfully someone
let her college know
how her story ends.
let her college know
how her story ends.
In September 1955 the Dickinson College alumni magazine published an obituary for Miss Emma Viola Harry, class of 1895. She died on May 12, 1955 at the State Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. after an illness of nearly 20 years. Internment was made at the Harry family plot in the Mt. Holly Springs cemetery.
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| Dickinson College Alumnus September 1955 Source: Dickinson College Archives |
The year of birth recorded for Emma V. Harry's obituary and on her gravestone are incorrect. Her childhood ages recorded in census records and newspaper reports make it clear that Emma was born in 1870. Therefore at her death she was not age 80 but actually 84 years 5 months and 18 days. Likewise for the same reasons, the year of birth for her sisters, Angella E. Harry and Lydia Celestia Harry were incorrect in the Dickinson College alumni records. Not 1877 and 1879, but 1874 and 1877 respectively.
That is why Mr. Choate's portrait of Emma Viola Harry made in 1885-86 looks like a young woman of 15-16 and not age ten. Think what a fine gift this would make to celebrate a girl's 16th birthday. That's the only happy ending I can leave with readers.
CODA
A name tells us nothing about a person. Even with the bookends of knowing dates of birth and death, we learn little of the human story in between.
In contrast a photograph captures a single moment of light that sometimes reveals features of a personality. Yet without a name that photo remains just an unrecognizable reflection of an anonymous time.
The photographs of the Harry sisters describe three graceful girls at the beginning of adulthood. We see evidence of music, charm, and love, no more. Nothing about what they played, how they performed, or who listened to them. Answers to those questions seemed to be locked in mystery.
However when Prof. Harry or his wife Emma wrote their daughters' names on the photos their intention was simply to commemorate a particular time and place. They could not foresee the future, much less comprehend that those three names would become the key to unlock their daughters' story 135 years later.
The great majority of my photograph collection are images of unknown musicians. The photos of the Harry sisters are a rare exception. Even more amazing is that their history was recorded in newspapers and archives available online. But unlike the other musician biographies that I've researched, the story I uncovered of the Harry sisters was much more than a story of a 19th century family orchestra.
The exceptional talent and intelligence of these girls was nurtured by parents mindful of the power of education. More remarkable is that, contrary to the social conventions for women in the 1890s, all three young women aspired to a college education. That element of feminism made their story worth telling. It was a bonus to learn of their heroic father and his influence on Pennsylvania musical culture.
But when I discovered the double tragedy of Angella and Celestia dying so young, the secret loss of their brother Benton, and the terrible denouement to Emma's life, I knew this was a very special story I must tell.
It is not a fairy tale.
It was a story
real and true.
Once upon a time,
long ago,
three beautiful little girls
posed for a camera.
It was a story
real and true.
Once upon a time,
long ago,
three beautiful little girls
posed for a camera.
This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where everyone must wait for their ship to sail.
where everyone must wait for their ship to sail.
5 comments:
You have done a great deal of research and told a wonderful albeit tragic story. I love you CODA remarks I think they are very true.
This has been a truly incredible series, a lasting tribute to a remarkable family and a testament to your genealogy research skills. As with my Blakeslee divorce saga, the details of why the Harry parents lived separately late in life may never be known. Likewise the illness that send Emma to the hospital. I wonder if she had dementia, or possibly clinical depression from so much family loss -- either of which would be treated much differently today. Hats off to you for discovering and telling her story, along with those of her siblings.
What a vibrant career she had. What influence. And then “lunacy.” Sad indeed.
I can't help but wonder what Emma was suffering from? Was she truly a lunatic? Or did she simply have unusual ideas about things? On the other hand, her being 'let go' from the school even after former students had sung her praises makes one wonder if something else was going on? Or the fact that she kept leaving one position after another. And it sounds like her father - claiming to own the center of Baltimore - was perhaps suffering from dementia, so it might not be surprising that Emma might have suffered the same. She did suffer through so much sorrow in her life though. This was a 'Grimm' fairy tale for sure. But her photographs - from her 10-year-old portrait to the one in New Castle in 1913 are lovely.
I'm so glad you gave us 3 chapters to get to know these people, their lives, their relationships and their sad stories. Of course we can guess there were also a few happy times for them. The photos and news articles do give you an excellent framework within which to follow their roadways. Thank you for your due diligence.
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