Snippets for Aunt Sharon: James Maher, Cleveland Tailor
This tailor shop vignette shows young workers seated on the table in the “tailor’s pose.” They sewed by the natural light afforded by windows. James Maher may have done work like this early in his career. (Image: rawpixel.com) The first evidence of James Maher, one of my Aunt Sharon's great-grandfathers, is in an 1861 Cleveland city directory—the telephone books of their day. 1 James Maher's entry in the 1861 Cleveland city directory. James was a tailor in the days when Cleveland was on the verge of rivaling New York as a capital of the garment industry in the United States. 2 Earlier in the 19th century, before the spread of industrialization, clothing was still handmade, usually by women in the family. The wealthy might have their garments made by a tailor or seamstress. As the 19th century progressed, the need for ready-made clothing became more important for occupations like mining, for sailors, and for slaves. 3 Bird’s eye view of Cleveland, 1877. P...
Such sound advice, and your idea of sending a note with sympathy is a good one. I'm sure the family will be glad to know that her years of research were valued by others!
ReplyDeleteI hope so. The fact that her book is in several libraries in the country is also a good reminder that we need to perhaps send our own research to repositories, like she did, to guarantee that it is available to future researchers.
DeleteGreat advice. We should also thank the people who leave information on trees or in books.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great point! Thanks for reading and for suggesting that.
DeleteYes, an important a reminder. I certainly wish I had done a better job staying connected to some of the people I've met through my research.
ReplyDeleteYes, we can always begin now though. Thanks for reading.
DeleteHello Nancy. « When a person dies it's like a library burning down. » This is so true ! Every ‘family columnist’ has the duty to make the stories out he/she heard from elderly people (with the agreement of those concerned of course). Finding out how our ancestors lived and making it a story for younger generations. Thank you for your last post. Greetings from Belgium. Daniel
ReplyDeleteHello Daniel! Always wonderful to hear from you. Thank you so much for reading my posts. I have an idea for you, but I'll email you. It's related to this topic. Cheers!
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