September 1, 2018

Unearthed Accounts

A simple Google search of Nye's name led me to another lead into Albert’s life after the war. His name appears in a Dartmouth Library Bulletin article on David Morrill, 19th century ornamental painter and uncle of Justin Smith Morrill, the famous Vermont Senator who established the Land Grant College system during the war. The article is about two account books of Morrill’s that are in Rauner Library Special Collections, and mentions that Albert Nye is listed in the diary as an apprentice of Morrill.

So I made my way to Rauner library, and they were more than happy to pull out the Morrill account books for me from their Account Book collection. The librarian at Rauner joked, “no one ever asks to see these!”



And so I opened up the account book and looked page by page for Nye’s name. Nye appears to have bought from Morrill painting supplies, and done work for him in the 1860’s and 1870’s, including painting a buggy on Feb 1 1870, for which he was paid $14.00.

Just when I thought I had found everything I could about Nye after the war, I uncovered another treasure trove in the Norwich Historical Society’s collection: Albert’s account book from 1870 to 1871. He records transactions made to Morrill, his brother Samuel (who was also a painter who did some work to Morrill). Particularly interesting are his doodles of lettering and sign decorations.






From a cursory glance, there appears to be only one diary-like entry in the account book. On December 22nd and 23rd, 1871, he recounts going to the Woodstock courthouse to file for bankruptcy.



Sadly, I don’t have the time to do a full analysis of this account book, but it would certainly be an interesting extension of the project!

By 1883, at least, Nye had his own paint shop from at his home on Church Street, as listed in the 1883 -1884 Business Directory of Windsor County.



Nye died at the age of 78 of senile dementia, and is buried with his wife and son at Hillside Cemetery, a few minutes walk from my house.

I took a walk down there to look at his grave, now marked as a Civil War veteran thanks to the Lebanon Historical Society, the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil war in Lebanon, and the “Adopt a Civil War Veteran” project. 

This is where my part of the story ends, but your part is still to come. More to follow on that, next time.

1 comment:

  1. MY NAME IS MARIAM BAURICE FROM SOUTH AFRICA...I SAW THIS COMMENT ON POSITIVE BLOGS AND I WILL LOVE TO TELL EVERYBODY HOW MY STATUS CHANGES TO NEGATIVE, AND AM NOW A LIVING WITNESS OF IT AND I THINK ITS A SHAME ON ME IF I DON'T SHARE THIS LOVELY STORY WITH OTHER PEOPLE INFECTED WITH THIS DEADLY VIRUS...,HIV HAS BEEN ONGOING IN MY FAMILY... I LOST BOTH PARENTS TO HIV,. AND IT IS SO MUCH PAIN IVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET OVER.. AS WE ALL KNOW MEDICALLY THERE IS NO SOLUTION TO IT..AND MEDICATION IS VERY EXPENSIVE..SO SOMEONE INTRODUCED ME TO A NATIVE MEDICAL PRACTITIONER IN AFRICA..I HAD A JOB THERE TO EXECUTE SO I TOOK TIME TO CHECK OUT ON HIM.I SHOWED HIM ALL MY TESTS AND RESULTS.. I WAS ALREADY DIAGNOSED WITH HIV AND IT WAS ALREADY TAKING ITS TOWL ON ME.. I HAD SPENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS SO I DECIDED TO TRY HIM OUT...I WAS ON HIS DOSAGE FOR 6MONTHS. ALTHOUGH I DIDNT BELIEVE IN IT, I WAS JUST TRYING IT OUT OF FRUSTRATION... AND AFTER 2 WEEKS, I WENT FOR NEW TESTS... AND YOU WONT BELIEVE THAT 5 DIFFERENT DOCTORS CONFIRMED IT THAT AM NEGATIVE..IT WAS LIKE A DREAM,,I NEVER BELIEVE AIDS HAS CURE..AM NOW NEGATIVE,,AM A LIVING WITNESS..I DONT KNOW HOW TO THANK THIS MAN... I JUST WANT TO HELP OTHERS IN ANY WAY I CAN..HAVE JOINED MANY FORUMS AND HAVE POSTED THIS TESTIMONIES AND ALOT OF PEOPLE HAS MAIL AND CALLED THIS MAN ON PHONE AND AFTER 2 WEEKS THEY ALL CONFIRMED NEGATIVE..BBC NEWS TOOK IT LIVE AND EVERY.. HOPE HE HELPS YOU OUT.. EVERYBODY SAW IT AND ITS NOW OUT IN PAPERS AND MAGAZINES THAT THERE'S NATIVE CURE FOR HIV AND ALL WITH THE HELP OF THIS MAN,,HAVE TRIED MY OWN PARTS AND ALL LEFT WITH YOU,,IF YOU LIKE TAKE IT OR NOT..GOD KNOWS HAVE TRIED MY BEST.ABOUT 97 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED NEGATIVE THROUGH ME..AND THEY SEND MAILS TO THANKS ME AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED NEGATIVE,,THIS MAN IS REAL..DON'T MISS THIS CHANCE,,HIV IS A DEADLY VIRUS,,GET RID OF IT NOW..
    case there is anyone who has similar problem and still

    looking for a way out, and he those cast all kind of spell like ::
    Love Spells
    Luck, Money Spells
    Health, Well Being
    Protection, Healing
    Curses, ex, Breakups
    NEW! Combo Spells
    High Priestess Spells
    Vampire Spells
    Authentic Voodoo Spells
    Custom, Other Spells
    Business spells
    Health/Healing spells
    Curse removal
    Job spells
    Healing from all kind of diseases
    Love binding
    Barrenness(need a child)
    Need love
    Lottery Spells
    Promotions
    Success
    Money rituals
    winning court case
    Divorce spells
    Low sperm count
    Infertility in women
    Breast enlargement/reduction
    Penis enlargement/reduction
    YOU CAN CONTACT HIM HERE AS (dr.abalaka@outlook.com) if you need any question contact me via here as mariambaurice@gmail.com thanks
    Mariam Baurice

    ReplyDelete

Unearthed Accounts

A simple Google search of Nye's name led me to another lead into Albert’s life after the war. His name appears in a Dartmouth Library Bu...