#52 Ancestors 2022 Week 2 Favorite Find: The Gwynn Sisters and the Salmagundi Club

 The Salmagundi Club, a bi-weekly event held at the homes of members in and around Upper Marlboro, provides a fascinating insight into the social life of that community in the mid-1890's. The Prince George's Enquirer provided regular reports of the activities at the meetings where my paternal great-grandmother, Louise Gwynn, and her sister, Effie Gwynn Bowie, were frequent attendees and often provided musical performances or recitations as part of the entertainment.  Some of my Sasscer relations from my mother's side of the family were also members of this club. Clagetts, Hills, Wilsons, Bowies and Beales were frequent attendees of Salmagundi meetings. This was how people amused themselves before radio, television or the internet. 

The picture below is not from Prince George's County, but I think it gives a flavor of what the gatherings would have been like. 

My great-aunt, Effie Augusta Gwynn, married Richmond Irving Bowie in 1894 and settled down in Prince George's County among her paternal relatives. Her as-yet-unmarried sister, Louise Gwynn, was a frequent visitor while she was attending school at Mount Saint Agnes in Baltimore. The third sister, Mary Gwynn, visited from time to time when she also attended Mount Saint Agnes and occasionally showed up at the Salmagundi Club. 

The picture below shows the three sisters. (Louise is on the right, Effie in the center, Mary on the left.)

The Gwynn Sisters

Salmagundi (in case you are curious, as I was) is a dish with chopped meat, eggs, onions and spices. But secondarily, it also connotes a general mixture or a miscellaneous collection. Each meeting of the Salmagundi Club included a variety of different activities, hence the name. Here is an example from October 1897 where Aunt Effie was the hostess:

The meeting of the “Salmagundi" at Mrs. R. Irving Bowie’s last Wednesday was delightful in every detail and the attendance unusually large. Sir Walter Scott was the topic for the occasion and Mrs. C. V. A. Clagett read an interesting sketch of his life. Mrs. Thomas Clagett, of “Keokuk,” read a selection from the Lady of the Lake. Mrs. Julia Hall Osborn gave a selection from Marmion. Miss Sophie Clagett read from Ivanhoe, this supplemented by music from Miss Mary Beale and the hostess completed the interesting program. 

On another occasion, there was a "Geographical Assembly" where participants were encouraged to "in some way, either by arrangement or decoration of dress" suggest some familiar geographical name. I certainly wish I had pictures of that particular meeting.

The activities usually included literary readings or book reviews as well as descriptions of current events, such as the building of a wonderful new bridge from New Jersey to New York or an account of Dr. Hansen's polar expedition.  

And, of course, there was food or "delightful collations," as the newspaper often described them. (Again, not an actual picture from Prince George's County, but it is suggestive of the vibe.)

In addition to readings and musical recitals, the meetings usually included some kind of game where the participants competed for a prize. 

Slips of paper with the word “Salmagundi" written across the top were then handed around by the hostess and ten minutes allowed in which to write out the words to be made from it. The contest was most exciting, pencils flew apace until the time was up and Mrs. C. V. A. Clagett had fifty-three words on her list and won the pretty fancy plate given as a prize. (September 1896)

In October 1896, there was an especially elaborate "Salmagundi Party." 

The usual literary program was omitted and instead there was a “Salmagundi Party.” Four small tables had been placed in the room. On the first lay a pack of cards for euchre, on the second were twenty-five pictures of noted men and women cut from illustrated papers—authors. musicians, statesmen, etc. It was the object of the four players seated at this table to guess the names of these famous people and write them on sheets of paper provided for the purpose. 

On table No. 3 were papers—one for each of the four players -containing the names of characters from well-known books. The names of the works from which these characters were taken were to be written on pieces of paper, with the name of the player on the back of each. On the fourth table was a spool of cotton and four small trays each containing ten needles, the one who could first get the ten needles on a thread, tying a knot after each, would be declared winner. 

Little bells on bright ribbons were provided for the successful players, and as much time as it took to bring to an end the game of Euchre at table No. 1 was allotted to the others for the performance of their tasks. A bell was rung, and everyone would move either up or down the line to some table to which they had not been before. 

When everyone present had played at all the tables, the prizes were given. The first, a China Pin tray, to Miss Sophie Clagett, and the Consolation Prize, a glass dish filled with roses, to Mrs. Osborn. 

The refreshments were then served: coffee and sandwiches, chocolate and a “Salmagundi Cake" of four layers, one brown, one pink, one white and one yellow, with different fillings between each layer, and iced with pink icing, sprinkled with grated cocoanut. It was pronounced delicious. Several new members were admitted.

One of the surprises for me in discovering this club was the musical ability of the Gwynn sisters, a talent I had not previously realized. For example, in 1894, The Enquirer gave a detailed review of a concert featuring the Gwynn sisters:

A Musical Treat. 

The guests who were present at "Norburn," the beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. R. Irving Bowie, last Thursday evening, enjoyed a rare musical treat, and participated in one of the most enjoyable social events of the season. The musical accomplishments of the charming young hostess are well known in this community, but all were given a delightful surprise in the rich melodious voice of her sister. Miss Louisa C. Gwynn. of Spartanburg, South Carolina. After the musicale the guests were served with an elegant collation, which reflected in every appointment the taste and skill of the accomplished young hostess. 

There followed a list of the program, which included

*Queen of the Night, vocal duet - Mrs. R. Irving Bowie and Miss Louisa C. Gwynn.

*Lucrezia Borgia, instrumental solo, Mrs. R. Irving Bowie. 

*Piano and Banjo duet —Mrs. Win. G. Brooke and Miss Mary L. Wilson. 

*Radiense. instrumental duet —Mrs. R. Irving Bowie and Miss Louise C. Gwynn. 

*Kiss and lets make up, vocal solo—-Miss Louise C. Gwynn. 

Personally, I am intrigued at the thought of a piano and banjo duet, a combination I don't think I have ever heard. Also it challenges my imagination to visualize my great-grandmother performing that last number.

Often the programs included original poetry, and I will conclude with a poem written specifically to celebrate Salmagundi and the new year of 1897.

#52 Ancestors 2022 Week 38 New to You: 5G Grandfather Nathaniel Austin

 My 3G Grandfather, William Felix Wright, was a well-known lawyer and judge in Georgia.  The son of Littleberry Wright and Henrietta Austin, he was born 20 February 1824 in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County GA, about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta, just a few years after the town was incorporated. 

Judge Wright died in Alexandria VA 25 April 1887, while on a visit to his daughter (my 2G grandmother Ida Elizabeth Wright Dent) in St. Mary's County MD.  His obituary in the Atlanta Constitution praised him as "a prominent member of the bar," but gave very little personal information about him. 

And that is where I was stuck for many years in trying to trace his lineage further back.  Until recently, when I found another obituary for him, this time from his hometown newspaper, The Gwinnett Herald in Lawrenceville. There I found the clue that opened up several more generations of ancestors. 

The local obituary mentions that Judge Wright was the grandson of Nathaniel Austin, one of the early settlers of Gwinnett County, who lived about two miles outside of Lawrenceville. 

Once I had that name, I found a wealth of information about my 5G grandfather and his ancestors as well.  Prior to this, I had found no information about Henrietta Austin Wright's family and without this mention of her father, I would not have been able to make the connection.

The earliest known Austin in America was Nathaniel Austin Sr., (my 7G grandfather) born in England (possibly York) about 1720, the son of John and Henrietta Austin. (I can now see where GG Henrietta Austin got her name.) Tradition says that he came to Virginia as an agent for the English king about 1750 with his wife, Mary Manning, and three sons: Nathaniel Jr., Walter Manning, and Thomas.  They had two more sons in Virginia: John and Francis Austin.  Mary Austin died about 1753 and Nathaniel married Agnes Dickinson in 1754 at St. Martin's Parish in Virginia.  They had five more sons and a daughter, Mary, who was killed by Indians at age 17. 

Nathaniel Austin and his family lived in Wythe Virginia for about ten years, where he held the position of constable.  In 1769, Nathaniel received a Royal Land Grant for 500 acres near what is now Greenville SC (but then was still Indian territory) and by 1774, he had built a two-story log house called Gilder and moved his family there. Around ten years later, a second house was built to accommodate the growing family.

Described as "a man of commanding personality, bold and adventurous," Austin may have gone to SC as an emissary to the Cherokee Indians and ran a trading post at Gilder. At this time period, immediately before the Revolution, South Carolina was full of British soldiers and those hired by the British to oppose the colonists. 

Nathaniel Austin and his sons chose to join the Patriot cause.  Nathaniel Sr., about 50 years old at the time, was a captain in the South Carolina militia.  He participated in the siege of Charleston and the Battle of Cowpens as well as several other battles in North and South Carolina. 

Battle of Cowpens 1781

According to the Austin family Bible: "13 February 1798. Capt. Nathaniel Austin, founder of Gilder and ancestor of many upstanding citizens down through the years, died in his own home. He is buried on part of his original plantation, where nine generations have continued to live."

Nathaniel Austin Jr., my 6G grandfather, was born in England in 1743 and came to America with his parents about 1750.  He served as a Quartermaster Sgt. in the Little River Regiment of the South Carolina Militia. 

About 1763, Nathaniel Jr. married Sara Ann Anderson in Virginia and had 13 children with her, including my 5G grandfather, Nathaniel Austin III. 

In 1791, Nathaniel Jr. obtained a land grant of 150 acres in the 96th District of South Carolina. In 1820, he drew land in the Cherokee Land Lottery, a system used extensively in Georgia to redistribute land that had essentially been stolen from the Muskogee and Cherokee natives.  The State claimed this system was designed to "strengthen the state and increase the population in order to increase Georgia's power in the House of Representatives." 

Between 1805 and 1833, Georgia held 8 land lotteries distributing native lands that represented more than a third of the total land in Georgia. Thousands of white settlers obtained land in these lotteries. In the early 19th century, more than 60,000 Native Americans were forcibly removed from their land, culminating in the horrific Trail of Tears where tens of thousands died of disease and exposure, one of the most troubling incidents in American history. 

I'm sorry to have to say that my ancestors were part of the system that led to this tragedy. 

In any case, Nathaniel Austin Jr. died about 1832 in Gwinnett County GA on the land he had obtained in the lottery. 

Nathaniel Austin III, my 5G grandfather, was born 8 October 1773 in Greenwood County SC, the Old Ninety Six District, the son of Nathaniel Austin Jr. and Sarah Ann Anderson. He married Nancy Gilbert in 1793 in South Carolina before moving to Georgia about 1820. My 4G grandmother, Henrietta Austin, was the fourth of their eleven children, born in South Carolina in 1799. 

Henrietta's brother, Col. James Austin was a judge in Gwinnett County and was murdered by one of his slaves in 1848. Her brothers William Austin and Sterling Austin were cotton brokers with a business in New Orleans that was basically destroyed by the Union Army in the siege of that city in 1862. Her brother Nat moved to Texas about 1860. 

About 1820, Henrietta Austin married Littleberry Wright, a South Carolina native.  They had four children: Zaida 1821, William Felix (my 3G grandfather) 1824, Gilbert Jefferson 1825, and Mary Henrietta 1830.  Henrietta filed for divorce from Wright in 1835, apparently on grounds of abandonment. Divorce being a somewhat rare event in 19th-century Georgia, the situation must have been pretty bad. 

In 1827 and 1832, Nathaniel Austin III participated in the Georgia Land Lottery and drew land in Gwinnett and Walker counties. From 1830 to his death in 1860, he lived in Gwinnett County. He served at one time as a road commissioner.

I believe that Henrietta and her children lived with her parents in the 1840 Census after her divorce from Littleberry Wright in 1835.  Further, I think that Nathaniel's land in Walker County was given to Henrietta. She and her daughters, Zaida Gray and Mary Gordon, were living there in 1850. Henrietta died there in 1857, at the age of 57, and left her property to her daughter Mary.  

Littleberry Wright was still alive in 1860 and living next door to his son William in Newnan GA.  I do not know anything about his parentage or when he died. (So, still more ancestors to be discovered!)

Nathaniel Austin III died in Gwinnett County GA in late 1860 at the age of 88.  His estate inventory in January 1861 included 17 slaves and a sizeable estate. 

So that is what I have been able to find about my newly-discovered Austin family ancestors, some Revolutionary patriots and some participants in a tragic land grab.