New Jersey and Virginia - full circle

Today the NJ and VA cousins came together on the farm in Old Church, Virginia. 

Matt - the great grandson of William Bryant and Bonnie Abbott - drove down from NJ for a genealogy conference in Richmond, and the chance to get together with a matriarch of the Virginia faction of the family was too good to pass up. I, Teresa - the great granddaughter of George Abbott and Ida Rene Bryant - arranged the visit and brought lunch. 

The three of us, Matt, me, and "Teeny" (Miriam - granddaughter of George and Ida), spent the afternoon sharing family lore, pictures, and recollections. Though, memory loss was somewhat of a barrier to reliable information, I believe there were some insights gained from our visit. 

Teeny recalled a memorable visit to New Jersey when she was in high school. As a real southern belle, she was a novelty attraction for her northern cousins. The more they made over her, the more southern she became, and her cheerleader type personality became exaggerated. She claims the New Jersey girls were all mad over the attention she drew from the boys, and she just reveled in it. It was the first time she experienced such personal power. 

She remembers that at least one of the boy cousins came to Virginia to visit her after that, but can't remember names or details. Matt remembers his aunt Mary telling about going down to Virginia where she visited one of the family grocery stores. She must have visited the Lukhards in Richmond, probably in the 1950's, who were heading up a household of multiple families at the time, including George Abbott and Earl Butler and family.  

Matt showed us old photos of his family members, in particular his father Lawrence, and his "Nan," Margaret Bryant Weismantel. Margaret was the daughter of William and Bonnie Bryant. Matt told stories about the tumultuous relationships between William and Bonnie. William evidently caused a great deal of trouble for the family. He was an alcoholic who finally ended his days in an institution. Bonnie threatened to bury him in the midst of all the Abbotts in the cemetery family plot so that he could be tormented for eternity (which she did). 

There was another story about someone in the Virginia family stealing the Bryants' valuable colonial patent for growing peanuts out of William's luggage on a visit to Virginia. Maybe he sold it. Or it might have been one of the Butler boys who took it. Anyway, as a result, the New Jersey family did not have a great impression of the Virginia folks. 

We told Teeny about some of the things we had learned in our research. I'm sure Teeny does not remember any of it, but it was entertaining at the moment! I reminded her about the framed photo of the Episcopal church she had given me - how I had discovered it was a postcard send from Matt's great grandmother Bonnie to her sister May. I gave the postcard to Matt. We found another framed postcard on Teeny shelf, but the people pictured on it were not identified. There was another photo of a family in front of an old home in Richmond, also not identified. I took photos of them for future research.

We told stories about Aunt Miriam, as she was our link to the Abbotts and Bryants. Miriam never knew what drastic thing Herman was going to introduce into their lives. She just adapted to whatever he wanted. We talked about the alcoholics in the family, how as kids we just thought our family was crazy and fun. We also talked about George "Gramp," and how on his deathbed he had asked Teeny to name Barry after his father Whitfield Barry Abbott  - and he didn't even know she was pregnant much less that it was a boy! 

We talked about the animals. We told how Uncle Herman would try to raise his own supply of food for the grocery store. Those ventures did not work out - the turkeys all suffocated in the back of the truck by piling up in one end. The hogs were sent to slaughter, accidentally including Robin's pet pig. Farm life was hard work. I recalled seeing Junior work out in the fields at night, driving the tractor around with the headlights on after working all day in the store. 

We talked about Uncle Herman's love of real estate. He had owned several different properties on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. There were always lots of family members gathered in these homes, which he generously shared with all of us. This discussion led to telling Matt about Tangier Island, which he had not heard of before. 

We ended our visit with a tour of the farm. We left Teeny's at about 3:00 without thinking of taking a single photo. 

PS Barry told me that he has a photo of Whitfield Barry Abbott. He will send me a copy of it. He also told me about a mix up regarding the family plot at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Apparently people aren't buried where they're supposed to be. There should be an empty plot, but they don't know which one it is. 

Piano Factory, Fort Lee - found!

It was disappointing to read in a book on Fort Lee that the Abbott & Sons Piano Factory had been razed. Matt and I discovered its historic location on our visit to Fort Lee; a bank building is presently on the site of the original factory building. The Port Authority is on the spot where the later brick factory stood. We found photos of both piano factory buildings in some of the materials we discovered.

A photo of the original Abbott & Sons Piano Factory
from a book on Fort Lee that we found in the
Ridgewood Public Library.

Abbott & Sons Piano Factory, the later brick building 
that was next to the original wood sided building.

Then we learned that the original building had been MOVED to Main Street! Using Google Maps and Google Earth along with clues from our new sources, I began a mission to find it. I traveled virtually up and down Main Street. At first, I was looking for the newer brick building, not imagining that the original white sided building would be the one that was saved. Then I spotted it. It was unmistakable. There was the familiar roof peeking above the facade of a Chinese restaurant at 214 Main Street. 

The familiar roof line of the original piano factory
building peeking over the restaurant.

From behind the restaurant on the corner of Main Street and Gerome Avenue

The current name of the business

The view from Google Earth

Aerial photo from the book, Fort Lee, by Lucille Bertram.
You can see the original piano factory building on the corner at Lemoine Avenue.
The brick factory building is at the center of the photo.

Fort Lee, Ellis Island, Philadelphia - check!

It is on my bucket list to visit as many places associated with our family history as I can. One of those places was Fort Lee, New Jersey. Other nearby locations on my list: Ellis Island, Staten Island (or anywhere in NY City- never been), Philadelphia (history tour), Asbury Park, Middletown (founders). Some of these items were checked off this week! 

My grandmother, Jacqueline Abbott Zaun, was born in Richmond, Virginia, but her father, George Wright Abbott, was born in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Jacqueline’s mother, Ida Rene Bryant, married George Abbott in 1904, and they resided in Richmond. Ida’s brother William Bryant was already married to George’s half-sister Bonnie Abbott; they moved back to Fort Lee in 1900 after living for several years in Princess Anne County, Virginia, with William's parents, Eley and Margaret Bryant. 

The Abbotts of Fort Lee were a well known, respected family. The original immigrant from England, John Abbott, was my third great grandfather. John came to America with four brothers: William, James, Nathaniel, and Abiel, and they built a successful piano manufacturing business in Fort Lee. James’ son John was the first mayor of Fort Lee. Sadly, William Bryant did not represent the Virginia family very well. The Abbotts did not look upon their Virginia relatives favorably. Three generations later, Matt and I have effectively reunited the New Jersey and Virginia families. Full circle!

[See blog post about the Abbott Piano Factory: https://descenddance.blogspot.com/2014/05/abbott-sons-piano-factory-fort-lee-nj.html]

A memorable visit with cousin Matt in New Jersey answered some nagging questions and helped to provide context. We started sharing ancestry information right away! Matt discovered a mug shot (?!!) of his grandfather Lawrence Weismantel among my materials from Ray Eggers (Ray's letters and documents sent to Miriam Lukhard were entrusted to me by Aunt Teeny). Matt called his father to ask about the photo. We had a hilarious video chat with Matt's dad:

Videochat Interview

Sample conversation:

Ted Nussbickle ("He was a good man, Uncle Ted" "He bought me chocolate cigars"), 

"Aunt Leonie," Leonie Abbott Nussbickle ("She was a pain in the ass") and her daughter,

Doris Nussbickle (per Matt's mom: "she married a guy at the horse track"; "she and Aunt Mary were close"), William Bryant ("gentleman who had wounds on his legs"), 

"Uncle Bobby" (Bobby Bryant, "they would come there for dinner...and sleigh riding") and "Uncle Buddy." (Roger Bryant) 

Matt: You remember when "Nanny" (Margaret Bryant Weismantel) would talk about her grandfather as a peanut farmer, right? 

Dad: No. 

Matt: that was Eley Bryant...he fought in the Civil War.

Random comment: "My family is so screwed up, if you put them all in a box and shook it all up...I don't know what would happen." 

When Matt clarified the facts about some of his father's memories, he replied, "I'm started to get worried you're gonna tell me how many times I go to the bathroom."

We also had a videochat with Aunt Teeny (Miriam Vaughan, daughter of Miriam Abbott Lukhard), and her son David. Aunt Teeny remembered visiting her cousins in New Jersey as a teenager and being the "bell of the ball." She said that the more they fawned over her southern accent, the more southern she became! She couldn't remember names, but said some of the boy cousins later came to Virginia to visit.

How I am related to Matt:

Two Abbott siblings married two Bryant siblings. 

I am the great-granddaughter of George and Ida; Matt is the great-grandson of William and Bonnie. 

Whitfield Barrie Abbott is our common NJ ancestor

(the son and only child of immigrant John Abbott, pianomaker, and his wife Sarah Godfrey).

[See my blog post about Whitfield Barrie Abbott: https://descenddance.blogspot.com/2018/03/whitfield-barrie-abbott-1844-1889.html]

Ellis Island

Matt surprised me with a behind the scenes tour of Ellis Island. The majesty of the place and the weight of history was just overwhelming. We spent a good bit of time outside, enjoying the view of the Statue of Liberty and the panoramic view of lower Manhattan. 

Edgewater Cemetery (Vreeland Cemetery)

We found the cemetery in the middle of a congested area of town. The walled cemetery had once been surrounded by an Alcoa Plant. We parked in a busy shopping center lot across the street and risked our lives to get across the road. A sign on the gate told us to call the police non emergency number, and we were instructed to wait for someone to bring us the key. We stood at the gate in the cold for a half hour admiring the Manhattan skyline across the Hudson River. Finally, a Supervisor from the Department of Public Works named Tom Quinton showed up in a white city vehicle and let us in the cemetery. He knew exactly where the Abbott family plot was located and took us right there. We found Whitfield Abbott's tall monument, then saw James Abbott and William Abbott's headstones. After a frustrating search for certain other graves we knew had to be there (Sarah, John C.), Tom decided to go back to his office and bring us the file containing the list of interments and plot numbers. We were able to identify the graves' we were looking for, but there were no headstones (see listing of family members buried here at the bottom of this post). Whitfield was buried with his first wife, Gertrude, while his 2nd wife Sarah was buried at the back of the cemetery all alone. There was an entire Abbott plot with no headstones, but several Abbotts were buried there according to the records. We noted graves for family names Heft, Schlosser, and Beucler scattered amidst the Abbott graves.

Edgewater Cemetery inhabitants' view of the Hudson River and Manhattan

Church of the Good Shepherd

We drove through the Palisades Park area, and up Palisades Avenue to the church. The church secretary let us into the very old sanctuary, but we soon realized that this "newer" part of the old church was built after our family attended there. The original tiny chapel was now a day care center, and little preschoolers were asleep all over the floor. The entrance of the original chapel had been on Parker Avenue, but the steeple had been removed and a new entrance made on Palisades Avenue. The new entrance faces the buildings across the street where Whitfield Barrie Abbott lived (I believe he owned the two adjacent lots at 1585 & 1589 Palisades Avenue), and where his children, including my great grandfather George was born. At least one of Whitfield's children was baptized there, Bonnie Abbott (her baptismal certificate is on Ancestry). The stained glass windows in the church were donated by church members including the Beuclers and the Hefts (names from the cemetery). I later learned that one of the Abbotts married a Beucler (I knew I had seen the name somewhere!)

The smaller chapel to the left is the original church.

Ridgewood Public Library

Driving up Lemoine Avenue on our way out of town, we passed the site of the piano factory near the foot of the George Washington Bridge. There is a bank on the corner where the original factory had been, and the old Port Authority building is where the larger brick piano factory had been. It was about a 20-minute drive to Ridgewood where the public library was supposed to have an excellent genealogy collection. The librarian at the front desk, however, seemed clueless when we asked her about it. She directed us upstairs where we saw a sign in letters a foot high: "Bolger Heritage Center." (How could she miss that?) The door was locked. A young man let us in, and we began searching for the Fort Lee section. The collection was interesting, but we found it difficult to search much of their materials. 

We found one amazing book that made the trip to the library worthwhile: Fort Lee, by Lucille Bertram for the Fort Lee Historical Society, in the "Images of America" series. There were quite a few references to the Abbott family in the book, so I went on Amazon and ordered it for Matt. Images and information in the book revealed the answers to some of our questions. We believe that our Sylvia Abbott provided much of the material about the Abbotts to the Fort Lee Historical Society. 

Information in the book included:

Schlosser's Hotel (image) - "Fort Lee's mayor [i.e. John C. Abbott] and council met there until the 1920's."  There is a Schlosser Street in Fort Lee and Schlosser graves in Edgewater cemetery near the Abbott graves.

Abbott Piano Factory (image) - "The Abbott Piano Factory was located on the west side of Lemoine Avenue near what is now the Bridge Plaza. James Abbott, an English immigrant, founded this piano-action company c. 1870. In 1912 he employed 50 men and 25 women and was a major employer in Fort Lee. The Abbott family, one of the early Fort Lee settlers, resided on Lemoine Avenue for nearly a century."

The newer piano factory was a brick building behind this house.
[This building was moved to Main Street and is still there].

Mayor John C. Abbott (image) - the mayor and his council. "On March 29, 1904, Fort Lee officially broke from Ridgefield Township and formed its own government. In May of that year, the citizens of the borough elected their first borough council Mayor John C. Abbott..." (et. al.). [John C. Abbott, Sr. was the son of James Abbott, one of the four brothers who immigrated from England.]

Church of the Good Shepherd (image) - "In 1885, an Episcopal congregation moved into an abandoned church known as 'the estate' on Parker Avenue...The Gothic Revival building has been extensively renovated, with its entrance now on Palisade Avenue. A tower has also been added." [Note: the 'estate' was owned by the Moore family and includes the property that is now the Fort Lee Memorial Park. The original house, built by Judge Moore in 1922, is now the Fort Lee Museum run by the Fort Lee Historical Society. This building was closed for renovations when we were there.]

Bergen County Historic Sites Survey 1980-1981 (image of the Allen House) - "One of the other significant homes was the pre-Civil War Abbott home on Lemoine Avenue. Both the Abbott and Allen houses were razed soon after the Sites Survey was published."

The George Washington Bridge at its Fort Lee terminus (image) - the Abbott Piano Factory can been seen clearly in this aerial view. 

 

                   The Abbott Piano Factory is in the top right quadrant of this photo - original photo and close up. 
          The building that I have marked "Abbott House" was actually the original piano factory building
         that is now located behind 214 Main Street. (see photos at the bottom of this post).

Abbott Boulevard (image) - "In August 1909, after Palisade was incorporated into the borough, the borough council changed the name to Abbott Boulevard to honor Fort Lee's first mayor, John C. Abbott."

Outside the Heritage room at the library, there was a huge wall map of Bergen Counties that explained why the location of the Abbott Hotel was described in the U.S. Census as being in Hackensack. Hackensack at the time included a much larger area that encompassed Fort Lee and Coytesville. "J. Abbott" is shown on the map just north of the fort area. 

Hackensack County in 1861.
"J. Abbott" is on the map above the words "Fort Lee."

Some library searches were fruitless - no obituaries in the newspaper microfilm reels, except for a brief mention of Whitfield Abbott's funeral in the Bergen County Democrat: 

"The funeral of Wm. B. Abbott was held on Thursday. He had been ailing for some time. Mr. Abbott was for quite a long period principal of the Coytesville school."

There were promising materials held in various file cabinets, such as files on prominent family names in Fort Lee, but they were locked and the librarian could not find the keys. 

"Come back next week," she says.

Barrymore Film Center

Back to Fort Lee for a tour of the Barrymore Film Center museum. This was not directly related to our family history research, but was fascinating to learn about the film industry that was burgeoning in Fort Lee at the time that our family was there. I watched a silent movie that was filmed in Fort Lee which was known as the "Hollywood of the East Coast." 

Philadelphia

We spent a whole day in Philadelphia, hitting the top few items on my bucket list. I did a tour of Independence Hall, and viewed the Liberty bell from outside the glass enclosure. We walked down to Christ Church and had a guided tour. Then walked a few blocks away to the Christ Church Cemetery, where Benjamin Franklin and other signers of the Declaration of Independence were laid to rest. Of course, we stopped and had a Philly cheesesteak at Sonny's. The afternoon was spent at the Barnes Museum of Art. The collection of one man - Albert C. Barnes - was moved in its entirety to this modern building and set up in rooms exactly as he had them set up in his home. In addition to its main galleries, there were 18 rooms full of some of the most important works of art in the world. The uniqueness of this collection is singular in its juxtaposition of his vast assortment of antique hinges which were strategically arranged on the walls with the artwork.  

Preparation for research:

Here are the questions I had prepared for collaboration with cousin Matt, and some of the answers I learned during and after the trip to Fort Lee:

Q: What was Whitfield Abbott's home address on Palisades Avenue?

A: 1589 Palisades Avenue - His home was directly across the street from the Church of the Good Shepherd; there is now a bank on that lot, built in 1905 (a year after Sarah's death. Whitfield also owned the lot at 1585, now a dental office building.

A land map of the historic area of Fort Lee. Whitfield Barrie Abbott's property on Palisades Avenue
is marked,as is James Abbott's property just down the street.

Q: How does Stephen Hopkins (Mayflower) fit into our family tree?
A: through the Godfrey family. There is probably a second connection to Stephen Hopkins as well.

Q: What did the C stand for in John Abbott's name? Conway, after his mother in England?
A: Did not resolve this one. In some sources, his middle initial was "L." In his will, it appears to be the letter "C." James Abbott's son was named John Coyte Abbott. Coyte was James' wife's family name. 

Q: It was "James Abbott and Sons" by 1891; when did John Abbott bow out?
A: One source mentioned that he got out of the business at age 26. John Abbott owned the "hotel" where many of the piano factory employees lived. The Abbott House was located on Lemoine Avenue.

Q: Where did the name "Lemoine" come from? (Lemoine Avenue). Who/what was Abbott Blvd. named for?
A: James Abbott married Eliza Lemoine; William Abbott married Susan Ann Lemoine. Lemoine was a prominent family in Fort Lee. Abbott Blvd was named for the first mayor of Fort Lee, John Coyte Abbott, son of James Lemoine Abbott, Sr.

Q: Where did the name Fenton originate? (Southampton County)
A:

Q: What is the story about a probate dispute over William Cobb's probate 14 years after his death?
A:

Q: Where is the home of Charles and Maria Bryant?
A; I found several specific addresses for them and for their businesses in Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, and Newark. We did not have time to look for them, but most buildings are long gone anyway.

Q: Charles' death certificate?
A:

Q: Where was Charles between 1880 and 1908?
A:

Q: Is the Charles Bryant in the Richmond newspaper article the same piano dealer listed in the NJ city directory? (11/30/1911). 
A: According to the city directory, Charles lived in NJ as early as 1909. Ida was living in Richmond, so Charles did have a connection there. Perhaps he was living near Ida before he moved to NJ..?

Q: Where are Eley and Margaret buried? They are buried together. In Charles Bryant's letter to Bluke, 1924, he wrote: "I must see if I can't get someone to look after Father and Mother's graves," indicating that they were not buried in a formal cemetery.
A: Their graves are not marked, but we assume they are buried on the land at the corner of Blackwater and Head of River Roads in Princess Anne County, now a soybean field. It may not be possible to locate their exact burial sites.

Q: Explain the errors in William Bryant's death certificate (William Thomas Bryant, son of Eley and Margaret Bryant in Southampton, Virginia, NOT "Peter" and "Margaret Garttom" as on his death certificate).
A: William died in a poorhouse in Newark, NJ. He was an alcoholic booted out of the house by his wife Bonnie. He was despised by the Abbott family and buried in their cemetery plot for spite (so they hound him for eternity). The information on the death certificate may have been recorded by a staff person at the poorhouse based on ineffective communication from William.

Q: Are these our family?
Eli Bryant, Nottoway Co, slave owner
A: probably not.

William J. Cobb, E. Nottoway River, 1860 slave schedule
A: 

Q: What is story about the lost deed? lost patent?
A: According to the "NJ" family lore, someone in the "Virginia" family (i.e. the Bryants) stole the deed to the original Southampton land grant out of William T. Bryant's luggage. The patent refers to a peanut patent, unknown story.

Postscript:

In the Bergen County Historic Sites Inventory, 1980-1981, it shows that the original Abbott & Sons Piano Factory building was moved just after the sites survey was done. The building is now located behind 214 Main Street in Fort Lee. 

214 Main Street

The original piano factory building today, behind 214 Main Street.

DPW record of Abbott family burials at Edgewater.
Photo of Tom Quinton's burials list obtained from Matt Weismantel.

DPW record of Bryant family burials at Edgewater.
Photo of Tom Quinton's burials list, obtained from Matt Weismantel.

Whitfield Barrie Abbott, 1844-1889

Whitfield Barrie Abbott was born on July 18, 1844 in New Jersey, to John C. and Sarah "Sally" Godfrey Whitfield Abbott. The Abbotts owned a hotel/boarding house in Hackensack, NJ; others who lived in the house were a mixed assortment of folks from England, New York, New Jersey, Germany, Ireland, and South America. The tenants worked either at the hotel or at the Abbott Piano Factory.

At age 16, Whitfield was living in a large boarding house in NY City and was working as a "clerk" according to the 1860 Census; he was also counted on the census at his parents' home in Hackensack that year. From 1863-66, he attended the Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York City. By 1870, he was back home living with his extended family in Hackensack, working at his father's piano factory. He was married with two daughters. In 1876, he purchased land in Ridgefield, Bergen, New Jersey, on Palisades Ave (1500 block - see below). By 1880, he was widowed with three children - Bonnie, May, and Barrett - and was working as a school teacher near his home in Coytesville, a borough of Fort Lee.

Here is a current street view of that property location. It's commercial land now.
Whitfield's house was on the lot at the far right of this picture. It is now a bank building.
The property is very near the NJ Tnpk where it crosses the George Washington Bridge.

Gertrude Clayton Abbott

Whitfield was married twice. His first marriage was to Gertrude Clayton, by whom he had five children; three survived to adulthood:

• Rebecca "Bonnie" Godfrey Curtis Abbott, b. 1868, 
• Mary "May" Clayton Abbott, b. 1870, 
• Barrett H. Abbott, b. 1873 (d.?), 
• Whitfield Barry Abbott, Jr., b. 1873,  
• Sarah Godfrey Abbott, b. 1874 (d.?). 

Gertrude died in 1879. Whitfield then married Sarah A. "Sadie" Wright in June 1882 in the Dutch Reformed Free Church. They had five children; two survived to adulthood:

• George Wright Abbott, b. Aug. 1882, 
• William Smith Abbott, b. 1883 (d. 1884), 
• Alice Barry Abbott, b. 1886 (d. 1887), 
• John A. Abbott b. 1887 (d. 1887), and 
• Leonie Abbott, b. 1889.

Whitfield died in December 1889; his last will was dated 17 September 1889, just ten days before Leonie was born. Sadie died in 1903.

Some interesting notes:

• I have received much information about the Abbott family from M.W. in NJ. He has copies of the Abbott family bible and many documents of the family history. He is descended from May Abbott Eggers, the second eldest daughter of Whitfield and Gertrude. 
• Barry Vaughan was named after Whitfield Barrie Abbott (as George Wright Abbott requested).
• A recent DNA test shows that Glenn Watson's son Ben is descended from Whitfield through May Abbott Eggers' family.
• May's son Ray Eggers was an avid genealogist who did most of the Abbott family research before it could be done by computer. He traveled all up and down the east coast and sent many information-packed letters to Miriam Lukhard, which I now have in my possession.

Fort Lee, New Jersey

My Aunt Teeny gave me a framed picture that had been sent to her mother years ago.  It was a sepia-toned picture of an old Episcopal church. Under the picture it said, "Episcopal Church Parker Avenue, Fort Lee, N. J."  She supposed it was the Abbott family's church and wondered if it would help me with my research. 

[Bonnie Abbott Bryant and May Abbott Cowan, half sisters of George Wright Abbott: George Wright Abbott > Jacqueline D. Abbott > John B. Zaun > Teresa Zaun Austin]

I first had to find out the name of the church.  I did a search on Google maps of Episcopal churches in Fort Lee, and there was only one that possibly fit our family's location in the city.  But this church was on Palisades Avenue, and it was much larger.  Hmmm.  I zoomed in and looked around a little in street view and discovered that there was a Parker Avenue that ran parallel to Palisades behind the church.  A closer inspection found that the larger part of the building facing Palisades has been added onto the original smaller building facing Parker.  Bingo!  It was called the Church of the Good Shepherd.

Then, on a whim, I lifted up the corner of the picture and to my surprise found that it was a postcard!  There was writing on it too... it was a message sent to my great great Aunt Rebecca "Bonnie" Abbott Bryant from her sister May in 1917.  Rebecca's grandson Matt is one of my newfound cousins on Ancestry, so I wrote to him about the postcard.  Very cool.  He told me that it was May's grandson, Ray Eggers, Jr., who compiled most of the Abbott family genealogy back in the days when it took a lot of years of traveling to get information.  Coincidentally, I am in possession of all of Mr. Eggers' correspondence with my Aunt Miriam.

I've been wondering how the Bryants and Abbotts met each other.  The Abbott family were well known piano makers in Fort Lee.  Charles Bryant from Virginia became a piano dealer in Fort Lee.  Rebecca Abbott married Charles' brother William Bryant.  Charles' sister Ida - my great grandmother - married Rebecca's half brother George Abbott.  Did they meet through the piano business or did they meet in that little church on Parker Avenue?  Who met who first? (Later I learned that William Bryant had taken the new railroad to NJ from Southampton, Va. to find work, and met Bonnie Abbott, a coworker in a hat factory in Fort Lee. That was probably the first Bryant-Abbott connection). 

I bought a book from Amazon called Music in New Jersey, 1655 - 1860.  I was hoping it would answer these questions, but it included only a couple of pages about the Abbott Piano Factory.  Still, very interesting. Post Script: I gifted the book to Matt and Natalka Weismantel.

Abbott & Sons Piano Factory, Fort Lee, NJ

Here are some bits and pieces of information about the Abbott Family Piano Company in New Jersey sent to me by Matthew Weismantel, great great grandson of Whitfield Barrie Abbott (which makes him my 3rd cousin):

Bryants and Abbots
My (Matthew's) Grandmother was Margaret Weismantel nee' BRYANT whose mother was Rebecca Godfrey Curtis Bryant nee' Abbott (daughter of Whitfield Barry ABBOTT & Gertude CLAYTON) and whose father was William Thomas BRYANT (son of Eley BRYANT and Margaret COBB). The Abbotts started in America John C. ABBOTT (1809-1898) who manufactured pianos both in NYC and Fort Lee, NJ.

• Born in London in about 1815, John Abbott immigrated to New York with his brothers James, Nathaniel, Abiel, and William to manufacture pianos. John Abbott first apprenticed with the firm of R & W Nunns. He opened his first shop in 1835, at only twenty years of age, at 66 Walker Street in New York City. His pianos were exhibited at The American Institute Fair in both 1835 and 1836, and they were awarded medals at both exhibitions. Abbott quickly gained popularity and a stellar reputation for his instruments. It seems that John Abbott went into general business and left the piano industry before 1850. His brothers James Abbott and William Abbott continued building action parts for pianos in New Jersey under the name of Abbott & Sons.

• In Spillane’s History of the American Piano-Forte, published in 1890: “John Abbott, a graduate from the shop of R&W Nunns, began business at 66 Walker Street, NY in 1832, and became very successful immediately from the standpoint of making reputable instruments. In 1835 John Abbott took the gold medal at the Mechanic’s Institute for a piano-forte which won special mention. In 1836 he moved to 267 Bowery. Mr. Abbott exhibited a grand piano in this year which won the second premium at the Mechanic’s Institute. This clever piano make is yet living and is a member of a family whose connections with the trade has been of long standing. James Abbott of Abbott and Sons, is a brother and was connected with him in 1833 when he began business on Walker St., and is the youngest of the Abbott Family of piano makers.”

• ABBOTT. London-born makers in New York, NYand Fort Lee, NJ. John Abbott (b. London, 1815-d. after 1890) apprenticed with R&W Nunns in New York; in 1832 he opened a workshop at 66 Walker Street (Spillane). Spillane reported that John Abbott won a gold medal for one of his pianos at the American Mechanics’ Institute Fair in 1835, and the following year he won a silver medal for a horizontal, not square, grand piano. In 1836 his address was 267 Bowery. Abbott apparently opened the firm of Abbott & Sons in Fort Lee, NJ, possibly as early as 1836; although the date is uncertain, he is known to have been working in New Jersey by 1839. http://antiquepianoshop.com/online-museum/abbott/

• John had three brothers, all of whom were active as piano makers, Nathaniel B. Abbott was listed as a maker during the 1840's, but later he turned to other occupations; he became first a policeman, then a carpenter. James Abbott (b London, 1825) worked with his brother John in 1833 on Walker Street in New York and in the firm of Abbott & Sons about 1839 in Fort Lee. James lived at a hotel owned by John in Hackensack, NJ; he was active in the business until 1860, according to Kaufman. William Abbott (b. London, 1816-d 1889) also worked with John in Fort Lee in 1850. Abiel, another brother, operated during that year a piano dealership in NY; he lived in Jersey City. Spillane state that all four of the Abbott brothers were trained at R & W Nunns.

• It is my (Sylvia Abbott) impression that the Abbott family was a large one and branched out to perhaps many other states. I have no records of this. My ancestor, James, had a small piano making business in Edgewater, bought property in Fort Lee in 1850 where piano actions were made in his home. In 1872 Abbott Piano Factory opened off Lemoine Ave. In 1953 the building was sold and has since been torn down to make way for the new Port Authority Building on South Marginal Rd.

• According to Margaret Weismantel, John C. Abbott died pushing Bonnie Cowen up a flight of stairs in a baby carriage. Now that I have dates for his death in Dec 1898 and Bonnie Cowen's birth in August 1895 this certainly plausible.

Charles Bryant, a "dapper fellow"
On another note, from Matthew Weismantel: "My aunt has been asking me if I have any information about a Mariah BRYANT who she remembers owning a boarding house in Ocean Grove, NJ. The only Mariah I have come across was in your photo on-line with Charles Bryant.

l to r:  Mariah, Ida Rene Abbott, Addie Fletcher, and Charles Bryant.
Possibly taken on the occasion of Charles and Mariah's wedding? This photo had to have been taken around 1910, which is after their mother Margaret died on a train... after "the rift." 

My aunt later remembered that there was a Charles Bryant who was married to a Mariah and owned a piano store on Broad Street in Newark, NJ -- strange since it was the Abbotts who owned a piano factory.

New Jersey

Some of our ancestors were early colonists, but many came to America just a few generations ago from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands. So it is no surprise that our lineage can be traced back to the area in and around New York City.

Fort Lee, NJ keeps coming up as a common place of origin, particularly on my father's side.  Thomas Whitfield came from England, married Betsy Godfrey from Providence RI, and settled in New York.  Their daughter Sarah married John Abbott from Newark, NJ.  The Abbotts' son Whitfield married Sadie Wright from Brooklyn and settled in Fort Lee. Their son, my great grandfather, George Abbott, was born there.

Orrin Bishop Judd, my dad's paternal ancestor from Hartford, Connecticut, lived in Brooklyn at different times in his life and married Elizabeth MacDonald from Bronx, NY.  My mother's great grandmother, Miriam Olivia Wandell, was born in Brooklyn of parents with a Dutch heritage.

I have always felt a draw to that part of the world, especially to Long Island and Rhode Island.  Never thought much about New Jersey, but it's looking more and more interesting now.