Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Penned From the Lips of my Father

To find out when this narrative was written down, I simply did a Google search for "Isaac Denison and the War of 1812" and this magazine article magically appeared. Most of it is word for word of the booklet I own.

The first paragraph on the lower left bottom gave me the answer I was seeking, which was the summer of 1846. This part is not in my booklet.

 I think Rev. Frederic Denison was frustrated that no one had mentioned his father or this adventure in any published form. (published in 1858 after Isaac Denison, Jr. had died) 

The phrase "penned from the lips of my father" is definitely the words of a minister.

Historical Magazine at Google Books
I also found another reference to it, but it did not include a date the oral history was written down. It  says "to be concluded next week" and was published in 1860. 

So, we now have a date to answer the first question, but how old was everyone involved in the making of this narrative?

In 1846:
Isaac Denison, Jr. was 56
Rev. Frederic Denison was 27 (and just graduated from Brown University)
Frances Levina Denison (youngest daughter of Isaac) was 11

I can safely conclude that my copy was typewritten by Frances sometime before her death in 1922. 

1 comment:

  1. Midge,

    I want to let you know that your blog is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/05/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-may-22-2015.html

    Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete