A Providence Lawyer (1905)

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I'm adding this item from Ebay scans because - well, it may one day have Lovecraft significance. In the last month, I've seen names connected by one, two, or three degrees of separation that I never expected to be connected tangentially to Lovecraft and his family.

The price prohibited me from bidding, and it is still up for bod for you Providence historians, but I can't. Two images are scans of the same page.

1905 Diary Logbook Rhode Island Lawyer Marquis DL Mowry

The seller's notes:
Diary of Marquis De Lafayette Mowry

1905 Diary & Notebook of daily activities – Family and Weekly Work as a lawyer in Providence

Every day is filled in – the temperatures and weather is noted for each day of the year - he fills out his entire day's activities and who he saw with any legal notes. One of the pages copied notes the death of Arlon Mory on March 8, 1905 at 1:00 am and Arlon was born on February 23, 1833. So he might have written other family dates into the diary if they occurred in 1905.

More notes and his signature is written many times in the back pages of this book after December 31st page.

His signature is verified in a Genealogy History of the Mowry family found in the book entitled , “The Descendants of John Mowry of Rhode Island by William A. Mowry (Providence, RI: Preston & Rounds Co.,1909).* Copy is kept at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. I have scanned the genealogical information of Marquis De Lafayette Mowry from this book and will be included with auction. I also copied several of the census records of his man and his family. This will be listed below.

* Marquis D L Mowry as born on September 17, 1838, married (1) Laura J. Kimball and (2) Sarah Arnold, died on December 11, 1914. His father and mother were Richard Mowry (1809-1870) and Lavina ____ (1803-1842). Marquis’ great grandfather was Arnold Mowry (1784- ) and great grandmother was Mercy Barnes. His great-great grandfather was Richard Mowry (1749-1835) married to Hannah Arnold.

An important note is that Marquis lived in the home of his great-great grandfather Richard Mowry (home built in 1819) at the time this book was written so this would be the home he lived in when he was writing this Diary. See the scanned picture.

The Mowry book follows the family back several more generations to Roger Mowry (born in England-died in Providence Rhode Island on 5 Jan 1666). It is very interesting history and I copied the direct ancestors of Marquis. The rest of the book can be seen online and copied as you wish.

I have scanned here the picture of Marquis De Lafayette Mowry and the home he lived in from the book. Also copied the signature from the book and the diary.

The diary is not that easy to read but after looking at it for a while you can get used to the handwritten and make out quite a bit. I found these names mentioned on several pages but there are many more names written: A. J. Curley, Martha E Laurence, Clarence A. Smith, Niles H. Arnold, Bert Smith, Walter L. Brin, Wilson & Mory, Miss Pry, Mr. Boyles, Mr. Cornell, Eliakin Mory, Sarah L. Winfield, Wilson O. Mory, and many Mory (sic) family members.

Marquis De Lafayette Mowry's law business was located at 13 Market Square Room 6. Copy of the Directory page will be included.

Other facts found on the internet are these: Marquis and Sarah are buried in Union Cemetery in North Smithfield Rhode Island. He died on 11 Dec 1914 [Wikipedia – north Smithfield RI]. There is a large monument to the Mowry family in this cemetery. There is a book of it with pictures and another family genealogy at the www.archives.org website.

I am selling this diary as is. The cover is worn on the edges as shown. The ink is darker on the front pages and lighter on the back pages. I have scanned pages from the front and the back of the book. Please let me know if you have any questions.