Tales of Providence: Frederick Almy and Mary Jane Usher DeVoll

Frederick Almy DeVoll

While perusing some old photographs at a used books store in Providence, I came across four portraits belonging to the same family. Since they were all being sold separately, I thought I should buy them in order to ensure they would stay together (perhaps that was the seller's intent all along). I have always loved perusing stores for old photographs but it frustrates me immensely when they aren't labeled with the subjects' names. Equally frustrating is when they're labeled "my mother" or "cousin Jane." Thanks, 19th-century people, that really helps.

Of the four photographs that I bought, three seem to be of the same person, Frederick Almy DeVoll. The other was his wife, Mary Jane Usher DeVoll. While researching them, I was able to uncover many interesting details about their lives, and in particular about their children. Frederick was born about 1845 in Massachusetts and Mary was born about 1844 in Rhode Island.

Frederick first appears in the 1850 census in Westport, Massachusetts. Since this census doesn't list relationships between members of a household, I had to rely on other evidence to confirm my speculations. Barney Wing, a 61-year-old sailor, was married to Abby Wing, age 48. Mary A. DeVoll was their daughter, age 24. Susan, Benjamin, and Frederick were Mary's children. But who was the children's father? The family obelisk in the Westport Point Cemetery (shown below) reveals that it was Benjamin DeVoll, who died in 1848, leaving his then 22-year-old wife with three children under the age of six.

1850 US Federal Census

Frederick Almy DeVoll

The same Wing/DeVoll family, minus Susan, is recorded in the 1855 Massachusetts State Census. Susan died in 1852 at the age of 11 and is commemorated on the same obelisk as her mother and father.

On July 11, 1864, 19-year-old Frederick Almy DeVoll enlisted as a private in the 15th Co. Massachusetts Infantry, and mustered out on November 11.

That same year, Frederick's brother Benjamin departed on the whaling ship Elizabeth from Westport. His record in the New Bedford Whaling Museum database lists him as standing 4'11" in height, with brown hair and dark skin. Benjamin died in 1865 at the age of 22. I haven't been able to confirm whether he died at sea. His name is listed on the DeVoll obelisk in Westport Point Cemetery.

Frederick married Mary Jane Usher sometime in the early 1870s. In 1875, they were living in Providence's Federal Hill, one of two families listed at 16 Hammond Street. Frederick was working as a dry goods merchant. Frederick's 48-year-old mother Mary Wing DeVoll was living with them, as well as their one-year-old son Frederick Usher DeVoll.

In 1880, the family was living at 60 Chapin Avenue in western Providence. Strangely, although Mary Wing DeVoll was living in the same house, she wasn't listed as part of Frederick and Mary Jane DeVoll's family. Perhaps she had her own apartment in the building, or perhaps it was just the census taker's mistake. Mary Jane must have already been pregnant with her second child this time, as Frederick's brother Earl Clinton DeVoll was born in December of that year.

1880 US Federal Census

(source)

Mary A. DeVoll died in 1892. She is commemorated on the DeVoll family obelisk, pictured to the right. The obelisk is rather pinkish in color, which makes me wonder whether it was made of Westerly granite.

Frederick Usher DeVoll
Mary and Frederick's son Frederick Usher DeVoll was an artist, among other things. According to a 2013 article in The New York Times, DeVoll "studied under famous American artists — William Merritt Chase, Charles Hawthorne, Robert Henri — before moving to Paris where he attended classes at the Académie Julian, which was steeped in tradition. He also discovered the advanced movements of French art. His twin exposure to the diametrically opposed trends of Academic painting and the latest developments in Impressionism contributed to define his highly original manner."

DeVoll's trip to Paris may explain why I can't find him in the 1900 census. However, by 1904, he was back in Providence for his marriage to Martha Elizabeth McIver, an Irish immigrant.

In 1910, the couple was living at 159 Elm Street, which they shared with one other family. Frederick's father Frederick Almy DeVoll died in 1912, and his mother Mary Jane Usher DeVoll in 1919. Both were buried at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence.

In the 1920 census, Frederick was said to be the "proprietor" at a jewelry store while Martha was "part proprietor." Frederick's World War I draft registration card lists him and his wife as living at different addresses, but it is likely that 19 Arcade Boulevard was the address of their store, as that is the location of the Arcade Providence, the oldest shopping mall in the United States, which still exists. His occupation is given as "artist, store keeper, farmer." He was said to be of medium and height and build, with brown eyes and black hair.

The New York Times gets one detail wrong about DeVoll: that he was born in 1879. DeVoll's draft registration card states he was born in 1873. While I did entertain the idea that DeVoll was lying about his age in order to escape the draft, his birth record clearly states that he was born December 15, 1873; plus he was alive at the time of the 1875 state census. Furthermore (and this is really picking nits, but oh well), DeVoll clearly signed his name with a capital V on the registration card, while the NYT and other 21st-century sources give his name as Devoll.

The 1940 census is one of the more detailed. It states that Frederick and Martha DeVoll owned their house at 159 Elm, which was valued at $2000 (unfortunately, it is now a parking lot). Both had received an eighth grade education. Frederick was said to work 60 hours a week as the keeper of a "variety store" for 52 weeks of the past year. He was also said to have income from "other sources" (presumably painting and/or farming).

Frederick Usher DeVoll died on March 13, 1941, and was buried at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. Martha McIver DeVoll died in 1966 and was also buried at Swan Point.

Earl Clinton DeVoll
Frederick's younger brother Earl Clinton DeVoll matriculated at Brown University, but did not receive a degree. He married Jessamine May Sweet, the daughter of Benjamin Sweet and Olive Gardner, on June 8, 1904, in Attleboro, Massachusetts. In 1910, the couple was living with Earl's parents, Frederick Almy DeVoll and Mary Jane Usher DeVoll, in Providence. Earl was working as a jewelry store salesman - presumably the same one as his brother Frederick Usher DeVoll. Jessamine was listed in the census as "Jessie" DeVoll.

By 1920, Earl and Jessie had divorced. He was living in south Providence with his housekeeper, Addie Coates, who was also divorced, and her 37-year-old daughter Ethel. Earl was listed as the proprietor of a jewelry store, while Ethel was a "saleslady" at a department store. Their house was not too far from the Arcade Providence.

1920 US Federal Census

Earl married his second wife, Beatrice, in 1929, when he was 48 and she was 40. In the 1930 census, they are listed with two daughters: 6-year-old Marian and 5-year-old Adelaide. While I first suspected that these were Beatrice's daughters from an earlier marriage, according to the census her marriage to Earl was her first. So were Marian and Adelaide the children of Earl and Beatrice, born out of wedlock? Well ... no, not exactly. According to Adelaide's social security application form, she was the daughter of Earl DeVoll and Ethel Coates. That's right - the daughter of Earl DeVoll's housekeeper (which is not as skeevy as it sounds, as she and Earl were only two years apart in age). The fact that Adelaide shared the name of Ethel's mother (Addie Coates) should have been a clue. As it turns out, Earl and Ethel were married sometime in the early 1920s, but she died in 1924 (perhaps in childbirth, as that was the year that Adelaide was born) and was buried at Swan Point.

Mary Jane Usher DeVoll

According to his draft registration card for World War II, the then 61-year-old Earl lived at 727 Park Avenue in Cranston and was unemployed. He was 6' tall, with brown eyes, gray hair, and a light complexion. He died in 1949 and was buried at Swan Point. Beatrice died on February 17, 1972 in Attleboro. Adelaide DeVoll, who had since become Adelaide DeVoll Weinhold, died in 1994 in Oregon.

Mary Jane Usher DeVoll
Since I started off with Frederick Usher DeVoll's paternal ancestry, I thought I should backtrack a bit and describe his Usher ancestry. Some of you may be familiar with the Edgar Allen Poe story The Fall of the House of Usher, published in 1839. Providence was the home of Poe's love interest, the poet Sarah Helen Power Whitman. They met there in 1845, and were engaged to be married on the condition - set by Whitman - that Poe, who was an alcoholic, would remain sober. Unfortunately for Poe, this proved impossible. I'm not sure if there is a relationship between the Providence Ushers and Poe's story, aside from the fact that Usher was a prominent and ancient New England name that Poe felt would be appropriate for the prominent and ancient New England family in his story, but it's still worth noting.

The first record in which I found Mary Jane Usher was the 1850 federal census, in which she was six years old and living in Providence with her parents, Daniel and Thankful Usher, and siblings George, William, Stephen, Reuben, Malony, Sarah, and Daniel.

1850 United States Federal Census

From this, I was able to find a pedigree of one of Daniel and Thankful's descendants, Ella Elizabeth Patt Slocum, which traces the Usher lineage back to Revolutionary War soldier John Usher (1736-1837). Daniel Usher's biography is featured in the Memorial Encyclopedia of the State of Rhode Island, and states that he was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, in 1808, where he attended the public schools before being apprenticed to a carriage maker. Later he became a contractor and builder in Providence, where he lived on Carpenter Street. In 1849, the "'gold fever' attacked [Usher] so violently that he closed up his Providence business and joined the seekers for easy fortune." The biography states that Usher was a Democrat and a member of Roger Williams Free Baptist Church, an advocate of Temperance, and "a man of great energy, devoted to his family, [who was] highly esteemed as a business man and citizen."

It also states that "[f]or a year after her husband's sailing for home, Mrs. Usher watched and waited for his coming, then gradually gave up hope, and with hope, strength, and life passed away. She died in 1856."

In 1860, the orphaned 16-year-old Mary Jane Usher was living with Benjamin and Malona Patt and their infant son Walter. Malony or Malona E. Patt was the same person as the Malony Usher listed in the 1850 census - that is, Mary Jane's older sister. Benjamin Patt was the son of David Patt and Freelove Williams; his paternal grandparents were Jonathan Patt and Mary Olney. There is an Olney Street on the East Side of Providence; also an Olneyville, one of the oldest Euro-American settlements in Providence, which was named for Christopher Olney, presumably an ancestor of Mary, though I'm too lazy to look it up.

1860 United States Federal Census

Five years later, Mary Jane was still living with the Patts. Benjamin was still working as a painter, while 21-year-old Mary Jane was listed as a seamstress. Unlike the 1860 census, the 1865 census lists their address: 326 Pearl Street in downtown Providence. Walter was not present - possibly, he was no longer alive - but Ella E. Patt, the woman listed in the DAR Lineage Book, is listed.

1865 Rhode Island State Census

A few years later, Mary Jane would marry Frederick Almy DeVoll and give birth to their two sons. Frederick Usher DeVoll and Martha McIver don't seem to have had any children. The photograph of Mary Jane Usher DeVoll is captioned "mother of E. C. DeVoll," suggesting that it belonged to Earl DeVoll and would have passed down through his family. Since Adelaide moved to Oregon at some point, my best guess is that the photographs belonged to Marian DeVoll, who is listed in Providence city directories as late as 1960. She would have been in her late thirties by that time. It's possible that Marian married after 1960 and had children; however, it is also possible that she remained single and childless, and died sometime in her late 80s or early 90s, at which point her estate was sold and her family photographs ended up in the used books store. It was about two years ago that Frederick Usher DeVoll's paintings appeared on the art market; these could have belonged to Marian as well.

But what about Frederick Usher DeVoll's artwork? Was it any good? I think so, but you can judge for yourself.

View of Quebec City From Lévis (source)

Winter storm, Columbus monument at 59th Street, New York City (source)

View of New York (source)

Showery Day, 57th Street, New York (source)

Paternal Line

1. Barney Wing m. Abby
1. Mary A. Wing (1825-1892) m. Benjamin DeVoll (1815-1848)
1. Susan S. DeVoll (1842-1851)
2. Benjamin DeVoll (1843-1865)
3. Frederick Almy DeVoll (1845-1912) m. Mary Jane Usher (1844-1919)
1. Frederick Usher DeVoll (1873-1941) m. Martha Elizabeth McIver (1873-1966) in 1904
2. Earl Clinton DeVoll (1880-1949) m. (1) Jessamine May Sweet (1881-) in 1904; (2) Ethel Coates (1882-1924); (3) Beatrice (1889-1972) in 1929
1. Marian DeVoll (1923-)
2. Adelaide Martha DeVoll (1924-1994)

Maternal Line

1. John Usher m. Elizabeth Allen
1. Hezekiah Usher m. Jane Greenleaf
1. John Usher m. Freelove Luther
1. Stephen Usher m. Prudence Colwell
1. Daniel Usher (1808-1855) m. Thankful Steere (1807-1856)
1. William B. Usher
2. Stephen L. Usher
3. Reuben A. Usher
4. Malona E. Usher (1841-) m. Benjamin Olney Patt (1832-)
1. Walter A. Patt (1859-)
2. Ella E. Patt (1864-)
5. Sarah E. Usher
6. Mary Jane Usher (1844-1919) m. Frederick Almy DeVoll (1845-1912)