SCRAPBOOK AMERICAN FAMILY ENGLAND SS PHILADELPHIA TRAVEL JOURNAL EPHEMERA 1906

Description

Type:
Scrapbook
Title:
1906 Our Trip Abroad; Left New York, Saturday June 9th, 1906 / Returned Sunday May 5th, 1907
Location:
Atlantic Ocean, Southampton & London, England; London,
Date:
1906
Pages:
48 pages of content, plus loose title page.
Description:
This is a scrapbook / journal of a 1906 voyage across the Atlantic and of Southampton and London, England. The book includes several papers from the United States Mail Steamship
“S.S. Philadelphia”
of the American Line commanded by A.R. Mills. This includes a passenger list,
“Programme of Concert and Entertainment”
, and
“Wireless Telegraphy, The Trans-Atlantic American”
which was printed onboard the ship during the voyage. The next section of the book is dedicated to Southampton & London, England. This includes several prints and photos of various sites in the city, hotel and historical site handouts and pamphlets. The last pages deal with the burial ground at Bunhill, including photographs.
Throughout the book there are manuscript descriptions of the various sites, mostly describing its history. However, there are a few manuscript pages in which the author describes present events, such as the London transportation system, cost of goods, etc. For example, in the description of the voyage on the S.S. Philadelphia the author writes about the actress Ada Rehan (1857-1916) who was one of the passengers.
Who made this scrapbook:
There is a family photograph on the first page of the book. Considering the passenger list has no family greater than four, there must be several non-family members in the photo, perhaps friends. The name
“Agnes”
appears in the voyage manuscript and there is a “Miss Agnes Riley” found in the passenger list. Her family included,
“John F. Riley”, “Mrs. John F. Riley
”, and
“Miss Helen Riley”
. I have found a John F. Riley (d. 1912) who was married to a Mrs. Rose E. McDermott Riley (1850-1907). They had two children named Helen and Agnes. More important, Rose E. McDermott Riley, the mother, died in Paris on 18 April 1907. According to her obituary she died on a European tour and her body was returned to the United States and buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Based on this evidence I suspect that this scrapbook was made by someone in the Riley family, most likely John or Rose. I will admit this is circumstantial evidence and more research will be needed to prove who made this scrapbook.
The United States Mail Steamship “SS Philadelphia”
was originally a British built passenger steamer SS City of Paris (1888) of the Inman line. The ship was transferred to an American registry when the Inman Line merged with the American Line. She served the US Navy in the Spanish-American War as the USS Yale, where she gained notoriety for passing under the guns Morro Castle. After the war, she returned to commercial service but was seriously damaged when she ran grounded in 1899. She was rebuilt in Ireland, and renamed the SS Philadelphia and continued to sail for the American Line until she was again used by the US Navy in World War I and renamed the USS Harrisburg. She returned to American Line service after the war and was sold in 1922 to the New York-Naples Steamship Company, however she was seized by a crew mutiny (based on reports were Bolsheviks). The ship sailed to the Bay of Naples where it received repairs, but was not allowed to leave after the crew refused to pay for the repairs. The crew then looted and burned the ship before being arrested by the Italian authorities.
Note 1:
This is volume 1 of two volumes. I obtained this scrapbook at an auction house in the D.C. area, however, for some reason the auctioneer put the second volume in another lot which I did not know until after the auction had ended.
Note 2:
Not all items are shown based on the size of the scrapbook.
Condition:
The scrapbook pages are chipped (some significant) and worn and some of the pages have detached. Some of the material has detached (such as the passenger list), some manuscript pages have tears (one has torn into two), soiling, etc. The binding is loose, and the cover is worn with tears. See pictures.
Reference:
1.
SS City of Paris (1888).
Wikipedia
2.
“Former Musician is Buried. Wife of John F. Riley Laid to Rest at Mount Olivet Cemetery.”
The Washington Post, 8 May 1907
3.
Mrs Rose E. McDermott Riley
. Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia
Item Number:
000017