⭐ 1886 KANSAS VICTORIAN SCRAPBOOK — APPROX. 30 PAGES ⭐On April 10, 1886, this scrapbook was presented to Anna Belle Shiles.Her name is still written inside. The exact date is still there. And the man who gave it to her left his name and hometown.❤️ Nearly 140 years later, Anna Belle’s scrapbook is still here. ❤️⭐ ORIGINAL 1886 INSCRIPTIONSThe presentation pages read:“Presented to
Anna Belle Shiles.
April 10th 1886.”and:“Compliments of
C. H. Unangst
Industry, Kas.”These inscriptions are original to the album and shown in the photographs — giving this scrapbook a name, exact date, gift-giver and Kansas location.✨ A name. A date. A place. A story. ✨⭐ APPROXIMATELY 30 PAGES — STILL TOGETHERInside is a colorful mixture of Victorian trade cards, handwritten names and signatures, friendship verses, personal name cards, advertising, decorative die-cuts, flowers, birds, animals, children and elaborate Victorian artwork.⭐ THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PAGESHistorical and genealogical research into the names preserved in the album reveals a remarkable glimpse of the community surrounding Anna Belle in 1880s Kansas:🔹 Anna Belle Shiles — Album recipient and daughter of Dickinson County pioneer farmer Brisben Shiles.🔹 Brisben Shiles — 160-acre farmer in Section 32 near Abilene, documented in the 1883 History of Dickinson County.🔹 C. H. Unangst — Industry, KS resident who presented the album in 1886; family line connects directly to Dr. Henry Knowles Beecher, renowned Harvard Medical School professor.🔹 Adrian Burroughs — Dickinson County pioneer represented by a distinctive Blackletter nautical card.🔹 Albert S. Lantz & Emma S. Lantz — Wheatland/Cheever Township agricultural settlers.🔹 Angie Douglass — Connected through research with the Dickinson County schoolteacher and educator community.🔹 Anna Rebert & Emily J. Rebert — Members of an early Center Township pioneer farming family.🔹 Beckie Wert — Her name appears with an extraordinary hand-drawn Spencerian-style bird flourish.🔹 Clayton Swetgart — Local pioneer-family name spelled Swetgart in the album; historical records also show Sweigart.🔹 Cora C. Bowers & Lottie Bowers — Members of a prominent local Dickinson County family.🔹 Effie King & Jessie King — Part of the area's 1880s pioneer social circle; Jessie’s piece includes a friendship poem.🔹 John S. Wendell — Early Dickinson County settler and civic community member.🔹 Ida Miler — Spelled Miler in the album; historical records also show Miller. Research connects her closely with the Shiles family.🔹 Maggie Bricker — Connected with Pennsylvania Brethren agricultural settlers in Dickinson County.🔹 Martha M. Engle — Connected with one of Dickinson County's founding River Brethren pioneer families.⭐ ABILENE BUSINESS HISTORYThe album also preserves colorful advertising from businesses serving the area:🌟 J. E. Bonebrake — An unusual oversized scissors-shaped advertising card from the prominent Abilene merchant and hardware dealer associated with the historic Bonebrake Opera House.🌟 Geauque Store — Multiple cards carry the advertising overprint “Go to the Geauque Store, Abilene.”🌟 W. J. Austen & Co. — Two cards advertise Austen’s Forest Flower Cologne and identify the company with Abilene, Kansas.❤️ Together, the personal names and local advertising preserve something a history book can't quite reproduce — pieces of the actual social and commercial world surrounding one young woman in 1886.⚠️ CONDITION — PLEASE READThis approximately 140-year-old scrapbook shows age and wear consistent with its history.🔹 Cards and pieces were originally glued to the scrapbook pages
🔹 Pages are detached from the original binding
🔹 Pages are now kept in protective sleeves
🔹 Expect toning, staining, edge wear, tears, old adhesive, paper loss and other age-related imperfectionsPlease enlarge and examine all photographs carefully. Photos are an important part of the description and show the actual collection being sold.Historical and genealogical research is included as additional context based on the names, dates, businesses and locations found in the album. Buyers are encouraged to continue the research for themselves.Everything shown is being sold together as one collection. Individual pages and pieces will not be separated.⭐ FOR THE NEXT CARETAKERThis scrapbook brings together Victorian ephemera, antique advertising, genealogy, Kansas history, Abilene history and the names of the people who lived it.Someone once thought these little pieces were worth saving.140 years later, they still are.⭐⭐⭐ ANNA BELLE SHILES • APRIL 10, 1886 • INDUSTRY, KANSAS • APPROX. 30 PAGES ⭐⭐⭐
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