Frank's Album

I positively adore autograph albums from the late 19th century. You can learn so much about someone's family and social circles by reading them. I love finding out who had a sense of humor.

Obviously these are hard to come by, but I am lucky enough to have several surviving albums from my family.

Autograph album, started in the 1880s

This one hails from my husband's side in Clear Lake, Iowa. It belonged to his great-grandfather's brother, Frank Hickok. Many of these entries are from 1886 and 1887 and are a delight to read. There are a total of 40 entries in the book.

Frank's signature

Frank Gardner Hickok reminds me of Will Forte from Saturday Night Live and is such an interesting-looking person.

Frank Gardner Hickok

Frank was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1872. His family immediately moved to north central Iowa as they were on their homestead by 1874. He married Angeline Reeves and had one child, Dorothy. He passed away in 1948 at the age of 75.