House Port Deposit

AndySPC

Private
Joined
Mar 10, 2019
Where is this house located and to whom could it belong?
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What a great picture! It captures so much - not only the house but the people and the dogs. It's quite an extended family group. A quick scan of photos from Port Deposit shows a number of similar buildings on the old Main Street. One called the Gerry House is very similar, though the staircase is on the opposite side. This article about the Gerry House tells its history, including CW era

 
Okay - I walked the Main Street on Google maps - this house at 88 South Main looks to be a match. Real estate info says it was built in 1810. The information written up for the historic district in Port Deposit says the houses were built using stone from the local quarry. They had high basements and raised living quarters because of flooding from the Susquehanna River, which flows parallel to Main St. I haven't (yet) found out anything about the owners.

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The house at 88 So. Main was owned by John P. Vanneman, who owned a prosperous lumber business. In fact, his lumber wharf was on the river directly across from his house - the people in the photo would have been looking right at it.

John and his wife Harriet had five children: daughters Jane, Clarissa, and Harriett; and sons Theodore and Daniel. John Vanneman died in 1875 aged 69. If this is that family, as seems likely, the picture would date to close to his death. John would thus be the man in the middle on the left with his two sons on either side.

Theodore Vanneman (1832-1902) served as a 1st Lt. in Snow's Battery, which was organized at Port Deposit. He was wounded at Malvern Hill but returned to service in time to lead the battery at Antietam (Snow was ill).

Daniel Vanneman (1830-1884) was a steamboat captain for part of his life. I can find no military record for him so I'm assuming the honorific Cpt. on his grave alludes to his steamboat days.

The third man in the photo is possibly a son-in-law. Isaac Ranck, husband of Harriett, served in the 4th PA Volunteers, mustering out as a Captain. Lucius Gerry, husband of Jane, also served in Snow's Battery. I didn't find a service record for Clarissa's husband, Cornelius Abrahams.

The family members listed in the 1870 Census don't fit with all of the other people on the porch - one can assume there are wives and daughters in the mix but there are more women there than fit the known members of the families. Plus if it were all the grandchildren there would be more boys and younger kids as well. So this must have been done for some other occasion.

The 1870 US Census shows two African American servants living at 88 So. Main Street - Sarah Green, age 70 and Mary Govern, age 55. That could fit with the two women shown on the lower level. I found no member in any of the households that would fit the man leaning against the tree but he could have been hired later.

In 2001 the owner of the house posted an inquiry on Ancestry looking for information on the Vanneman family. He said at the time he and his wife planned to restore the house. From the looks of the current day picture that project was abandoned. It's a pity, it's a lovely and historic house.
 
photo in my personal collection, I got along with the album of Major Calhoun
There seems to be a fairly active group of descendants online - you might want to share the photo with someone in the Vanneman family. We had a stranger reach out to us with an unknown to us group of photos from my husband's family - a really thoughtful gesture we much appreciated
 
There seems to be a fairly active group of descendants online - you might want to share the photo with someone in the Vanneman family. We had a stranger reach out to us with an unknown to us group of photos from my husband's family - a really thoughtful gesture we much appreciated
but how to find them, the problem is that I am from Russia and not a native speaker.
 
There seems to be a fairly active group of descendants online - you might want to share the photo with someone in the Vanneman family. We had a stranger reach out to us with an unknown to us group of photos from my husband's family - a really thoughtful gesture we much appreciated
Do you know representatives of this surname?
 
The house at 88 So. Main was owned by John P. Vanneman, who owned a prosperous lumber business. In fact, his lumber wharf was on the river directly across from his house - the people in the photo would have been looking right at it.

John and his wife Harriet had five children: daughters Jane, Clarissa, and Harriett; and sons Theodore and Daniel. John Vanneman died in 1875 aged 69. If this is that family, as seems likely, the picture would date to close to his death. John would thus be the man in the middle on the left with his two sons on either side.

Theodore Vanneman (1832-1902) served as a 1st Lt. in Snow's Battery, which was organized at Port Deposit. He was wounded at Malvern Hill but returned to service in time to lead the battery at Antietam (Snow was ill).

Daniel Vanneman (1830-1884) was a steamboat captain for part of his life. I can find no military record for him so I'm assuming the honorific Cpt. on his grave alludes to his steamboat days.

The third man in the photo is possibly a son-in-law. Isaac Ranck, husband of Harriett, served in the 4th PA Volunteers, mustering out as a Captain. Lucius Gerry, husband of Jane, also served in Snow's Battery. I didn't find a service record for Clarissa's husband, Cornelius Abrahams.

The family members listed in the 1870 Census don't fit with all of the other people on the porch - one can assume there are wives and daughters in the mix but there are more women there than fit the known members of the families. Plus if it were all the grandchildren there would be more boys and younger kids as well. So this must have been done for some other occasion.

The 1870 US Census shows two African American servants living at 88 So. Main Street - Sarah Green, age 70 and Mary Govern, age 55. That could fit with the two women shown on the lower level. I found no member in any of the households that would fit the man leaning against the tree but he could have been hired later.

In 2001 the owner of the house posted an inquiry on Ancestry looking for information on the Vanneman family. He said at the time he and his wife planned to restore the house. From the looks of the current day picture that project was abandoned. It's a pity, it's a lovely and historic house.

Sorry to be obtuse, but what city and state is the house located?
 
The house at 88 So. Main was owned by John P. Vanneman, who owned a prosperous lumber business. In fact, his lumber wharf was on the river directly across from his house - the people in the photo would have been looking right at it.

John and his wife Harriet had five children: daughters Jane, Clarissa, and Harriett; and sons Theodore and Daniel. John Vanneman died in 1875 aged 69. If this is that family, as seems likely, the picture would date to close to his death. John would thus be the man in the middle on the left with his two sons on either side.

Theodore Vanneman (1832-1902) served as a 1st Lt. in Snow's Battery, which was organized at Port Deposit. He was wounded at Malvern Hill but returned to service in time to lead the battery at Antietam (Snow was ill).

Daniel Vanneman (1830-1884) was a steamboat captain for part of his life. I can find no military record for him so I'm assuming the honorific Cpt. on his grave alludes to his steamboat days.

The third man in the photo is possibly a son-in-law. Isaac Ranck, husband of Harriett, served in the 4th PA Volunteers, mustering out as a Captain. Lucius Gerry, husband of Jane, also served in Snow's Battery. I didn't find a service record for Clarissa's husband, Cornelius Abrahams.

The family members listed in the 1870 Census don't fit with all of the other people on the porch - one can assume there are wives and daughters in the mix but there are more women there than fit the known members of the families. Plus if it were all the grandchildren there would be more boys and younger kids as well. So this must have been done for some other occasion.

The 1870 US Census shows two African American servants living at 88 So. Main Street - Sarah Green, age 70 and Mary Govern, age 55. That could fit with the two women shown on the lower level. I found no member in any of the households that would fit the man leaning against the tree but he could have been hired later.

In 2001 the owner of the house posted an inquiry on Ancestry looking for information on the Vanneman family. He said at the time he and his wife planned to restore the house. From the looks of the current day picture that project was abandoned. It's a pity, it's a lovely and historic house.
 
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