Who Used This Book?
Many different members of the Fontaine family used this book, and it seems that the family shared ownership of this book. This book had three names on the back of the front cover of this copy of this book, one on a name plate and two names below it. The name on the name plate is F. B. Fontaine, and the other two names are Mary Short Fontaine and Mary Fontaine Pou. After researching the family tree, one can infer F. B. Fontaine is Francis “Frank” Fontaine, the one of the younger sons of John Fontaine. [1] One can also infer Mary Short Fontaine is Mary E. Shorter Fontaine, the wife of Benjamin Bruton Fontaine who is one of the middle children of John Fontaine. Lastly, one can infer that Mary Fontaine Poe is the oldest child of Benjamin Bruton Fontaine and the granddaughter of John Fontaine. [2] There are also two sets of initials in the top left corner of the page, JK and CC. However, it is unclear what these initials refer to, as none of the children of John Fontaine have these letters in their name. Due to how the names seem to move down generations, it is evident that the family passed this book down through generations as needed. One person did not just own and use this book but by many different members of the family.
[1] Thacker, “Francis Fontaine.”
[2] Thacker, “Benjamin Bruton Fontaine.”