Born
July, 1858
England

Died
June, 1916
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Parents
Adolph Manns
Elizabeth Scheling

Siblings
Josephine Manns
Catherine Manns
Adolph Manns Jr.
Bertha Manns
Amelia Manns
Rosa Mary Manns
One additional child, name unknown

Spouse
Henry Sinclair
Date and location of marriage unknown

Children
Frank Sinclair
Lillie Sinclair

Life Story

The oldest child of Adolph and Elizabeth Manns, Elizabeth or Lizzie was born in England in July 1858. Her parents had four additional children in England, one of whom died, before immigrating to the United States in 1869. In 1875 when she was 17 Lizzie worked as a chambermaid for John S. Peckham and his wife Mary. John Peckham was a prominent, wealthy businessman who made his fortune on a special cast iron stove in which he had patents. He and his wife, along with a daughter, lived in a brick house valued at the time at $22,000. (Elizabeth's parents in contrast lived in a house valued at $1800). Lizzie is listed twice in the census, both with her family and with the Peckham family, who employed two other servants. By 1880 her family moved to Philadelphia, but Lizzie remained in Whitestown just west of Utica. She is listed in the 1880 census living with her new husband, Henry Sinclair, and their son Frank, his mother, Kate Sinclair, and Henry's brother, George.

By 1900 Lizzie had moved to Philadelphia and was listed as a household member with her parents and her sisters Josephine, Amelia and Rose. Her brother Adolph had died in 1883, her sister Bertha had been committed to a state mental hospital the same year, and her youngest sister Rosa had married in 1895. Also living with the Manns family was Lillie Sinclair, age 20 and a "niece," but more likely to be Lizzie's daughter. Elizabeth's husband and son were not living with her and it is presumed that they had died.

Elizabeth lost both of her parents in the next decade. Her mother died in February 1907 of "paralysis of the bowels," and her father died of stomach cancer the following year. However, Elizabeth had her own very serious health issues that eventually contributed to her early death. Shortly after her father passed away in 1908, she was admitted to Philadelphia General Hospital where she lived (as an "inmate") until she died at age 59 in June 1916. Lizzie had been in the hospital for 8 years and 2 months being "treated" for complications from Tabes doralis, a degeneration of the nerve fibers carrying sensory information and caused by an untreated Syphilis infection. It is likely that this infection lay dormant in her for decades, and perhaps she having been infected by her husband when they were first married. Around 1910, Penicillin was discovered as a treatment for Syphilis, but it could not reverse nerve damage already done, and it is not known whether doctors administered this to her or not. Patients with Tabes doralis experience degeneration and intense pain in the joints, pain from light, diminished reflexes, loss of coordination and can also experience dementia, personality changes, deafness and visual impairment. Usually patients who experience dementia and personality changes are committed to an asylum, and possibly this was the case with Elizabeth. Elizabeth's cause of death could not be read from the death certificate other than the words "chronic" and "cardiac decomp(ression)," but the contributory causes included Tabes doralis and hypostatic lobular pneumonia. The pneumonia likely resulted from being bedridden for an extended period of time. It is not known where Elizabeth is buried.

Seeking Information

Exact date and location of birth, exact date of death

Facts

Photo Gallery

Updated 9/20/14