Life Back in the States

Wartime in Rochester 

Cecelia's life changed dramatically in the time after the last surviving letter from Fanny. On August 26, 1859, her husband Benjamin Holmes died. In 1861, Cecelia left Canada with Mamie and the two boys and returned to the U.S.

They lived for a time in Rochester, New York, where she met and married William Larrison. Rochester was a hub for abolitionists and other social reformers, as well as home to a free Black community anchored by Frederick Douglass. During the Civil War, Douglass recruited many Black men to serve in the U.S. Army.

In December 1863, William enlisted in Company H of the 14th New York Heavy Artillery, a regiment that was involved in many of the bloodiest battles of the war. In September 1865, when William returned safely home, Cecelia moved her the family back to Louisville.  

Going Home Again 

Back in Louisville, Cecelia experienced one tragedy after another. She lost two children – one at age five and the other at four months. In the late 1880s, her husband William disappeared while out of town in search of work and was presumed dead. After that, Cecelia and Mamie lived in poverty and relied on public aid, with only short periods of stability. In the last years of her life, Cecelia became almost entirely blind and relied on her daughter to support her. She died in June 1909 of a kidney illness. 

Sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s, Fanny and Cecelia reconnected. We don’t know the specifics of this reunion, but Fanny certainly knew Cecelia was back in town living under the name "Larrison," for in her will she left her $100 and a cashmere shawl. Cecelia likely contacted Fanny for assistance during these hard years, but when Fanny died on April 30, 1896, Cecelia was forced to go to Fanny's son, Rogers Clark Ballard Thruston.