Emily Sibley and James Watson monument, designed by Claude Bragdon

Emily Sibley Averell Watson, 1855-1945 (Find A Grave Memorial# 7641216)
Correct Parents:
Mother is Elizabeth Maria Tinker Sibley 1815-1903 (Find A Grave Memorial# 55403596)
Father is Hiram Sibley 1807-1888 Find A Grave Memorial# 2823

Hiram Watson Sibley 1845 - 1932 is her brother
Margaret Durbin Harper Sibley 1852 - 1939 is her sis-in-law

Please see this source at the Art Museum she founded as verification:
http://mag.rochester.edu/about/timeline/family-history-esw
and
https://humanities.lib.rochester.edu/esw/emts

Emily Sibley Watson (Averill Sibley)
is buried near her family at Mount Hope Cemetery. The lovely flat stone on her grave was designed by the famous Rochester architect and designer, Claude Bragdon. Bragdon also designed the Watson family monument, an elaborately carved granite Celtic cross. The endless knot motif on the cross is a symbol of reincarnation.

Emily Sibley and her 1st husband, Isaac Seymour Averell (Find A Grave Memorial# 156826349), were married on April 27, 1876 at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rochester.

Averell was from Ogdensburg, NY, and was related to the Harriman family of railroad fame.

Emily wrote of their courtship in her 1875 diary, which was gifted to the Memorial Art Gallery library.

She was 20, he was 25 and, as befitting the surviving daughter of Hiram Sibley, the founder of Western Union and one of the wealthiest men in Rochester, she wore a sumptuous dress which can be seen in the collection of the Rochester Historical Society photos.

The bride and groom went on an extended honeymoon in Europe.

Emily Sibley Averell's two children with Isaac, Elizabeth Louise Averell and James G. Averell, were born 11 months apart in 1877. Louise was born in France and her brother was born in New York City. Tragically, both would die young.

Isaac served as president of the Bank of Monroe, but by the early 1880s, he was in financial difficulties and the couple separated. On May 1st, 1880, Hiram Sibley required Isaac Averill to repay his wife Emily for 100 shares of stock which he sold and then spent the proceeds. On May 18th, Emily bought ten paintings from her husband. (Married women had been able to control their own property since 1848 in New York State.)

By 1882, Isaac wrote to Hiram that "I find myself in trouble I have wrongfully used Emily's stock" and he promises not to ask her for anything more without her father's permission. Emily also promises not to transfer anything more to Isaac. On July 24th, 1882, Emily Averill was deeded property at 11 Prince Street by her parents.

On July 13, 1883, Isaac Averell was cut out of Hiram Sibley's will. By 1884 Averill had left town for the West Coast, and was registered to vote in Alameda, California. During this time, Emily Averell traveled in Europe with her children, accompanied by James Sibley Watson and his sister Isabella so that "she should not be annoyed by her husband." The party returned to the United States on June 16, 1884. Emily Sibley Averell married James Sibley Watson five years later.

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