What-A-Shame: Four Generations from Sweden

Four generations of men:  the eldest, 83 years. The youngest, little Edmund, is six weeks.  Unfortunately, I can not decipher the handwriting in the corner. I believe this family is Swedish, because of the caption words år (year) and vecker (weeks). Men's fashions are difficult to date, but if I had to guess, I would pinpoint this one around 1910 and add a liberal leeway.

What a shame there isn't more to go on.

A Name Passed Down: Alcy J. Miner, Sylvania, Ohio, Early 1880s

For the longest time, I thought that  Miss Miner had signed her name "Aley Miner."  Eventually, through my research, I realized that her first name is actually "Alcy" and that Alcy was a given name that appears throughout her family tree, right up to contemporary times. The transcriber of the 1870 census on both Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org, also thought that she was an Aley. The later censuses, however, list her as Alcy. 

Alcy was born in Ohio around 1863, the daughter of Hiram and Mary Jane Miner¹. She had a sister named Irene, who was born 1866. Her father, Hiram, was a Farmer, originally from New York and her mother, Mary McIntyre, was born in Michigan.

According to Gayleen Gindy's book, Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio: From Footpaths to Expressways and Beyond, Alcy's father Hiram was the son of Dr. Amos Miner (1788-1854) and Alcy Case Miner (?-1852). Amos Minor was one of the earliest doctors to practice medicine in Lucas County. Gindy writes, "Alcy J Miner had married Homer D. Hyde and they lived on this Corey Road property in Sylvania Township for many years. They had a daughter and named her Alcy. O. Hyde."

I had a look at the Toledo City Directories and learned that the photographer of this image, E. H. Alley of Toledo, Ohio, operated his photographic studio at 324 Superior from roughly 1869 to 1887, but worked from other addresses both prior to, and after his time at 324 Superior. 

I believe this photograph can be dated to the early 1880s. The knife-pleated cuffs, with the sleeves that are set high along the shoulder line, and her lovely lace scarf seem to me to be of that time period. I wish I could see more of her skirt to get a better sense of her entire outfit.

Alcy J. Miner Hyde died in Lucas County, Ohio on the 21st of April 1923 at the age of 60 and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Toledo². 

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1 "United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M6LM-P3C : accessed 27 Oct 2012), Aley J Miner in household of Hiram Miner, Ohio, United States; citing p. 29, family 249, NARA microfilm publication M593, FHL microfilm 552735.^↩
2 "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8RY-VK3 : accessed 27 Oct 2012), Alcy J Hyde, 1923; citing reference fn 27833, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio.^↩

Funeral Card: Frederick Rutter, Arkona, Ontario, 1860-1904

He shall return no more to his home,

Neither shall his place know him any more.

In 1904, Frederick Rutter, a farmer from Lambton County, Ontario died of consumption¹. He and his wife Elizabeth (Fitzsimmons) had been married for only seven years².  Frederick was born in England, the son of Thomas Rutter and Sarah Waterman.  In 1891, he was employed as a domestic in Warwick, Lambton County in the household of Showler Watterman, who was probably a relative of Frederick's mother Sarah³. 

This card was purchased with a number of other funeral cards, including Showler Watterman's, which I have blogged about in a previous post.

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1 Fred Rutter, Death Registration 014286 (25 Mar 1904); “Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947,” digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Nov 2012), citing microfilm MS935, reel 115, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.^↩
2 "Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1928," online database, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 25 Nov 2012), Frederick Rutter and Elizabeth Fitzsimmons, Lambton County, Ontario, 16 June 1897; citing original data at Archives of Ontario; citing microfilm MS932, reel 93.^↩
3 1891 Census of Canada, Warwick, Lambton East, Ontario, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 81, subdistrict 2, p.48, family 228, Showler Watterman; digital image, Ancestry. ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 30 May 2012); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm T-6347^↩

What a Shame Wednesday: A Striking Plaid Dress, A. Peck Studio, Newburgh, New York, Circa 1864-1866

Since there is no identification as to the subject anywhere on this carte de visite photograph, sadly, we are unlikely to be able to identify her. The photograph was taken at the A. Peck studio at 117 Water Street, in Newburgh, NY between June of 1864 and August 1866.  The date can be narrowed down because a Tax revenue stamp of 2 cents, which was a tax enacted in June of 1862 by the US Federal Government to help with the cost of the Civil War, is affixed to the back of the photo.

Plaid dresses were popular during this time period, and this one is quite bold with its thick, white horizontal stripes. This young woman's black scarf/tie is fixed with a brooch and it matches the belt on her dress. I love the piping that runs along her dropped shoulder seam.  Her gloves and hat sit, waiting, on the arm of the chair. How old do you think she is?