From the Spooner - Hardy Family Album, Mrs. Huxley, Jersey, Circa 1865

This is one of the unidentified images contained in the Hardy-Spooner family album I recently found at a local antique shop (see previous post).  I didn't have much hope that I would be able to identify the woman in this 1860s-era carte de visite, but I try my best with each and every photograph I find, whether or not it's identified.  In this case, my options were somewhat limited, but I decided to research the photographer.  The back of the cabinet card has the following photographer's imprint:

Photographer's Imprint, ca. 1865

I found a wonderful Jersey family history site dedicated to providing information about the Hemery family and about Jersey Photographers.  There I found examples of the imprints that Henry Mullins used throughout the years.  According to the website, our imprint dates to somewhere between 1862 and 1865.

Now, it is a rare and very lucky occasion when a database or archive of a photographer's work can be found.  I soon learned that our photographer, Mr. Henry Mullins, was the first established photographer on the island of Jersey.  Furthermore, many of his contact sheets have been archived by The Société Jersiaise, and are available to browse online.

There were 9860 hits for "Henry Mullins" on the Société Jersiaise website, but I started browsing through the contact sheets one by one.  And eventually I found it:  the very same image, labelled "Mrs Huxley."  So, we now have a surname.

What's next?  Well, I don't have forename and I'm not entirely clear if the image was taken in Jersey, or if there is a possibility it was taken at the Regent Street, London studio.  I would guess that it was taken in Jersey, but I think it best to confirm that with the archive before proceeding with a search.

I found two other images from Jersey in the album, but unfortunately, neither were from Mullins Studio.  Both images were inscribed and identified, if I were able to read the handwriting.  I plan to post these very soon to see if readers can help me with deciphering the handwriting.

While this search has only provided a surname now, that surname may be a helpful clue towards working out the relationships in the album in the future. 

Mr. Charles Estlin is Invited to the Beattie / Campbell Wedding, Melita, Manitoba, 1897

Beattie/Campbell Wedding Invitation found in an antique shop, Victoria, BC.

"Mr. & Mrs. A. Trerice

invite you to be present at the marriage of

their daughter

Mary Grace Beattie

to

Mr. Joseph Campbell,

on Wednesday evening, January the

twenty-seventh,

eighteen hundred and ninety-seven,

at half after eight o'clock,

Melita, Manitoba

I love working on old wedding invitations.  They're a nice break from the trying to solve a photographic mystery since they usually contain something I cherish:  Cold. Hard. Facts.
The bride and groom are usually fully named in a wedding invitation.  Parents are commonly named as well.  There is also a wedding date and place since guests need to know where the ceremony will take place.  We know this invitation was given to Mr. Charles Estlin because his name is written on the accompanying envelope.  This invitation is a bit unusual since there isn't a specific location provided for the wedding.  It simply gives the town: Melita, Manitoba, which is located in the south-western part of the province.  Perhaps one was to assume the wedding would take place at the bride's parent's home.  Maybe the only building in Melita at the time was a church. 

Today Melita is a small farming community of just over 1000 people.  Alexander Trerice was an early settler to the Melita-Arthur area, and built the first framed house there in 1882.¹   He was (Mary) Grace's step-father; Alex married Graces' mother, Hannah Beattie, on the 12th of February 1889 in Dresden, Ontario². 

Before her marriage in 1897, Grace was a music teacher in Dresden.  The couple's first child, (Dorothy) Louise, was born in Winnipeg in 1900³.

While I haven't found Graces' birth record, I believe her father to be William C. Beattie who died in Dresden, Ontario in 1887.^4,5  If you can any further family details, I'd very much like to hear from you.

UPDATE April 23/14 :  Most genealogists have experienced serendipitous events in relation to their research and I can say I certainly have had my share.  Last month I attended my local family history society meeting where the featured speaker for the night discussed her recent  history book.  Her family emigrated from England to Manitoba and as she launched into her presentation one of her surnames stuck in my brain....Estlin.  Hmmm...where have I heard that name before?  
When it came to the portion of the talk about the family's life in Canada, she mentioned the town:  Melita, Manitoba.  That really got me wondering and so, after a discreet search on my smartphone, I realized that I had blogged about the above-mentioned wedding invitation which had belonged to this woman's relative.  All I could say was "Wow."  The invitation is now back home with family.

---

1 Melita-Arthur History Committee. Our First Century: Town of Melita and Municipality of Arthur, 1983; p. 2^↩
2 "Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1928," online database, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 27 Oct 2013), Alexander Trerice and Hannah Beattie, Registration No.005852, Dresden, Kent, Ontario, 12 Feb 1889, citing original data at Archives of Ontario; citing microfilm MS932, reel 64.^↩
3 Manitoba. Vital Statistics Agency. Manitoba Consumer and Corporate Affairs.( http://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca : accessed 26 Oct 2013), entry for Dorothy Louise Campbell, 15 Oct 1889, Winnipeg, registration #1899-007783.^↩
4 “1881 Census of Canada,” digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 25 Oct 2013), entry for William Beattie, Ontario, Bothwell, Dresden, District 178, p. 37 (penned); citing LAC microfilm C-13277.^↩
5 William C. Beattie, Death Registration 008010 (8 Nov 1887); “Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947,” digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Oct 2013), citing microfilm MS935, reel 47, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.^↩

A Great Find in Coombs, BC, Canada -- The Hardy - Spooner Family Album

 

My most recent antique shop find has been taking up a good portion of my free research time these days, which unfortunately, hasn't amounted to much lately as I work on my genealogical certificate courses and my own family history mysteries.  My newest treasure is an album of carte de visite and cabinet card photographs dating from roughly 1860 to the 1920s that I found at an antique shop in Coombs, BC, Canada.  Of the seventy photographs, less than a dozen are identified at all, and of that dozen only a handful have names, some with only given names.  Yet, I am happy to report that a history of the family who owned this album is slowly emerging.

Many of the early photographs were taken in London or Blandford, England; Belfast and Carlisle, Ireland, with more recent images originating from San Francisco, California.    Some of the surnames inscribed on the photos are Hardy, Spooner, Terrell, Humhal, Balean, and Baker.

My starting point for the search was a portrait of an infant with his unidentified grandmother.  I began there because I thought it best to work backwards in time.  The reverse reads, "Gerald Craig Hardy (3 1/2 months old) and his great grandmother (aged ninety years)."  The pair had their portrait taken at the Stanford Studio, 731 Market Street, San Francisco. Judging by the style of photograph, I would estimate that it dates to about 1900.

A search on Ancestry for "Gerald Craig Hardy" produced only one hit, and while there were a number of matches for "Gerald Hardy" the first seems to be the most probable.  The funeral home records for Gerald Craig Hardy, who was born 22 June 1900 in California to Lillian and Douglas Hardy¹ provided a wealth of information, including his State of California Death Certificate.  According to the certificate, Gerald died on the 30th August 1983 in San Francisco.  His father, Douglas Hardy, was originally from England and his wife Lillian, was a California native.  Gerald Craig Hardy was the owner and manager of "Hardy Theatres."  One of his "Hardy Theatres" still stands in Fresno, and it appears he operated in San Mateo as well.  Gerald grew up in San Rafael², and as an adult lived in Carmel-By-the-Sea³, Fresno⁴, and at the time of his death, in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco.  He and his wife, Vera Sellner, do not appear to have had any children.

The 1910 census shows that Gerald had one brother, Kenneth, born about 1903.

A little digging into Douglas Hardy's family reveals a connection to the Spooner family, which I will go into more fully in a future post.  Stay tuned!

---

1 California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985. Entry for Gerald Craig Hardy; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed Oct 9, 2013), citing San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985. Microfilm publication, 1129 rolls. Researchity. San Francisco, California.^↩
2 "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MVL6-QSR : accessed 13 Oct 2013), Gerald Hardy in household of Douglas Hardy, San Rafael, Marin, California, United States; citing sheet , family 266, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1374101.^↩
3 "United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XCDX-XR9 : accessed 13 Oct 2013), Gerald Hardy, Carmel by the Sea, Monterey, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 0021, sheet , family 152, NARA microfilm publication .^↩
4 1940 U.S. census, Fresno County, California, Fresno, Enumeration District 10-34A, sheet 63-B (penned), dwelling 326, Gerald C Hardy household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Oct 2012), citing National Archives microfilm publication T627, roll 201 ^↩

Detective Time! What Can You Learn About These Berry Children?

It's been pointed out to me that it's been some time since I've shared the detective hat with my readers, so today's post will do just that.  What can you discover about the three youngsters featured in today's photograph?

 
Let's see if we can identify the children, come up with an approximate date this photograph was taken and maybe even a possible location.  If we are really lucky, perhaps we can find a descendant who would like to claim the original image. 

Ready to go?  Here's the reverse of the photograph:

Happy researching!

Clearing the Land: Dick Stanker and friends, Piapot, Saskatchewan, circa 1910-20

Just before I found up this image at an antique shop near Duncan, BC, I had been visiting the BC Forestry Centre museum just down the road, so I must have had saws and land-clearing on the brain.  The photograph is labelled on the back "Center:  Dick Stanker."  The two other fellows are not identified.  Normally, I would think twice about picking up a photograph without at least some hint to the geographic location, but as I flipped through the stack of ephemera where I found this picture, I also found an empty, addressed envelope:

So I began with the 1916 Canada Census, focused on Saskatchewan and found Dick Stanker, aged 25,  living with his older brother John Stanker and his family in Piapot, Maple Creek district, Saskatchewan¹.  Dick was a farmer and came to Canada from Russia around 1907. 

I had a look at the newly released 1921 Canada Census and found the John Stanker family still in the Piapot area, but Dick was no longer a part of the household².  I kept looking and found Dick a few pages later now going by Benedick Stanker³.  His home country has been narrowed down more appropriately to Lithuania.  Benedick is living on a farm near Piapot, on section 34, twp 11, range 24, west of the 3rd meridian.

I turned to the local history book Piapot Prairie Trails, and found another photo of Dick (Bendick) Stanker, but unfortunately there wasn't a history of Dick provided⁴.  There was one, however, for his brother John Stanker's family, authored by John's son, John Stanker, Jr.  Again, no mention of Dick, but John Jr. may have provided us with a clue as to how the image may have made its way to Vancouver Island.  He states that John Jr.'s sister, Julia, moved to Vancouver Island and raised her family there.

I believe Benedick moved to Swift Current, Sask. at some point later in his life, since a Benedict Anton Stanker appears in the 1974 federal voter's list for the city⁵.  Benedict was buried in Mount Pleasant Burial Park in Swift Current, SK after his death in 1977⁶.  The birth year on the gravestone matches our Dick/Benedick Stanker's birth year from the censuses.

---

1 1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 23, p.26 (penned), dwelling 233, family 238, John Stanker family, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed Aug 22, 2013), citing microfilm LAC microfilm T-21940.^↩
2 1921 census of Canada, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, population schedule, district 220, Enumeration subdistrict #43, p.7 (penned), dwelling 80, family 71, John Stanker family, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed Aug 28, 2013).^↩
3 1921 census of Canada, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, population schedule, district 220, Enumeration subdistrict #43, p.10 (penned), dwelling 116, family 106, Benedick Stanker, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed Aug 28, 2013).^↩
4 Piapot [Saskatchewan] History Group. Piapot Prairie Trails. 1979; pp. 264, 270. ^↩
5 “Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980.” Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 Aug 2013), entry for Benedict Anton Stanker, Year: 1974, Swift Current, Saskatchewan, citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935-1980; Microfilm reel: M-6295.^↩
6 Saskatchewan Cemeteries Project, Mount Pleasant Burial Park, Swift Current, SK, digital image, (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansacem/photo/388mp.jpg ; accessed Aug 22, 2013).^↩

When the House Is Still There: The Edwards Home, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Circa 1915

 
This is an update of a post from December 24, 2011.  Doreen, the person who received the above photograph of her husband's grandparent's home, paid a visit to the current occupants of the house recently and they gave permission for us to post a current picture (see below). 

I hope you will enjoy this revisit of one of my favourite photo-research projects.   Here is the original post:

This photo postcard was printed by the Lyall Commercial Photo Co., Ltd., in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  The Lyall Studio photographed many important Western Canadian sites and events.  Most of their work, however, centres on Winnipeg. Their real postcard photographs are held in a number of archives across the prairie provinces.

Unfortunately, the location of this photo isn't given. I thought it was likely that the image was taken in Winnipeg. There is an name and address on the reverse, even though the card was not sent through the mail.

 It reads:

Mrs. Edwards
35 Queen Street
Stratford
New Town
Essex.
Eng.

I tried finding an Edwards family, specifically with this address in the England Census, but I could only find several possibilities on Familysearch.org. I couldn't take a look at the actual census pages because they were unavailable so I decided to take a different approach.

The family seems to consist of a mother, father, a young girl about three years old, and an infant. I had to pull out my reading glasses to see it, but there is a house number on the column to next to the baby:  421.

I guessed the photo would have been taken around 1910-1915 based on the style of the mother's outfit and her hairdo. 

Since I only had a surname name to go by, I searched the 1916 Canada Census for any Edwards living in Winnipeg in 1916. I thought it was doubtful that I'd find anything, since I didn't know if Mrs. Edwards was an acquaintance, friend or family member.  I had a hunch that it might be the husband's mother. At least, I hoped it was because that would mean I was searching for an Edwards family. I went through every Edwards entry in Winnipeg, looking for someone who had a house number of 421. I found one.

George Thomas Edwards, b. 1883, England, to Canada in 1903.
Sarah Edwards, b. 1885, England, to Canada in 1908
Grace, daughter, age 6
Clarence, son, age 4
Alfred, son, age 3.

And the address:  421 Worley (or so the Ancestry transcriber wrote.)  I tried 421 Worley in Google maps. Nothing. I went back and re-read the original census page. The street name was actually Morley.

I searched 421 Morley, Winnipeg in Google maps, and selected the street view.

The address still exists. The house still exists! It is most definitely the same home. The exterior looks pretty much as it did back in the mid-1910s, with different paint colours and replaced windows.  There's also been an addition to one side of the house, eliminating half of the front porch, but it still has the distinctive attic window. I would post today's version here for comparison, but I don't know how I'd feel if someone posted my home on their blog (although I guess if it wasn't for Google maps, I couldn't have made the connection).

I have no hesitation identifying these folks as the Edwards family. Since Baby Alfred doesn't appear in the photo, and son Clarence is just an infant I think we can safely date the photograph around 1913.

UPDATE!  February 3, 2012 -- I am happy to report that the Edwards postcard photograph has been reunited with the grandson & family of one of children in the photograph. It's on its way back to Winnipeg.

Photo taken by qtpye, August 2013

Thank Heaven for Negative Numbers: Jens Peter Nielsen and Johanne Cathrine Jensen, Kaas Mark, Jetsmark, Denmark, 1902

I'm a bit hesitant of posting photographs to be reunited when they originate from Tönnies Studio in Aalborg, Denmark.  My own family roots are in North Jylland, and I have several carte de visites of my family taken in that very studio.  There is a chance these people might even be my relatives, however distant.  Heinrich Tönnies operated his studio in Aalborg from 1856 to 1903.  After his death in 1903, his family took over the business and it remained in operation until 1975.

I am so happy that Tönnies' photograph records are actually available online, thanks to the Aalborg Stadsarkiv.  You can search for an image by negative number, or name.  Guess what?  This one has a negative number (135051) which tells us, hopefully correctly, that the image is of  "Nielsen, Jens Peter og Kone," [Nielsen, Jens Peter and wife] Kaas Mark, 13-09-1902." 

Kaas Mark is located Jetsmark Parish, Hvetbo, Hjørring, Denmark.  I went to Archivalieronline to have a look at the 1901 Folktælling (Census) for Jetsmark Sogn (parish).  I found only one Jens Peter Nielsen family living in Kaas Mark¹:

Jens Peter Nielsen, born 24/6/1849 in Haverslev parish.  Father. Landbruger (farmer).
Johanne Cathrine Jensen, b. 19/6/1851 in Aarup parish. Mother.
Niels Nielsen, b. 18/6/1880 Jetsmark parish.  Child. Unmarried. Karetmagersvend (Carriagemaker's helper).
Karen Marie Nielsen, born 9/7/1888 Jetsmark parish. Child. Unmarried.
Marie Nielsen, born 9/7/1892 Jetsmark. Child. Unmarried.
Otto Peter Nielsen, born 1/8 1894 Jetsmark. Child. Unmarried.

Jens Peter and Johanne were married in 1875.  The couple had eight children, two of whom died. Jens Peter would have been 53 at the time this image was taken, and Johanne Cathrine, 49.

---

1 1901 census of Denmark, "Folktælling." Hjørring, Hvetbo, Jetsmark, Kaas Mark, Matrikel-Nr. 13, page 1219, entry for family of Jens Peter Nielsen. Digital image, Arkivalieronline online (http://www.sa.dk ; accessed 23 Jul 2013).^↩

The McLeod Family Album? Hallock, Minnesota and Selkirk,Manitoba, 1890-1920

I am very pleased to announce that I received a "Lucky Thirteen Grant" from Megan Smolenyak to reunite this album with a family member.  If you think you might be connected to the family in the album, please contact me.

UPDATE July 29, 2013:  It's a reunion!  This album is now on its way back to the great grand-daughter of Angus and Mary Ellen McLeod.  I hope the new owners have as much fun with it as I have.

I like a good challenge, and this item is certainly that.  When I purchased this cabinet card album from an antique dealer in Nanaimo, BC, I knew that it would be a minor miracle if the person who owned this collection of photographs, dating from the 1890s to about 1920, could be identified.  Only two photos of the 29 in the album are identified with a first and last name.  Three more have been addressed with a first name.  One,  "to Luella", another "to Eleanor" and the other "to Ray".  Another photograph, of a man, is inscribed on the back "Martha Gibbs."  The majority are unidentified.  Yet, being the optimist that I am, I thought I'd have a go at it.  There are a number of clues to follow that just might help us figure this one out.

Let's start with the inscription.  The inscriber hasn't given us their name, only initials.  It's not quite a name, but still quite helpful:

"M. E. McL"   Just a few more letters on that surname abbreviation would have made all the difference.

Most of the images in this album were taken in Hallock, Kittson County, Minnesota.  Of those 20+ images, all were taken at the A.H. Anderson Studio.  Andrew H. Anderson (1867-1960) was a farmer-photographer who operated a photographic studio in Hallock between 1893 and 1902, and again briefly in 1936¹.  There are also pictures taken in Selkirk & Emerson, Manitoba as well as Chicago & Minneapolis.

The first fully identified photo gives us a bit of info.  It's a portrait of a man and woman, taken in Hallock and labelled, "Mr. & Mrs. John Thompson." 

I began by looking at the 1880 Federal Census, where I found a John J. Thompson, born abt. 1864, living with his parents William and Maria L. Thompson in Kittson County, Minnesota.  His Thompson siblings are:  Mary E., Elizabeth A., Laura M., George W., Richard C., and Thomas J. and Lewis J².

Of course, it's a bit early on in the research to come to any conclusions, but as I was delving deeper into other censuses for John J. Thompson, I stumbled upon an entry in the 1895 Minnesota Census that intrigued me.  It was for the family of Angus and Mary E. McLeod, who lived in Hallock at that time.   Mary was 29, born in Ontario, Canada and Angus, 24 in Wisconsin.  They had four children:  Ernest, 9; Raymond, 7; Wm. H.,6;  and Louella, 4.  A man named John Gibbs, age 25 from Ontario also resides with the family³.

I immediately felt I had some sort of connection.  Mary E. McLeod could be M. E. McL.  She had children named Ray and Luella.  And, there is someone with the surname Gibbs in the household.  Most of the clues the photograph album provided have shown up in this one entry.  How lucky would that be? 

Then I went back to look at John J. Thompson's family again.  Do you notice that one of his sisters is Mary E?  Could Mary E. Thompson have married Angus McLeod?  We know Mary E. McLeod was born in Canada around 1866, and so was Mary E. Thompson.  It's a lead to follow, for sure.

Another clue the album yielded was a newspaper clipping about the early settlement of Selkirk, Manitoba.  As I mentioned previously, there were couple of photos taken in Manitoba as well, one in East Selkirk.

I discovered that the Angus McLeod family moved to Selkirk, Manitoba in 1896⁴.  In the 1906 Canada Census for Selkirk, I find that Angus George and Mary now have a Canadian-born, one-year-old child named Eleanor L. McLeod⁵. Yet another match with the one of the clues in the album.  Angus opened a bakery in Selkirk, which he operated for a number of years.

I had another good look at the images just now, under a strong light, and made an interesting discovery.  On the back of one of the photographs that I assumed was not inscribed, I discovered there is actually a very faint pencil inscription on the charcoal-coloured back that reads "A.G. McLeod."  It was taken in Hallock, Minn.  Be still, my heart.  I think I'm on the right track here.

And this is the front of the cabinet card labelled, "A. G. McLeod":
 

It would be nice to locate other existing photographs from Hallock to see if we can identify the many other individuals in this album.

---

1 Minnesota Historical Society, Directory of Minnesota Photographers (http://www.mnhs.org); accessed 15 Sept 2012.^↩
2 "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZ9D-M5Z : accessed 16 Sep 2012), J. John Thompson in household of William Thompson, Kittson, Minnesota, United States; citing sheet 121C, family 2, NARA microfilm publication T9-0624.^↩
3 "Minnesota, State Census, 1895," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MQ63-T3H : accessed 30 Sep 2012), Mary E Mcleod in household of Angus Mcleod, Hallock village, Kittson, Minnesota.^↩
4 1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, Selkirk, Manitoba, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 10, subdistrict #4, p.24 (penned), dwelling 250, family 262, Angus McLeod family, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed Sept 15, 2012), citing microfilm LAC microfilm T-21929.^↩
5 "Canada Census, 1906," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHJG-D3X : accessed 16 Sep 2012), Mary E McLeod in entry for Augus G McLeod, 1906.^↩

A Mixed Bag of Mystery: Bahr, King, Palmer and Shafer Ephemera, Richland County, Illinois, 1881-1926, Part One

I found this collection of items at a thrift shop in Parksville, BC earlier this year, and was told they arrived at the shop together, from the same donor.  I knew it would be a challenge to figure out how all of the pieces fit together, if they fit together.   But if I couldn't figure it out, then perhaps I could receive some assistance from some of my readers who I just know would love a good jigsaw challenge like this one.

Here's what I have:

1)  Postcard photograph of young woman and man, labelled "Sister & Brother. Sister is Dead."



When we look at the reverse of the post we see that it is a Solio postcard, never sent through the mail.  Solio postcards were made from 1903 through to the 1920s.  We can narrow that time frame that the postcard was produced to after 1907 since the postcard back has a centre line dividing into the back into two:  one side for the address, the other for correspondence. 

2)  A letter dated "Aug the 30 1881"  No addresses provided, no envelope.  The greeting reads, "Dear sister and Brother,"  and is signed off, "Mary King."  The letter describes the fact that Mary is leaving Mrs. Parr in search of work.  She tells her sister and brother that she doesn't have a new place yet but they can write her at Olney and she will have them forward their letter to her.  She asks that they give Minnie a kiss for her.

3) A report card, written on "First National Bank, Olney, Ill" stationery, dated April 15, 1896. 
"Miss Bahr:  Please find your grades...[listing of grades and subjects].  Yours truly, RN Stotler."

4)  Obituaries cut from newspaper.  Two obits for Dr. J. C. Shafer, one dated Dec. 30, 1930.  One obituary for Dr. E. L. Palmer, dated March 23, 1926, along with a photo from the newspaper.

So, you probably can tell, this is going to be a long analysis of clues.  We'll start with items #2 & #3 in Part One of this blog post.

Robert N. Stotler was a cashier at the First Bank of Olney as well as the Superintendent of Schools in Richland County, IL¹.  Miss Bahr was obviously a student.

The only viable match I have been able to find for Miss Bahr is Minnie Bahr, born in either December 1873 or 1877 in Noble, Richland County, Illinois^{2 3} .  She was the daughter of Fredric Bahr and Tiberia King.  The only problem I have with Minnie, is that if the report card was hers, and she was born in 1873, that would make her 23 years old at the time of the report.  Far too old, I think, to be finishing her second year of high school, her highest grade attended⁴.  If she was born in 1877, as many of the censuses report, then it is a possibility, although I think it may still be a stretch.  The original date on the report card was preprinted 188_. When the report card was written, the digits 96 were written over the final 8 and the blank space.  I am fairly sure it reads 1896.  These details could be firmed up by locating Minnie's birth record and trying to find student records for Noble School.  Perhaps an archive in Richland County would have these.

What do you think?  Is this Minnie, "Miss Bahr?"  Her mother's maiden name fits in nicely with the accompanying letter signed "Mary King."  Of course, these items may not even be connected, except perhaps, geographically.  How they made their way to Parksville, BC is unknown, but perhaps we can eventually figure that out as well.  I will look into Tiberia King and possible King connections in Part Two.

---

1 F. A. Battey & Company. Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois: Historical and Biographical. Chicago: F. A. Battey & Company, 1884; p.783, digital images, Google Books (http://www/Google.com/books : accessed 30 June 2013).^↩
2 "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MXKC-22J : accessed 30 Jun 2013), Minnie Bahr in entry for Fredric Bahr, 1880.^↩
3 "United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MSH4-N9R : accessed 30 Jun 2013), Minnie Bahr in entry for Fred Bahr, 1900.^↩
4 "United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KWZW-68C : accessed 05 Jul 2013), Minnie Bahr, 1940.^↩

Two-year-old Edward T. Hay, Detroit, Michigan, Circa 1880

I had this carte de visite pegged as an extreme long shot when I purchased it online last year, and I still feel that way about it.  It does have an ID on the reverse:  "Edward T. Hay, 2 1/2 years old," and it does have a photographer's imprint which tells us where the photograph was taken, along with a negative index number 13107.  The J.E. Watson studio operated for a very short time, from 1879 to 1881 at 41 & 43 Monroe Avenue in Detroit.  Using those dates as a guideline, I searched for any Edward Hay in Michigan born between 1876-1881.  (Technically, I could have narrowed the search to 1876 to 1879, but for ease of searching on Ancestry I opted for the +/- 5 year search option).  I didn't hit any in the US Censuses.  I did, however, find a public family tree that had a match.

The tree indicated that "Edward Trumble Hay" was born 23 September 1878 in Detroit, to David and Burzina Hurd (Woodbridge) Hay¹.  As this was the only avenue available that seemed plausible, I decided to see what I could discover about this Edward Hay.  I could not find an online birth record for Edward.

The Hay family did not show up in any of the US censuses where I would normally have expected to find them.  I widened the search to Canada and found the family in the 1881, 1891, 1901 censuses, living in Warwick, Lambton County, Ontario^{2 3 4}

In addition to Edward T. Hay, parents David and Burzina had eight other children:  Leverett, b. 1877, Walter G., b. 1881, Stella, b. 1880, Andrew, b. 1885, Burzina, b. 1887, James, b. 1889, Harold B., b. 1891, and Grace L., b.1892.  The mother, Burzina, and three of the children appear to have been born in the US:  Leverett, Edward and Stella³.  I found an image of Burzina's gravestone and an obituary on Rootsweb.  According to her obituary, Burzina's father, William L. Woodbridge was a Governor of Michigan. 

Edward T.'s gravestone and obituary also appears on Rootsweb.  He died of typhoid at the age of 25.  He is buried in St. Paul's Cemetery in Wisbeach, Ontario.

We can't say for sure if Edward Trumbell/Trumble Hay is the child featured in our carte de visite photograph.  Without finding a similar image in the possession of a known relative, or being able to match the negative index number on the back of the photograph to an entry in the J.E. Watson record book, I don't think we can say more than it's possible.

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1 "Public Member Trees," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ - accessed 23 Jun 2013), "Virginia Taylor Family" entry for Edward Trumble Hay (1878-1904); submitted by calamity72, no source citations.^↩
2 "Canada Census, 1881," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MVDP-HCH : accessed 23 Jun 2013), David Hay, Warwick, Lambton, Ontario, Canada.^↩
3 1891 census of Canada, Warwick, Lambton East, Ontario, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 81, subdistrict #2, p.51 (penned), family 245, David Hay household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 23 Jun 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm T-6290 to T-6427.^↩
4 "Canada Census, 1901," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHLH-G9P : accessed 23 Jun 2013), David Hay, 1901.^↩

From the Chillingham Park Album, Miss Austin, Elliott and Fry Studios, London, 1882-1884

Miss Austin

This young girl is from my "mystery carte de visite album" (see previous post) and is simply identified as "Miss Austin."  The photograph was taken at the Elliott and Fry Photographers studio on Baker Street, London, around 1882-1884.  I came to settle on this approximate date range primarily from the negative number (120765) on the back, and by comparing it to known Elliott & Fry cartes de visite that were dated with an index number on the reverse.

Unfortunately, we are given no further information about Miss Austin. 

Mystery Manor House Carte de Visite Album, Northumberland, England & Scotland, 1860s-1880s

This is the cover of the lovely souvenir carte de visite album that my husband bought for me when he was in Calgary last month. I've seen all kinds of fabric and paper coverings on cdv albums, but this is the first one I've seen in wood. And not just any wood. This album touts the fact it was made from "wood grown in Chillingham Park."  Chillingham Park, located in Northumberland, is "famous for its breed of wild cattle."  

There are four images on the front cover:  Chillingham Church, Fowberry Tower, Lilburn Tower, and Coupland Castle. The back features an image of Chillingham Castle.  A small plaque appears to be missing from the centre. The album was probably produced in some quantity.  A photograph of another manor house was cut out in an oval shape and pasted on one of the inside pages. I haven't been able to identify it. 

Do you recognize this manor house?

Of the 64 carte de visites in the album, only two are identified by subject's name. There is also a loose cdv of "Royal Group, Drumlanrig Castle, October 1869," which identifies 13 prominent individuals, including Prince Christian, Princess Christian, Lady Constance Marsham, The Earl of Dalkeith, and other guests invited to the castle by The Duke of Buccleuch during the first week of October 1869. The album may have belonged to someone with connections to the upper class. The cdvs in the album feature well-to-do individuals. The clothes are elegant. Some of images are taken at high-end studios such as Elliot & Fry (London), Alexander Bassano (London), Camille Silvy (London), and O. G. Rejlander (London). Some of the photographs originated in Glasgow.

The image of "Miss Austin," a girl who looks to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, was taken at the Elliott & Fry Studio in London, circa 1870s. It is too much of long shot to tackle a search on her right now.  The other identified image is of a child, "Arthur William James Cecil, 15 weeks old" and his parents. The photographer's imprint on the reverse reads, "The Misses Carrick, 14 Grey Street, Newcastle on Tyne." I believe the women operated their studio in the 1870s.

Arthur William James Cecil, 15 weeks old

The interesting thing about this young boy's identification is that all four names provided could be forenames. "Cecil" could be a surname. I searched on Ancestry.com for the full name with Cecil as the surname. I had several exact hits, all for the same individual and many, many others if counting anyone with one or more of the forenames and a last name "Cecil," or any combination of abbreviations.

There were quite a few leads to follow when I looked into the exact hits for "Arthur William James Cecil." Of particular help was the Cambridge Alumni Directory, 1261-1900 on Ancestry.com which stated that Arthur was the son of Lord Arthur Cecil, and was born Apr. 4, 1875 at Newbiggin, Westmorland. Arthur William Cecil was the Aide-De-Camp to the Governor of Victoria, Australia, 1898-1900 and later served with the Grenadier Guards in the South African War and in WW1. He died Sept. 26, 1936 at Rudgwick, Horsham, Sussex. He was connected to several residences including Finchcox Park, Goudhurst, Kent; and Orchardmains, Tonbridge, Kent. 

I tried to find a good portrait of Lord Cecil for comparison with the father in the above photo.  There are surprisingly few images online of his family. Here's a link to the best portrait I could find of Lord Cecil from Bailey's Magazine. 

He does bear a good resemblance, I think.  If my image is actually Lord Cecil, then there is a wealth of information about his family, starting with Burke's Peerage.  Lord Arthur married Elizabeth Ann Wilson, whose lineage is as meticulously documented as Lord Arthur's. Even so, I didn't have any luck finding an online image of her.

At this point, I can't say who owned the album or even who is featured in the album.  But I'm generally tenacious about these things, and will keep trying to uncover clues as to its origins.  In the meantime, if you can help with identifying either the manor house or the trio in the above photograph, I'd be very happy if you'd leave a comment.


UPDATE: Our manor mystery has been solved! Read about the discovery here! 

Oscar Cash, 1845-1930's, From Kentucky to Missouri to Washington and Oregon

After having some success with the Edna Dalling image from last week's post, I thought I'd try revisiting a few other mystery photos from the Family Photo Reunion collection to see if I could uncover anything new about them, too.

This image was originally posted as one of three cabinet cards taken in Kittitas County, Washington (see original post here).  The photo was merely identified as "Oscar Cash, 1897" and was taken at the Pautze Studio in Ellensburg, Washington.

A new search for Oscar Cash in Kittitas County on Ancestry.com brought up several entries in a local history book, "An Illustrated History of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas Counties...."  If we have the correct Oscar Cash (and I must emphasize that this is not a certainty, but only a good possibility), he was the son of William and Elisabeth (Duncan) Cash¹.  Oscar was born October 13, 1845 in Harrison County, Kentucky.  He was one of eleven children born to William and Elisabeth; the other siblings were Thornton b. 1843, Mary b. 1846, Talitha, b. 1848, Milton, b. 1851, America, b. 1855, Ellen, b. 1858, John H., b. 1861 and Mollie.  I do not have information on the other children.   In 1856 the family moved on, settling in Lone Jack, Missouri.  There Oscar learned the blacksmith trade from his father.  Oscar's father had been doing quite well financially prior to the civil war, but lost nearly all of his property during the war².   Oscar left for the coal mining town of Cle-Elum, Washington sometime between 1880 and 1900.  Oscar's brother John H. Cash followed in 1900.

In 1903, Oscar sold a quarter section of land near Cle Elum to the town for the sum of $2000¹.  He then moved to Portland, Oregon where he lived with his wife, Emma³.  Oscar's last census appearance is in 1930, at the age of 83 living with Emma and two nephews with the surname Robenow in the happily-named town of Sunnyside, in Clackamas County, Oregon⁴.

As always, we would need a known and identified photograph to compare ours with, to verify that this is the same Oscar Cash.

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1 Interstate Publishing Company. An Illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas Counties : with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington. Unknown: Interstate Publishing Company, 1904; pp. 307-308, 919, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed May 31, 2013). ^↩
2 Union Historical Company, The History of Jackson County, Missouri: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, Jackson County in the Late War.... Jackson County, Missouri: Union Historical Company, 1881, p. 932, digital images, Google Books. http://google.com/books : accessed May 31 2013. ^↩
3 "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLYV-CCF : accessed 01 Jun 2013), Oscar Cash, 1910.^↩
4 "United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XC9C-K2C : accessed 04 Jun 2013), Oscar Cash, 1930.>^↩

An Update for Edna Louise Parsons Dalling, Born 1896, Manitoba

The four-year-old girl with the amber-tinted ringlets looked abandoned and neglected. I noticed her immediately as I walked into my community thrift shop.  Her cheeks were softly touched with pink and her eyes were fixed a deep sky blue.  When I pulled her down from the wall I soon realized I probably wouldn't be able to find a new home for her because the information on the back of the picture frame was so incomplete. There were names and dates, written in a shaky hand but, unfortunately, there wasn't a location anywhere.  And, she was a wee bit expensive. I didn't want to put her back on the wall.  My husband then commented that the price of the portrait was less than a visit to the coffee shop with friends.  That's all I needed to hear.  Could you have passed her by?

The inscription from the back of this portrait from 1900:  "Edna DALLING, 4 years old.  1896-1998.  Born 1896 March 7th." There was a notation about two other living relatives.  This portrait was found in Parksville, British Columbia. If you knew Edna, or have her in your tree, feel free to contact me.

I originally wrote the above post about Edna Dalling in 2011, during the early days of this blog.  Since then, many new records have been added online.  I thought it might be interesting to see what a search might uncover now, and was pleased to discover that many new passenger lists and  Canadian voter's lists are now available on Ancestry. 

I suspected that Dalling was Edna's married name, because a son, Brian Dalling, is mentioned in an inscription on the back of the frame.  I found an Edna Louise Dalling, age 26 in The Seattle, Washingington Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882 -1897 on Ancestry¹  .  The year was 1923 and Edna was travelling with her husband, Earl Simpson Dalling, and two children, William Ernest (b. abt 1919) and Garth Edward (b. abt 1921). They were headed to Culver City having departed from the port of Vancouver, BC, and listed Earl's father-in-law, Wm. Parsons, Edmonton, Alta, as their nearest relative.

The family seems to have spent a few years in California, where the youngest child, Garth E. Dalling died at age 7².  His is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, in Los Angeles.

It's unclear as to what exactly happened next, but I found Edna L. Dalling many years later in several voter's lists while she was living in Edmonton, Alberta between 1949 and 1974³,⁴.   I also found her son, William E. Dalling on the 1949 Voter's List for Edmonton East⁵, and then, in 1974, on the Vancouver-Quadra [BC] Voter's List, with his wife Betty and possibly, two sons⁶.  Written on the back of the portrait is a short provenance of the photograph so I knew it belonged at one time to Brian Dalling.  Brian appears on the Vancouver-Quadra list with William. E. Dalling at the same address.  According to the same inscription, Brian's daughter, Eleanor, received the portrait next.

I searched for Edna L. Parsons in the censuses, with a father named William, and found one hit with a matching birth date of the 7 March 1896⁷.   Edna L. parsons was born in Langford, Manitoba, youngest child of William A. and Kathryn Parsons.  In the 1911 census her father is listed as William. A. Parsons, but in other censuses he is shown as Robert W. Parsons⁸.  It appears that Edna had six siblings:  Percy William, Richard N., Edwin, Marnie, Bessie E., and Ernest H.

If you have Edna Louise Parsons Dalling in your tree, I hope you will leave a comment.

  

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1 "Seattle, Washingington Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882 -1897," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 May 2013), entry for Edna Louise Dalling, age 26, arrived Seattle, Washington, arrived July 1923, [no ship stated].^↩
2Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, digital image (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 May 2013), photograph, “gravestone for Garth E. Dalling (1920-1927), Memorial No. 57522236, Records of the Westlawn Cemetery, Los Angeles, California;” photograph © TLS.^↩
3 “Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980.” Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 May 2013), entry for Edna L. Dalling, Year: 1949, Edmonton, Alberta, citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935-1980; Microfilm reel: M-4871.^↩
4 “Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980.” Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 May 2013), entry for Edna L. Dalling, Year: 1974, Edmonton, Alberta, citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935-1980; Microfilm reel: M-4871.^↩
5 “Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980.” Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 May 2013), entry for William E. Dalling, Year: 1949, Edmonton, Alberta, citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935-1980; Microfilm reel: M-4871.^↩
6 “Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980.” Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 May 2013), entry for William E. Dalling, Year: 1974, Vancouver-Quadra, BC, citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935-1980; Microfilm reel: M-4871.^↩
7 1901 census of Canada, Langford, MacDonald, Manitoba, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 8, subdistrict # E-4, p.5 (penned), family 41, Edna L. Parsons in household of Robert W. Parsons family; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 20 May 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm T-6428 to T-6556.^↩
8 1911 census of Canada, Portage la Praire, Manitoba, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 20, subdistrict # 11, p.1 (penned), family 3, Edna L. Parsons in household of William A. Parsons, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed May 23, 2013), citing microfilm LAC microfilm T-20326 to T-20460^↩

From Your Affectionate Father: George Ernest Duke, Calgary, Alberta, 1905

George Ernest Duke has signed his portrait, "With Love, From Your Affectionate Father, Geo. Ernest Duke, Xmas 1905."  The image was taken by E. B. Curlette, a prominent Calgary photographer who operated in the city from 1899 through to the 1940s.

In 1901, there was a George Ernest Duke, Tobacco Merchant, living in Calgary with his wife Myrtle¹; He was born May 21, 1858 in England and immigrated to Canada with his wife around 1895.  In 1911, George and Myrtle lived at 511 - 4th Avenue West, Calgary².  No children resided with the couple.  While the birth dates are all wildly different in the 1901, 1906 and 1911 censuses, I think these are the same couple throughout.  George is listed as either a tobacconist, or tobacco merchant.  The immigration years are fairly consistent, with the exception of one census.  More research would have to be done to tie the George Ernest Duke in the Canadian censuses to the following family.

In 1881, there is a George and "Myrtilla" Duke, and daughter Zoi [Zoe?] M. H. Duke, three years old, who lived in West Dean, Sussex, England³.  Zoe was the second child born to the couple; their first was George Lewis Duke, born 18 Feb 1876 near Chichester, West Dean⁴.   Another Duke child, named Edwin Ernest, was born in 25 Sep 1881, also near Chichester⁵.  It is possible that George Lewis died in infancy, since he does not appear in any of the censuses with his parents. 

I was unable to find the family's immigration records to Canada online, but the search was neither exhaustive nor thorough and I am optimistic that one could be found.  I searched for Zoe on Google and I lucked out.  Archives Canada has a brief biography online about Zoe, which you can read here.  It gives her immigration year as 1896, which are in the same ballpark as the Dukes I found in the Calgary censuses.  Zoe was a painter and the Glenbow Archives in Calgary has collected her papers and work.  She married Sidney J. L. Dunning, a member of the Northwest Mounted Police in 1898 which may explain why she was not in the household of her parents in the 1901 Canadian census.

An obituary for George E. Duke appears in the August 31, 1925 issue of the Calgary Daily Herald.  While it sounds as if George has always lived with his daughter in Calgary, the censuses say something else.  I've looked at the 1901, 1906 and 1911 censuses for Zoe M. H. Dunning and George E. is not living with her in any of them.  She was living in Saskatchewan for all three.  As the Archives Canada biography states, she moved back to Calgary in 1918, around the time of her mother's death the same year.

If we have the correct George Ernest Duke, this photograph would have been a Christmas gift to Zoe from her father.  I think the chances are good that I'm on the right track with my findings, but as always, we would require more research and a second photograph of George Ernest Duke to compare with ours to be certain.  If you have a photo of the Mr. Duke described in this blog, I'd love to hear from you.

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1 1901 census of Canada, Calgary (Centre), Alberta, The Territories, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 202, subdistrict # R-1, p.11 (penned), dwelling 88, family 89, George S. Duke family; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 19 May 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm T-6428 through T-6556.^↩
2 1911 census of Canada, Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 1, subdistrict # 2, p.1 (penned), dwelling 5, family 5, George Duke family, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed May 19, 2013), citing microfilm LAC microfilm T-20326 to T-20460^↩
3 “1881 England Census,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 May 2013), entry for George E. Duke (age 30), citing PRO RG11; Piece: 1136; Folio: 87; Page: 12; Westbourne registration district, Westbourne subdistrict, ED 18c, schedule line number 57, GSU roll: 1341277.^↩
4 "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/ND9Y-CMT : accessed 20 May 2013), George Ernest Duke in entry for George Lewis Duke, 18 Feb 1876.^↩
5 "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J3LL-XV4 : accessed 20 May 2013), George Ernest Duke in entry for Edwin Ernest Duke, 25 Sep 1881.^↩

David and Cornelia Crammond, Frontenac County, Ontario, Bef. 1865

The reverse of this carte de visite photograph has two inscriptions on the back.  The first, in fountain ink, "Mr & Mrs. David Crammond" and, the second, more recently, in ballpoint pen, "Grandmother Dunham's Mother & Father."

The photographer's imprint simply reads, "Sheldon Photographer, Kingston, O.W [Ottawa West?]."  We can narrow the time frame down to 1857-1865 because in 1866, Henry K. Sheldon, the only photographer in Kingston at the time with that surname, teamed up with Richard F. Davis, in the photographic partnership "Sheldon & Davis" which lasted until 1900¹.  In the "General Directory for the City of Kingston and Gazetter of the Counties of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington for 1865", H.K. Sheldon works out of his home on King Street, near Brock.

I located a David Crammond family living in Wolf Island, Frontenac County in the 1861 Canada Census².  The family was comprised of:

David Crammond, b. 1825, Scotland, a farmer
Cornelia Crammond, b. 1833, Upper Canada
Barbary Crammond, b. 1828, Scotland
Adaline Crammond, b. 1849, Upper Canada
Hannah Crammond, b. 1850, Upper Canada
Ester A. Crammond, b. 1852, Upper Canada
Samantha M. Crammond, b. 1853, Upper Canada
Mallissa Crammond, b. 1855, Upper Canada
Anson Mitchell, b. 1855, Upper Canada
Alice E. Crammond, b. 1857, Upper Canada
James Mitchell., b. 1857, Upper Canada

The David and Cornelia Crammond family can also be found in the 1871 Canada Census still living in Wolf Island.  But how can we know we have the correct Crammond family?  Well, the second inscription does give us a valuable bit of information to research further.  We know that one of David Crammond's daughters married a man with the surname "Dunham."

A search of Ontario Marriages lands a good result.  On the 24th of January 1871, the couple's eldest daughter, Adaline Oliva [Olivia?  Oliver?] Crammond, 22 years of age, married William Dunham, an engineer from Cape Vincent.  They married in Wolfe Island³.  Her mother is listed as "Melissa Bush" and not Cornelia. There are several possibilities for the different name, including the possibility of name variations.  In my own family tree I have one distant aunt who went by no less than four forenames during her lifetime. I think the most likely reason in this case, is that Melissa is Adaline's mother, and she may have passed away prior to 1861.  If so, then the woman in the photograph would be Cornelia, Adaline's step-mother.

UPDATE:  July 19, 2013. 

Anne, who has researched this family, sent in the following supplemental information on the David Crammond families:
 
"If the photo is of Adeline (nee Crammond) Dunham’s mother Melissa Bush it would have to be taken after the birth of her youngest child Alice and before her death - pre husbands 2nd marriage 7 June 1859 (i.e. 1857/8- June 1859)

If the photo is of Adeline’s step mother Cornelia (nee Abbott) Mitchell then most likely taken post 7 June 1859 marriage to David Crammond. (June 1859-1865)

David Crammond -
1st marriage- Melissa Bush – date/place unknown (died post c 1857/8 birth of daughter Alice and pre his 7 June 1859 2nd marriage)

Children of David Crammond and Melissa Bush
a. Adeline Olivia born c 1849 married 24 Jan 1871 to William Dunham (lists mother Melissa Bush)

b. Hannah May c 1851 m 24 Feb 1879 Moses Jay Knapp (lists mother Malissa)

c. Ester Ann born 21 July 1852(per tombstone), born pre 2nd marriage- assumed d/o Melissa Bush

d. Michael 1854 (1871 census) born pre 2nd marriage assumed d/o Melissa Bush

e. Samantha Melvina b 28 Dec 1855 US, m 26 Oct 1881 James Donnelly – (lists mother Melissa Bush)

f. Melissa 1856 m 20 Dec 1882 Mathew Robert Davis – (lists mother Melissa Bush)

g. James 1857 (1871 census) born pre 2nd marriage – assumed d/o Melissa Bush

h. Alice c 1858 m 10 May 1882 William Henry Ross –lists mother Melissa Bush


2nd marriage – 7 June 1859 to Cornelia Abbott at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Kingston, Ontario
(OGS Publication -Registers 1821-1869 St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Kingston, Ontario)
Cornelia Abbott was the widow of James Mitchell ( died 2 April 1857) - 3 sons of this marriage – Anglican Church, Wolfe Island baptism Edward Alexander Mitchell born March 19 1854, St Andrew’s Presbyterian church, Wolfe Island - baptism Anson Mitchell born 21 July 1855 , death /obituary of James Mitchell born 23 July 1858 Wolfe Island.

3rd marriage – 14 September 1883 Elizabeth Porteous"

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1 Phillips, Glen C., "The Ontario Photographer's List Volume I (1851-1900)," Global Heritage Press, Milton, Ontario, Canada, 2002, p.41^↩
2 "Ontario Census, 1861," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MQ7Z-MW2 : accessed 15 May 2013), David Crammond, 1861.^↩
3 "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FMF5-D4Z : accessed 15 May 2013), William Dunham and Adaline Oliva Crammand, 1871.^↩

Girl or Boy? The Child of Nelson and Margarett Ebert, 1892, Cleveland OH

After a bit of a hiatus from the blog, I'm back with another far-from-clear-cut photograph for readers to ponder.  This image features a fairly well-wrapped toddler as its subject.  The photographer was A.D. (Alcynius Donnelly) Burk, who operated a studio at 981 Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio from approximately 1890 to 1920.  The cabinet card is inscribed on the reverse, in pencil, "daughter of Nelson and Margarett Ebert."

I located a marriage record from 17 September 1888 for a Nelson Ebert and a Margaret Craine who were wed in Cuyahoga County, Ohio¹.  On the 12th of April, 1890 the couple were blessed with their first and only child, who, unfortunately, is unnamed on the birth report². 



https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6CD-653

The child is male, which would seem to indicate that this particular child is not the one featured in our photograph.  However, after looking into the Nelson and Margaret Ebert family history a little further, I had to come to the conclusion that either the inscription on the back of the photograph is incorrect as to the gender of the child, or, I have the wrong Nelson and Margaret Ebert.

Here's why:
I could not locate the entire Ebert family in the next available U.S. Federal Census (1900), but I did find the widow, Margaret Ebert, 38, born on the Isle of Man, living with her father Robert Craine and her sister, Jane N. Craine in Cleveland.  The census indicates that Margaret had only one child, and that child was no longer living³.

While I didn't find a death record for Nelson or the child, I did find their interments in Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland.

N.D. Ebert was buried March 6, 1898 in Section 76, Lot 125, Grave 1 in Woodland.  His last residence was listed as 32 Putnam and he died of consumption⁴.

Three-year-old George F. Ebert, who was buried on the 7th of June 1893, last residence 30 Putnam, was also buried in Section 76, Lot 125.  He succumbed to Scarlet Fever⁵.

I haven't been able to find any other suitable matches.  My personal hunch is that the child in the photo is George F. Ebert, and the inscription on the back was written years after the photograph was taken.  The inscriber may have thought the child's dress looked like that of a girl's. 

If you are able to provide more information, or may have an alternative line we can follow to identify the toddler in our photograph, please feel free to share your findings.

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1 "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XD29-NBV : accessed 04 Apr 2013), Nelson Ebert and Margaret Craine, 1888.^↩
2 "Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6CD-653 : accessed 04 Apr 2013), Nelson D. Ebert in entry for Ebert, 1890.^↩
3 "United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMC1-891 : accessed 04 Apr 2013), Margaret Ebert in entry for Robert Craine, 1900.^↩
4 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohcdrt/clecems/images/wo_05_145.jpg^↩
5 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohcdrt/clecems/images/wo_04_144.jpg^↩