A Serious Little Girl: Alice Ruhl Miller, 1863-1914, Lancaster County, PA

 

On the back of this carte de visite photograph there are two notations, one in pencil and the other in ballpoint ink:  “Alice Miller, Mother’s Mother at 6 years” and “Alice Ruhl Miller."  The photographer’s imprint tells us the image was taken at Gill’s City Gallery on King Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  William L. Gill (1827-1893) operated his studio from roughly 1859-1882¹.  The style of the cdv, along with the child’s outfit, suggests a date late into the 1860s, probably a just few years after the end of the civil war. 

Operating on the assumption that Alice’s maiden name was Ruhl, and that Miller was a married name, I set off to locate any plausible candidates on the online databases to which I have access. I began the search in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with the 1870 census. 

There is an Alice Ruhl, age eight, living in Upper Leacock, Lancaster, PA with Samuel Ruhl, a successful farmer, 47, Mary A. Ruhl, 18, and Henry Ruhl, 21². The value of Samuel's personal estate is, at this time, $5380. A check of the 1880 census showed that Samuel was Alice’s father³.  In 1880, Samuel’s wife is listed as Sarah Ruhl, 47, but Sarah was not Alice’s biological mother, and it is likely they were married sometime between 1870 and 1880.  According to a write up about Alice’s brother, Harry H. Ruhl, in a local history covering Lancaster County, Samuel’s wife was Susan Hackman, daughter of Jacob Hackman of Indiana⁴.  Susan[na] Hackman Ruhl died in 1868, leaving seven children without a mother, just around the time I suspect our Alice was photographed at Gill’s Studio.  The same biographical account mentions that Alice became the wife of Martin Miller of Akron, PA.

Looking back through earlier censuses, a more complete picture of Alice’s family emerges.  In Rapho, Lancaster County in 1850, Samuel and Susanna Ruhl’s young family consisted of Susan, born 1846, Elizabeth, born 1847 and Henry [Harry H.], born 1848⁵.  Ten years later, now located in West Earl in the same county, three additions to the family have been made:  Mary Ann, born 1852 (the “Mary A.” who appears in the 1870 census), Samuel, born 1855, and Fyanna [Fianna], born 1859⁶.

It appears that Martin Miller and Alice Ruhl were married sometime around 1880 and made their home in Ephrata, PA, according to the 1900 Federal Census⁷ but a marriage record would have to be found to confirm this.  Alice had fourteen children but only 12 were still alive in 1910⁸.  Their children were:   Lizzie, Irvin, Charles, Maimie, John, Mabel, Martin, Loyd, Alice, Margie, Eva, Maude and Alvertta.  I do not have a name for one of the children.

Alice Ruhl Miller died on January 11, 1914, in Lancaster County at 50 years of age, and is buried next to her husband, Martin, in Rothsville Lutheran Cemetery⁹.  If the Alice Ruhl Miller in the photograph is the same person I've researched, this photo would have been taken around 1868-70.

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1 Lancaster County's Historical Society & President James Buchanan's Wheatland, "Lancaster Photographers: William L. Gill" LancasterHistory.org (Online Lancaster County's Historical Society & President James Buchanan's Wheatland, 2012) < http://lancasterhistory.org>, 21 Jun 2013.^↩
2 1870 U.S. census, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Leacock Post Office, pages 38 & 39 (penned), dwelling 302, family 315, Samuel Ruhl household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 24 June 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 1356. ^↩
3 1880 U.S. census, Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 118, p. 298 (stamped), dwelling 55, family 63, Samuel Ruhl household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 24 June 2013); citing National Archives microf ilm publication T9, roll 1140.^↩
4 Biographical annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settlers. (Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1903), 1017; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 22 Jun 2013).^↩
5 1850 U.S. census, Rapho, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, p.360A (stamped), dwelling 150, family 156, Samuel Ruhl household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 22 Jun 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication M432, roll 787. ^↩
6 1860 U.S. census, West Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, p.225 (stamped), dwelling 73, family 73, Samuel Ruhl household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 02 Jul 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication M653, roll 1122.^↩
7 1900 U.S. census, Ephrata, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 0039, p. 10B (stamped), dwelling 220, family 224, Martin E. Miller household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 2 Jul 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 1423.^↩
8 1910 U.S. census, Ephrata township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 47, sheet 4-B, dwelling 81, family 90, Martin Miller household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 4 Apr 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 1353.^↩
9 Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 20 Apr 2014), memorial page for Alice H. Ruhl Miller (1863 -1914), Find A Grave Memorial no. 84159139, citing Rothsville Lutheran Cemetery, Rothsville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Memorial created by Denise Witwer Lahr.^↩

A Big Fat Question Mark: Another Challenge from the Spooner-Hardy Album

"To Nelly with Mr. Leaman Harrison's [W. Seaman Thomson's] best love," 1868-69

Here I am with another handwriting mystery for you.  This carte de visite was taken at Asplet & Green on Jersey and dates from the same period as the previous photograph in my last post, The Hardy-Spooner Album: To Betsy Baker with Compliments, 1868-69. 

I think it's addressed, "To Nelly with Mr. Leaman Harrison's best love," [W. Seaman Thomson] but I have my doubts about the surname.  And possibly the first name.  I am fairly confident about "Nelly."  What do you see there?

So now we have two carte de visites from Asplet & Green, photographed around the same time, address to two different women (presumably), one named Betsy Baker and the other, Nelly.  One is signed from Mrs.  M---- and the other from this fellow.  What, if anything, is the connection?

The Hardy-Spooner Album: To Betsy Baker with Compliments, 1868-69

"To Betsy Baker With Mrs. M???? compls" - 1868-69

As promised in a previous post, I am revisiting the Hardy-Spooner album with another image from its pages.  This carte de visite was taken in the Asplet & Green Studio at 18 1/2 Beresford Street, Jersey.  Its inscription reads, "To Betsy Baker With Mrs M---'s compls."  Perhaps the album belonged to Betsy Baker, but it may have also belonged to a number of owners as it contains photographs from about 1860 right up to about 1925 with quite a few families represented.

This particular image can be dated to about 1868-69 through the style of photographer's imprint on the back thanks to Jerseyfamilyhistory.co.uk who have kindly posted examples on their site of Asplet & Green's imprints through the years.

Before we can try to figure out who the woman is, we need to try to decipher her surname on the inscription.  Perhaps you can help.  I see "Mrs. Monder" or "Mrs. Mouder."  I haven't had much luck with either surname in my searches.  How do you read the inscription?  Sometimes a second set of eyes (or a dozen!) can reveal something new. 

I hope you will share your conclusions in the comments section.