Pencil Scrawls on the Wedding Portrait of William and Anna Stott, 1899

I don't know if the appliqued design on the bride's dress is meant to represent clover or flowers, but it's an eye-catching feature nonetheless.

This photograph was found in a Calgary antique store years ago, and I've only recently had a chance to analyze the pencil scrawls on the back of the image. Here's what it looks like on the reverse:

Actually, what you are looking at is much clearer than the real photograph back. I've enhanced the print by increasing the contrast so the writing is darker and clearer. Believe me, it's faint. I spent too much time squinting on this one, when I could have just scanned it and sharpened the image.

The top portion, written horizontally across the back, shows instructions for a  photo enlargement, perhaps written much later than the date of the photograph. The name and numbers written vertically are more important for our purposes:

William H. Stott
671 - 11 am.

At least that's what I thought it read. However, later I re-interpreted the lower line to read:

671 - 11 Av.

E.K. Barker, the photographer, worked out of a studio at 468 11th Ave, Milwaukee. The studio was located a few short blocks from the address of William H. Stott. But I'm jumping ahead.

Originally, I thought the number on the back of photograph read 11 am, possibly indicating a time the photos would be picked up and the 671 a studio index number of some sort. I turned to the 1890s Milwaukee city directories. Earlier, I found E.K. Barker in a directory of Wisconsin photographers and learned he operated his Milwaukee studio from 1896 to 1906. That date range fit with the date I had in mind, based on the wedding dress and style of cabinet card. I felt the photo dated to the last half of the 1890s.

In the 1899 Milwaukee city directory, William H. Stott lived at 272 Austin. In the 1900 directory, his residence is 671-11 Av. It is important to remember there is a delay from the time the address information is recorded to its publication in the city directory. Stott remains at the 11th Avenue address until approximately 1910 when he moves to 566 Delaware.

William Stott, son of Thomas Stott and Martha Wade, was a street railway conductor and in 1933 is recorded as working for the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company. He may have worked for TMER&LCo his entire career, but more research would have to be done to confirm this. The 1933 directory is the first year his employer is mentioned.

William H. Stott (born Feb 1876) and Anna Klug (born Jan 1876), daughter of Carl Klug and Henrietta Stringraeber, were married on the 16th of August 1899 in Milwaukee.

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1900 U.S. census, Milwaukee Ward 11, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 0097, sheet 8 (penned),  dwelling 106, family 137, William Stott household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 15 May 2020); citing National Archives microfilm publication T623. 

“Milwaukee, Wisconsin Marriages, 1838-1911,” database, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 9 May 2020), entry for  William Stott and Anna Klug, 16 Aug 1899, certificate # 2066 and licence #796, citing  Milwaukee Public Library. Milwaukee Vital Records. Call Number: 929.3. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

"U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995", indexed database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 May 2020), William H. Stott entries; citing "Milwaukee, Wisconsin City Directory, 1899-1933.    

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNHW-36B : 15 May 2020), William Stott in household of Thomas Stott, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district ED 139, sheet 352A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,438.

"Wisconsin Photographers Index, 1840-1976," Wisconsin Historical Society (http://www.wisconsinhistory.org)