Photo Sleuthing

So, I get this big box of unsorted photographs that belonged to my father-in-law. Who knows where he got them. Photographs from different sources ended up in the same box--cabinet cards, tin types, cartes de visite, slides, glass negatives. But the minute you start separating them you are potentially discarding the clues that could tell you who these people are. It turns out that many of them are actually connected.

Here's an example. I find a number of photographs with the last name Henderson on them.  The Census provides me with basic clues, but some of the siblings have already left home and married by 1900. I can't find anything in the 1880 Census, but there are some useful newspaper articles. At the turn of the century and even into the 1940s, local newspapers would often let you know that Mr. and Mrs. So and So were hosting her sister Mrs. Everett Squires and the name of the town she was from. This it what brings it all together.

The writing on the back of this photograph, taken in Stamford, New York, tells us that this is Mary Henderson when she was 18 years old. The 1910 Census shows that she was born in 1881 and lived in Neversink, Sullivan County, New York with her husband, George Muhlig (more on them in a future post.)

Mary Jane Henderson

Then there's a photo labeled Hannah Thompson. I would have missed the connection, despite the resemblance, if I hadn't found a newspaper article that identified them as sisters. She was born Hanna Henderson in 1877 and the 1910 Census shows her living in Middletown, New York with her Husband, Andrew Thompson. Just in case I had any doubts about her last name, the Census shows that her aunt, Nancy Henderson, lived with them.

Hannah Thompson

10/31/13: I just found a photo of the aunt, Nancy Henderson, so I'm adding that. I'm sure she was a lot friendlier than she appears.

There's a photo labeled Will Nesbitt and family, with a woman looking very similar to these two. Sure enough, she turns out to be Anna Eliza Henderson, born in 1868. The 1910 Census shows her living with her husband, William Nesbitt and their 5-year-old son, George Earl.

Will Nesbitt and family

There's another photo with the name Elizabeth Squires written on the back. I would have missed the connection here if it hadn't been for the newspaper article that referred to one of the sisters as Mrs. Everett Squires. Elizabeth Henderson was born in 1885 and is show in the 1900 Census living in Middletown, New York with her parents and brothers James and John.

Elizabeth Squires

This photo is labeled John Henderson, Grandma's brother.  John was born in 1887.

John Henderson

And then there are the photo postcards with Jay Johnson written on the back of them. This must be James, born in 1883.

There are probably other photographs in this box that are related to these in ways I will never know. But at least I know to keep these together. More on the Nesbitts and the Muhligs coming soon.

Just Peachy

I finally got around to scanning an envelope of slides that was just labeled Kodachrome slides.  I had no idea who they were, so I thought I'd post them as Anonymous Family slides.   

Anonymous Family slides have played an important role in slide shows around here. The architect who steals my covers loves to take pictures when he travels and he used to invite friends to see slide shows from these trips. The problem is that he tends to only take pictures of buildings; human subjects are few and far between. To keep the audience from falling asleep, he would insert slides of the Anonymous Family in between every dozen or so building images. We still don't know who that Anonymous Family was, but they went on lots of trips to national parks and wore a lot of plaid--and they were popular with the slide viewing audiences. The image below reminded me very much of those slides.

Elizabeth with Mom and brother

It didn't take me long to realize that this was not an anonymous family though. These slides are from Elizabeth Brady Cabot Winslow's family. (See previous post on Elizabeth and on her father Hugh.) I thought I recognized her, but the photo with her brother and father is very recognizable. These are all from the mid/late 1940s.

Elizabeth with Dad and brother

Elizabeth with Mom and brother in front of peach tree

Maybe someone they knew was in the car ahead? Otherwise I can't imagine the reason for this photo.

Included in these slides are a good number of images with a finger across the top. Makes you grateful for digital cameras, doesn't it? At least you don't have to pay to have them developed.

Tram Tuesday - Frankfurt, Germany

Trams have been operating in Frankfurt since 1872.  The tram system is alive and well and integrated with light rail (U-Bahn), suburban rail (S-Bahn) and the bus system. According to Wikipedia,  two new sections have been added to the streetcar system in the past few years and additional service will be added to serve neighborhoods with medium transit needs. The reason cited is that "trams are more attractive to the traveling public than buses and cheaper to build than underground railways." It's interesting to see trams replacing bus service, a reversal of trends in the mid 20th century.

Here are some postcards showing early views of Frankfurt with streetcars. The first two are both from about 1910, showing the same church from different angles.

The next two cards both show views of Zeil, Frankfurt's vibrant shopping street. The first one was sent in 1898, at a time when there were still horse-drawn trams, as well as steam-powered and electric ones. I can't tell which kind this one is, because it's tiny and there are some carriage horses in front of it.

On the next one, sent in 1903, you can see the overhead wires.

The last card shows an electric tram in front of the magnificent Circus Schumann, which was destroyed by Allied bombs in World War II. According to Circopedia, the U.S. Army used what was left of the building (the facade, foyer, and restaurants right behind it) until 1958.  The remains of the building were demolished in 1960.

That white object in the sky to the right of the building is a highly-stylized cloud, probably the strangest one I've seen, added by the person who tinted the card. This tinting process was also used to obscure unsightly things like overhead streetcar wires.

I love it when people write dates and document other happenings on the back of cards.  If we had been around 100 years ago, we too could have celebrated Otto's birthday at Circus Schumann.

The back of the first card looks just like the one above, but with no writing, so I won't post it. Here are the backs of cards 2, 3, and 4.