The Faces of Susquehanna - Part One

Susquehanna Depot, Pennsylvania, also known simply as Susquehanna, currently has a population of 1,643.  There are no names on these portraits, but they are all from G.O. Sweet's studio. More portraits from Susquehanna coming soon

Tram Tuesday - Johannesburg, South Africa

This card does not show us the ideal close-up view of the tram, but it's interesting to me because it is an open-air horse-drawn tram.

The card was sent in 1906, the very year the system was converted to electricity. Unlike this rather primitive tram, some of the electric ones were colorful double-deck models, but there were also more upscale and enclosed horse-drawn trams. If you look closely, you can see a few nicely-dressed ladies with hats sitting towards the front of the tram, but it's impossible to tell if they're black or white. Was this a lower-class tram for blacks? Early on, trams in South Africa were racially segregated along with most other facilities and services.

Here's a picture I took at a performance in South Africa during the days of Apartheid.

The sender of this card (N. Claase) saved postage by sending this card without a message, thus qualifying as printed matter.

On Their Honeymoon

Nathaniel Ferguson and Amanda Davenport on their honeymoon.

The writing on the back of the card is in ballpoint pen, obviously written many years after the photo was taken. Something not quite right there. Portraits such as this one were not produced in the 1820s. And, since Amanda Davenport wasn't born until 1830, this would have been a stretch. It turns out that the date should be 1856.

Amanda and Nathaniel Ferguson lived in Heidelberg, Pennsylvania. By the time of the 1880 Census they already had seven children. Their household also included her mother, Katherine Adams Davenport, two servants and a governess. Amanda gave birth to ten children and died at the age of 51.

Here's a biographical entry I found for Nathaniel Ferguson in Morton Montgomery's Historical and Biographical Annals, written in 1909.

Nathaniel Ferguson, the youngest son in the above family, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., Nov. 20, 1817. He left home when eighteen years of age with fifty cents in his pocket given him by his mother along with her blessings and well wishes for success. Having graduated from the Moscow Academy in Lancaster, where he had shown himself a diligent pupil, in 1839 he became clerk at the Elizabeth Furnace, in Lancaster county, then owned by the heirs of James Coleman, one of the proprietors of the Cornwall mines. Two and a half years later he rose to the management of the business, and he held that position for seven years. He then removed to Swatara Furnace, Schuylkill county, and became a member of the firm of Eckert, Gilbert & Company, of which he was the active manager. The partnership lasted until 1855 when the company ceased operations as the use of anthracite coal had superseded charcoal. In 1857 he removed to Robesonia Furnace and assumed the management. 

In 1860, at the death of Henry P. Robeson, he purchased an interest and became a partner in the firm of White, Ferguson & Company. In 1863 the firm became White & Ferguson, and remained so until 1875, although the interest of Mr. White, who died in 1868, was continued for the benefit of his heirs. Mr. Ferguson then purchased the interest of one of the heirs and the firm became Ferguson, White & Co. ... In 1885 Mr. Ferguson sold his interests in Robesonia, and, retiring from active business, removed to Reading, where he passed away in 1891. He was a prominent man in the city and served as a director of the First National Bank. As a man of self-reliance, sound education, untiring energy and great executive ability Mr. Ferguson became a successful manufacturer and clear-sighted business man with the respect and regard of all who knew him for his unswerving integrity, benevolence and liberality toward all. Patriotic and public spirited, generous and kind, he passed away after a life of great activity. 

Nathaniel Ferguson married in 1856 Miss Amanda Davenport, daughter of Dr. John Davenport, of Connecticut, and granddaughter of Judge William Adams, a member of Congress in the early part of the nineteenth century. They became the parents of ten children, five of whom still survive: Elizabeth, the wife of Charles L. Hoff, of Reading; Laura, the wife of Rev. S. H. Larper, a Presbyterian minister of Media, Pa.; Nathaniel, vice-president of the First National Bank, of Reading; Wilson; and Grace, wife of O. S. Doolittle, of New York City.