Listowel Ontario Photo Album Found

Shelley C. posted on the Ontario Genealogy Facebook page:

I've "rescued" an old photograph album that belonged to the STRACHAN Family from Ontario, Canada. The album includes photographs of:

Jim STRACHAN (2 photos)
Ed STRACHAN
Nellie DAVIDSON
Alex STRACHAN
Kate CAMPBELL
Dale FRANKISH
Agnes STRACHAN MEEKS
Margaret PENOYER
Uncle Alex STRACHAN + CAMPBELL
Hugh & Maggie STRACHAN
Tom & George STRACHAN
Len MEEKS
+ six unidentified photographs

The photographs were taken in Listowel, Ontario, Canada; Watkins, NY; Canandaigua, NY; and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in the 1870's through 1900's.

If you know the family you can either contact Shelley through Facebook or leave a comment on this post and I will see that she receives it.

Salden Heath, Top Hat and All, on Lost Faces

  
This is one of the photographs I have rescued and published online on my Lost Faces website.

The Civil War era photo album was in rough shape but most of the photos were identified on the album pages. The Album is online on Lost Faces along with 81 other rescued photo albums from the 19th century.

 Here is what the photo above looked like while still in the album

The name is challenging to read but I make it out as Salden Heath. Other names in the album are Ells, Smith, Turner, Harley, Stanley, Ennis, Knowlton, Phelps, Comstock, Gaylord, Watrus, Rush, Rust, Rogers, Heath, Andress, davis, Boughton, Palmer, Spratt, Morse
 

Finding Ancestors: A Beautiful 1862 Cartes de Visite

This beautiful photo is labelled "Mrs. Joseph Curtis ​1862". It is one of the Cartes de Visite in my Civil War Era Photo Album which is now online at my new Lost Faces website.

Her full sleeves and full skirt are typical of the Civil War era fashions for women, as is her center-parted hair. 

Mrs. Curtis' husband's photo is also in the album and I suspect it was taken the same day as hers - July 2, 1862.

As many of my readers know, I rescue antique photo albums that have the names of the people in the photos. My dream of one day putting them all online to be freely viewed has finally come true and I now have over 80 albums published on my new Lost Faces site.

I've also added vintage postcards, and individual group photos of sports teams, school classes, and military. There's much more to come but I wanted to share this photo today since it is one of my favourites.  Below you can see the front and back of the Cartes de Visite of Joseph Curtis.

  
Surnames in the album include: Fobes, Tucker, Curtis, Gilbert, Peabody, Spear, Blake, Mansfield, Bassett, Botton, Williston, Nilliston, Kimbal, Daniels, Sutherland, Schaffner, Keith, Towne, Low, Wilder, Holden, and Whitemore. Locations of photographers include Massachusetts, New York, Illinois

Could one of your ancestors be featured? 

Mary Facey Elgie Photo Album p 16

 

Standing we have William Elgie holding Roberta (she was the keeper of these photos inherited from Florence who inherited them from her mother Mary Louise Facey Elgie. After Roberta's death the photos came to Helena, my mother-in-law and then to her son, my husband), Mary Louise Facey Elgie holding Helena, and in front are Donna (I do not know how she fits into the family) and Joan Elgie (Harry Elgie's daughter and another granddaughter of Mary Louise Facey Elgie). This photo would have been taken ca 1943

Civil War Photo Album Fowler Merchant Families

This is one of my favourite CDVs (Cartes de Visite) from the Fowler Merchant Civil War era photo album in my personal collection. It was taken during the Civil War - if you look carefully you can see this young lady's snood - a netting worn over the hair at the back of the head. Her hair is carefully slicked down and parted in the center - another sign of 1860s women's hairstyles.

Her bolero jacket was also popular during this time. Also note the dropped shoulders, full sleeves narrowing at the wrist, and the full skirt, but loosely draped, not over a hoop.

The plain background and patterned floor are further clues to help date this photograph. You can see the full Fowler-Merchant Family Photo Album online at Lost Faces.

Surnames: Fowler, Merchant, Keach, Houghton, Lovejoy, Hewitt, Maloney, Tanner, Whitcomb, Sladden, Frazier, Comstock, Gray, Moseley, Center, Lee, Alexander, Fisher, Williams, Cottrell, Burgess

Locations: Cambridge New York, Connecticut, Washington DC

Rescued Photo Album 1930s Carillon Quebec page 5

This is the next page of the Flynn family photo album. The page is labelled "Carillon 1931". The first photo has no identifying information. The middle photo has "age 5" and the last photo of two young boys has the names "J. Molloy" and "T. Rodden"

 

Is Your Ancestor on Lost Faces?

Have you ever wished you had a photo of a long ago ancestor? Wouldn't it be great to find out what great-grandpa Bert or great-grandma Olive looked like?

Lost Faces is a section of Olive Tree Genealogy website where I post photos from mid 1800s photo albums I rescue.

I choose albums with identified photographs so most photos have names attached. Civil War albums are gorgeous and here is a photo of a typical one.

Currently I have  70 antique photo albums online and each has from 30 to 50 photographs, so there are lots of photos and names. One might be your ancestor!

Here are a couple of examples to show you what might be found. This is a Carte de Visite taken during the Civil War

A small head and shoulders of a young man, identified by his initials.

A Cabinet Card of a young child, identified

Some albums have a great deal of information written on the album pages

If you have a few extra minutes, check out my YouTube video Five Types of Early 19th Century Photographs 

Who Doesn't Love Gone With the Wind Style Dresses?

Here is one of my favorite photos from my collection of Civil War era CDVs (Cartes de Visite)

Mrs. Joseph Curtis taken 1862

Mrs. Joseph Curtis is wearing a typical gown of the early 1860s. Full Pagoda sleeves dropped from the shoulder, with an undersleeve, create the illusion of the sought after tiny waist. Her bodice has a natural waistline and removable collar. Her hair follows the typical hair fashion of this early period. It covers her ears and is parted in the middle and pulled back to a roll at the nape of her neck. The extreme fullness of her skirt is very apparent in this photo.

This beautiful album is one of my rescued treasures. You can view the thumbnails of other photos from the album in my Lost Faces section of my Olive Tree Genealogy website.

Surnames in the album are Fobes, Tucker, Curtis, Gilbert, Peabody, Spear, Blake, Mansfield, Bassett, Botton, Williston, Nilliston, Kimbal, Daniels, Sutherland, Schaffner, Keith, Towne, Low, Wilder, Holden, Whitemore

Locations of photographers: Massachusetts, New York, Illinois

Hooper-Squires Photo Archives Treasure No. 8

This is the 8th photo in our collection of rescued photographs of the Hooper and Squires families of St. Mary's Ontario Canada.

I'm sure this is 3 sisters but am not positive who they are. Perhaps a reader familiar with the family can help. 


To view all the photos in this collection as they are published here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog, click on Hooper-Squires Photo Archives link.

Hooper-Squires Photo Archives Treasure No. 7: 5 Gals

This is the 7th photo in our collection of rescued photographs of the Hooper and Squires families of St. Mary's Ontario Canada. To view all the photos in this collection as they are published here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog, click on Hooper-Squires Photo Archives link.

On the reverse of this photo of these five lovely ladies is written:

 Reberta [sic] Parker, Marg Carter, Gladys Parker, Josephine McCabe, Isabel Laurie

I do not know who these women are and how they connect to the Hooper or Squires family.

The photo looks like 1940s to me. If you recognize any of the faces or names, please do leave a comment on this blog post

Civil War Photo Album Rescued

 Another Civil War Photo Album has been rescued. That's right, I couldn't pass this one by. Almost every page in the album has writing which identifies who is in each photo.

There are 38 photos, either tintypes or CDVs (Cartes de Visite) and they are from the early 1860s to about 1890.

The album is in good shape but the pages are stained. The photographs are also in decent shape which is surprising considering the rough life I think this photo album had.

I will be documenting and archiving the photographs over the next few months but here are a few of the camera photos I took as my first step.

For those who haven't followed me before when I rescue and preserve these old albums, my first step is always to photograph each album page with the photos intact.

Only after that is completed do I attempt to carefully remove the photographs to see what is on the back and to scan them properly.

 This was one of the few photos (a tintype) that did not have writing on the album page itself. Instead it had a penciled name "Mandy (or Maudy) L. McFadden" on the front. On the back (verso) it had a sad note "Eleven mos old. Died September 15th 1878"

This is an example of the inside photo album pages and the gorgeous Civil War era photos inside! The surnames I have spotted already are Chidester, McKay, Deyo, Tharp, Strong, McFadden, Duncan, Bush, Perry, Pittenger. The locations of photographers are Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska.

I will continue to update with scans and details of individuals as I remove the photos from the album and as I spend some time researching the names. Those interested will be able to follow along by clicking on the tag "Chidester Photo Album Archive" in the right hand nav bar on this blog.

An Orphaned Antique Photo Album Comes Home With Me

 Yesterday I stumbled on another orphaned antique Photo Album. The owner's name was inscribed inside the front cover

          Maude M. Kirby

Of course I couldn't leave it in the antique store so it came home with me. This morning I started documenting and archiving.

It's a large album, 8 1/2x12 inches. I haven't counted the pages or the photos yet but it's 2" thick.

Archiving and documenting takes me a long time. I start with taking camera photos of every page. Then I upload them to Dropbox (cloud storage) so I have an immediate backup.

 This is the front inside cover and is representative of the photo pages inside. Not every page has such a beautiful coloured flower but there are at least 13 of them. They are all in excellent condition, brightly coloured and intact.

After I have taken pictures of all the pages as they are, I start to record each page. I do that by slowly and carefully removing the photo(s) on each page and writing down all the information found - photographer's name and location, type of photo (CDV, Cabinet Card, tintype, etc)  If there is any handwritten notation on the photo I record that too.

Then I assign a number to each photo. That goes along with whatever name I give the album, in this case, KIRBY. I shorten this to 3 letters for my inventory/naming system. So the first photo in this album will be KIR-1 and I record this lightly in pencil on the reverse of the photo.

This is another page in this lovely photo album.  I did manage to finish taking camera snaps of each page and have removed about twenty of the photos.

As an added surprise several of the photos had other photos tucked underneath. While I still have much to do on this album before the archiving and documentation is complete, I hope to find enough identifying information to research the individuals in the album.

This album appears to have been used by one family over more than one generation. Some of the Cartes de Visite are from the 1860s while other photos are dated 1920. 

After I remove all the photos from the album I take another camera picture of each one, front and verso (back). This allows me to easily and quickly zoom in on anything I wish to inspect for clues to the individuals or locations of each photo.

Then I use my wonderful Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner to create a quick but top quality scan of each photo.  I'll be documenting the album here on my Olive Tree Genealogy blog in hopes a descendant spots the names or photos and recognizes them.

 Meantime it seems many of the photos were taken in Yorkshire England but I did spot one that was from a Brantford Ontario Canada photographer. I am sure there are many more surprises to be found as I continue removing the photos and checking the backs.

Hooper-Squires Photo Archives Treasure No. 6

This is the 6th photo in our collection of rescued photographs of the Hooper and Squires families of St. Mary's Ontario Canada. To view all the photos in this collection as they are published here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog, click on Hooper-Squires Photo Archives link.

 

This lovely photo taken at Niagara Falls has writing on the back as it was a postcard sent to Mr. Edgar Hooper from his sister who was on her honeymoon at the time. I assume this Edith Hooper and her new husband Joseph Camm, as they married on September 10, 1910

 

Sept. 19/10

Hello Edgar, How is Ettie? Hope she is better by this time. We are well and having a pretty nice honeymoon.   Will soon be home. Your loving sister

Hooper-Squires Photo Archives Treasure No. 5

This is the 5th photo in our collection of rescued photographs of the Hooper and Squires families of St. Mary's Ontario Canada. To view all the photos in this collection as they are published here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog, click on Hooper-Squires Photo Archives link.

The Currah Family 1921

Handwritten text back of photo

 I did some research and found the family of Arthur Leo Currah, the son of William Currah and Rebecca Hutcinson. Arthur was born in 1878 and died in 1958. In 1899 he married Ida Bullock. Their children were:

Louise May, Ada, Eve, Dorah, Beatrice, Nellie and Lawrence.Notice that there are 7 girls which corresponds with the girls in this photo with their mother.

I believe this is the family in the photo as Ada married Llloyd Poulton on the lawn of "The Oaks" in Bright Ontario in 1927. You can see that A. L. Currah (no doubt Arthur Leo) mentions that they live at The Oaks in his remark "...we raise more than Herefords at the Oaks..."

Hooper-Squires Photo Archives Treasure No. 4

This is the 4th photo in our collection of rescued photographs of the Hooper and Squires families of St. Mary's Ontario Canada. To view all the photos in this collection as they are published here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog, click on Hooper-Squires Photo Archives link.

 This Cabinet Card photo is faded but still adorable. Eight young children in their Sunday best in St. Mary's Perth County Ontario.

The photography studio, J. Leary and Co., was in operation in St. Marys between 1891 and 1896. This helps date this photograph and aids in identifying the family.

I believe these are the following children of George Squires and Louisa Augusta Gunning:

Ettie born 1879
Bertha Louise born 1879
Ida Maud born 1882
Harry Russell born 1884
Lottie May born 1887
Francis Chester born 1889
Verda Pearl born 1891
Edgar Victor born 1892

If I am correct this photo was taken circa 1892-1893.

WW1 Photo Album Archive: Page 5

 Continuing on with my WW1 Photo Album archive here is the fifth page.

We're still in WW1 era and there are 5 photos glued on to this page. 

 Uncle Ern, my grandmother's brother, may very well be in this photo but I haven't spotted him as a definite. It's a cavalry unit, no doubt the same unit we saw Ern in previous photos.

 This looks like my aunt Lily and if it is her, the photo was taken ca 1916. But it could also be Ern's little girl Edith who died at the age of one year in 1911.

 This is Auntie Cordie (Ern's wife), Ern, and their daughter Doris. Doris was my mom's cousin and it was Doris' home that these albums came from. Doris was born in Toronto in 1910 and lived in the same house her entire life.

 This is Auntie Cordie. She was born Cordelia Mary Cook in Ramsgate, Kent England in 1885 to parents Henry Stephen Cook and Priscilla Edith Curtis. Cordie's mother died in 1889 leaving her motherless until her father's remarriage to Rose Dugwell in 1891.

I don't know who this couple is.

WW1 Photo Album Archive: 4th Page

Continuing on with my WW1 Photo Album archive here is the fourth page in Doris' album.

One photo is missing and the rest have been glued to the page.

The time period is ca 1915 in Ontario Canada.

This appears to be my aunt Lily who was born in Guelph Ontario in 1915.

This is my favourite photo on this page. My grandmother's brother Ernest Simpson, is standing inside the door to the army tent, on the far left. This is some training area in Ontario, perhaps Base Borden. Tents like these were not used on the actual battlefield during WW1. 

I do not know who the people are in these two photos.

WW1 Photo Album Archive Page 3

Continuing on with my WW1 Photo Album archive here is the third page. Three very nice photos of WW1 cavalry soldiers are glued directly on to the page.

My grandmother's brother Ernie, is in the group photo of the soldiers on horseback. He's second from the left.

Unfortunately I don't know who any of the other soldiers are, or where this was taken.