Philetus Sawyer Family Photo Album

8. May Eugenia Ellsworth
taken circa 1864-1866

The Philetus Sawyer Family Photo Album from the Civil War era is now online on my Lost Faces website. I rescued this album several years ago and am delighted to present it today for all to enjoy freely.

It consists of 50 gorgeous cartes de visite (CDVs) in the 1860s such as the beautiful child on the left.

Be sure to check out all the photos I have rescued at Lost Faces.

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? 

How an antique Illinois Family Photo Album came to Canada via New Jersey

My good friend Illya of LiveRoots.com sent me a gift several years ago of an antique photo album. The Album has had a rough life, and needed a good home, so Illya bid on it at a New Jersey auction, won the album and shipped it to me here in Canada.

Bertha Timmerman Fichter

The album has slots for 64 cabinet cards, and one tintype. 2 Cabinet Cards are missing, for a total of 63 ancestor family photos in this album. 15 of the Cabinet Card photographs were identified with writing on the album pages.

With the identification of those 15 photos and the clues from the photographers who took the photographs, I was able to find the family in the census for Chicago Illinois and determine that this album belonged to the Timmerman Family.

The Timmerman Family Photo Album is full of beautiful photographs, most taken in the period 1890 - 1910. Most of the photos were taken by photographers in Chicago Illinois - Morrison, Jaeger, Hoffman Studios, Vahlteich and others. A few were taken in Omaha Nebraska.

I wondered how a Chicago Photo Album over 100 years old ended up at a New Jersey auction, but research found that one of the Timmerman daughters (Bertha Timmerman) married a man named George Fichtner and moved from Chicago to Boontown New Jersey sometime between 1910 and 1920. No doubt the album was cared for by this daughter and her descendants for many years.

Olive Tree Genealogy has scanned several of the photos and published them online for all descendants and interested researchers to enjoy. I will be scanning all the photos and placing them all online in hopes that genealogists will recognize an ancestor. I've also written up the genealogy research I did on the Timmerman family and published it online as well. Hopefully interested descendants will enjoy this look into the family photographs of more than 100 years ago.

There are 63 other antique family photo albums (mostly from the Civil War era) online on Lost Faces on Olive Tree Genealogy website. More are being added as I scan them.

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

Learn to Recognize 5 Types of 19th Century Photographs

Personal Collection L. McGinnis Schulze

Do you need help to date a treasured photo found in grandma's trunk or shoebox in the attic? Were you lucky enough to inherit great-grandma's antique photo album? Then the video I created is for you! 
 

My  video shows early 19th century photographs and explains how to recognize each one. You can watch it on Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel.

In the  video I introduce five types of photographs from 1839 on - Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, CDVs (Cartes de Visite) and Cabinet Cards. In the video you will learn about the time periods in which these various photographic techniques were used and see examples from my personal collection. 

You can also visit Lost Faces for more information on 19th Century photos and examples from Civil War era Photo Albums. Lost Faces also contains over 1,500 CDVs, Tintypes and Cabinet Cards from my collection.

I plan to make more videos on Dating Photographs Using Fashion, Hairstyles, Revenue Stamps, Type of Photograph and Photographer's markings. 

If You Need Help Dating Early Photographs, You'll Want to Read This

From personal collection of L. Massey

I am fascinated by the customs and traditions that women followed during the time period of the Civil War. Their clothing, their hairstyle, jewelry and even their poses reflect the social nuances of the times. Children’s portraits of this time period also intrigue me, as during the Civil War era they were dressed as miniature adults.

All these fashion clues can help us to date an early photograph. 

One of my most unique finds is a CDV (Cartes de Visite) of a young child with his rocking horse. It is rare to find portraits of children with their toys or familiar objects, for they were expected to behave as adults and stand or sit very still during their sitting for the photographer. 

There are few casual photographs and people were most often posed formally for their photos. Often women hold an actual CDV Civil War album, or a book. But rarely is it a personal item with meaning to the individual

This is an early CDV (Cartes de Visite) of a young boy on his rocking horse. Even though he is in a dress we can tell he is a boy because of the side part in the hair. Girls' hair was parted in the middle. We can also estimate his age, since dresses and skirts were only put on boys who were not yet toilet trained. Training generally began around age 2.

If this were a photo of your ancestor and you knew the year it was taken you could estimate his year of birth from the clues above.

To date this CDV we could look at the edges. If it has square corners it is before 1872. Rounded corners were made after 1872. Sometimes a CDV has its corners cut to fit into an album slot and then it can be difficult to determine what the original shape was.

There are many ways to date an early Carte de visite and other photographs.  See Lost Faces page on dating early photographs for more help. Be sure to 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

Bridgeport Connecticut Photos Rescued

Recently I purchased 35 loose Cabinet Cards and CDVs (Cartes de Visite) that had been removed from an old photo album and were up for sale. Every photo except one was clearly identified and I had a bit of fun yesterday scanning the photos and researching the family.

 This is one of the photos. It's a really lovely photograph of two children, almost certainly brother and sister. They are labelled in period handwriting "Edmon & Fannie". This is the only identified photo that does not include a surname.

Because little Edmon is wearing a dress, we know he is a toddler and not toilet-trained, so probably around 2 years of age. 

The photo is a CDV with rounded corners and this can help date it. Rounded corners on CDVs did not begin until 1872.

Studying the photographer's mark on the verso of this CDV and finding out when M. Smith was in business, as well as studying the clothing styles, children's hair and other clues would allow this photo to be dated with some precision.

From my research yesterday it appears the photos may all connected through family relationships. For example there are 5 photos of brothers and sisters of the Williams family of Bridgeport Connecticut. This became evident as I searched census records on Ancestry.com . I believe, but have not yet proven. that 2 other Williams photos are of wives of two of the brothers.

The Williams family consisted of Benjamin Williams and his wife Elizabeth Goss. Benjamin was born in Maine and Elizabeth in New Brunswick Canada. All the children were born in New Brunswick. The photos I have are of the siblings Simeon, Orlo, Hartley, Eva and Samuel. 

There are photos of the Deniger family, also of Bridgeport. Joseph Henry Deniger and his sister Gertrude are two that I have found so far. Interestingly, their father Joseph Deniger Sr. was born in Canada and their mother Harriet was a Chatfield before her marriage. In the group of photos is one labelled "Uncle Lew Chatfield" and I found 21 year old Lewis Chatfield living with Joseph Deniger Sr in 1860 in Bridgeport.

I hope to have these lovely photos scanned, researched and online on Lost Faces soon. Meantime here is a list of the surnames written on the photos:

Williams, Jackson, Henderson, Morgan, Wells, Deniger, Night, Curtis, Dumbull, Marley, Carpenter, Ferry, Chatfield, Rider, Bowen, Smith, Diott, Polk

Locations of photographic studios were: New York, Bridgeport Conneticut, Danbury Connecticut, Boston Massachusetts, Norwalk Connecticut, Kingston Ontario, Gananoque Ontario, Davis New York, Poughkeepsie New York, Chicago Illinois, Detroit Michigan, and Lynn (Massachusetts?)

Sixteen of the photos were taken in Bridgeport Connecticut.

Organizing Family Photos - Creating a Plan

Today I decided the time has come to sort, scan and organize my physical photographs. I have thousands. Some are older family photos going back to 1900 from my mother, her sister, my aunt and my mother's cousin. Some are my family photos from when I was a child, and others are from my life since 1970. 

I also have my personal collection of CDVs, Cabinet Cards, tintypes, ambrotypes and daguerreotypes. I  estimated I have over 3,000 of those. 

To start with I am concentrating on my family photos. You can see most of what I have in the photo on the left.  

As you can see currently they are tossed into plastic tubs but I want to store them in archival quality boxes.

The first thing I did this morning was take a look to see what sizes of photographs I need to store. That allows me to determine the size of boxes I need and make an estimate as to how many will be required.

Then I started making my plan. First - I decided what my goal was for these photos - what is the final outcome I want? I know I want to eventually scan them all so I need one box for unscanned photos. Some have been scanned already and those are already sorted into tubs so that will be fairly quick to get into archival boxes when they arrive.

Any plan for organizing photos will depend on how you want to store them - by family groups? By time periods? By names of the person you are going to give them to? The choice is personal. I want to give some of mine to my adult children as soon as possible, others I want to keep for my grandchildren when they are older and some I want to hang on to myself.

I decided I needed 8 boxes to hold 4x6 photos, 1 box for 8x10 and 1 box for 11x14. With the 4x6 boxes I will have one box for photographs for each of my grown children, one for recent photographs I don't want to part with yet, one box for my life as a child growing up with my parents, one box for my maternal grandmother's family and one for my maternal grandfather's family. 

When my boxes arrive I will sort the photos I have already scanned and get them put away. Scanning the photos not yet scanned will be something I do in bits and pieces over the coming months.

Next week I will create an organizational plan for my personal collection of mid 19th century photos and share that. I still have to create a plan for my digitized and scanned photos so I will work on that later this week and share it here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog.

Looking for Photos of Early Black Families and Individuals in Ontario

This is a request for anyone who has, or knows of, 19th century photographs of black families living in Ontario. 

Schumacker Family of Salem Ontario

I've been approached by a historian at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) asking for help finding appropriate photos for a project.  

The historian is looking for early studio photos (ambrotypes, Daguereotypes, CDVs, tintypes, Cabinet Cards) as well as vernacular (candid and not posed) photos of more recent years.

The only resource I know of online is the Alvin McCurdy Collection at the Archives of ONtario. She is already using those in her study. I have sent her copies of the few that I have.

Copies of originals are acceptable for study or she is willing to purchase originals that might be for sale. Family albums are also of interest to her. If you have any photographs of Ontario black families that you would be willing to share or sell, please direct responses to me (Lorine) at olivetreegenealogy@gmail.com 

This sounds like a wonderful research project!

Identifyiing Old Photographs Part 3

The following article was originally written by Lorine McGinnis Schulze and published on Olive Tree Genealogy at http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/photos/photo-types.shtml

It may not be reproduced in any way without my written consent.

Carte de Visite or CDVs (ca 1859)

CDV stands for carte de visite, a photographic calling card. The CDV process, which began in France in 1854, involved a special camera that produced eight poses on one negative. The CDV quickly replaced the old glass images of the ambrotypes, producing a card the size of the then standard calling card, around 2.5 by 4".

The CDV’s albumen process produced a negative from which any number of prints could be made - and on early CDVs it was important for the photographer to note that more prints were always available.

CDVs arrived in the United States around 1859, on the eve of the Civil War (1861-1865) during which demand skyrocketed as soldiers and their loved ones sought an affordable image remembrance. Many people began collecting portraits of political figures, actors and actresses, Civil War generals, as well as family and friends. Special photo albums were designed especially for cartes-de-visite.

In the United States, the carte-de-visite played second fiddle to cheaper variations on the daguerreotype theme. Thus the early CDVs are rather uncommon. CDV with square corners pre 1872  CDV with rounded corners after 1872. Jemima Van Slyke< CDV with corners cut to fit album. You must use fashion clues, revenue stamps or photographer logo or name to date the photograph 

Next  I will talk about  Cabinet Cards. Also see my YouTube Video Five Types of Early 19th Century Photographs 

Orphan Album: Swiss Photo Album with Chimney Sweeps

Recently Alice H. wrote to me about an antique photo album  she purchased many years ago.

I have a very old photo album that I purchased at an antique store many years ago & have been looking for a place to send it. if you would like to have them just send me an address & they will be yours.. I hate to see them waste away.

 Alice went on to add that she bought the album many years ago in Glendale Arizona but that no one in the store knew anything about where they came from originally. The photos are from Switzerland with a few from Germany and none of the individuals are identified by name.

I plan to scan and publish the photos on Lost Faces in hopes someone might recognize an ancestor. All the photos are CDVs (Cartes de Visite) and appear to be from 1860s-1880s.

CDV Chimney Sweeps

Here is one that really interested me. It appears to be a photo of three Chimney Sweeps. Note their ladder and brooms and traditional Chimney Sweep top hats. All of them are wearing small shovels used to rake out ashes. I do not know if these shovels on their lapels are an insignia or actual working tools.

Chimney Sweeps Verso
J. ZURKIRCH RHEINECK und ALTSTAEDTEN
1885

Lost Faces Photo Album - Is one your ancestor?

This is another album in my collection of Civil War era photo albums. It appears to be mostly of the Chidester family and most of the photos are mid to late 1860s

Below is the list of names which were written on the album pages in period handwriting.

Most of the photos are CDVs (Cartes de Visite) but there are several early tintypes.

As I scan these photos front and back I will be putting them online on Lost Faces on my Olive Tree Genealogy website. They will join 63 other antique photo albums I have there.

1. blank
2. Uncle McKay and Aunt Lib
3. Grandma Chedister
4. Uncle Leander Chedister
5. Sadoc? Chidester
6. Aunt Jennie Pittenger
7. Uncle Frank Chidester
8. Uncle Grant Chidester
9. Uncle Earna Chidester
10. Lat? McKay
11. Unlce Vint and Aunt Huldah Deyo
12. blank
13. Uncle Elliot Chidester
14. Vinnie Larua Chidester Uncle Floyd
15. blank
16. Uncle Smith Thorp
17. Aunt Mandy Tharp
18. Fanny and Harvey Tharp
19. Uncle Grant
20. Aunt Almira Law
21. x Daughter Clara
22. Uncle Adam Law
23. blank
24. blank
25. Violet and Chas Strong
26. blank
27. Illinois Soldiers Indiana 1861
28. Cousin Leander Chidester
29. Lille Wiley McFadden
30. Hettie Pittenger (right) Daisy and Aunt Deyo
31. Daisy Perrin
32. Grandma Deyo
33. Frank Deyo
34. Alvira and Deyo
35. blank
36. Sadie McKay Duncan
37. May McKay Perry
38. Cousin Lurns grandchildren
39. blank
40. Uncle and Aunt Bissh who Pa staid [sic] with after he was 12 

Kirby Orphaned Photo Album - Step by Step Discoveries

Last week I purchased 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. The next day I started documenting and researching to see if I could find the family whose pictures were in this beautiful album.

It's been a challenge. There are very few names written in full, instead I found tantalizing references written on the backs of some of the photos: "Lillian and Baby Donalda", "4 Generations",  "Mother is 76 years old and growing younger every day" But no surnames! No hint of the relationship to the writer or the album owner.

After carefully removing and photographing all 120 photographs, I made a list of each one. I entered full details - photographer's name, location photo taken, any writing on reverse of photo, estimated time period of photo (based on visual clues such as clothing, hairstyles, type of photograph etc)

When I realized there were no clues re family surnames except for the inscription Maude M. Kirby in the front of the album, I decided to research Maude on Ancestry.com.  Unfortunately there are hundreds of Maude M. Kirby names, and without knowing a country of time period, I could not narrow the results to something manageable. Remember, I don't know when Maude owned this album and I don't believe she was the only owner as the photos range from early 1860s to late 1920s. I suspect more than one person owned this photo album

Also re country of the owner or the individuals in the album - some CDVs were from English photographers and one was from Brantford Ontario Canada. Since I purchased the album in Ontario, I had a hunch the album started its life in England and then came to Canada with family. Narrowing my search for Maude to England and then Canada and then Ontario did not help. There were still too many results.

One early CDV (ca 1870s) was of a minister. Written on the photo was his name "Rev. W. Mitchell". The photographer, Boak, was a Driffield studio.  A search online showed that Matthew Boak had a studio in Driffield as early as 1873.

Since many of the early CDVs were taken by photographers in Driffield, Yorkshire England I decided to find out what church Rev. Mitchell had ministered. It seemed to me that the family would hold their own minister in high enough regard to have his photo, and therefore they likely attended his church. A search of the church records might reveal a Kirby family or even Maude M. Kirby herself.

No need to go into details but that idea did not pan out. Yes I found Rev. Mitchell mentioned as minister of an Independent Church in Driffield and reference to a sermon he gave in 1863. But there was no mention of Kirby in the online Driffield church records and in fact Great Driffield records do not appear to be online at this time.

Lillian & Baby Donalda

I also searched on FamilySearch, thinking perhaps I could make an educated "guess" as to relationships, then enter the first names only. For example the photo with writing "Lillian and Baby Donalda" was a picture of a woman and a young baby. It appeared to be taken ca 1920s and my theory was that Lillian was the mother with her child. So I searched for a child Donalda born ca 1920-1930 with mother Lillian but was met with disappointment.

Continuing to search with so little information was proving fruitless so hubs and I laid the photos out on our coffee table and began studying them for clues. It is amazing what you can discover if you really study and analyze such things as the background of a photo, the architecture of a building, the vegetation in an outdoor snap.

This is not a quick or easy process and took us several days of intensive study and discussion - comparing our findings with each other, trying to confirm hunches and basically coming up with any new clues or theories that we could. I made lists of all the clues we were discovering.

For example, one outdoor photo was of a monument of some kind with statues of Indians. On the verso in handwriting it said "Victoria Park 1907" A Google search turned up dozens of Victoria Park references in different countries so that wasn't much help. But the Indian statues provided a clue that this photo was likely taken in North America and not England or another country.

Then we did a reverse image search using Google and there it was - the monument in the photo was of Joseph Brant and is on display in Brantford Ontario. So we had another reference to Brantford. It wasn't enough to enable us to find the family but at least it confirmed that Brantford had some connection to the family.

My journey continues and through this blog I will share the clues, the discoveries, the successes and the failures in my hunt to discover where this album belongs and what family held it so dear for over 60 years. Readers can follow along with me by using the link for Kirby Photo Archive

5 Types of Early 19th Century Photographs - a YouTube Video

I'm very excited to introduce my FIRST video about early 19th century photographs! You can watch it on Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel.

Do you need help to date a treasured photo found in grandma's trunk or shoebox in the attic? Were you lucky enough to inherit great-grandma's antique photo album? Then this video is for you!

In this video I introduce five types of photographs from 1839 on - Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, CDVs (Cartes de Visite) and Cabinet Cards. In the video you will learn about the time periods in which these various photographic techniques were used and see examples from my personal collection. 

You can also visit Lost Faces for more information on 19th Century photos and examples from Civil War era  Photo Albums. I will also be making videos on Dating Photographs Using Fashion, Hairstyles, Revenue Stamps, Type of Photograph and Photographer's markings. 

I have other videos planned in this series but what would YOU like to see? If I can create it, I will. 

Using Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner to Document Civil War Photo Albums

Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner on my lap

One of the things I love about my Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner is the ability to sit on the couch and scan photos.

It's not just for packing up and taking on the road on trips to Libraries, Archives or Museums (although it's terrific for that!)

After sitting most of the day at my main computer I want a change. So my evenings are perfect for relaxing in a comfy chair or on the couch with my Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner on my lap. It's small. It's so light I'm hardly aware it's on my lap.

Scanning the back of the CDVs

Yesterday I spent some time documenting one of my Civil War Era Photo Albums that I buy and then put online on Lost Faces.

After I take camera shots of each page of the intact album, I carefully remove the photos and begin scanning them front and back.

With my Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner I can watch TV at the same time, or sit on the couch, which is much more comfortable than my computer chair. Because I'm scanning CDVs and tintypes I can scan two at a time.

When I transfer the scans to my computer (easy using the Flip-Pal USB port converter) I simply save two copies of each scan, then I open each one in Picasa (or any photo editing software) and crop the scans so I have one photo per image.

It's fast, it's easy and it's fun! After I scan each photo I place them in archival sleeves and then they go into an archival binder. Then more fun because that's when I start doing research to find the individuals named in the album!

The album I documented and scanned and archived yesterday turns out to be for a Quaker family named Smith Battey and his wife Ruth Aldrich who lived in Rhode Island.

It didn't take long to realize what a gem this album is. It contains 31 CDVs and tintypes, including some of Smith Battey, his wife Ruth and three of their children (as adults): Thomas, Nancy and Phoebe.  But I'll talk more about the Battey Photo Album another day.

Who can Identify this Mystery Building circa 1870s?

This is a photo (a CDV or Carte de visite) of a mystery building with a crowd of men and women in front.

Some are looking out the windows of this building which is draped in bunting. A photograph of a man is placed over the front door and you can see the crush of people at the door.

My best guess is that this is a funeral, perhaps of a President, certainly of an important man.

From the type of photograph (Carte de Visite), the clothing styles, with the women in bustle dresses and hats perched atop their heads, and the men in bowlers and long coats, I estimate the date to be circa 1872-1880. However bowler hats were worn from 1850-1900 and bustles were in style from about 1860-1900 so it is difficult to narrow the timeline with certainty.

What I would like to know is

* What and where is this building?

* What is the occassion?

The only other clues I have are that this photograph was the last in an album of Cabinet Cards from Chicago Illinois photographers. Two were from Omaha Nebraska but more than 60 of the photos in the album were from Chicago. The image itself is not clear, it is rather fuzzy and faded so it is not possible to make out good details. In fact, I manipulated the colours and the sharpness of the original in order to get as clear and sharp an image as possible to post here.

Anyone care to guess what this building is and where it is?