Category Archives: Photos With Names

The Brooks Family of Newburg, Oklahoma, Circa 1916

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Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1916. AZO stamp box.

Price:  $15.00

Benjamin Edward Brooks, his wife Loucinda (Oden) Brooks and their children Rosa and Leonard.

Benjamin was born in Arkansas, September 3, 1878, per his WWII Draft Registration, or 1879, according to his gravestone. He married Loucinda Oden, August 30, 1900. The marriage record lists both as residents of Gerty, Indian Territory, Oklahoma. The groom was age 21 and the bride age 14. Benjamin, according to this postcard, seems to have gone by his middle name. You can see the writing on the front, left to right, of  “Rosa, Uncle Edward, Leonard, Aunt Sendia.”  And, if you look closely, you’ll notice stenciling on the wood above the cabin door. It’s pretty difficult to make out, but it looks like it includes some numbers, so maybe it was some type of i.d. for the lumber company. The 1920 and ’30 Federal Census’ shows the family living in Newburg, OK. Per cemetery records, Rosa Mae Brooks was born May 6, 1902 and Leonard O. Brooks, September 9, 1912.

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: Newburg, Hughes, Oklahoma; Roll: T625_1465; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 72. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1930; Census Place: Hinton, Caddo, Oklahoma; Roll: 1895; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0034; FHL microfilm: 2341629. (Ancestry.com)

The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the State of Oklahoma; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147.

“Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVP6-LM7V : 4 November 2017), Edward Brooks and Loucinda Oden, 1900.

“Rosa Mae Dilbeck.” Find A Grave memorial #128124881. (Findagrave.com).

“Leonard O. Brooks.” Find A Grave memorial #14574732. (Findagrave.com).

Mrs. Delia Hoak, Idaho, Circa 1930

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Two old photos, circa 1925 – 1935.

Price for the pair:  $15.00           Size for photo on left: 2 and 5/8 x 4 and 3/8″

Size for photo on right:  3 and 1/8 x 5″

“Delia on her mount…..Taken after Ernest’s & Cleo’s wedding when they went to Rupert.”

Most likely these are photos of Delia Olive Bull, born September 12, 1909 in Rupert, Idaho, daughter of Walter A. Bull and Victoria Virginia Howell. Delia married John William Hoak October 25, 1926 in Minidoka County, Idaho. Though the back of the photo on our right shows “Delia or Mrs. Coke,” no matches were found, so the correction in pencil to “Hoak” would be correct. The photo on the left might have been taken before Delia married, as she looks younger in that snapshot. The 1930 Federal Census for Boise shows John, Delia and their two young sons, Willis and Kenneth.

As for the newlyweds, Cleo and Ernest, there are a few possible couples that fit the time period with these given names, in Idaho.

Sources:  Idaho State Department of Health; Boise, Idaho; Idaho Birth and Stillbirth Index, 1913-1964. (Ancestry.com).

Upper Snake River Family History Center and Ricks College; Rexburg, Idaho; Idaho Marriages, 1842-1996. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1930; Census Place: Boise, Ada, Idaho; Roll: 395; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0012; FHL microfilm: 2340130. (Ancestry.com).

W. J. & Family At Old Home On Colorado

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Photo from 1911 printed to canvas on wooden board and frame

Price:  $20.00        Size:  10 x 7 and 3/4″    

Condition:  Some scratches, markings and canvas tears

Surname mystery

This was an unusual find at, it was either an antique store or a thrift store. (Yikes, I guess this means I have to start writing them all down.) So, it was somebody’s cool idea to take an old family photo (their family or one they just found and liked) and have the image transferred to a canvas (or canvas-like) type of surface. It was then glued onto a thin board on a wooden frame, so that it could go up on that person’s wall. (Now it’s on mine.) It’s the fourth for me, of those that are not family but have become family. A couple have names but nobody’s claimed them yet, another has no name, and then there’s this one:  What in the world is this family’s surname? Ferris, Harris, Ferix misspelled as Farrix (can’t find surname Farrix). Even with a magnifying glass, and in the sunlight, it’s hard to say. The location could be almost anywhere, too, since it appears to say “on Colorado” rather than in Colorado or on the Colorado, as in River. Well, but whoever they are, they’re a beautiful group of seven people and two dogs (didn’t the dogs do well to not move too much while the photo was being taken? 🙂 ) Love that wooden fence, and the porch running the length of the house. The home seems to have been pretty big, and it’s rustic-looking. Was it originally a log cabin? We can’t see the details. You’ll notice a windmill behind the house on the right. But, it really strikes me with an impression so significant, a feeling that we could wave to the family and they’d wave back across this current span (insignificant, really) of six and one hundred (going old-school here) years.

Our Horseback Adventure

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Old photo, white border. September 1922.

Price:  $15.00            Size:  About 2 and 1/2  4 and 1/4″

A great remembrance of a wonderful day:  Three friends, identified on the back as Florence Gallison, Zilda Smith and Maude Fields, September 1922. The three cowgirls at heart are posed on horseback in front of a scenic view in, it’s a safe bet to say the Sierras, maybe in or near the Stanislaus National Forest, or Yosemite National Park. Reason being is that the three were only found in reasonable proximity, living in the Central Valley of California: Florence and Maude in Turlock and Zilda in Stockton.

Note: There were two Florence Gallison’s in the area, but Florence G. Gallison was ruled out as she was a Gallison by marriage, and was not married until after 1922.

Below, a short news blip that appeared in the Modesto Evening News, June 17, 1914, informing that Florence (she would have been about fourteen) was spending the summer in Sugar Pine, California (near the south entrance to Yosemite National Park.)

UPDATE re a banjo:  Please be sure to read the comment below from Jay, who so kindly provided the color photos. As you will note from one of the photos, our three horseback adventurers were part of a musical endeavor called the Yosemite Blind Bats. As of March 28, 1923, the band members were:

F. C. Alexander; H. A. “Red” Halls; A. I. or A. L. Mill; F. M. Gallison; M. A. Stout; A. B. Leavitt; Gene DePaul or Depauli; Maude Field; Zilda Smith; “Edythe” Leavitt.

From our research, F. C. Alexander was Fred Colville Alexander, born Kentucky 1885. A. B. Leavitt was Amy Belle Leavitt, born San Francisco, California, April 1897. Fred and Amy married in September 1923. They were both residents of Yosemite at the time. From Fred’s WWI Draft Registration Card in 1918, his occupation was property clerk and storekeeper at Yosemite National Park, and interestingly from a musical standpoint, deaf in his right ear. By at least 1926 he was postmaster at Yosemite. (Scroll to the bottom of the page for a clip from the Santa Cruz Evening News.)

“Edythe” Leavitt was Amy Belle’s sister. Spelled Edith in records, we love the hinting toward some type of running joke re the quotation marks. She was born in California, about 1901.

And, rather grainy, but still a nice find – a photo of Zilda Smith that appeared in the Stockton Evening and Sunday Record, July 1924:

Other readable names from the banjo photos are:  Pete Van Bake; Thelma Britton; Philip Patterson; [?] Van Wormer; Bob Davison; B. B. Harlett; E. M.[?] Metcalf; G. E. Comstock; [?] Thompson; The Brockway Splashes. (Brockway is an unincorporated community on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, at the California-Nevada border.)

Photos from Jay:

Below, Postmaster, Fred Alexander of Yosemite is involved in the arrest/custody of two n’er do wells:

Sources:  Florence Gallison. Year: 1920; Census Place: Turlock, Stanislaus, California; Roll: T625_152; Pages: 1B; Enumeration District: 188. (Ancestry.com).

Maude Fields. Year: 1920; Census Place: Turlock, Stanislaus, California; Roll: T625_152; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 184. (Ancestry.com).

Zilda Smith. R. L. Polk and Co.’s Stockton City and San Joaquin County Directory, 1925. Vol. 18, p. 59. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

Modesto Evening News, June 17, 1914. Wednesday, p. 7. (Newspapers.com)

Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1850-1941.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Stockton Ward 4, San Joaquin, California; Roll: T624_103; Page: 1a; Enumeration District: 0144; FHL microfilm: 1374116. (Ancestry.com).

“Planting Young Trout in Lakes and Streams Requires Extreme Care.” Stockton Evening and Sunday Record, July 26, 1924. Saturday, p. 29. (Newspapers.com)

“Former Postmaster of Arkansas Town Arrested With Female Companion.” Santa Cruz Evening News, June 25, 1926. Friday, p. 1. (Newspapers.com)

A U. S. Navy Man, WWI

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Real Photo Postcard, unused with writing. Circa 1914 – 1918. EKC stamp box.

Price:  $10.00

For Veteran’s Day….

“Best Wishes & Good Luck to a splendid Bunk Mate, Charles Ed. Sickler. Paxton, Ill. R-R-I.”

Most likely we’re looking at Charles Ed. Sickler in the photo (at least one presumes!) as it sounds like this writer of best wishes was giving this remembrance of himself, along with his mailing address, to his buddy, “the splendid Bunk Mate.” A cool guy, Charles, you can read his perhaps dry sense of humor in the card. The RR1 would be Rural Route 1. But no confirmation was found for him in census, military or city directory records, and that is surprising.

Bub At Shaft House, Houghton, 1937

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Photo, Autumn 1937, Houghton, Michigan

Price:  $6.00       Size:  2 and 3/4 x 4 and 1/2″

Another for Copper Country….

Just when I was about to give up looking for a match for this mine shaft, I came across an old photo and postcard. See Mindat’s No. 1 Shaft, Isle Royale Mine. True, the structure showing in that photo is too far in the background to pick out much beyond its outline, but that, along with the old postcard captioned,  “Houghton Mich., Rock House, Isle Royal Mine”  (appearing twice in the Google image search, below) seems to verify the i.d. of the mine, or if not verify, then drive up really close to it 😉 verification-wise, that is. Bear in mind that the postcard was colored, and also (per its reverse) was printed in Germany, for sale in the U. S., so circa 1907 – 1914, and our photo is from 1937, so there could have been some changes by the latter date, then too, any difference we might perceive could be due to the different angle. (i.e. where’s the chimney on the structure on the far left?)

On some last notes….

“Bub” wasn’t found in records, but it’s always worth a quick search; sometimes one gets lucky. And….what was set on top of our photo (or what was it set in) to give it the odd, sort of interior frame? The shape looks familiar, like we could just put our finger on it, but not quite.

Sources:  Isle Royale No. 1 Shaft, Isle Royal Mines, Houghton, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA. https://www.mindat.org/loc-125598.html. (accessed September 10, 2017).

Google.com search for “images of postcards of Isle Royale Mine Houghton MI.” (accessed September 10, 2017).

Tempy (Franklin) Gentry And Carrie Gentry

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Photo, Temperance Gentry and granddaughter, Carrie. Circa 1905. Photographer unknown. Possible location:  Shelton, NC.

Price:  $15.00           Size including matting:  5 x 7 and 1/4″

These are kin (I have southern roots so the vernacular comes natural) to Cay Ricker from the prior post (Cay, at least the name appears to be written as such) is cousin to Lula Gentry. Lula is possibly Sara Lula Ricker who marries Starling R. Gentry. Their daughter is Carrie Gentry who marries Thomas William Tribell. Carrie is the little girl in this photo, with her grandmother, Temperance Franklin who married Andrew Jackson Gentry. We were lucky to find all three photos with names and relationships on the back of each. Tempy, is written here as “Tempty” and maybe she was called both, we wouldn’t know, but Tempy seems to have been a common nickname for Temperance, according to many other family trees. And it’s a beautiful photo of two lovely ladies, seated outside, and posing for the camera. Carrie holds what looks to be a round fan.

Carrie, born June 13, 1900, in White Rock, North Carolina, is the daughter of Starling R. Gentry and Sarah Lula Ricker.

Tempy was born Tennessee, September 1852, according to the 1900 Federal Census for Shelton, Laurel Township, Madison County, North Carolina. She appears there with her husband, Andrew Gentry and six of their children. Next door, or at least, next on the census taker’s entries, were three other Gentry families, including Carrie’s immediate family, though Carrie is not listed there, she would have been one day old. (By, the way, Tempy’s husband, was the enumerator of this census.) Tempy, per Ancestry trees, is the daughter of David Franklin and Rhoda Shelton.

Sources:  Register of Deeds. North Carolina Birth Indexes. Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1900; Census Place: Shelton Laurel, Madison, North Carolina; Roll: 1205; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0074; FHL microfilm: 1241205. (Ancestry.com)

Cay Ricker, Mobile, Alabama

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Oval photo of Cay Ricker. Circa 1908 – 1909. Brown’s Art Studio. Mobile, Alabama.

Price:  $15.00          Size including cardboard matting:  About 3 and 1/2 x 7″

An oval portrait of a handsome young man, identified on the back as ,  “Cay Ricker, cousin of Lula Gentry.”   His jacket has a military look to it. (This seemed a natural segue from the prior post. 😉 ) The photography studio name and location is embossed on the front of the frame:  Brown’s Art Studio.

Brown’s Art Studio was found in city directories in 1908 at 21 N. Conception. The 1909 shows this address under photographer name J. F. Brown.

Cay’s ancestry is more of a puzzle, but his cousin Lula is possibly the Sarah Lula Ricker who married Starling R. Gentry (parents of Carrie Gentry, the little girl in the next post). Cay, if we’re reading it correctly from the back of the photo, could be a middle name (very common in the Southern states) or a nickname.

Sources:  Delchamps’ Greater Mobile City Directory, 1908. p. 938. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

Delchamps’ Greater Mobile City Directory, 1909. p. 981. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

George Gordon Bemis

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Set of three:  Two photos size:  About 2 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/4″  and 2 x 6″ and calling card.

Price:  $18.00

Three wonderful finds from Hollister, California:  Formal photography of George Gordon Bemis, as a boy in a sailor suit (name written in pencil on the back) and as a young man in a photo taken by the Bauter photography studio in Antigo, Wisconsin, and lastly, his calling card, showing “G. Gordon Bemis.”

Much can be found online for George Gordon Bemis, born December 2, 1896 in Antigo, Wisconsin, including photos from college yearbooks, WWI Draft registration, census records and a detailed obituary on Find A Grave. The obit states he had married Mary Ross, they had one son, George, Jr., who like his father, became a doctor. G. Gordon Bemis graduated from Harvard with a degree in medicine in 1925. He died in the Bronx, New York October 31, 1982. Backtracking to 1910, the Federal Census taken in Antigo, Wisconsin, shows Gordon with his parents, George M. and Matie E., and sisters Grace M. and Mildred H. His father’s occupation is listed here as timber inspector.

As for the photography studio, we see that it had belonged to photographer Fred W. Bauter, listed on the 1920 census in Antigo, born about 1870. We’ll see if we can find more details for Fred Bauter in an upcoming post.

Sources:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Antigo Ward 1, Langlade, Wisconsin; Roll: T624_1718; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 1375731. (Ancestry.com)

Fred W. Bauter. Year: 1920; Census Place: Antigo Ward 2, Langlade, Wisconsin; Roll: T625_1993; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 109

Registration State: Wisconsin; Registration County: Dane; Roll: 1674749. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.

Find A Grave Memorial# 114936131. Findagrave.com. (accessed August 28, 2017).

Gusta And Her Flock

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Divided back, unused, Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1907 – 1918. AZO stamp box.

Price:  $7.00

“To Myrtie from Gusta and her little flock.”

Gusta (looking very much as if she is in a priest’s robe) showing off her six grandchildren for friend, Myrtie, in this posed photo. Note the ornately carved wooden high-backed bench, likely provided by the photographer.

“Grandma – 52 yrs.; Francis – 11; George – 9; Clare – 5; Elsie – 4; Mabel – 2; Dempster – 3 mo.”

The surname (or names) are unknown for this family. Hopefully, someone will be searching for this set of given names and find them here.