Category Archives: Photos With Names

Mary Kottmyer in Chicago

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, used. Circa early 1910’s.

Price:  $15.00

The smartly-dressed Mary in suit and ostrich-plume hat. We’re guessing she’s in her early twenties…..

As you’ve noticed, this card was postmarked but the date and location stamp portion didn’t make it, though odds are it went through Chicago. The sign under Mary’s left hand, when darkened in Photoshop, shows “Chicago Express.”  That being said, this is a photographer’s set up (albeit a nice one) as the scene behind her looks a little too clean and contrived. Indeed, the iron railing has the same look, and note the lack of space someone would have had to exit that door. (Rather amusing and obvious once you notice it!) Mary’s surname we’re basing on some online searches for similar possibilities and looking at the rest of the writing (the “e” in particular). But the correct spelling could just as easily be Kottmeyer, with the person who penned it just being unaware. One gets the impression that the handwriting on our left is much later, as if Emaline was going through a group of old cards and photos and adding names and locations.

Addressed to:   “Emaline Keebler, 1304 Prichard St. Pittsburg Pa.”

Emaline M. Keebler was easily found in census records at this address. Per the 1940 Federal Census in Pittsburgh, she was born about 1897 in PA, single, occupation teacher at a public school. Further info was found on Find A Grave:  born November 15, 1896, daughter of Emil Andrew Keebler and Clara Olga (Kirbach) Keebler.

Sources:  Year: 1940; Census Place: Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03670; Page: 63A; Enumeration District: 69-589.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/109707824/emaline-m-keebler: accessed 26 September 2023), memorial page for Emaline M. Keebler (15 Nov 1896–21 Jul 1984), Find a Grave Memorial ID 109707824, citing Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Mount Lebanon, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by texjenn (contributor 48885098).

Vinita Belle Lowry

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Real Photo Postcard, 1919. Unused. ARTURA stamp box. 

Price:  $15.00

Such a cute baby and how excellent that the family member gave us the description on the reverse:

“Vinita Belle Lowry at the age of 13 months.”

Vinita Belle’s date of birth was February 22, 1918, so this photo then was taken in March of 1919. Her parents were Claud Lowry and Effie (Dickerson) Lowry. Find A Grave has a lot of information for the family including a long obit for Vinita. See link below:

Source:  Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38993488/vinita-kollmeyer: accessed 10 July 2023), memorial page for Vinita Lowry Kollmeyer (22 Feb 1918–25 Mar 2007), Find a Grave Memorial ID 38993488, citing Hazelwood Cemetery, Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Judy Young (contributor 46792475).

Mazie

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Old photo, white border. Circa 1899 – 1905

Price:  $15.00                 Size:  About 2 and 5/8 x 4 and 1/4″

Mazie, a gorgeous girl wearing a large, dark-hued bow which is blending with her hair. Love that smile!

Only Mazie’s given name appears on the reverse, and no location. But by chance, something with the printing, “Indian Head Mills” had been laid face down on top of the photo and this wording transferred onto the image (appearing sideways on the wall to our right). Here’s a crop right side up, along with its mirror image via Photoshop. The much lighter printing is the same lettering reversed, so some family member at some point flipped the item over, the print being dark enough to still make a faint impression.

The Nashua Manufacturing Company of Nashua, New Hampshire had two Indian Head Mill locations, the original in Nashua and a second added in Cordova, Alabama, in 1898. (See link in sources.) Of course, the Mazie in this photograph doesn’t have to have been connected with either area, but we did find a Mazie Louise Jones, born 1889, who married Monroe Wesley Akins. He was born in Cordova, and his WWI Draft Registration in 1918 shows he and Mazie were there, farming.

Below, a couple of articles from Alabama newspapers in January 1898:

Sources:  “A Walk Through Time – Indian Head Mill, Cordova.” 78mag.com. (Accessed July 4, 2023.)

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34014225/mazie-louise-akins: accessed 02 July 2023), memorial page for Mazie Louise Jones Akins (21 Sep 1889–Oct 1956), Find a Grave Memorial ID 34014225, citing Union Chapel Cemetery, Union Chapel, Walker County, Alabama, USA; Maintained by Ed Stallings (contributor 46921758).

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Registration State: Alabama; Registration County: Walker County.

“Indian Head Mills.” The Vernon Courier, January 27, 1898. Thursday, p. 1. (Newspapers.com).

“Making Cloth For China – The Cloth’s Name.” The Birmingham News, January 25, 1898. Tuesday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com).

Little Campers, Rio Grande Canyon, 1930

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Old photo, white border, 1930.

Price:  $10.00            Size:  2 and 11/16 x 2 and 11/16″

“Billy Welsh and Lora Lou Mead at 6 a.m. by Campfire in Rio Grande Canyon near Taos N. Mex in 1930.”

Ha, Billy’s got that, “I need to adjust this campfire” look. Smoke’s probably getting to him a little. Lora Lou with that bonnet definitely has the old-time pioneer look. Pretty cute picture, for sure.

We’re not coming up with an exact match for Lora Lou in online records. (She was the hopeful.) And predictably, there are too many possibilities for Billy.

Ready For Breakfast

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Old photo, white border. April 1914.

Price:  $3.00           Size:  About 2 and 1/2 x 3 and 7/8″

“Vera & Geo just coming home from store. April 1914.”

No surnames or location for this one but perhaps someone will get a kick out a few old memories resurfacing, as I did. My own childhood definitely included going into stores barefoot. (Haven’t thought about that for years. In the summer, it was just about everywhere barefoot, wasn’t it?) And I remember being sent on a cigarette run (Newports in the green package) out of the vending machine mostly…. Anyway back to our photo, Vera’s got the tin of Quaker Puffed Rice and George has the milk – they just need bowls and spoons and they’re all set!

Siblings Argalus and Elizabeth Gray, Circa 1909

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Old photo. North Dakota, circa 1909.

Price:  $12.00             Size:  About 4 x 5″

More adorable kids:  Siblings, Argalus Walter and Elizabeth Lulu Gray. Their parents are Argalus Wilson Gray and Martha Lulu (Carr) Gray. Argalus was born in 1905 and Elizabeth in 1908, both natives of North Dakota. But it’s so sad to find early death dates, especially for children and that is case for Elizabeth, who died in 1918. Hopefully, this will be a meaningful photo for family members to find. Argalus, who died in Minneapolis in 1969, married Frances Steffen and they had a son Robert Steffen Gray.

As for the unusual given name of Argalus, the 1910 Federal Census records nationwide, show about thirty-eight entries for that exact spelling or a corrected spelling. Of course, there are likely some more that were spelled slightly differently on the census, but yes, as you’d think, it’s definitely an uncommon name.

Source:  Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126419038/argalus-walter-gray: accessed 22 June 2023), memorial page for Argalus Walter Gray (3 Aug 1905–7 Feb 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 126419038, citing Acacia Park Cemetery, Mendota Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA; Maintained by Mookie (contributor 47515129).

Clara Matilda Boyce, Albion, Michigan

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Carte-de-Visite. 1872 or 1873. Photographer:  L. J. Trumbull, Albion, Michigan.

Price:  $15.00            Size:  About 2 and 1/2 x 4 and 1/8″

A cutie in an 1870’s-style plaid dress, reclining (well, posed of course, but with that kicked back look 😉 ). Check out the animal-design on that very cool blanket with the face of what is probably a bear, at the bottom-right.

Clara Matilda Boyce was born November 22, 1871 in Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan, and is the daughter of C.W. Boyce and Mary (Holloway) Boyce. Clara married Frank Thomas Tindle in June 1893 in Buffalo, New York. They had four children, Harriet, Mildred, Clara and Frank. Clara (Boyce) Tindle died in 1911, at about age forty.

Photographer, L. J. Trumbull is Lyman J. Trumbull. He married Amy Austin in 1866 and they had two daughters, Rose May and Grace. His occupation on the 1870 Federal Census for Albion, Michigan is listed as “Dagguerian,” meaning he was taking images using the daguerreotype process. Of course, our image of Clara is an actual photo, of the carte-de-visite variety.

By the 1880 census, taken in Middleville, Barry County, Michigan, Lyman’s occupation is minister. From this, and lack of records for him as a photographer, we infer he may not have been in the photo business for very long. He died in 1913 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Sources:  Ancestry.com. Michigan, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1867-1911.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Buffalo, Erie, New York; Roll: 831; Page: 149D; Enumeration District: 163. (Ancestry.com).

“Boyce-Tindle.” The Buffalo Enquirer, June 29, 1893. Thursday, p. 4. (Newspapers.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Buffalo Ward 20, Erie, New York; Roll: T624_947; Page: 12a; Enumeration District: 0197; FHL microfilm: 1374960. (Ancestry.com).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111579767/clara-tindle: accessed 22 June 2023), memorial page for Clara Boyce Tindle (1871–1911), Find a Grave Memorial ID 111579767, citing Forest Lawn, Buffalo, Erie County, New York, USA; Maintained by Jay Boone (contributor 46889203).

“United States Census, 1870”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHH6-LPQ : 29 May 2021), Lyman Trumbull, 1870.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Middleville, Barry, Michigan; Roll: 570; Page: 68A; Enumeration District: 036. (Ancestry.com).

Daguerreotype. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotype (accessed June 10, 2023).

Carte de visite. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_visite (accessed June 22, 2023)

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12060275/lyman-j-trumbull: accessed 22 June 2023), memorial page for Rev Lyman J. Trumbull (1841–28 Mar 1913), Find a Grave Memorial ID 12060275, citing Tempe Double Butte Cemetery, Tempe, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA; Maintained by PhoenixAz (contributor 46628483).

A Hidden Doorway

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Deckled edge. Circa 1910’s. Photographer:  E. Hunter, Schlettstadt. Pt. 773/II. 

Price:  $15.00

An unusual photographic pose if we ever saw one! The whimsical Augustine, wife of Julien Duller, pauses at a “doorway,” her left hand is on the invisible door nob. She’s smiling (with sort of a “knowing” look) back at the camera.

The date is unknown for this card:  The stamp box, one we’ve never come across, is blank except for a small six-pointed star in each of the bottom corners. But we’ll estimate the 1910’s due to the subject’s dress – fitted, column-style in dark wool or maybe linen or heavy cotton; displaying a shawl collar in silk or satin with matching material in a wide band below the bust line; and decorative bands on hip and sleeves. The dress falls below mid-calf to reveal high button-top boots. Her hair is dressed in a short side-part, (dig that one falling curl) up-swept and piled tightly on top for a little height. On her right hand, she wears a pocket watch that was converted into a wristwatch. In the insert below, you can see what’s referred to as “the bow,” which is the part that the chain would have been suspended from – a nice, surprising detail, and possibly an important clue to the postcard’s date, as it was WWI that ushered in the popularity of the wristwatch.

The photographer, E. Hunter, was not found online in any references, but his stamp tells us he was in Schlettstadt, (Sélestat in French and Schlettstàdt in Alsatian) a town in the Grand Est region of France, on the border of Germany.

As for those few words from Augustine, in her beautiful script:  I’m not sure what the first word is but the next would be andenken, and the third looks like genidmet:  translation from German appearing as “souvenir” and “dedicated.” So it’s probably something in the nature of “fond remembrances” but maybe a native German (or Alsation?) can help us out.

Sources:  Pocket watch. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_watch#:~:text=In%20men’s%20fashions  %2C%20pocket%20watches,one%20kept%20in%20a%20pocket. (accessed April 30, 2023).

Sélestat. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9lestat (accessed April 30, 2023).

Miss Lila Sears, Portland, Oregon

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Photographer:  Bicknell. Circa 1916 – 1918.

Price:  $15.00      

Embossed on the front lower right is the photographer info:   “Bicknell. 326 1/2 Washington St. Portland Ore.”

Miss Lila, very smartly attired and posing rather somberly for the camera, was born in California, October 1894, the daughter of Benjamin F. Sears and Jennifer Wotton. She married Harry W. Kelley, May 7, 1921, in Portland. The date for this postcard has been narrowed down with the help of Playles.com (AZO stamp boxes all four triangles pointing upward are as late as 1918) and the photographer’s address.

The Bicknell Studio

The photography studio of Bicknell would have been Wilfred Bicknell and his wife, Pearl. They’re both listed as photographers on the 1910 Federal Census for Portland. He born in England about 1875, and she born in Oregon about 1881. The Portland city directories start online from 1906 for Wilfred; address 203 1/2 1st Street. By 1909 we’re seeing an additional address for the studio of 214 Merchants Trust Building, switching to 210 Merchants Trust by 1911. (No city directories were found for 1910.)

In 1919, Wilfred married Mayme H. Thuener, August 11, 1919 in Marin County, California. No records were found for a divorce or death for Pearl.

Curiously, no references were found for the 326 1/2 Washington Street, Portland address that’s embossed on the postcard.

When the WWI Draft Registration Card was recorded, Wilfred was in San Francisco, CA. This record shows his date of birth as December 28, 1874. He’s working as a photographer for employer, Charles Bossum at 25 Kearney St. Then 1920 census for Stockton, CA, shows Wilfred is as owner of a photography gallery.

By 1930, Wilfred has run into some tough times. At the time of this census, taken in Stockton, CA, he is a patient at the state mental hospital. (It makes one wonder how much exposure he may have had to chemicals and/or heavy metals from his occupation.)

Sources:  “Real Photo Postcard Stamp Boxes, A – B.” https://www.playle.com/realphoto/photoa.php. (access April 23, 2023).

Oregon Center For Health Statistics; Portland, Oregon, USA; Oregon State Marriages, 1911-1945 (Ancestry.com).

Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon; Oregon, Death Records, 1864-1967. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Portland Ward 5, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T624_1286; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0159; FHL microfilm: 1375299. (Ancestry.com).

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Portland, Oregon city directories, 1906 – 1916. (Ancestry.com).

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

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Stockton Ward 4, San Joaquin, California; Roll: T625_144; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 177. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1930; Census Place: Stockton, San Joaquin, California; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0050; FHL microfilm: 2339947. (Ancestry.com).

Martha Reifschneider

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. KRUXO stamp box, circa 1908 – 1910.

Price:  $15.00

Portrait of a beautiful young woman, in satin dress with tucks and a ruffled high lace collar…..

This particular KRUXO stamp box, with four-leaf clovers in each corner, is known to be from 1908 – 1910. Here’s the name written on the back:

As you can see, the ending of the surname is a little run together, however, we’re not finding any other potential matches under name variations.
And there’s no guarantee, but still we feel pretty confident that we have the right person in the details below:

Martha is the daughter of George Reifschneider and Katrina Redder, both German emigrants. (The Redder surname is from Ancestry.com family trees.) Martha was born in Iowa about May of 1890. She married Carl Sietmann March 9, 1910 at the home of her parents in Blairstown, Missouri.

Sources:  “K-L. Real Photo Postcard Stamp Boxes.” Playle.com. Accessed April 11, 2023.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Jefferson, Marshall, Iowa; Roll: 447; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0109. (Ancestry.com).

“Laurel Couple Weds.” Evening Times-Republican (Marshalltown, Iowa). March 16, 1910. Wednesday, p. 9. (Newspapers.com).