Old photo on cardboard frame, circa 1899 – 1900. Photographer: Fahr’s Art Studio, Bonaparte, Iowa.
Price: $30.00 Size including frame: 6 and 1/2 x 4 and 1/4″
The back contains writing in pencil and print in pen – showing two different name orders for this beautiful trio of young ladies. But we can see that the oldest child is on our right, and the “baby” is in the middle (picture the photographer’s thought process). And, in looking at the 1900 Federal Census, along with the birth records for two of the girls, we can confirm that left to right, these are: “Marie, Lucy and Willia.” They are the daughters of Robert Hayes Miller and Bess (Cleave) Miller.
Willia Hayes Miller, or Willa Hayes Miller, as she’s named on a delayed birth certificate, was born December 24, 1892 in Bonaparte, Iowa.
Marie Margaret Miller was born January 5, 1895, in Iowa (likely Bonaparte). She was the second oldest of the girls, per their ages on 1900 Federal Census. (The exact date was found in the SSN Index record.)
The youngest daughter, Lucy Belle Miller was born December 11, 1897, Bonaparte, Iowa.
The girls had two younger brothers, twins, Rex Logan Miller and Roger Cleave Miller, born March 22, 1902.
Sources: State Historical Society of Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Title: Iowa Birth Records, 1888-1904. (Ancestry.com).
Ancestry.com. Iowa, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
SSN Death Index, 1935 – 2014. Issue State: District of Columbia; Issue Date: Before 1951.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63840321/robert_hayes-miller: accessed April 9, 2024), memorial page for Robert Hayes Miller (28 Dec 1866–5 Nov 1919), Find a Grave Memorial ID 63840321, citing Vale Cemetery, Bonaparte, Van Buren County, Iowa, USA; Maintained by Jane Cockayne Weaver (contributor 48493052). (Note that some of the information for this family on Find A Grave is incorrect).
National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Iowa, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 341. (Ancestry.com).