Carte de Visite, circa 1870s – mid-1880s. Photographer: Mrs. E. B. Chappell.
Price: $10.00 Size: About 2 and 1/2 x 13/16″
Like the last post, here’s a beautiful child posing for a Carte de Visite photo, also in that common “casual” style pose (just my take on it, as in….It’s casual Dudette 😉 but all about what to do with placement of arms and hands, etc. in a photo, so as not to look awkward) standing, with one arm resting on the fringed armrest of the photographer’s chair and a leg crossed at the ankle. The little girl in the image wears a watch or pendant chain necklace as well as a bracelet on both wrists, so perhaps the family was somewhat well-to-do.
Sort of a mystery
The photographer, Mrs. E. B. Chappell of Sturgis, Michigan, was not verified in directories or census records. Several websites have a little info on her as Mrs. Eliza B. Chappell, operating in Sturgis and Athens, Michigan, with dates ranging from 1884 – 1889 on Cabinet Cards, but finding a Mrs. Edith Chappell living in Sturgis on the 1870 Federal Census (maiden name Reeves in other records) leaves one to wonder if they could be the same person. (Edith changed to Eliza?…middle initial “B” as the next letter in Elizabeth?) Edith and her husband Edward Chappell had three children, Charles, William and Sarah (Sarah died in infancy in 1873.) Edith and Edward were both born in England, and it seems they might have separated (she is on the 1870 in Sturgis with her boys in August, but almost a month earlier the family is together on the 1870 in Jackson. By the 1880, Edward Chappell is still in Jackson, has the boys with him, and is listed as single. Edith is not found on the 1880 census (nor is Eliza B.) This is just a theory for now. And true, there may be city directories for Sturgis and/or Athens that list the photographer, but if they exist, they are not online, so a more in-depth search is needed.
Sources: Year: 1880; Census Place: Jackson, Jackson, Michigan; Roll: 585; Page: 294A; Enumeration District: 117. (Ancestry.com).
Willliam Henry Chappell. Find A Grave Memorial #79180039. Findagrave.com (accessed January 12, 2018).
Julia Driver Collection of Women in Photography. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Treadwell, T. K. and Darrah, William C., comp., Photographers of the United States of America. (National Stereoscopic Association, copyright 1994. Updated 2003).
Death Records. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan. Ancestry.com. Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950.
Year: 1870; Census Place: Jackson Ward 1, Jackson, Michigan; Roll: M593_678; Page: 143B; Family History Library Film: 552177. (Ancestry.com).
Year: 1870; Census Place: White Pigeon, St Joseph, Michigan; Roll: M593_700; Page: 345A; Family History Library Film: 552199. (Ancestry.com).