Oval photo, circa 1865, St. Louis, Missouri. Photographer unknown.

Price including wooden frame (not shown):  $40.00

Size of photo:  About 6 and 3/4 x 4 and 3/4″

Two beautiful young girls, Civil War Era…..

This photo was an unusual find at a Goodwill store in Salinas, California. In tracing the lineage of the girl on our left, we believe we’ve possibly uncovered the identity of the unnamed sister on the right, and believe them to be the daughters of James McDonough, former Chief of Police for the city of St. Louis, Missouri. See Find A Grave’s entry for him below, in Sources.

Displayed in a wooden oval frame and behind glass, the photo surely must of hung on someone’s wall for a number of years. It appears to be a copy, albeit an older one, and is held in place by small diamond shaped metal tabs, which are called points. The back of the photo has no writing but does have a bit of an aged look to it, as does the cardboard backing which, as shown above, gives the name of the girl on our left, Clara Louise McDonough. One look at the photo and we immediately think Civil War time-frame due to the dress and hairstyles for the girls, and this agrees with the family member’s estimate written on the back as “186?”.

Frances “Fanny” McDonough…..

Though the sister’s name in the photo is not given, a death record was found for a Frances McDonough, single, age 32, who died in St. Louis, Missouri, May 31, 1890. This record fits with the 1860 Federal Census for St. Louis which shows a Fanny McDonough, age two, daughter of James and Mary Jane McDonough. Other children in the household are Mary C., James R. and Clara K. McDonough, age three months. Unfortunately, the 1860 census did not contain the question of occupation for the head of household.

James R. McDonough on the above-mentioned 1860 census record is significant in supporting Frances “Fanny” as the sister in our photo:  In former St. Louis’ Chief of Police, James McDonough’s obituary, a surviving son is listed, James R. McDonough (a Sergeant for twelve years on the force at the time of his father’s death). Also listed is surviving married daughter, Mrs. E. J. Peckham, who we know to be Clara Louise (McDonough) Peckham. Clara K. McDonough on this 1860 census is believed to be Clara Louise:

Clara Louise…..

Possibly, Clara K. on the 1860 census, died very young and the parents had another daughter that they named Clara Louise. However, it seems more likely that there was one Clara and the parents changed the middle name for her in infancy, or that it had just been recorded incorrectly on the census. To support this, the children’s mother, Mary Jane (Waters) McDonough died November 5, 1861 of consumption (not childbirth) and Clara Louise’s 1900 census record shows she was born in April, which matches Clara K.’s age of three months on the 1860. Note:  Years of birth on Clara’s census records vary (which is not unusual) and the 1900 Federal census was the only one that recorded the month the person was born in (the month being most often correct). The 1870 census, which would certainly be helpful, has never been found.

Clara Louise McDonough married Edward J. Peckham on June 21, 1886 in Coles County, Illinois. Their record of marriage shows she was born in Missouri, about 1862, and her parents were James McDonough and Jane Waters. Edward was born in England, about 1851, and his parents were Henry Peckham and Elizabeth Brode. If Clara is about five years old in this photo, then the approximate date the original was taken would be about 1867.

By 1910, Edward and Clara Peckham have a daughter, Clarissa E., born in Kansas, about 1888. The family are living in Cheyenne, Wyoming. By 1920 Clara is widowed and living with daughter, Clarissa; son-in-law, Charles Lawrence; and granddaughter Charlotte. Charlotte, who married Robert George Fergusson, died in 2013, in Pebble Beach, Monterey County, California. (See the last entry in Sources below.) It’s likely then, that our photo, in its wooden frame, came from her estate.

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Sources:  “Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KFKX-MHC : accessed 18 January 2015), Edward J. Peckham and Clara Louisa Mcdonough, 21 Jun 1886; citing Coles, Illinois, United States, county offices, Illinois; FHL microfilm 1,301,518.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7387314/james-mcdonough: accessed 06 February 2024), memorial page for James McDonough (16 Mar 1816–21 Mar 1892), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7387314, citing Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, St. Louis City, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Tim (contributor 46772461).

Year: 1860; Census Place: St Louis Ward 5, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Roll: M653_651; Page: 193; Image: 197; Family History Library Film: 803651. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1880; Census Place: Saint Louis, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Roll: 733; Family History Film: 1254733; Page: 174B; Enumeration District: 335; Image: 0710. (Ancestry.com).

“A Big Chief.” The St. Joseph Weekly Gazette (St. Joseph, Missouri) March 24, 1892. Thursday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

Year: 1900; Census Place: Perth Amboy Ward 1, Middlesex, New Jersey; Roll: 984; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 0048; FHL microfilm: 1240984. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry.com. Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Cheyenne Ward 3, Laramie, Wyoming; Roll: T624_1746; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0084; FHL microfilm: 1375759

“United States Census, 1940,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K943-2WQ : accessed 18 January 2015), Clara Peckham in household of Charles Lawrence, Carmel-by-the Sea, Monterey Judicial Township, Monterey, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 27-25, sheet 3B, family 110, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 268.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124188417/charlotte_elizabeth-fergusson: accessed February 7, 2024), memorial page for Charlotte Elizabeth Lawrence Fergusson (–), Find a Grave Memorial ID 124188417, citing United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, Orange County, New York, USA; Maintained by SLGMSD (contributor 46825959).