Wedding Wednesday - Turn of the Century (Edwardian) Double Wedding in Westfield, WI

Looking at this photo of these two young Westfield, WI women you may think you are seeing double.  They appear to be sisters, possibly twins and are wearing identical dresses, veils and even hairstyles for their double wedding.  They are also wearing white gloves with their gowns and I believe I can see their rings through the gloves.  I find it interesting that only the bride on the right is wearing a locket around her neck.  I wonder if she is possibly the older of the two and this was an heirloom that was passed down to her?  Their grooms even look like and could possibly be related and are wearing identical suits as well.  Due to the style of dress and the type of cabinet card I believe this to have been taken between 1900 - 1910.  There is no identification on the back of the card.  I wish I knew who they were and what their story was.

The photographer was Fenner & Son of Westfield, Wis.  This was John Fenner and his son Jacob who were active in the area between 1895 - 1925.  John Fenner was born in Germany in 1834 to Jacob Fenner and Anna Martha Grebruse and he died on 3 Jul 1923. 

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Stylish 1909 (Edwardian) Woman - Bernice Clark

This young woman, identified as Bernice Clark on the back, sat for this photo on May 1, 1909.   She is wearing a stylish suit and hat and has a serene expression on her face.  The white flowers give the hat and the scene just a touch of needed whimsy.  She appears to be in her early twenties.  She signed the back of the card and addressed it to her Uncle Fay.  This is an unusual sized cabinet card (4" x 9") that unfortunately does not have a photographer's name or mark so makes it difficult to narrow down her identity further.

Wedding Wednesday - Beautiful 1900's (Edwardian) Minneapolis Bride and Groom

Another Edwardian Era photograph of a very lovely and serene bride who was married in Minneapolis, MN in the 1900's to her equally handsome groom. The maid of honor and best man aren't too shabby either!  Due to the location and the photographer I suspect the people involved were probably of Swedish descent.  The bride and maid of honor's style of dress seems to date this in the latter of the 1900's probably between 1905 - 1910.  You can see a small brooch or cameo at the throat of the bride on the high neckline of her dress.  If you look closely, you can also see her wedding ring on her left hand.  The people in the photograph are sadly not identified - such a shame.

The photographers were Petri & Svenson located at 129 Washington Avenue South.  They were the team of Samuel H. Petri and Ernest T. Svenson who were active Minneapolis photographers from 1894 - 1915.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Two Young Edwardian Era Women in Big Hats

This picture postcard showcases two attractive young women from 1905 - 1910 in very large hats.  They are both dressed very sharply in fitted dresses with inset  bodices and high necklines.  The girl on the left is wearing eyeglasses and a locket that is pinned, not worn on a chain.  Alas, once again they are sadly unidentified.

Wedding Wednesday - 1890's (Edwardian) Chicago Newlyweds

This attractive young Chicago couple posed for their photograph most likely in the early 1890's.  The bride's veil is similar to other's I have posted about here before.  Her finger-less gloves are the first I have seen though.  I can see a wedding ring on the groom's left hand, but am unable to see one on the bride's hand.  The bride is lovely with a tiny waist, wearing a light colored dress unlike the more serviceable dresses seen before in this time frame.  I'm not sure that it is white, perhaps gray?

The back of this dark grey cabinet card is very interesting.  It is actually much darker than seen here and to me it seems to have a Gothic feel. I have lightened it up so it is easier to see.  The front, of course, notes that the photographer is Rudolph's Studio at 957 Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.  Not much was found for Louis Rudolph but he shows up once in the 1904 Chicago City Directory and again in the 1930 Chicago Census as a Proprietor of a Picture Show.  He was born circa 1878 in Denmark.

Unfortunately, as so often occurs, there is no identification for the couple.  It's truly a shame as I'm sure there are probably descendants who would love to have this photo.

Women with Hats - Two 1890's Edwardian) St. Cloud Women

I've been away a very long time.  I have excuses....work, my spouse's health issues, my own laziness, etc.  I've missed looking at old photos and more importantly doing the research to find what I can to determine the who, what, when, and where they occurred.  My first foray back into the mix will be simple with this photo of two 1894 St. Cloud, MN women wearing hats and coats.  I always find it interesting that people wore coats in their formal photographs.  In this particular photo on the back it says, " Dec 21th, 1894, Jane Whitelsy Mitchel & Mary."I could not find any trace of  Jane Whitelsy.

The photographer was Fritz who had an address on Germain Street.  If you look closely you can see embossed on the right side, "Fritz, St, Cloud.  This is most likely John J. Fritz, born in July 1868 to Andrew and Mary Fritz. Both parents emigrated from Germany.  He married Anna Hammerell whose parents also came from Germany.  They are seen in the 1902 St. Cloud census with children Willfred, Hugo, Robert and Margaret. He died on 28 Jul, 1918 at the age of 50.

Photographers were experimenting with different types of photo presentation in this period.  This particular one is about the size of a CDV and has saw-tooth edges on each side.    The back side shows the names of the subjects.

Mystery Monday - Twin Sisters Alice and Mary Kerr 1903 - 1907 (Edwardian)

Some time ago I purchased these two photographs of sisters Alice and Mary Kerr from an eBay seller who noted that they were twins.  If I remember correctly she stated she got them from an estate sale and that she knew the family or the family story.  I usually print out all my eBay purchases so I can refer back to them if needed, but for some reason I cannot find this one.  These photos have seen extreme wear over the years, especially Alice's.  My initial purpose of this post was to try and prove that they were twins, and after spending way more time than I should researching someone else's ancestors I did indeed find the proof I needed!

The sisters do look very much alike and their facial feathers, nose, mouths, eyebrows, seem identical. Their clothing and hairstyles are very much typical of the 1901 - 1907 period.  I will explain how I narrowed down the time frame to 1903 - 1907 later in the post when I discuss the photographer.

The back of Alice's photo is written in ink "Aunt Alice Kerr, never married."

Alice Kerr ca 1903-07

The back of Mary's photo is written in ink, "Mary Kerr who married Amos Reid - my Great Great Grandmother."

Mary Kerr Reid 1903 - 07

I've cropped these down some but the photographer was C. Myland of Philadelphia, PA which helped me to find  the sisters and their family in Ancestry.com.  There is actually more than one Kerr family in  Philadelphia in the correct time frame with daughters named Alice and Mary, but their ages ares separated by six to seven years. The family I believed to be theirs was in the 1900 Philadelphia Ward 33 census with father Thomas Kerr aged 46, mother Mary Ann aged 43, brothers Andrew 23 and Chas 22.  The twin sisters Alice and Mary were 16 born about October 1883.  That would make them about twenty to twenty-three in these photographs.

My mystery to solve was this the correct family and were these sisters indeed twins? Mary Kerr married Amos Reid on 21 August 1907 and they had three children.  They remained in Pennsylvania through the 1940 census where my information ran out. There was only one person researching Mary Kerr on Ancestry.com and they did not have much information, but suddenly a death certificate popped up for Mary and all the pieces fell into place.  I then was able to find each census year of 1910 - 1940 for Alice and her mother who lived together after the father died sometime before 1910.  I also found Alice's death certificate.  The twins were born on 31 October 1883 in Philadelphia and died a year and half apart; Mary on 17 Feb 1944 and Alice on 9 Aug 1945.  Mary was a housewife throughout her lifetime and Alice worked as a weaver in the cloth-mill to support herself and her mother.  What different lives these two twins lived!

Alice Kerr 1883 - 1945

Mary Kerr Reid 1883 - 1944

I believe these photographs were most likely taken before Mary's marriage to Amos in 1907.  The photographer was C. Myland of 2125 N. Front Street, Philadelphia.  This was Christian Myland who emmigrated to the U.S. from Denmark in 1890 and petitioned for citizenship in 1903.  He was born in Denmark 8 Jan 1861 and upon his arrival in the Philadelphia in 1890 began his photography business which he ran until his death on 2 Nov 1925. He was listed in numerous years of the Philadelphis City Directory and this is how I narrowed down the years of these photographs.  In 1901 and 1902 he was located at 2733 N. 4th, moving to the 2125 N. Front Street address in 1903 which was also his home until his death according to his death certificate.

Myland was married to Mathilda Boston also from Denmark and they had four children all born in the U.S.; an infant son who died in 1891, Clara born 1892, Ejner Christian born 1895 and Harry born 1897.

Sepia Saturday - Turn of the Century Woman in Silhouette (Edwardian Era)

This past week I made my reentry into publishing blog entries after nearly a year and a half away.  It felt like meeting up with an old friend, one you haven’t seen in a long time, but fall right back into where you left off.  Today I return to another old friend, Sepia Saturday, who I have also greatly missed, and the wonderful people who post each week.

This week the subject is based around making silhouettes.  I had the perfect photos in mind, but of course, cannot find them.  A year ago my computer crashed (part of the reason I've been away so long) and when my son was helping purchase and set up my new equipment he insisted on putting all my carefully cataloged photos on an external hard drive while saying, “Mother, who keeps 40,000 photos on her C drive?”  Well, me of course.  The photos are now jumbled in a giant mess and I have neither the energy nor the expertise to efficiently organize them.

I finally decided on this photo of a very interesting "turn of the century" young woman in silhouette pose.  She is wearing a high-necked white blouse quite typical for the time and I love the poofy, flowery bow in her hair.  What really drew me to purchase this photograph was her spectacles – they help make her face so interesting.

The photographer was Elmer M. Enlow born in Lee Township, Athens County, Ohio on September 17, 1867 according to Jeffrey Weidman in his book, Artists in Ohio, 1787 - 1900:  A Biographical Dictionary.  According to Weidman, Enlow bought his studio from John C. Brannan in 1898 and was still active as of 1905.

I urge all my readers to click this link, Sepia Saturday, for more great photos and fascinating stories.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Edwardian Era Michigan Woman with Felt Hat

I have been shamefully absent from my blog for a very long time for multiple reasons.  These include a new job, spousal health problems and just plain burnout, but it has been calling to me lately so today I return with this young woman from the turn of the century.

Anna Budd

I am estimating this photograph, which was taken in Portland, Michigan, to have been taken circa 1900. The young woman is identified on the back as Anna Budd.  She looks quite serious in her dark starched dress with white neckscarf.  She is wearing some type of pin on the scarf and her hat is tam style with a small pom on the top.  Underneath her hairstyle appears to be the fashionable for the time Gibson Girl style.  I found a few Anna Budds on Ancestry.com, but was not able to conclusively identify her.

The photographer was F. B. Rhodes of Portland, Michigan, most likely Frank Bartlett Rhodes who was born about 1865 in Michigan and died 10 November 1921 in Gaylord, MI.  He had several studios in the state including one in Portland in this time frame.

Portland, MI City Directory 1903

Fashionable Friday - Rose Pierce, 1890's (Edwardian Era) Doctor's Wife

This lovely young is identified on the back of this cabinet card as Rose, Rollin Pierce's wife.  The lovely Rose obviously posed for this cabinet card in sometime in the 1890's as evidenced by her dress and the photographers imprint at the bottom.  I suspect this photo to have been taken around 1894 - 1895.  Rose was married to Dr. Rollin Pierce (see photo below).  I thought it would be easy to identify Dr. and Mrs. Pierce, but I had no luck finding them on Ancestry.com or on Google.  I tried using variations of Rollin Pierce's name but struck out.  Such a shame, they are surely someone's ancestors.

Rose is wearing the very typical large puffy sleeves seen in the 1890's and the teeth-like cut of the bodice is somewhat unusual.  Her collar sits high on her neck adorned with one button and she is wearing a string of beads above that.  Her photograph was taken by photographer Stigleman & Son located at 826 Main St., Richmond, IND.  Interestingly enough, Stigleman is actually "Rolland" Stigleman who had a studio in Richmond until he sold it in 1898.  He took over the business from his father George after the business was destroyed by fire.  I posted a photo taken by George Stigleman previously and I believe these photos were bought together in a large group so it is possible they may be related.

Rose's husband, Dr. Rollin Pierce looks quite fashionable himself in this photograph which was probably taken around 1896 give or take a year.  He is wearing a dark colored three piece suit with white high-collared shirt and white bow-tie.  He was a very handsome young man.  The photographer was Wright and Holloway, 510 1/2 Wabash Ave., Terre Haute, IND.