Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Early 1890's New Mexico Woman

This cabinet card features a beautiful young woman in black standing next to an elaborate needlepoint frame.  She is wearing a black dress with a very fitted bodice, the sleeves are covered with lace and she is wearing hand mitts.  Her hat is quite pretty, it tilts to one side and appears to be made of lace and a vine like trim.  On the table to her right there is an object that may be her reticule (drawstring handbag or purse).  There is no identification of the subject.

I had a little trouble dating this photo.  At first I thought 1880's but she does not appear to have a bustle.  The uplift to the top of her sleeves says very early 1890's.  The photographer is The Crispell Art Parlors of E. Las Vegas, N.M.  I did find a T. Crispell in the 1885 New Mexico, Territorial District census for Las Vegas, San Miguel County.  He was a photographer, 42 years old, born in New York,  with a wife Millie? also a photographer age 35 and born in New York, one daughter Louise C, age 7 born  in New York as well.  They seemed to disappear from all records after that.  I found a number of websites with Crispell's photos but no information on the man himself.  There is one photo at the New Mexico History Museum of Louisa Carlyle Crispell playing the piano at home circa 1890's.  

According to PhotoTree.com, around 1890 photographers began placing a monogram of their initials in the center of their studio name and address on the imprint block.  If you look closely at the bottom of the card in the center above "Art Parlors" there is a monogram with the letters TC.  This became almost standard from 1890 to around 1894.  Also about 1890 foil stamped imprints with gold overlay were introduced.  These remained popular until about 1895. Therefore with these two bits of information I will date this cabinet card between 1890 and 1894.

Sepia Saturday #125 - 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue Tableware

In 1897, the Sears, Roebuck and Co. was four years old and sent, post-free, to millions of American homes its catalogue, or as it was known then, Consumers Guide.  The 770 pages listed an amazing array of merchandise of over six thousand items from every conceivable form of artifact from abdominal corsets to fish scalers, from egg beaters to kitchens sinks and from homeopathic medicines to wagons and carriages.  The genius behind the budding American institution was Richard Warren Sears (1863 - 1914), a former railroad station agent and watch salesman.  The catalogue was received eagerly each year by these  families and was pored over diligently as they made their wish lists.  

Sears' company was capitalized at $150,000 in 1895 and twenty years later listed its assets at over one hundred million dollars!  Half of the original start up capital was provided by Aaron Nussbaum who amassed part of his fortune selling ice cream at the Chicago's World's Fair and his brother-in-law Julius Rosenwald, US clothier, manufacturer, business executive and philanthropist.

For this week's Sepia Saturday theme, I am providing two pages from the 1897 Sears catalogue, a true piece of Americana.

Silverware

Crockery and China

This last picture is a mid-century kitchen from the October 1962 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  Mid-Century design is a term that describes 20th century developments in modern design,  between 1935 and 1965.  It is now being recognized as a significant design movement.  

Mid-Century Kitchen, Better Homes & Gardens Oct 1962

Why don't you check out what else is heating up this week at Sepia Saturday?

Those Places Thursday - Deadwood Dakota Territory Couple

Although torn at the bottom and with a small stain this cabinet card of an 1880's couple taken in Deadwood, Dakota Territory was a great find and it opened up a real research adventure for me. The photo shows an attractive well dressed man and woman, husband and wife, he is sitting and she is standing behind him.  She is wearing the typical 1880's style bustled dress.  She also has a beautiful,  but common for the times, locket around her neck and her hair is styled with curly fringes about the forehead.    The photographer was Pollock, Main and Gold Sts. Deadwood Dakota.  On the reverside side the man is identified as "one of the Duggan sons of Henry Duggan, Sr. (Wm. Von Pier?)."

I am convinced that this is William V. Duggan who I found quite easily on Ancestry.com born  in Barclay, PA most likely in December of 1855.  His parents were Henry and Ann (unknown) Duggan both from Wales.  Henry Duggan of Barclay, PA had seven sons, the oldest William being born in 1855.  The next son was Henry Pierre born in 1868.  In the 1880 Barclay, Bradford County, PA census 25 year old William is living with his parents and numerous brothers and sisters and occupation listed as student.  Sometime around 1883 he married Mary (unknown) also from Pennsylvania, and before 1884 they moved to the South Dakota Territory where they are found in the 1885 South Dakota Territorial Census. Their son William Jennings Duggan was born 13 May 1884 (1900 Pipestone, Minnesota census).  William age 30 listed his occupation as "lawyer, wife Mary age 23, with one son William age 1/12 (one month) and one servant, Lizzie Janes aged 14.  His brother, Henry Pierre who was thirteen years younger did not marry until 1896 so they style of dress worn by the woman in this photo does not fit, therefore I am certain this is William V. and Mary Duggan.

Wiliiam and Mary would go on to have two more children, Ruth born in 1889 and Mary J. born in 1891.  Mary must have died before 1893, perhaps in childbirth with Mary because on 11 Apr 1893 in Pipestone, Minnesota (just across the state line from South Dakota) William was married again to Georgia Hatch (1871-).  William and Georgia lived in Minnesota until 1910 where they are listed in the 1910 Elkton, Brookings, South Dakota census.  His occupation changed a little with each census, 1900 - insurance, 1905 - life insurance agent, 1910 - hotel ?, 1920 - life insurance.  I wonder what led him to leave his law practice?  William died 27 May 1932 in Brookings, South Dakota .

To further help date this photograph I found this helpful information on the photographer:   In December 1884 Albert Pollock Studio was advertising their "elegantly tinted cabinet photo and walnut frame."  Albert Pollock was partners with E. L. Boyden who bought him out in 1886 and Pollock retired to ranching.  This information comes from the site, http://identifythisdeadwoodimage.blogspot.com which has many wonderful old images from Deadwood.  Since I know that William and Mary were married sometime around 1883 this photograph can be dated between 1883 - 1886. 

Deadwood, the county seat of Lawrence County has such a rich history.  According to Wikipedia it was named for the dead trees found in its gulch.  The settlement of Deadwood was founded in the 1870's and has been described as illegal, since it lay within the territory granted to Native Americans in the 1868 Treaty of Laramie.  In 1874 Col. George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills belonging to the Lakota and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek triggering a gold rush.  This gave rise to the lawless town of Deadwood  which quickly reached a population of about 5,000.  Many prosperous businesses sprang up including saloons and brothels.  The town attained notoriety for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok and he is buried there at Mount Moriah Cemetery as is Calamity Jane.

A fire on September 26, 1879 devastated the town, destroying over 300 buildings and consuming most everything belonging to the townspeople.  Many left to try their luck elsewhere. The Deadwood Central Railroad was founded in 1888 to serve the mining purposes of J.K.P. Miller and associates.  Although electrified in 1902 for operation as an interuban passenger system, the railroad was abandoned in 1930.

Another fire in 1959 came close to destroying the town; about 4,500 square miles were burned.  In 1961 the entire town was designated a National Historic Landmark.  Today the population of Deadwood is around 1,270.

Wedding Wednesday - Sioux City, Iowa Couple

This wedding photograph of a young couple from Sioux City, Iowa was taken by M. W. Starks of Genelli Studio located at 607 Fourth Street.  It was most likely taken between 1905 and 1910.  I found numerous city directory entries for M. W. Starks using Ancestry.com starting around the late 1880's through 1910. In the earlier years, he called his business the Genelli Photographic Gallery; somewhere around 1904-05 he began calling it the Genelli Studio which would date this photo after 1904.  Interestingly enough, although I found a lot of Starks, I could not identify M. W. Starks in any census except one Iowa State Census, 1905.  

The couple in this picture are unidentified; the back of this large cabinet card is plain with no identifying marks.  This couple is very attractive and well dressed.  Both subjects are wearing white gloves, the bride's headdress and veil are quite lovely and I have seen others like it from this time frame. I also like the unusual pose with the bride seated and the groom standing behind her.  He looks happy, she looks somewhat pensive.

Tintype Tuesday - Lovely 1875 Woman

This tintype of an unidentified woman in a plaid dress and lace neckline is most definitely from the 1870's.  She is sitting in and leaning on the arm of the typical 1870's fringed chair.  Her cheeks have been tinted pink, her hair is dark and curly,  and it's a little hard to see but she has what appears to be some kind of hair decoration with leaves and flowers.   On the back of the paper that covers the tin type there is written, "Monday, February 15, 1875."  Why oh why couldn't they have written her name?