Madonna & Child

I found this in Tulsa, Oklahoma and that is the extent of what I know about it.   There is no information on the frame holder or the photograph and although it is a beautiful pose of mother and child, I haven’t had much luck finding other “madonna and child” photographs.  I have found a few prints with the draping and a similar ethereal quality but except for a 1926 greeting card, all were large and framed and looked like they may have been meant more as decorative art than a photograph.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Diphtheria ca1917

I found this in Muskogee a couple of days ago.

On the front is written:  Hazel

I suppose Hazel could be one of the women in the photograph but because the writer says she will also be sending along another picture for Mag, I think it’s more likely that Hazel identifies who this picture was meant to go to.

On the reverse it says ...

Our school is closed on the account of diptheria there was a death Sat. and one Sunday.  We are not quarantined but no children are allowed on the street.  I’ll tell you it is a mighty gloomy time.  I don’t know when we will have any more school.

I’ll send Mag a picture with yours as I don’t know her address, give it to her when she comes up.  Tell her to write once in a while.  I don’t know when Charles will come home.

The card is not signed.  There is no address and no postmark.  In the stamp box on the reverse is the word “AZO.“  I thought it might mean Arizona.  I was wrong.

What it meant was the postcard was printed on Kodak Professional Azo paper and the 4 triangles pointing up dated the postcard to 1904 - 1918.

After I studied the postcard for awhile,  I started to wonder if someone reading the same words and seeing the same image would infer the same things or would they see it all differently?

There are so many ways this story could spin.

The writer refers to school twice, saying, “Our school is closed on account of diptheria” and “I don’t know when we will have any more school.”   The ladies look a bit old to be students.

Could my writer have been a teacher at the school closed after two deaths?

Until the late 20s, diphtheria was one of the leading causes of death among children.  A highly contagious disease, it is spread by coughing, breathing, direct contact or contaminated food.  There's a brief incubation of 2 - 4 days.  Symptoms include a sore throat, fever, swollen necks glands, and difficulty in swallowing and breathing. Often there is a membrane that forms in the throat, as it grows it can interfere with swallowing.  If it extends to the windpipe, it blocks the airway causing suffocation.

Children are said to have died “horribly and suddenly,” literally strangling to death.

At that time most state health boards left the control of diphtheria outbreaks to local public health departments and individual practicing physicians.

Who, more often then not, argued against the closing of schools.

One M.D wrote in 1916, "My conclusions are that in a threatened outbreak of this disease, the city schools should not be closed, but if put under proper medical supervision they may be kept open and instead of spreading, will help stamp out the disease."

Other arguments against closing were of a financial nature.

In the end many schools had to close anyway.  

Kansas was one state I ran across that had a more definitive approach …

Kansas (1915) - Should the disease show a tendency to become epidemic, the public and private schools must be closed, and, in extreme cases, church services suspended and public assemblages of people at shows, circuses, theaters, fairs or other gatherings prohibited.

The writer’s words indicate that wherever she was, the outbreak was being taken seriously.  Her tone is somber as she writes, “I'll tell you it is a mighty gloomy time.”

And that they are not quarantined but no children are allowed on the street.

She ends her missive with “I don’t know when Charles will come home.”

And who is Charles?  Her husband? and if so why doesn't she know when he will come home?  Is it not knowing when the outbreak will end or is it because he’s a soldier, off fighting in a war?

Diphtheria outbreaks appear to have been especially prevalent during 1916 - 1917.

The stamp box dates the postcard to 1904 - 1918.

I'm not going to try dating by clothing.  I’m hoping that's one of those skills that gets better with practice and I just haven’t had enough practice.

For now I’m going to give it a tentative date of 1917 and maybe one day I'll run across mention of  Hazel, Mag and a man named Charles, who might have been a soldier in WWI.

And might have had a wife who was a teacher.

A Lady & Her Dog

There wasn’t a single identifying mark and it was stained and torn.

And I found it irresistible …

Many of the larger breeds of dogs are gentle giants.  Such seems to be the case with this big guy.  His owner looking relaxed and amused stands with one arm draped over his back and the other hand resting lightly against his chest, confident a gentle touch is enough to insure he will stand obediently, his front legs in the seat of a wicker chair.

Perhaps she is amused by the photographer.

One wonders if he shared her confidence.

Andrews & Foss

These two tintypes were from the same seller.  Both young women, both identified and both in identical embossed sleeves that bore the same photographer's name and city.

I had an idea they were related.

Ellen Andrew’s listing mentioned she was the sister of a Capt.
S(tephen) H. Andrews, whose image was also up for auction.

I looked for Capt. Andrews and found a cabinet photo of a Union soldier, signed S.H. Andrews Capt. 35th Mass.  The bidding had only begun and already Capt. Andrews was out of my league.  I filed his information away for future reference and purchased the tintypes.

I started my search with Cordelia Foss.  The back of her photo said she was the daughter of Luther Foss and the wife of John M. Foss and she died young.

And it turned out she was the daughter of Luther Foss and the wife of John Foss and she did die when she was only 18.  But her name wasn’t Cordelia … it was Corilla.

And Corilla and Ellen were indeed related.  They were sisters, born 10 years apart.  

In Corilla’s listing she was described as the 1st wife and COUSIN of John M. Foss and because they shared the same last name, it did seem likely … only it wasn't … at least not in the 4 generations I checked.

But older sister Ellen DID marry her first cousin … Chistopher Atwood Adams Andrews.

Only Ellen didn't have a brother named S. H. Andrews.  Her brothers were William Andrews, Luther Hale, Benjamin Perry and George Washington FOSS …

but her husband Christopher DID.

He had a brother, Rueben Snow Hayden Andrews, Co. A, 35th Reg’t, Mass.

I wonder if he was a Captain?

William Stevens Perry, Bishop of Iowa

I’d gone searching for old photographs and there they were; a stack of cabinet cards in beautiful condition.  Most were done by photographers in the Davenport / Dubuque, Iowa area, but as I searched through them I realized, there were no clues as to who any of these people were; no writing on them ... except the last one … a photograph of an older “priestly” looking gentleman.

I couldn't work up much enthusiasm for a photograph of an old man … not even a kindly old man, but the writing on the back did catch my eye.  It said “Bishop of Iowa” and that, I thought, was a lofty sounding title worth investigating.

Or maybe the kindly gent had visions of grandeur.

I took him home to find out.

At home, I studied the reverse side but wasn't able to make out the complete inscription. What I could make out was, “Faithfully yours …. Perry, Bishop of Iowa.”  I entered what I had and hit the search button.

And found the Right Reverend William Stevens Perry, II Bishop of Iowa.  There was no doubt I had the right Perry. The article was accompanied by the same photograph.

The amount of information I found on Bishop Perry was overwhelming.  I have tried to condense it but suffice to say, he was a very busy man.

William Stevens Perry was born in Providence, RI. January 22, 1832. He was the son of Steven Perry and Katharine Whittemore (Stevens) Perry.

He was of English origin, his first American ancestor on the paternal side, John Perry, having arrived in New England in 1636, a fellow passenger with John Eliot, and referred to as "cousin" in a preserved letter from “that distinguished Puritan Apostle.” His great-grandfather, Abel Perry, was an officer in the Revolutionary War. Among his maternal ancestors were William Stevens, of Falmouth, Maine, who served as a privateer's man on the frigate Boston, and the latter's son of the same name, who held a Lieutenant's commission in the United States Army during the War of 1812.

Perry graduated Harvard in 1854.  He studied theology at Virginia Theological Seminary, but finished his studies privately because of ill health.   He was ordained a deacon in 1857 and a priest the following year at St. Paul’s in Boston where he spent the first year of his ministry.    His parish ministries included positions at St. Luke‘s Church, Nashua, NH, St. Stephen‘s Church in Portland, Maine, St. Michael‘s Church in Litchfield, CT, and Trinity Church in Geneva, NY.

On Jan. 15, 1862, at the age of 24 the Rev. William Stevens Perry, rector of St. Stephen’s Church in Portland, Maine married Sara Abbott Woods Smith, 18, youngest daughter of Rev. Thomas Mather and Mary Greenleaf (Woods) Smith.  They were married in Rosse Chapel, Gambier, Ohio by Dr. Gregory Thurston Bedell.  

Among Sara’s paternal ancestors are some very interesting people … John Cotton, first minister in Boston, Increase Mather, President of Harvard College, Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, of Sharon, CT and the latter's son, the Hon. John Cotton Smith, 23rd  Governor of CT.

From 1871 - 1873 William Perry was a professor of history at Hobart College and served as president from April to Sept. of 1876 but resigned when he accepted the position as Bishop of Iowa.

Bishop Perry’s work in the Diocese of Iowa is impressive.  I still find it difficult to comprehend all this one man accomplished in his lifetime.

He is credited with reopening Griswold College, founding Katharine’s Hall for girls, Kemper Hall for boys, Lee Hall for training candidates for orders and several other schools throughout the dioceses.

Three hospitals were founded during his episcopate:  Cottage Hospital in Des Moines, St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids and St. Luke’s Hospital in Davenport, and two Homes for the Friendless were started, one in Dubuque and another in Davenport.

He created the Office of the Registrar to collect and preserve historical documents of the church;  created more than 30 new parishes and missions and ordained dozens of priests.

He was also a prolific writer and published more than 100 books and pamphlets.  famousamericans.net credits him with publishing more books “probably than any living clergyman in the Episcopal church.”

In his book Some Summer Days Abroad, published 1880, there is a dedication that reads:

Sara A. W. Perry:

The Best of Wives and the Best of Travelers

These Sketches of 

Days Spent Together Abroad

Are Inscribed.  

Mrs. Perry is described as a woman who was attractive, gentle and sweet, a gracious hostess and an avid supporter of her husbands plans, commending herself to all classes and conditions of men by loving words and deeds.  She shunned notoriety even for well doing.

In 1887 Rev. Perry was unanimously elected “Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia” … but he declined this honor, one that had never before been offered to any one other than one of English birth and allegiance.

In the latter part of his life William Perry suffered ill health and took several trips to Europe to recuperate.

While in England in 1897 he was invited to preach at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Chester Cathedral, St. Paul’s in Oxford, Kensington Palace Royal Chapel, Royal Savoy Chapel and Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon.

He returned from Europe with his wife and niece, passengers on the Lucania, reaching NY on Oct. 23, 1897.  Mrs. Perry had been ill, and in deference to her desire to return to her home her medical advisers in London consented to her sailing.  She reached the home of her aunt Mrs. Stevens in Philadelphia where she died at a few minutes before 3 o’clock Wednesday morning, Oct. 27th, 1897.

The Rev. and Mrs. Perry were married 35 years.

The following spring, on May 12, 1898 while on an Episcopal visitation to Dubuque, Iowa, Bishop Perry suffered a paralytic stroke and died the following day. His funeral was held in St. John’s Church in Dubuque.  He was buried in the churchyard of the Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

William Stevens Perry (January 22, 1832 – May 13, 1898), a 19th century bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, educator and author. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Iowa from 1876 - 1898 ...

and he is the man in the photograph.

Mrs. Larimer, Lady Photographer

The subject of this tintype continues to confound me.
Why is there a small sticker on the back that says Carrie Nation?
I can find no indication that Carrie Nation was ever in Allen County. In fact, in one comment taken from the 1901 History of Allen County, it seems it was the sincere hope of some that Carrie Nation never have occasion to visit Allen County.

In the History, when speaking of lawyer George Amos it states he was elected county attorney, at “... a time when it was thought to be the proper thing for county attorneys to see to it that laws were enforced and Amos did see to it in such a fashion that Mrs. Nation would have no occasion to visit Allen County.”

The subject in my photograph is a young woman, head resting on her hand, staring off into space.   She isn’t particularly pretty or animated.  Her identity remains a mystery.

But who took the photograph isn't a mystery.  The reverse clearly states “Mrs. Larimer’s Photograph Rooms.”

A lady photographer in the 19th century?  I was intrigued.

And Mrs. Sarah Larimer, wife of William J. Larimer turned out to be a very interesting woman.

Sarah Luse was born circa 1836 in Mercer Co. Pennsylvania.  The daughter of Jonathan Luse and Sarah Elwood Luse.

On April 15, 1856 Sarah Luse married William Jackson Larimer.

The Larimer’s only child, Frank Eugene was born in Mercer Co., PA, January of 1857.

Two years later, in 1859 the family started west.  After living in Iowa for a time they settled in Iola, Allen Co. Kansas.

It appears Sarah Larimer operated a gallery in Iola prior to 1864.  In the book “Pioneer Photographers from the Mississippi to the Continental Divide” the authors state that, “It was probably during this period that she also owned Mrs. Larimer’s Gem and Photographic Rooms on Bridge Street in nearby Humboldt Kansas. “

Sarah’s husband William was a farmer.  He was commissioned a lieutenant of the Kansas Volunteers during the Civil War but was discharged for medical reasons.

In the Spring of 1864 Sarah, William and their 8 yr. old son, Frank joined a wagon train and set out for Montana Territory.  They took with them their photographic equipment as well as a large supply of gold watches and jewelry.

On July 12, 1864 at Little Box Elder Creeks, some 80 miles from Ft. Laramie, in present day Wyoming, a war party of Oglala Sioux fell upon the wagon train killing or wounding most of the men.  Fanny Kelly’s husband was the only one to escape injury.  Sarah’s husband was shot in the leg with an arrow and crawled off into the bushes to hide.

Sarah and her son, along with Fanny Kelly and Fanny's 5 year old niece were taken hostage by the Sioux.

Fanny would later say that after the initial attack, Sarah was forced to stand by and watch as the Indians destroyed her photographic equipment.  She claimed that this destruction so upset Sarah that the Oglala headman threatened to kill her and it was only Mrs. Kelly’s pleading with the chief that saved Mrs. Larimer’s life.

On the second night of their capture Sarah and her son were able to escape.  Fanny and Mary did not fare so well.  5 year old Mary died within days of their capture.  Fanny would remain a captive for 5 months.

Sarah and Frank were reunited with William shortly after their escape, at Camp Collins in Colorado Territory, where William was recovering from his arrow wound.

In Sept. 1864 the Larimers made their way to Fort Laramie where they borrowed enough money to order new photographic equipment from Leavenworth, Kansas.  Two months later the camera and supplies arrived and Sarah and William went into the ambrotype business at the fort until April 1865.

Once William completely recovered, the family moved to Denver, Colorado where William and Sarah established a gallery on Larimer St.

After Denver the family moved on to Julesburg, Colorado. In May 1866 William paid a occupational tax as a photographer.  The Larimers remained in Julesburg until at least 1867.

By 1868 the Larimers had moved to Sherman Station, a railroad stop between Laramie and Cheyenne, where Sarah operated a photographic gallery; ran a general store with her son Frank, and was a railroad tie and cord wood contractor for the Union Pacific Railroad. John Bratt, who sometimes supervised Mrs. Larimer’s wood cutting crews, remembered her as a “very bright, good, business woman” who aspired to become mayor of Sherman Station.

Around 1868, Fanny Kelly now widowed and with an infant son joined the Larimer’s in Sherman Station to work as a washerwoman.  

In 1870 Sarah Larimer published a book entitled The Capture and Escape or Life Among the Sioux.  When Fanny Kelly learned of the books publication she alleged the Larimer’s had plagiarized her manuscript.

In Oct. 1870, Fanny Kelly sued the Larimers for breach of contract in the district court of Allen Co., Kansas.  She alleged that in 1865 she and Sarah Larimer agreed that they would jointly prepare and publish a narrative of their captivity, but in 1869 the Larimers conspired to secrete the manuscript away and had it published as Sarah Larimer’s work alone, depriving Mrs. Kelly of her rightful share of the profits.

The Larimer’s and Mrs. Kelly continued to litigate the case until 1876 when the parties reached an out of court settlement.

Years of litigation didn't do much for their marriage but it did arouse in William Larimer an interest in law.  In the 1880 Census I find William separated from Sarah and practicing his new profession in Lead City in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

name: William J. Larimer
residence: Lead City, Lawrence, Dakota Territory
birthdate: 1828 birthplace: Pennsylvania, United States
relationship to head: Self
father's birthplace: Pennsylvania, United States
mother's birthplace: Pennsylvania, United States
race or color (expanded): White
ethnicity (standardized): American
gender: Male
martial status: Married
age (expanded): 52 years
occupation: Attorney At Law

Household Gender  Age  Birthplace
William J. Larimer   M 52   Pennsylvania
William G. Brown   M 38   Vermont

And I find Sarah was once again living in Humboldt, Kansas with her son Frank Larimer 22, attorney-at-law.  Sarah’s occupation is listed as photograph artist.

Which means I am no closer to dating my tintype.  It could have been taken prior to 1864, before they left Kansas or it could have been taken in the 1880’s after Sarah and her son returned to Kansas.

In 1888 Congress granted $5000 in compensation to Sarah for information she had given the army after her escape from the Oglalas.  At the time the check was issued she was residing in Tacoma, Washington.

In 1891 Sarah’s son Frank dies.

"District of Columbia Deaths and Burials, 1840-1964," Frank Eugine Larimer, 1891

name: Frank Eugine Larimer
gender: Male
burial date: 31 Mar 1891
death date: 29 Mar 1891
death place: District Of Columbia
age: 34
birth date: 1857
birthplace: Mercer Co., Pa.
occupation: Lawyer Also Clerk War Dep
race: White
marital status: Unknown
father's birthplace: Mercer Co., Pa.
mother's birthplace: Mercer Co., Pa.

In 1895 Sarah’s husband William Larimer dies.

"Iowa, Deaths and Burials, 1850-1990," Wm. J. Larimer, 1895

name: Wm. J. Larimer
gender: Male
burial date: 11 Jan 1896
burial place: Little Rock, Ark.
death date: 23 Dec 1895
death place: Little Rock, Ark.
age: 67
birth date: 1828
birthplace: Penn.
occupation: Lawyer
race: White
marital status: Married

By late 1904 Sarah Larimer was reportedly living in Oklahoma  but her subsequent story remains unknown. According to a message board at ancestry.com, the following can be found in the Vermillion Township Cemetery Book published in the 1980s by the Appanoose County Genealogical Society:

OAKLAND CEMETERY (Appanoose County, Iowa)

Section 6-Row 14

LARIMER: large stone
left side Wm. J. GAR Flt 1826-1894
right side Sarah Luse Larimer 1836-1913
Author-Artist Womans Relief Corps 1883
back Frank E. 1857-1891 only child
Footstones: Father, Son, Mother

Update 1/25/13
I found more on Mrs.Sarah Larimer's whereabouts after 1904 and her death at The Jerome Journal

William Morris - Silversmith, Daguerreian, Photographer, Farmer

I found this tintype in Missouri.  There were a couple of things about this particular one that struck me.  The image was clear and in beautiful shape and instead of being dressed in his Sunday best, the young man is wearing heavy leather gloves and appears to be dressed for work.

There was no way to identify the man in the photograph but an old label stuck on the back made me think it might offer some clues and I might figure out what his occupation was.

Trying to date the photograph by his clothing turned out to be a lesson in futility. After viewing hundreds of tintypes, occupational and otherwise,  I found only one photo of a man in work gloves.  His photograph included a shovel. He was a coalman for the railroad.

And the railroad did play an important role in the history of Calhoun, MO. so it is a possibility.

There was also a tintype of 2 brothers on eBay. The style of clothing was similar and one of the brothers even looked like a slightly older version of the man in my tintype.

And I was surprised to read in the description that the brothers were from the right part of the country too. They were railroad regulators in Indian Territory. They were not wearing gloves.

Eventually I decided to give up trying to date my working man's clothing and concentrate on the label on the back of the tintype, hoping if I could identify the photographer, I might at least be able to date the picture.

The back label was worn off in places but I could still make out …

William Morris
Photographer
Calhoun, MO.

William Morris was not an easy man to track down.

From what I’ve learned I believe William’s parents, William Morris and Elizabeth Danforth (30) came to America from England in 1840 with 3 of their children; William (8), Thomas (6) and Mary (4).

I found my first record of young William (19) in 1850,  living in Niagara, NY with his recently widowed mother, Elizabeth (40), brother Thomas (16), sister Mary (14) and infant brother, Melvin (0).  William's occupation is "silversmith."

In 1855 William (23) marries Mary J. (18).

Census records indicate that William and Mary’s first two sons, Theodore (1858) and Hiram (1860) were born in Ohio.

From 1859-1860 I find William Morris listed as a daguerreian in Perrysburgh, Ohio.

I haven‘t yet found any record of William Morris‘ Civil War years but I may have found one clue. There's headstone in a cemetery in the Oberlin, Ohio where William passed away. There are no dates on the stone.  It simply reads ...

“Wm. Morris”
"Co.E 42nd Ohio INF"

In 1864 William reappears in NY with the birth of a son Charles.  Three years later in 1867 a daughter, Lily is also born in NY.

But it is in 1870 where I find William’s connection to Henry. Co., Missouri …

1870 Tebo Township, Henry Co, MO - PO Clinton
Jul 29 1870

MORRIS William - 38 wm (1832) photographer - England
MORRIS Mary J. - 33 wf (1837) keeps house - New York
MORRIS Theodore - 12 wm (1858) - Ohio
MORRIS Hiram - 10 wm (1860) - Ohio
MORRIS Charles - 6 wm (1864) - New York
MORRIS Lilly - 3 wf (1867) - New York
MORRIS Ruby - 1/12 wf (1870) - Missouri

Ruby’s birthdate gives me my start date for when William Morris first appeared in Missouri … 1870.

My end date can be found in the 1880 census. William Morris (49) no longer lists his occupation as “photographer“, but as “farmer”.

All of William's children are still living in his household in 1880, including a few additions, Daisie (1874), Gudie (1876) and May (1879).

Only the name of his wife is different. Instead of wife Mary J. born 1837 in NY, The 1880 census shows his wife as Ophelia (34) born ca.1847 in NY.

I had the dates I was searching for, even if I still didn't know what his occupation was. William Morris took this photograph sometime in the 1870’s.

But by now I was more interested in the photographer than the photograph and I wanted to follow the story to its conclusion. So I kept looking. 

There is no 1890 census but my best guess is that William left Missouri sometime between 1883 - 1885.

The information in the 1900 census is more than a little confusing. William Morris (70) is listed as head of household and living in Bent, Colorado.  Living with him are his daughter Lily (30) and a 5 yr. old, John Hilton who is listed as a “boarder“. There is no record of his wife living in the household yet William lists his marital status as …

Marital Status:	Married
Years Married:	45
Estimated Marriage Year:	1855

　
And that’s one I haven’t figured out. The marriage year and number of years married matches up with wife Mary J. but not wife Ophelia, and that leaves me wondering if there were 2 wives? And what happened to them? With the exception of the one time each woman appears in the census, I haven’t found a single record for either of them.

In 1910 William (80) is still living in Bent, Colorado. His marital status is widowed. His daughter Lily (44) is married to George Nelson (36).  George is listed as head of household.

The 1910 census is the last one that William appears in. Sometime prior to 1917 he returns to Ohio to live with his son and daughter-in-law, Sarah Morris. It is Sarah Morris who fills out the record of his death on June 20, 1917.  Cause of death is listed as cancer. 

And to further confuse matters, William’s marital status is once again listed as married.

I guess he was … to somebody … for a long time.

William Morris
Born: England
July 20, 1832
Died: Oberlin Village, Ohio
June 20, 1917.
Aged 84 yr. 11 mos.

Silversmith Daguerreian Photographer Farmer

Now if I only I could find a photograph of him.