Frank and Katie Timmermeyer Wedding Photo

According to the inscription on back, this is the wedding photo for Frank Timmermeyer and Catharine Josephine Curtis. We can see from the photographer’s imprint that the image was taken at Lawrence Kansas, and Catharine’s huge leg-o-mutton sleeves suggest the date was in the mid 1890s.

I didn’t have any great trouble tracking these two in the census records, having found both of them in each available census from 1870 through 1930. Timmermeyer was mis-indexed as Simmermeyer and Trimmerman, and in the earliest record was spelled Timmermeier. Curtis was spelled consistently, but there were lots of those to choose from, and the first names varied quite a bit — but in the end they could be sorted out based on the facts about Catharine found in later censuses.

There was also a genealogy compiled on Ancestry.com for this family, which provided some additional details — though it did have one glaring error, showing two children for this couple born two months apart in 1900 — one of those was actually born 1907.

Taking things more or less chronologically, Catharine was born Mar 8, 1868 in Monroe Ohio, eldest child of Jeremiah and Catherine (Murray) Curtis. Jeremiah, or Jerry was born in Ireland ca 1831, and his wife Catharine, or Kate, was also born in Ireland, in August 1846. Besides daughter Catharine, Jerry and Kate had: John, born June 1869; Jerry M born September 1872; William born November 1875; Thomas born August 1879; Anna E born November 1882; and James F born October 1886. There were two other children born who died young.

Kate Curtis and her brother John were born in Ohio, but by the time of the 1870 census the family had moved to a farm in Willow Springs township, Douglas county, Kansas where the family was still living thirty years later. Douglas county is where Lawrence is located. Kate’s father died between 1886 and 1900, as her mother is listed as a widow in the 1900 census.

Frank Timmermeyer was born January 17, 1870 in St Charles, Missouri, the fifth of nine children born to George and Mary (Kollister) Timmermeyer. George Timmermeyer was born October 4, 1828 in Dellbruck, Germany, the son of Joseph H and Anna Angela (Wigge) Timmermeyer. Mary Kollister was born September 30, 1841 in Hanover, Germany. Besides son Frank, their children were: Henry, born August 14, 1861 in Missouri; Joseph, born August 23, 1863 in St Charles, Missouri; Mary born February 10, 1865 in Missouri; William George, born January 22, 1867 in St Charles; Elizabeth born August 19, 1873; Fred born December 15, 1874; Katherine born April 17, 1875; and Anna born February 2nd, 1883.

Frank’s father George died November 2nd, 1895. Frank Timmermeyer and Catharine Josephine Curtis were married in Baldwin City Kansas on November 17, 1896. Baldwin City is also in Douglas county, and is about 15 miles from Lawrence, where our picture was taken, probably within a couple days of the actual marriage. They settled on a farm in Wakarusa township, Douglas county, just outside of Lawrence. Their first child, Frances Mary, was born in December 1900, but died within a year. Another girl, Anna Katherine, was born December 3rd, 1902. Their only son, Leo Thomas, was born November 10th, 1904. The final child, Julia Eva, was probably born November 5th 1907, though the online genealogy shows 1900 (just one month before her sister Frances? — unlikely). Her age in the 1910 and 1920 give her age as 2 and 12 respectively, if her birthday was in November she must have born 1907.

Frank’s mother Mary (Kollister) Timmermeyer died July 17, 1918 in Wichitaw, Kansas. Sometime between 1910 and 1920 Frank and Catherine apparently sold the farm in Kansas and bought a house at 845 Martin in Longmont, Colorado. They are listed there in the 1920 and 1930 censuses, and in 1936 and 1938 city directories for Longmont. Daughter Julia Eva died July 11, 1936, a few months short of her 29th birthday. Frank TImmermeyer died November 28th, 1947 in Longmont. Catherine (Curtis) Timmermeyer died October 18, 1948 — also in Longmont. Their son Leo died July 5th, 1979 in Grants Pass, Oregon. Daughter Anna Katherine died July 27th, 1981.

The photographer for this image was Joseph L Morris, born May 1859 in Ohio to James P and Anna H Morris. James was a farmer, born ca 1831 in Ohio, the son of Joseph Morris, born about 1803 in Ohio. In 1880 Joseph was working on his father’s farm in White township, Macon county, Missouri. So far, we have no other record of Joseph working as a photographer before this photograph from 1896. His career was probably not very long, he is listed as a photographer in Lawrence in the 1900 census, but by the 1910 census he is in the same city but without any occupation listed, and in 1920 he is still in Lawrence, but his occupation is shown as mechanical engineer. He married a woman named Maggie (born October 1860 in Missouri) about 1890, but they had no children. She died in the 1920s as he is listed as a widower in 1930.

This is a fine high-school graduation picture from 1895 of William C Shute of Westfield Massachusetts. I found William listed five years later in the 1900 census, born January 1877, living in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania with his new wife, Bertha (born Oct 1877). William was a draughtsman, and Bertha a china painter. Both list Massachusetts as their birthplaces, and apparently they went back there for a few years, since in the 1910 census, by which time they were living in Denver with three children — the eldest two (Henry and Marian) born in Massachusetts, ca 1902 and 1903. The youngest child then (Margaret), was born about 1907 in Colorado. They had another child about 1917, named William J, according to the 1920 and 1930 censuses. The 1910 through 1930 censuses list William as a school teacher, and by 1930 daughter Margaret was also a teacher.

The photographer is listed on the bottom front of the card as Knowlton Brothers, Westfield, Mass. The Knowlton Brothers were Franklin Smith Knowlton (1836-1920s), and Wilbur F Knowlton (Aug 1839 – ca 1918), both sons of Ammi Knowlton (1806-1888) a Master Mariner, and Maria (Loud) Knowlton (1806-1883). Franklin probably took up photography in 1859, as we first see him listed in the 1860 city directory for Portsmouth NH, where he is mistakenly listed as Frank B Knowlton — we know it is really Franklin S because his home address is the same as his father Ammi and his brother Wilbur. Wilbur was a Provision Dealer, and probably did not join his brother in the photography business until some time after they moved to Northampton Massachusetts in the mid-1860s.

Around early 1858 Franklin married Victoria Matilda Morton, and their first child was born on 13 December of that year. He was named Wilbur after Franklin’s brother.

Craig’s Daguerrian Registry shows that Frank S Knowlton also operated photographic studios in Sanbornton and Rollinsford NH in 1860. The registry of Civil War veterans shows Frank Knowlton enlisting in Company D, New Hampshire 12th Infantry Regiment on 15 Aug 1862 from Sanbornton, New Hampshire. He was promoted to Full Corporal on 17 Mar 1863, and mustered out on 02 Jul 1863 at Gettysburg, PA. Since Franklin S Knowlton was associated with Sanbornton, one might think this was him — but the 1860 census shows another Frank Knowlton, son of Oliver and Lucinda Knowlton, whose age better matches the government record, which showed Frank as 28 at enlistment.

From 1870 through 1920 we find Franklin and Victoria in each decennial census, living in Northampton Massachusetts. The 1900 census shows they had five children, only four of whom were living by that year. We have mentioned the eldest, Wilbur F born in 1858, he was followed by Frederick G 1863, Charles F 1865 and Elizabeth A 1879. Elizabeth married Charles Thompson about 1909, but continues to live with her parents in the 1910 and 1920 censuses. By 1930 she and Charles Thompson are living in Northampton, with her widowed mother (90 years old).

So how did the Knowlton Brothers come to have a studio in Westfield Massachusetts, and when did it operate? Well, from the Westfield city directories we learn that the Knowlton Brothers are first listed there in 1895, the year of this photo. The 1896 directory gives us a clue as to why — Franklin S Knowlton is listed as resident in Westfield — and so is daughter Elizabeth, ’student’. By the 1898 directory we find an ad for N M Austin, Photographer, “Successor to Knowlton Bros” — so the studio was quickly sold, probably when Elizabeth graduated, and they returned to Northampton.

We last see the Knowlton Brothers Northampton studio listed in 1917. Wilbur (Franklin’s brother, not his son) probably died around then, as we can not find him in the 1920 census, so Franklin closed the studio. Franklin is listed in 1920, but retired from business (he turned 84 that year).

E Butler 1880

Today, I thought a little stronger challenge was about due, rather than simply finding people for whom we have lots of clues. So I took a look at the photo of E Butler. It is a cdv on green cardstock, with an inscription on back that reads: “Truly Yours, E. Butler, July 2, 1880″.

There is no photographer’s imprint on back, but there was one on front — however — most of it was trimmed off when somebody decided to shorten the card. So that is where the detective work began. A close look at the name convinced me that it must be Barker or Parker. Only the tips of letters were left on the right, where the location is usually shown, but enough remains of the first letter to be fairly sure it is a W. That is followed by another mark, and some space — so it looks like the location is upper and lower case, with only the longer letters leaving marks. The first letter after the W is one of those long letters, and the possibilities are: Wb, Wh, Wk, or Wl. The Wh is of course the most probable, since town names beginning with the other prefixes are rare.

Next I turned to the ClassyArts.com Database of Photographers, a list of historic photographers approaching 60,000 records and still growing. I looked first at all the Parker listings, but none of the towns for those photographers began with Wh. I checked Barker, which had fewer listings, and there was listed James Barker of Whitehall, New York, who was aged 35 in the 1880 census, and born in Vermont. Well that not only places a photographer Barker in a town beginning with Wh, but it places him there the very year we are interested in — 1880.

Now, to confirm the probable identification of the photographer, I filled in the letters for Whitehall, New York under the marks on the cdv, to see if the tall letters match the marks:

The clipped imprint and proposed restoration.

They match perfectly! There can be little doubt then that James Barker of Whitehall was the photographer for this image.

Now, what about E Butler? Are there any candidates for him in or around Whitehall, New York? Again we turn to the 1880 census, since that is the same year as the photograph. Our photo shows a man in middle-age, his hair is greatly receded, but he doesn’t appear very wrinkled, so my guess is that he is between 35 and 55.

There is only one E Butler in Whitehall, Ebenezer Butler, age 46, a school teacher, born in New York. I searched various online resources, but could find no other photograph of Mr Butler to confirm this identification. I suspect this is Ebenezer, but we do not have enough evidence to say so with a high degree of certainty. It could be Edward Butler, age 27, who also lived in the same county, though not the village of Whitehall. Or it could be any of hundreds of E Butler’s who lived elsewhere in the country, and may have had some reason to visit Whitehall. For this one, we can only say ‘probably’ — until more evidence surfaces.

12 Year old Merle Penry of Iowa in 1909

This portrait shows a young girl in a pensive pose, seated in a chair and gazing downward. She wears a white blouse and colored skirt with H shaped halter straps over her shoulders. Her hair is parted off-center, and held in back by a bow. The back of the card is marked ‘Merle Penry, 1909, Blockton Ia’. Our research shows she would have been about 12 years old when the photo was taken.

Merle E Penry is listed in the 1900 census, aged 3, daughter of James and Annie Penry, farmers. For a farm family they seem to have moved around a lot — that census shows them in Le Claire City, Scott county, Iowa. The 1905 Iowa state census shows them in Clinton, Ringgold county, Iowa. This photo indicates Blockton, which is in Taylor county, Iowa. And the 1910 census lists them in Jefferson, Taylor county, Iowa. In fact, the last two are the same location, Blockton is a town in Jefferson township. Clinton is a township in Ringgold county that is adjacent to Jefferson township — so it is possible that their farm spanned the border between the two (or else their move between 1905 and 1910 was only a few miles), so they probably didn’t really move as much as the placenames make it appear.

This style of photograph was introduced in the 1890s and continued to be popular into the 1920s. It is smaller than a carte de visite, roughly two inches wide and three long — with a very small photo attached. The black card with white borders and white floral motif with a bottom banner dates from about 1905 to 1915.

This attractively colored CDV of little Ada May Josselyn was taken in the mid-1860s at the studio of famous photographer William Shew. A little research reveals that Ada grew up to be a spinster school teacher.

The Photograph

Ada May Josselyn ca 1864

The photograph is a typical carte-de-visite from the early or mid-1860s, with square corners, white cardstock, a double line around the front edge in violet (gilt is more common), and a simple three line photographer’s imprint on back.

Little Ada is posed seated on a cloth-draped table, with a plain dark background. She wears an off-the-shoulder dress of lightweight wool cloth called delaine, with short sleeves and three lines of dark horizontal trim near the hem, complemented by two similar trim lines at on the sleeves. The bodice is gathered into a flat sash at the waist. She has on black square toed slipper style shoes held with a strap at the ankle, over white short(?) socks. The left sock looks long, but that is probably just over-exposed so the top edge is not visible, and the colorist has left the leg and sock white, while the other leg was colorized.

The colorization, other than the sock-discrepancy mentioned, is finely done, with green for the table cloth, purple for Ada’s dress, and flesh color on her face, arms and one leg. A thin necklace has been highlighted in gilt.

The Subject

Genealogical research reveals that Ada May was born May 18, 1862. She looks to be about 1-1/2 or 2 years old here, so we can suppose the photograph was taken about 1864, which is consistent with the style. There is no tax stamp on the card, which may suggest that it was taken before August 1st of 1864, but that is suggestive rather than firm evidence, since the stamps sometimes came off without a trace, or were not placed on every card.

The California deaths index shows she died 3 September 1940 in San Francisco, and her mother’s maiden name was Lacey. It does not list her father’s full name. The 1900 and subsequent censuses show her living in the household of her cousin Albert E Lacey, with no occupation. Census listings consistently show her father was born in Massachusetts and her mother in Canada.

The 1889 San Francisco city directory, and Ada’s 1912 voters registration both list her as a school teacher. The directory even lists the school — Bartlett Primary School.

We find her listed in the 1880 census, aged 17, living with her mother 35 year old Maria Josselyn, and a 13 year old brother, William Josselyn. I could not find the family in the 1870 census, and so did not find the father’s full name.

The Photographer

William Shew was born in 1820 on a farm near Watertown, Jefferson county, New York. He and his brothers learned the daguerreotype process from Samuel F B Morse in 1840 or 1841, just a year or two after the technique was first made public.

After building a successful business as a daguerreotypist and case maker in Boston, Shew sold his interests there and sailed for California, arriving in March, 1851. Shew opened a photographic business in San Francisco, where he remained until after the turn of the 20th century and his death in 1903.

This CDV has the address 423 Montgomery Street on the back. He seems to have used that address between 1861 and 1869, though his earlier address is also on Montgomery Street, so it is possible the street was renumbered, rather than his studio moved, in 1861. His later 1860s imprints have additional addresses in the same block, along with 423, such as the 1867 imprint that shows: Nos. 417, 421, 423 & 425 Montgomery St.