Charley J Betzel
This little boy, dressed in his nickers and Little Lord Fauntleroy jacket, is identified on the back of the photograph as Charley J Betzel. The photographer’s imprint indicates the image was made by Cheney, in Oregon City, Oregon. Is that enough detail for us to find information about this subject and his photographer? It should be enough because Betzel is not too common a name. If he were Charley Smith the situation might be more complex, since we could have several possibilities.
The style of the photograph can give us a good start. The brown mat, embossed imprint and embossed frame around the image, in dimensions larger the a Cabinet Card, suggest the image dates from 1895 to 1910. Charley’s outfit makes the late 1890s seem more probable, though it could still be very early in the 1900s.
Given the expected date range, the place to start is the 1900 census, and there is only one Betzel family in Clackamas county, where Oregon city is located. They have a son named Charles, who was born June 1895. A perfect match for our Charley. Since he appears to be about three years old in the photo, we can be confident the image dates from 1898, plus or minus a year.
Charley’s father is listed as Frank Betzel, born in Germany in March, 1863, and immigrated to the USA in 1880, his occupation is Music Teacher. He has been married 12 years to Jennie, who was born August 1866 in England, and they have had four children, three sons were still living in 1900: Irvin (born Sep 1893), Charles (born June 1895) and Dorian (born Nov 1896), all three born in Oregon. Frank is also listed in the Portland City Directories for 1896 and 1897 as a Music Teach in Oregon City, so the family was in that town before and after this photo was taken.
The family is still in Oregon city in the 1910 census, unchanged in most details, though the father is oddly listed as ‘J’ Betzel in stead of Frank. Apparently Charley’s parents had a falling out in the next few years, as the family appears in the 1920 census living at 1426 E 18th Street in Portland without Frank, and his mother is listed as divorced. Charles has married a woman named Myrtle, and they are living with his mother and brothers. Brother Dorian is now using the name Albert, probably his middle name.
To further confirm that this Charles from the census records is our Charley J Betzel from the photograph, I found his WWI draft registration, which shows his full name was Charles James Betzel, and he was born 17 June 1895, was residing at 1426 E 18th Street in Portland in 1917, and worked as a floor manager in the Meier and Frank department store. Here is his signature from that registration card:
Charles James Betzel signature
Of course at ClassyArts.com we like to find information on the photographer as well — just who was this Cheney in Oregon City about 1898? The 1900 census reveals her identity as well — Ethel Cheney (Ethel M Cheney in the 1910 census), born December 1877, the daughter of Orin Alonzo Cheney (8 Apr 1833 Boston, NY – 1 Feb 1913 Portland, OR) and wife (md 6 Dec 1864 Janesville, WI) Nelly M Sare (Oct 1839 NY – 3 Jul 1907, OR). Of course all those details on her ancestry are not from the census alone, but from compiled genealogies found online. Living in the same household as Ethel Cheney was Bessie Krumer, who is listed in other sources as her partner in the photography business. By the 1910 census Miss Krumer is no longer in the area or has married and changed her name, and Ethel’s younger sister Edith C Cheney (born March 1882) is listed as a photographer.
My grandfather was Dorian Albert Betzel. My father was also Frank Betzel. My great uncle was Irwin Betzel who was a pharmacist in Eugene Oregon.
Comment by Karen Wood — July 15, 2011 @ 3:23 pm
Great Karen, thanks for confirming my guess that Albert was Dorian’s middle name. That Irwin was listed as Irvin in the census is no surprise, there is almost always some detail that is off.
Comment by ajmorris — July 15, 2011 @ 6:04 pm