Minnie Bean of Binghamton NY

Minnie Bean of Binghamton NY

Here we have a carte de visite (CDV) of a young girl (I estimated age 10 to 12) shown in a vignetted bust view. Her hair is curly at top, and parted down the center, and long enough that it is drawn back behind the ears and disappears behind her shoulders. It is not tied up the way adult women wore their hair in that time. The card has a single line around the print, and a photographer’s imprint on back. A light pencil inscription informs us that this is “Minnie Beane, June 28. 1872.”

Everything about this CDV is consistent with the inscribed date. The vignette style photo was very popular in the 1860s, but continued well into the 1870s. The 1860s vignettes generally have smaller bust views, leaving wider margins around the vignette — but this image has the larger size typical of the 1870s. The girl’s dress is a light plaid, typical of the late 1860s and early 1870s. The photographer’s imprint is a simple four line text, but unlike the 1860s imprints of that type, this has the photographer’s name in much larger type and a fancy ornate typeface. Such imprints were more typically turned horizontally by the mid-1870s, but in 1872 regular vertical imprints still outnumbered the horizontal ones.

Minnie Bean

So if we accept the date, can we also accept the identification? Searching the 1870 census I found only one Minnie Beane listed, and her information did not match what we know of this photo. I searched again, however, for the name without the terminal ‘e’ — and found there were over 20 Minnie Bean listings — including one in Binghamton New York, the location of the photographer. Add to that the fact that the Minnie Bean listed in Binghamton was ten years old in 1870 (so she would have been 12 in the 1872 photo) and I think we can be fairly sure this is the correct identification.

Minnie is first listed in the 1860 census, aged three months, the youngest of four children of Jeremiah and Clementine Bean, living in Cincinnatus, Cortland county, New York. Jeremiah has no occupation listed, he is shown as a ‘Gentleman’ with $10,000 worth of real estate, and $20,000 in personal property. The older children are Mary, age 14; Emma, age 6; and Frank, age 4.

By 1870 the family has moved to Binghamton, and Jeremiah’s occupation is listed as merchant. His personal property has grown to $50,000 — a very large sum for those days. Such a prosperous family includes a resident household servant girl, of course. The household is similar in 1880, except Mary is not included, probably married and moved into her own home. By 1900 Clementine is a widow.

Minnie apparently never married, as she continues to be listed right up to the 1930 census, when she was 70, still living in Binghamton, now with her widowed sister Emma. She never has an occupation listed in the census, apparently her inheritance was sufficient to support her — but she also never owned her home, but was always a tenant of some other household — one year it was a preacher and his wife.

George N Cobb, The Photographer

George N Cobb was born in New York state in March 1847 to Ziphron and Sarah (Crane) Cobb. The family moved to Pennsylvania soon afterward, and are listed in New Milford, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania in the 1850 census, and Montrose, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania in 1860. When he was 20 (1867), George married 17 year old Augusta. Apparently George opened his first photographic studio about 1866, in Montrose, according to a dated CDV listed by Darrah. He employed Asa Warner, according to the 1870 census, who was later a photographer in Greene, New York.

George and Augusta (’Gussie’) are listed in Montrose in the 1870 census, with five month old daughter Nina. George is listed as photographer, but obviously rents his studio space, since he lists no real estate in the census, but has a personal estate value of $2,000. Asa Warner is boarding with them, and listed as a photographic studio employee.

Our CDV is evidence that George moved to Binghamton New York very early in the 1870s. Darrah also lists an 1872 dated CDV for George N Cobb, as well as another dated 1875 where his description refers to him as ‘Artist’. The existence of several dated images suggests that Cobb himself added the identification and date to these CDVs, which helps explain the misspelling of Minnie Bean’s last name. Misspelling it not unusual in genealogical research, George Cobb’s census records, for example, variously list him as George N, George M, or George W Cobb. Indeed, the CDV we have shows George’s location as ‘Binghampton’ New York, but the town name has no ‘p’ in the correct spelling.

The 1880 census shows Charles J Howe, photographer, boarding in the Cobb household, no doubt working as an employee in George’s studio. By the late 1880s Charles J Howe had his own studio in Elmira (Chemung county) New York.

George and Augusta Cobb continue to be listed in Binghamton New York in the 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 censuses. In 1880 and 1900 he is listed as ‘Photographer.’ The 1910 census listing shows him as Commercial Photographer. By 1920, at 73 years of age, he is listed as Studio Proprietor, suggesting that his role in the business was less active by then. He probably died between 1920 and 1930 since he does not seem to be listed in the 1930 census.