“I’ve had this theme in almost every version of 52 Ancestors because, let’s face it, who can choose just one?! Plus, we should be telling the stories of those photos so they don’t get lost to time.” Week 2 prompt from Amy Johnson Crow for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.
This photo seems very innovative for the time period. I know it is my great grandparents sitting in the chairs. Charles William Smith (1860-1936) and Melissa Alice Minson (1863-1932) were my great grandparents. They had four children Nettie Myrtle, Albert Vernon, Lelah May and Mary. Myrtle was my grandmother and we knew at some point she worked in a photo studio in Boone, Iowa. We all agree the one lying on the floor is my grand aunt Mary, she was the youngest in the family. I waffle with the one standing. It makes sense that it would be Myrtle as she was still living with the family. Looking at other photos with Lelah I sometimes think it could be her and maybe Myrtle got to try her hand at taking a photo. I often want to romanticize and add to the stories when really there isn’t anything more to add, for instance, maybe this was used as an advertisement for the photgrapher. When I was trying to find information about this photographer I saw most photographers displayed some of their photos just outside where they worked.
In the 1910 Census Nettie Myrtle is living with her family, except for Lelah who was married. She is listed as a milliner in this record. In the 1911 Boone City Directory N. Myrtle Smith is listed as a printer for Hughes Studio. She was boarding at the same address where her parents lived, 1319 15th Street. This one took a while to find as she is transcribed as X Myrtle Smith! I found her parents and wasn’t sure yet of the date she was married. Since she wasn’t listed with them I was assuming she was already married. I started looking for her married name and didn’t find her there either. Eventually I found their marriage and knew she was still single at the time of this directory.
I found an advertisement for the photo studio in the same directory. It talks about the special lighting they had available so they could take pictures at night. I love the coloring of this photo and how they are all enjoying the fireplace. Or maybe it is just an illusion of a fireplace created with their special lights. I wasn’t able to find information about the photgrapher right now. I think I looked it up in the past and discovered he was only in Boone for a few years and than moved to California. I could be wrong though as I seem to have misplaced my notes.
This is Lelah May(left) and Nettie Myrtle. In the end I think my sister is right but they are very similar when you are looking at an image that isn’t completely focused.
Do you have a favorite photo? Maybe yours is a photo of a place that brings back wonderful memories, or a record you worked very hard to find. It is very hard to just chose one favorite photo.
My Tree in the Forest 