Favorite Photo: Joseph May

One of my favorite photos in my collection is a photo of a painting.

Favorite Photo: For Jack From Mama ~ 52 Ancestors #3

This week's theme for this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is "Favorite Photo."

I have many photos that I have previously shared under the Wordless Wednesday prompt. Here are a couple that I haven't previously shared.

This is a tiny envelope, about 2.5" x 3.5". On the front is written: "For Jack from Mama."

And on the back is my mother's handwriting identifying the individuals in the photos as James Hunter and Mary (Freeland) Hunter, who are my second great-grandparents. This suggests that the handwriting on the front is my second great-grandmother's, Mary (Freeland) Hunter. Inside this small envelope are four tiny pictures.

I previously shared portraits of them when they were younger.

Third Great-Grandmother's Photo in a Museum

The blog reader who shared the original daguerreotype of my second great-grandmother, Eliza May Wells, recently notified me that he had discovered a daguerreotype of Eliza's mother, in a book he owns, and he found that the original is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, which has one of the world's most significant collections of photography.

According to the museum, there is a note taped to the back of the daguerreotype case, in pen:

"I herewith bequeath to the Louisa May

Alcott memorial association at Orchard

House, Concord, Massachusetts, this

daguerreotype of my Grandmother,

Elizabeth Sewall Willis Wells (the daugh-

ter of Elizabeth Sewall May Willis) play

ing chess with her sister-in-law, Mrs.

Phineas Wells. The left hand figure is my

Grandmother."

Elizabeth Sewall (Willis) Wells (1820-1900) married Thomas Goodwin Wells (1804-1873). His brother, Phineas Parkhurst Wells (1808-1891) was married to Catherine (French) Wells (1810-1873).

I descend from Elizabeth and Thomas as follows:

Elizabeth Sewall Willis (1820-1900) married Thomas Goodwin Wells
Eliza May Wells (1839-1880) married Samuel Sewall Greeley
Samuel Sewall Greeley (1824-1916) married Eliza May Wells
Ethel May Greeley (1875-1931) married Lowell Copeland
Lowell Townsend Copeland (1900-1974) married Helen Lysle Hunter
My mother
Me

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sara Carter Pyle

Thank you very much to my third cousin once removed who has recently spent some time going through old family memorabilia and shared the following photographs with me.

All three are of my second great-aunt, Sara Carter Pyle, sister of James Tolman Pyle. Unfortunately only one is dated, though I think they may all be from the 1880s.

Aunt Sarah [sic] Pyle McAlpin
sister of W. S. Pyle senior
William Scott Pyle's father
J.P.D.'s father

~~~~~~~~~~~

Wordless Wednesday ~ MyHeritage In Color™

Well, life got in the way of my good intention of blogging at least once a week in 2020. However, I have wanted to share this cool tool for awhile, and it's now free for just a few weeks.

MyHeritage In Color™ is Now Free and Unlimited for One Month!

MyHeritage In Color™ has been available to subscribers for a couple of months, but until April 22, they are offering unlimited use to everyone as a fun way to pass the time and enjoy colorizing your old black and white photos.

If you have old digitized black and white photos, visit MyHeritage In Color™, create an account and have some fun! Below are just a few of my many black and white photos that I have colorized:

About 1909: Marion Hunter, Margaret Hunter, Aunt Helen Rainey Hunter, Caroline Hunter, Mary Hunter

See a larger image at MyHeritage where you can view it with a slider.  Note that there is a palette icon in the lower left hand corner of the color image indicating that this is not an original photograph, but has been colorized.

About 1909: Margaret, Mary, Marguerite, Helen, Percy, and Caroline Hunter

See larger image at MyHeritage with slider.

About 1904: Charles C Adsit, Jr. and his sister, Elizabeth Adsit

See larger image at MyHeritage with slider. I originally shared the image on the right in 2011.

About 1929: Charles McAlpin Pyle, Jr.

See a larger image at MyHeritage with slider. I originally shared this at Dad's Pet Goat.

I have enjoyed seeing the colorized photos that other genealogists have shared. Share your links in the comments!

Favorite Discovery: Eliza May Wells Daguerreotype ~ 52 Ancestors #7

This week's theme is Favorite Discovery. My favorite discoveries come from people who contact me because they found my blog and want to share something with me.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from someone who was searching the name Eliza May Wells and came across my blog post from October 2012: Wordless Wednesday: Eliza May Wells.

He shared an image of a daguerreotype with a note referencing Lucinda, Edwin, and Ruth Wells of Hopkinton, New Hampshire. I recently blogged about these three Wells siblings and that they stayed Close to Home. (It was his email that prompted me to write that post, as I was curious to find out how the three siblings died within days of each other in 1882.)

I was thrilled, as I have a carte de visite that was created from the original, which I shared with him, confirming who was in the image.

My original photo and the note on the back:

Eliza May Wells (Greeley)

and

Gt. gt. Aunt Lucinda Wells

Oldest sister of Thomas G. Wells

I don't know whose handwriting this is, but it might be Ethel May Greeley (Copeland) writing a note to my grandfather, Lowell T. Copeland, as Lucinda would have been his great-great aunt.

My correspondent provided me with the image of the daguerreotype (slightly cleaned up, to digitally remove some dust under the glass):

1903 Photo Mary Adsit ~ 52 Ancestors #2

I am hoping to blog more, using Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks themes, and this week's theme is Favorite Photo. (And, no, you didn't miss post #1; I didn't post last week.)

I am very lucky to have many family photos and I have many favorites. See my many posts with the tag Wordless Wednesday.

Here is a portrait of my great-grandmother, Mary Bowman (Ashby) Adsit, taken in July 1903 according to a penciled notation on the back.

She would have been 40 years old.

Mary Bowman Ashby was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, in 1863 (though for most of her life, she lied about her age). She married Charles Chapin Adsit in 1890.  They settled in Chicago, where she gave birth to her son in July 1892 and to her daughter (my grandmother, Libby) in June 1897. I shared a photo of her with her son at M. B. Adsit and C. C. Adsit Jr. Circa 1893.

I also shared a photo of brother and sister at Wordless Wednesday ~ 1904 Car.

I have several portraits and photographs of Mary Adsit throughout her long life and she always looked very stylish.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Benjamin Willis (1791-1870)

My fourth great-grandfather, Benjamin Willis. I recently shared an 1865 Massachusetts State census record for him and his family.

Gt. gr. grandfather

Benjamin Willis, Jr.

Born Nov 16th 1791

Died July 28th 1870

The relationship noted on the back of this photo was to my grandfather, Lowell Townsend Copeland, and his sisters. If a relative can identify the handwriting, please let me know.

My Willis line can be found at Surname Saturday ~ Willis of England and Massachusetts.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Grandfather and Greeley Cousin?

My grandfather, Lowell Townsend Copeland, was born in December 1900 in Winnetka, Illinois. His maternal grandfather was Samuel Sewall Greeley, who had several children with his first wife before she died. They all lived in the Chicago area and my grandfather was close to his Greeley cousins. In fact, my mother stayed in touch with some Greeley second cousins for many years.

I think this might be a Greeley cousin playing in the snow in Winnetka, Illinois, sometime in the first decade of the last century. He looks like he is showing off the snow tunnel that he has just dug.

And I think this is the same boy in the go-cart with my grandfather leaning on the cart behind him.

His half-first cousins on his maternal grandfather's side include:
Samuel A. Greeley (1882-1968), son of Frederick Greeley (1856-1912)
Morris L. Greeley (1893-1982), Sidney F. Greeley (1894-1988), and Joseph May Greeley (1902-1996), sons of Morris Larned Greeley (1863-1945)

If any Greeley cousins can confirm the identity of this boy, please let me know if my theory is correct.

Samuel Sewall Greeley: Always Bearded ~ 52 Ancestors #45

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and last week's writing prompt was Bearded.

A quick glance and I can see that I have a few bearded ancestors. Following are the photos I have of my second great-grandfather, Samuel Sewall Greeley. It appears that he had a beard throughout his entire life.

He was born in Boston in 1824. This is a photograph of a photograph. He has quite a few descendants so hopefully the original is with another descendant.

He came to Chicago in 1853 and married his first wife in 1855. After her death in 1864, he returned to Massachusetts to marry a cousin in 1866.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday ~ Pyle Pearline Soap Box

I recently shared a story about the legend of how James Pyle became convinced to advertise his soap powder. (It was not accurate: he had been advertising products in newspapers for years.)

If you search online newspaper websites for Pyle Pearline, you will find many advertisements for his soap product in the late 1800s throughout the U.S.

If you search images for Pyle Pearline, you will find many images of the advertising cards that have survived. Not only that, but you can also find old boxes that once held the powdered soap. One of my brothers gave me one a few years ago.

Note that this was James Pyle's Pearline but "made only by" Procter & Gamble.

Grandmother: The Youngest Sister ~ 52 Ancestors #32

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and this week's writing prompt is Youngest.

My grandmother, Helen Lysle Hunter, was the youngest of five sisters. I have many photos and old negatives from this family for which I am grateful.

I have shared family photos in the past but I couldn't resist sharing a couple more here.

Grandmother was born on 1 February 1907, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (now the North Side of Pittsburgh), so it's pretty easy to date these photographs to the summer of 1907.

Mary Hunter (b. 1903), Helen (b. 1907) held by Caroline (b. 1900), Marion (b. 1899)

I don't know why two-year-old Margaret is not in this photo, but she is being held by her sister Mary in the following photo, which was taken on a different day: the girls' clothes are different and it looks like baby Helen has just a little bit more hair.

From the back: Marion (b. 1899), Caroline (b. 1900), Mary (b. 1903), Margaret (b. 1905), Marguerite (b. 1876), and baby Helen (b. 1907)

I'm pretty sure these photos were taken at the Hunter home on Perrysville Avenue. See photos of the home at The Old Homestead.

Sarah (Lowell) Copeland Photos About 1910 ~ 52 Ancestors #31

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and this week's writing prompt is Oldest.

My second great-grandmother, Sarah Lowell, was born 30 December 1833, in Calais, Maine, and spent just about her entire life there. She married Henry Clay Copeland in 1858 and had two sons and one daughter. I shared a brief biography of her at Matrilineal Monday ~ Sarah Lowell.

I have two photographs of her that I think were taken on the same day.

Her son, Lowell Copeland, wrote the captions on the back, noting that he believed his mother was between 75 and 80 years old, dating these photos to between 1908 and 1913. I love that he dated his caption 2/27/30 and of course, that it's in his handwriting.

Copeland Father and Son Travel to Maine in 1904 ~ 52 Ancestors #28

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and this week's writing prompt is Travel.

I've been enjoying scanning photographs from my aunt's collection. Both my aunt and my mother have photographs from their father's trip to visit his paternal grandparents in Calais, Maine, from Winnetka, Illinois, in 1904, a trip of over 1,200-miles!

This was a trip "back home" to see Henry Clay Copeland (1832-1912) and his wife Sarah (Lowell) Copeland (1833-1916). I can't tell from my collection of photos if my great-grandmother, Ethel, or grandfather's 18-month-old sister, Betty, went on this trip; there don't appear to be any family group photos.

What a trip this must have been for not-quite-four-year-old Lowell Townsend Copeland! At this age, my grandfather was known as Townsend, but his nickname of Towgie or Towg is noted on the back of some of the photos.

Lowell Copeland and his son L. Townsend Copeland in Calais, Maine

The back of another copy of this photograph reads: "Taken Oct 1904 in New Brunswick - beautiful drive - L.C. [Lowell Copeland] and Towgie [Lowell Townsend Copeland]."

From the back: St. Stephen / Towg - New Brunswick, Jul 1904

St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, is across the St. Croix River from Calais. The date on the back of this photo suggests that they were in Calais by July of 1904.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Photos for Father's Day ~ 52 Ancestors #24

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and this week's writing prompt is Father's Day.

Following are four generations of Pyles in photographs.

My father, Charles McAlpin Pyle Jr., at about the age of eight or ten in the early 1930s:

And his father, Charles McAlpin Pyle, at probably about the same age in the 1910s:

And his father, James Tolman Pyle:

A photo of his father, James Pyle, which I found at the Nova Scotia Archives website:

Happy Father's Day!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Henry Clay Copeland ~ 52 Ancestors #20

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt but this week, instead of using the prompt, I'm sharing another photograph from my aunt.

Henry Clay Copeland was born in Norridgewock, Maine, in 1832, and died in 1912 in Calais, Maine. I don't think I've ever seen a photograph of him and my aunt had four copies of this same image. This appears to be the clearest one.

Following is the backside of another of the images showing three different handwritten notes (suggesting he was 41 years old) as well as the photographer's imprint.

July 1873
Henry Clay Copeland
[sideways:] Eastport - Aug. 21, 1873

The photographer was Davis Loring, owner of Loring's New Rooms in Eastport, Maine. (I looked him up at Langdon's List of 19th & Early 20th Century Photographers.)

I have written about this second great-grandfather at Henry Copeland ~ Lumberman and Military Monday ~ Henry Clay Copeland.

Henry Clay Copeland

|

Lowell Copeland

|

Lowell Townsend Copeland

|

My mother

|

Me

Favorite Photo of Percy and Marguerite ~ 52 Ancestors #2

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and this week's writing prompt is Favorite Photo.

I have shared many favorite photos on this blog (the tag Wordless Wednesday brings up those posts). Today's photo is of my great-grandparents, Percy Earle Hunter and his wife Marguerite Lysle.

Ya gotta love that hat! I wonder how heavy it was.

This was taken while they were vacationing in Atlantic City. (They lived in Pittsburgh with five daughters who were born between 1899 and 1907.)

The photographer was Myers-Cope Co., 1635 & 1521 Boardwalk, Atlantic City. By exploring the Atlantic City directories at Ancestry.com, I can narrow down the dates that this photograph was taken to between 1909 and 1913. (In 1908 and in 1914, Myers-Cope Co. was at only 1635 Boardwalk.)

However, since I know that they were in California in 1912, when they were listed in the California Voter Registrations for that year, why they were in California, and also that they were back in Pittsburgh by the fall of 1913, I believe this photo was taken between 1909 and 1911.

Wordless Wednesday ~ William Scott Pyle (1856-1906)

In honor of a third cousin once removed who found me because of my blog, I am sharing this carte de visite of William Scott Pyle, my second great uncle (and her second great grandfather). He was the younger brother of my great grandfather, James Tolman Pyle.

The handwritten inscription is: Yours Truly W. S. Pyle.

The photographer was Julius Ludovici, who photographed in New York and Newport (which can be faintly seen in the lower right-hand-corner of the image).

There is no date on the back of the image, but based on the tie (wide and soft) and the white shirt, as well as a possible age of mid-20s, I wonder if this was taken around the time of his marriage in 1881, when he was 25 years old, or perhaps soon after.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Mother's Childhood Home

Last week I attended the FGS 2017 conference in Pittsburgh. The main reason I went was because it was being held in my mother's childhood hometown and I could visit my cousin, who shares an interest in family history.

Not only did my cousin and I visit Uniondale Cemetery, where we have many maternal ancestors (see my 2014 post Pittsburgh Burials at Uniondale Cemetery), but we visited the home where our mothers grew up. We knocked on the door and the current homeowners couldn't have been nicer, letting us explore the grounds, walk around inside, and take photos. (I have since shared some of my 1940s and 1950s photos with the homeowners, some of which I previously shared at Mount Royal Boulevard.)

This photograph of the house was taken about 1958-1959 when my grandparents were preparing to sell it:

This photograph of the house was taken almost sixty years later, on September 2, 2017:

The house was originally built in 1820, one of a pair of farmhouses built by brothers. It was also a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Two Unknown Men, Tintype

This tintype is about 3" x 4.25". I know it came from my mother's family, but I don't know for sure which grandparent it came from, so he could be a relative on the Copeland or Greeley line (my grandfather) or the Hunter or Lysle line (my grandmother).