Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 260: Bikes, tents, music, hats, flags

By Sheetar 3 January 2015 2 January 2015

What a prompt to start the new year! The photo has bunches of possible themes, but I went with another band photo that I’d previously posted about here. The band in question is the Blain City Band from about 1917 as photographed by J. B. Bateman of Bellwood, PA. Great grandma Olga labelled the photo in her later years with the approximate date and it would line up with her brother Alfred Herbert Powis right before he left for WWI. Alfred Herbert Powis is likely the gent in the front, seated, with the full mask and trumpet. We know he was a trumpet player and none of the other men look like him. In his obituary, it’s noted,

Deceased was of a quiet and peaceable, charitable disposition and a great lover of home. He had numerous friends who mourn his untimely death, a death which was contracted in the service of his country. He gave his life in the defense of liberty and the preservation of a Christian civilization. Deceased was a member of Orpheus Band of Blain City until compelled by sickness to relinquish what was one of his chief delights. He was a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, Coalport Lodge No. 350; also a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Patton Aerie No. 1244. The interment service of the Loyal Order of the Moose was conducted at the home.

He was a pretty busy fellow involved in a number of organizations. He passed away on July 6, 1926 at age 33, allegedly having brought back some sort of illness from World War I. His death certificate lists cause of death as Pulomary Tuberculosis. The family kept a number of his posessions that we found recently in a box – notably his helmet and gas mask – and never quite recovered from his passing so young. His wife, Goldie, never remarried either and the only child they had together only lived for two days. Pretty sad story to start the new year, but a great photo to share for the theme.

Sepia Saturday

A Saturday of Sepia

By Sheetar 27 December 2014 26 December 2014

Since this isn’t the real Sepia Saturday (they’re on break until January), it’s not quite the same, but I wanted to keep up my momentum with the project and post a photo that I love but hasn’t come up for a theme yet. There are SO many, and it’s hard to tell where to start! I’ve been itching to post more of these old school photos, so we’ll start there.

I don’t have the names for all the kids, buy my great great grandma Olga (Powis) Kitko is in that photo, back row, 12th person in from the left. On the far left, standing, is the teacher, Nellie M Askew who saw it fit to label the back of the photo, address it to Olga Powis, “Compliments of your teacher, Nellie M. Askew” – how convenient! The back of the photo is a postcard style back, with a stamp square that indicates it was taken between 1907 and 1929 (NOKO, see here). Olga was born in 1900 and the kids look to be about 7 or 8, so I’d put it around 1908, plus or minus a year or two. The teacher, Nellie, would’ve been 15 if I’m using the date of 1908 which makes me think my date guess might be off. I’d assume she’d have to have been a high school graduate, but it’s possible she was able to teach the younger kids with only an 8th grade education. She’s listed as being a teacher on the 1910 census though. On the 1940 census, she lists her highest grade completed as 8th, so it’s still possible she was teaching at age 15. It’s awfully strange to think about in our time to have a teacher be so young!

Other things that caught my eye about this photo is the muddy school yard that has no grass and those paper garlands hanging in the windows. Then there’s the girls hair and those HUGE bows, the striped tie on the one boy in the front, and the one boy with his hat on at the left. It’s really neat for this photo to survive that long (over 100 years) and give us a glimpse into what a bunch of kids looked like in the early 1900s.

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 259: Christmas and New Year 2014

By Sheetar 20 December 2014 19 December 2014

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Sepia Saturday takes a break over the winter holidays, but resumes January 3rd, 2015. I’m going to post a little Sepia Saturday of my own in the meantime just to keep up with the streak. There are a bunch of photographs I want to explore and haven’t been theme-appropriate yet, so this seems like a good time.

For grandma (technically step grandma, but she’s always been my grandma), Christmas was a really big deal. She’d decorate the house inside and out, put up a tree, and string up cards as they arrived. It’s really incredible, the amount of Christmas decorations we’re finding in the attic now that she and grandpa have passed. It’s no surprise then that a large number of photos are of holiday scenes including many of the tree and decorations and a few of the two of them opening presents. This one of grandpa, Leon Kitko, above, is one of my favorites. Grandpa is looking at a box of some sort, checking out the information, and the back is labelled, “Christmas ’69.” Taken with a polaroid camera, it’s really a lovely photo – the light coming in the window to the left, perfectly placed doilies, a couple of boxes stacked on the chair, the tree fully decorated. Peaceful, but happy.

Below is a short video I’ve posted on the blog before, converted from Super 8 by Southtree. It’s not a photo and it’s not sepia, but it’s so neat to see a glimpse into their holidays together, including grandpa’s prankster tendencies.

Xmas with Grandma and Grandpa from Sheetar on Vimeo.

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 258: Scenes cropped from the background of other photographs

By Sheetar 18 December 2014 18 December 2014

While I’m really late (almost a week) getting this post together, here it is, finally. Better late than never, right? The theme this week wasn’t an easy one for me to fill – I have a lot of posed photos of folks looking straight at the camera with few street scenes of everyday life. The bulk of my family photos come from a large trunk that I’ve talked about before, and the area where they were taken just wasn’t that well developed, so the backgrounds of photos are trees for the most part. Not too interesting. Thankfully, Earl Powis, great grandma Olga’s brother, sent home a few photos from when he was in the Navy during World War I (May 1917-August 1919). These were labelled as having been taken in Yorktown, Virginia, presumably at the Navy Base that’s still in existence. The buildings, however, I doubt still exist, so it’s hard to place where on the base this may have been taken. It’s really neat to see all the sailors standing around, smoking, and in the crop at the top, one of them seems to be catching a cough or wiping his face with his hand. I can’t identify Earl as having been in the photo, so I have to imagine he was the one taking it instead. Keeping this short and sweet to catch up and get on with finding an image for this Saturday’s prompt!

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 257: Lassoo, Dad and Son, Porch, Dog, Cowboy

By Sheetar 6 December 2014 4 December 2014

When I saw the prompt image a few weeks ago in the “coming soon” section on Sepia Saturday, I immediately thought of this photo. It’s been a bit of a thorn in my side as far as finding out who everyone is, but I’ve made some progress since the beginning. Here’s the rundown of who’s who (or who I think is who) with uncertain identifcations marked with a question mark.

Back, Left to right: Jessie (Battin) Powis, June (Croyle) Johnson?, Euphaime (Lamb) Miller, Marion Miller?, Oscar “Fritz” Powis, Laura (Johnson) Powis
Center, Left to right: Charles Miller and William Miller (twins, not sure who is who)
Front, Left to right: Alfred Powis, Louise Johnson?, Margaret Johnson?, Frank Johnson

As far as a date goes, Laura and Fritz were married in March of 1926, so I’d assume the Johnson family was over to visit on or around the time of their wedding. Dorothy Powis, their daughter, was born in December of 1926, and there’s no baby in the photo, nor does Laura look pregnant, so I’d have to pretty solidly put this in early to mid 1926. As far as my guesses go, I assumed June Johnson would be in the photo and she’s identified solely by process of elimination. I’d found another user’s photo of Euphaime Miller online, and the Miller twins appear over and over in other photos (my great grandma was clearly smitten with them and may have even taken this photo). I also guessed on Marion Miller since she’s standing near her mother and brothers. The two gals in the front are likely Laura’s two younger sisters, but it’s hard to tell who is who since they were born a year apart. The Millers are, as far as I can tell, not related at all, just neighbors.

A lot of the guesswork with the identifications takes into account the date and circumstances for the photo. Sometimes it’s easy to get frustrated when there are no labels and put a photo aside, but with a little critical thinking (Laura and Fritz were recently married, I know that’s Frank Johnson and the Miller Twins, so…) and a few lucky google/ancestry hits, things can be sorted out eventually. It definitely pays to revisit unidentified photos from time to time!

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 256: Festivals, floats, feathers, and fair maidens

By Sheetar 29 November 2014 29 November 2014

Another one from great grandma’s personal photo album. I’d posted about this little album a while ago and the issue that the photos are all glued to black construction paper-like pages. I had managed to free a few of the photos that were loose already and made a few new discoveries. Fitting in with the Sepia Saturday this week, I present to you a group of fair maidens.

On the back is written, â€œLeft to right, Anna Shranko, Goldie Powis, Helen Somerville, Kathleen Troland, and Mary Shranko. The Shranko sisters are from Osceola Mills, PA. Four Budds and one bloom from Williamsport, PA. Taken May 15, 1932â€ Junua “Goldie” Powis (nee Patchin) was my great grand uncle’s wife. Alfred Herbert Powis had died 6 years prior to this photo being taken and they only had one son who died in infancy. It’s sort of a sweet way to refer to Goldie as a, “bloom,” and the other girls who had never been married as, “budds.” I haven’t been able to find out much about the other girls, and I think maybe some of the names are spelled wrong. I did find an entry on the 1930 census that shows Helen, Kathleen, and Mary living in a house together in Williamsport, PA, with them all working a variety of different jobs from machine operator to saleslady and even laborer in a rubber factory. All the gals are dressed nicely for a lovely late spring day (see the tulips blooming in the foreground?). Again, I have to wonder who took the photo and took the time to label it as well with a date and all the names. And that’s that! Short and sweet this week, and a little late given that things have been pretty busy at Casa Sheetar. It’s still Saturday though, so I say it works!

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 255: Children, train sets, crafts, silhouettist, dogs, family groups

By Sheetar 22 November 2014 18 November 2014

For many of the prompt images for Sepia Saturday, I see the image and immediately think of a photo that fits. This one was a little more difficult. I have no artists like Eveline Maydell in my tree (that I know of) and no photos that jumped out at me as having the same feel. The one below kind of came close to the feel of the photo, even though mine is a perfectly posed family photo. It’s a bit of a departure from the prompt image, but it’s still Sepia and Saturday!

The image is just about an 8×10, mounted on heavy boad with the photographer’s studio name embossed in gold, “Lipp Studio,” in Philadelphia, PA. The studio doesn’t exist anymore, but even without that hint, my great grandma Olga labelled the photo, “Mother’s sister, husband, Maurice & Gordon, Shugg Family.” Bessie looked much the same throughout her life, so it’s been pretty easy to pick out photos that she’s in anyway, and this is no exception. Bessie Battin was born in Lawhitton, Cornwall, England in 1870. After marrying Arnold Shugg in 1900, she came to the US with her husband and two children in 1911, almost 20 years after her sister (my 2nd great grandmother Jessie) arrived. They settled in Philadelphia, PA about a 5 hour drive away from where Jessie and her family lived. The sisters appeared to have kept in close contact, exchanging photos over the years, and Jessie’s daughter Olga even visited Philadelphia to see Maurice Shugg and his wife, Mildred Pruden. Marurice (the older boy in the photo) and Mildred never had children, but Gordon (the younger boy) had a child, Mary, who married Joseph Delphidio. I don’t have a lot of information on the descendants of Bessie and Arnold, but I apparently have a few fourth cousins floating around somewhere, related via Bessie.

As for the book Bessie is holding, all I can make out is that it says, “Record,” on the front and is very well worn. As far as a date goes, Gordon was born in 1905, and they arrived in 1911, so something like 1915 sounds about right. If you happen to stumble across this photo and are related to the Shugg family, please get in touch!

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 254: Couples, Clinches, Crossings, Hitching a Ride

By Sheetar 15 November 2014 13 November 2014

This was as close as I could come to the prompt image for this week’s Sepia Saturday. A man helps a woman steady herself next to a waterfall! It doesn’t look like they were crossing the falls, maybe just standing near it for the photo, but it’s still a great image. We don’t know who this is for sure, but I have to assume it’s someone related via my husband’s paternal grandmother Hilje “Hilda” (Dijkema) Jaarsma. I have a hunch, based on another photo that’s labelled, that the woman may be one of her aunts (either Ellechien VanEerden or Gertrudia Dijkema Visser). It’s really hard to tell, and of course none of hte photos are labelled. No clues on the man though. I don’t think Ellechien was married, so it points to this more likely being Gertrudia, but then again I could be completely wrong on all accounts! It was likely taken in Holland, sometime around 1935. A quick search, and it looks a lot like the Sonsbeek Waterfall in Arnhem!

This appears to be the same man and woman as above. If you look closely, you can see the man is holding a walking stick behind his back, possibly the same one he had in the photo at the top. Again, I can’t verify anything about the photo, but hey, it’s a crossing, even if assisted by a bridge. I thought the bridge may have been unique enough to turn up in a google search, but I’d searched for it for a while and came up empty. Then, after stumbling across the image for the photo above, I found it’s a bridge in the same park (Park Sonsbeek) in Arnhem! So, now I’ve got the where, but still no who! Maybe if one of Wessel Visser’s relatives happens to stumble across this blog, they be able to confirm or disprove my theory. Wouldn’t that be great! So, yet another Sepia Saturday that brings me a new snippet of information through careful examination of old, unlabeled photos.