Dating Old Photos--Research the Photographer

-

Oh boy, there was William Williams, right age, immigrant from England, working in a mine in southwest Idaho on the 1900 census.  But having chased Bill from England to Michigan then to South Dakota and eventually to Wardner, Idaho, how could I be sure this was the right one?

The picture below was among family photos passed down to Ken Williams, a great grandson of Bill.  In fact there were two copies of the photo, a pretty good indication that there was a family member in it.


Will the real Bill Williams please stand up?  That is, if the real Bill Williams is in this picture.  We'll probably never know which man is Bill but there is enough circumstantial evidence to place him in Owyhee County in 1900.  The clue--the photographer.  C. E. Joy had a photograph studio in Salt Lake City around 1900 and probably made trips to neighboring communities.

Looking for the clues

There are many clues for dating and identifying photos.  Prominent among those is researching the  photographer.

The ten second Google search--a quick search on the name and city may hit paydirt.

A single named photographer, "Joe Blow" might be in the census with his photographer occupation.

Check histories of the town or county--the pictures below were taken by Burnham & Boynton, Spokane Falls, Wash. Ter.  Family history is that the couple migrated to Post Falls, Idaho Territory about 1886.



Check city directories and newspapers.  By 1890, Oscar Boynton was in the Spokane City Directory as a photographer working for E E Bertrand.  Partners may separate for some reason. Studios may not use a person's name.



U. S. City Directories, 1822-1995  Ancestry.







If there are several photos, taken by numerous photographers, setting up a table or spreadsheet may be helpful in dating and identifying.  Placement of photographer Adam Heeb helped identify Susannah and also the bride and groom.










A prominent photographer may move from one location to another and the address on the photo imprint will help to nail down dates. 
It was difficult to identify the boy in the photo because none of this family had ever lived in or near Fargo, Dak.  And yet the clue was right there, "visits all cities on the Northern Pacific Railroad" with the picture of his Palace Studio Car.


Newspapers would carry this ad for several weeks prior to the scheduled stop and the several Haynes photos in the family collection can be dated by the address on the mat.





When we get back to walking into libraries, Bellevue Branch of KCLS has several good books in the Reference Section, among them:

Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers, Carl Mautz Publishing (Bellevue Public Library, Reference Section)

Try these clues and you'll probably find some clues of your own.  Happy hunting!



MaryLynn Strickland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a...
Read more

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it ...
Read more

Help Save This Abused and Neglected Cemetery

-
Image
Screen capture from Google Maps History In an exchange of emails this past week in both the main SKCGS group, and in the Washington-State-Genealogy group, many facts were revealed about the history of the I.O.O.F. Comet Lodge Cemetery, also known as the Old Burying Ground, the Georgetown Cemetery, the Graham Street Burying Ground and maybe more.  FindAGrave sums it up this way: "Since it was established in 1881, the Comet Lodge cemetery site has been whittled away to less than half its original 5 acres. Records are sketchy but it's safe to say that some 500 pioneers were buried here, atop unknown numbers of native Duwamish people. New burials ended in the 1930s. Since then, homes and streets were built on top of many of the plots as the neighborhood around the cemetery grew.  "Upkeep and ownership of the cemetery bounced between the city, civic groups, relatives of Comet Lodge residents, and nearby neighbors. For years, much of the property was allowed to deteriorate int...
Read more