Charles Peter Mowery, Circleville, Ohio 1890s

The writing on back says "Charles Mowery." Written below, in fainter letters, is "Nadie R. Mowery," the name of Charles's sister.

Though this portrait of Charles Mowery has become faded and dirty with time, we can still make out a few details: his serious little face, ruffled collar, tasseled cap, walking stick, and the faux tree stump he perches on.

Charles Peter Mowery was born in Salt Creek Township, Pickaway County, Ohio, on October 15th, 1889. He was the youngest of Sarah Elizabeth Myers and Harvey Allen Mowery's children and had two older siblings, Nadie Rea and Willis Ferdinand. Their father was a farmer, as well as the superintendent of the Tarleton Sunday School and a church trustee. 

In 1910, 20-year-old Charles was living with his parents and working odd jobs. In 1917, he married Arista Mae Riffle. Charles's WWI draft card from that same year describes him as being of medium height and medium build with black (or dark brown) eyes and black hair. He worked as a farmer and later went on to become a county road foreman. The couple had two children, Charles Jr. and Joan Mae.

Charles Jr. became a staff sergeant in the Headquarters Detachment of the 37th Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and during WWII, served overseas. Newspaper articles give a glimpse into the anxiety felt by the families of those serving in the war. In December 1942, The Circleville Herald reported that a special program was held in Cincinnati where families could hear recorded messages from men in the 37th division. Charles Sr., Arista, their daughter, Joan, and Charles Jr.'s wife were all in attendance to hear Charles's voice for the first time in months. Charles Jr. survived the war and lived to the age of 88.

Charles Sr. was superintendent of Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Ohio until his retirement. Arista passed away in 1971, and Charles followed her the next year. They were both laid to rest in the same cemetery Charles had cared for.

If you know who this may be, let us know in the comments!

Bertha and Nellie Farrington, Kansas, 1900s

The two young women in this cabinet card are identified as Bertha and Nellie Farrington.

Bertha and Nellie Farrington were the daughters of Sarah Scrivener and Martin Van Buren Farrington. Nellie was the elder of the two, born in Kansas in June 1881. Bertha arrived in November 1883. They had one older sister, Carrie; George, a brother born between them; and two younger sisters, Maud and Edna. There was also Lloyd, a brother who died in infancy.

In 1900, the Farringtons were living in Mulberry, Kansas. Martin, a veteran of the Union army, supported his family as a farmer. He had come to Kansas from Illinois in 1872 and married Sarah there in 1880. In November 1900, just months after the census was taken, he died at home at the age of 65. In this photo, one of the sisters wears a button with a portrait of a man. Often, these were worn as memorials to someone who had passed. If the button was worn for their father, this may be a clue as to when the photo was taken.

In 1902, 21-year-old Nellie married Delmar L. Pickard, a farmer and carpenter. They lived in Taloga and later in Kinsley, Kansas, and had one daughter, Gladys Opal, born in 1904.

On September 27th, 1905, 21-year-old Bertha married Delmar's brother, John S. Pickard, in Clyde, Kansas. According to The Clifton News, the wedding was held at the home of Bertha's mother, where 30 guests gathered to witness the ceremony. "The bride looked very beautiful in a white silk dress," the paper reported, and "A number of useful gifts were received." Tragically, the marriage was to be cut short. Bertha died at home on October 16th, 1907, at the age of 23. Her funeral was held at her mother's home, just as her wedding had been a few years before. Her obituary in The Clyde Republican noted that "her life was devoted to her home and relations and her loss will be keenly felt by the dear ones left." It includes a quote by poet William Cowper: "Domestic happiness- thou only bliss of paradise that has survived the fall." She was laid to rest in Pleasant View Cemetery in Vining, Kansas.

Over the next few years, mentions of the close-knit Farrington and Pickard families dotted the local papers. "Sunday J.S. Pickard entertained for dinner Mrs. Nellie Pickard and daughter, Gladys, Miss Edna Farrington, and George Farrington..." the correspondence section of The Richfield Monitor noted in August 1910. Nellie traveled often to nearby towns to shop and visit with friends and family.

In 1940, Nellie and her husband were living in Cotopaxi, Colorado, where Delmar was a timber worker. According to his 1942 draft card, Delmar was employed by the Works Progress Administration (or "Work Projects Administration" as it was known between 1939 and 1943). Delmar passed away just a few years later in 1945 at age 66. He was buried in Hillside Cemetery in Kinsley, Kansas.

After her husband's death, Nellie returned to Kansas to live with her brother, George, and his family. She eventually moved to Harrison, Arkansas, where her daughter, Gladys, lived. Nellie passed away there in 1972 at age 91. She was buried in Hillside Cemetery beside her husband.

If you know who these sisters may be, let us know in the comments!

Felix and Walter Schultz, La Grange, Texas 1910s

Writing on back reads: "This is Felix and Walter Schultz" with a San Antonio Fox Photo stamp.

Felix and Walter Schultz were the youngest sons of Mary Fredericke Reimer and Carl Friedrich Theodor “Charlie” Schultz. The Schultzes had eight children, including Ida, Minnie, Lillie, Ella, Awald, and Jesse. Felix joined the family in 1903, followed by his brother, Walter, in 1906. Both Charlie and Mary Schultz were German immigrants. They farmed and raised their family along the Colorado River near La Grange, TX. La Grange is considered the center of the Texas-German Belt, an area of significant German settlement that spans the south-central part of the state. Most Germans there became farmers, just as Charlie Schultz did. Felix became a farmer like his father. In 1927, he married Angela Cernosek in Fayette County, Texas. They had three children, Felix, Mary, and John. Walter worked as a farm laborer and later as an electrician. In the 1930 and 1940 censuses, he is listed as a boarder living with other families. In 1941, Walter married Amelia "Millie" Strzinek in Hidalgo, Texas. They had two daughters, Mary Frances and Frankie Marie. Walter passed away in Sinton, Texas, in 1973 at the age of 67. Felix passed away in La Grange in 1977 at the age of 73. If you recognize these boys, let us know in the comments!

Fannie Leary and Howard Edwards, Houston, Texas, 1940s

This pair of photographs shows two halves of a couple walking down a street in Houston, Texas: Fannie Leary and Howard Edwards. I identified the store behind them as Everitt-Buelow Company, a women’s clothing store. There were three locations in Houston: one on Main and Lamar in Downtown, one on Post Oak Boulevard, and one at Champion Forest. Signage in the window advertises an “Allied Relief Ball for Democracy” at the Coliseum. The “Coliseum” is the Sam Houston Coliseum and Music Hall, which opened in 1937. Based on what I could find in The Houston Post, this event took place on July 4th, 1940, which gives us an exact year for when the photo was taken. (As a side note, the Relief Ball was attended by special guests Olivia De Havilland, James Stewart, Tyrone Power, and Henry Fonda, among others. Pretty impressive line-up!)

Fannie Lucille Leary was born on April 3rd, 1917, in Texas to Tillie Elizabeth Walters and John Wiggins Leary. Fannie was one of ten siblings, including Walter, Alice, Arline, Edmund, Thelma, Jaunita, Clifford, Timothy, and Marcella. In 1940, Fannie’s sister Alice tragically died in a car accident near Alvin, Texas at the age of 21.

In 1941, 24-year-old Fannie married Howard Merle Edwards in Harris County, Texas. Howard was born in Tucumcari, New Mexico, on June 30th, 1907. His World War II Draft Card from 1940 describes him as having blue-gray eyes and brown hair, and lists his employer as George Kalleen of the High Hat Nightclub in Houston, where he was a bartender (this is crossed out and replaced with “G W Buvinghausen Inc,” though George Kalleen is still listed as his contact). Howard had been previously married at least twice; in the 1930 census, his wife is listed as Emma Edwards, and they are living with Emma’s children from a previous marriage. In the 1940 census, his wife is Mabel Edwards, a waitress at a cafe.

In 1950, Howard was a painter for a rubber company, and Fannie was “keeping house.” The couple did not have children.

Howard passed away in 1998 at the age of  90. Fannie passed away in 2008, just a few days after her 91st birthday. Sadly, I can not find where she was buried.

If you know anything else about her, please let us know in the comments!

John Wiggins Leary, Helena, Texas 1880s

John Wiggins Leary, the young boy in this cabinet card, was born in Texas on February 19th, 1880, to parents Fanny Manning and Edgar Leary. He had four siblings: Stephen, Edward, Vivian, and Mary.

John’s father, Edgar Leary, was a salesman in Galveston before moving to Helena and becoming the sheriff of Karnes County, Texas. The previous sheriff had resigned after being threatened by a group of men known as the “Butler Boys,” whom he had openly accused of murdering a prominent Mexican stockman. On December 26th, 1884, Emmett Butler and his gang rode into Helena  “flourishing their pistols and causing women and children to take fright and hurry into their houses,” according to the Galveston Daily News. Sheriff Leary attempted to arrest them for disorderly conduct, and the men opened fire. The Sheriff was struck in the chest, but not before shooting Emmett Butler in the leg as he tried to escape. A group of onlookers from a nearby saloon was ultimately able to take Butler down. Sheriff Leary died, leaving behind a widow and five children, including four-year-old John.

Article on the death of Sheriff Edgar Leary.
The Dallas Daily Herald, Dec. 30th, 1884

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Learys received financial support from the community, including from the Sheriff’s Association. In 1891, John’s 11-year-old brother Stephen wrote a letter to the children’s section of the Houston Daily Post, which gives insight into their childhood:
“My name is Stephen Mullen Leary…My father, Edgar Leary, was killed while holding the sheriff’s office in Helena six years ago the 26th of last December. We miss him all the time. He was so kind to us and loved us more than he did himself. I hope we will meet him in heaven some day. I have a mamma, two sisters and two brothers. My mamma teaches school. When my papa was living I had a horse and a pair of Angora goats, but they have been sold. I hope I will hurry and get grown so I can support the family.”

Their mother remarried in 1898 to James Milton McGinty. In May of that same year, John enlisted in
the army to serve in the Spanish-American War. He joined the 2nd Texas Volunteer Infantry, Company B, about which there is little surviving information. Some of the Texas Volunteers remained in Texas, while others were stationed in Miami and Jacksonville, Florida. Newspapers like the Houston Post described the relentless rain, illness, overcrowded hospitals, and lack of supplies in Miami during the summer of 1898. He was discharged in November of that year. I should also note that John’s grave marker says “Texas / SGT BTRY C 5 Field ART / Spanish American War,” though I have no further information on this.

John married Tillie Elizabeth Walters at her parents’ home in 1915. They had 10 children: Walter, Fannie, Alice, Arline, Edmund, Thelma, Jaunita, Clifford, Timothy, and Marcella. The family lived in Galveston, where John was a dairy farmer, and later in Alvin.

John Leary died of lung cancer on December 18th, 1952, at the age of 72.

The next post will focus on John’s daughter, Fannie, and her husband, Howard, who I also have photos of.

If you know who this may be, let us know in the comments!