2017 Found Family

Hey everyone! I thought I would finish off 2017 with a few of the photographs I've been able to return to families this year. Most of the time, I am able to contact family members before I even post the photo- I typically find them through findagrave.com or ancestry.

 These two photos are of Margaret Davis Doughty and of Rosa and John Doughty with their sons, Oliver and Bill. Margaret was the wife of Oliver. The pictures were found in an antique store in Galveston, TX. I contacted Elizabeth, a descendant of the Doughty family, through Find a Grave and returned them in January.

 In October, I purchased over 30 photographs of the Burkett/Blunk family in Jefferson, TX. Above are just a couple of these: A picture of Vina Burkett Blunk and family, and a picture of  Garrett and Amelia Burkett, Vina's parents. I found a direct descendant of the Burkett's, Cindy, also through Find a Grave. I was able to return all of the photographs last week.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who reads this blog and loves old photographs. I hope to return many, many more in 2018!

Women in the Snow, 1920's

This is a snapshot of two fashionable women standing outside on a very snowy day. It is likely from the 1920's.

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season and a wonderful new year- stay warm!

Alma Lampman 1880's, Leonidas, Michigan

"Alma Lampman
Leonidas
St Joseph Co
Mich"

Alma Lampman was born in 1869 and was the only child of  George and Rachel Lampman. In 1893 Alma married Luman Ackerman, a farmer. They had one son, Keith, in 1897.  In this cabinet card from the late 1880's, not long before she was married, Alma is wearing a lovely dress with beadwork on the front and on the cuffs of the sleeves.

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

Marjorie and Gene Cox on Thanksgiving, 1925

This is a snapshot of Marjorie and Gene Cox standing outside a home on Thanksgiving day in 1925. I don't know where the photo was taken, but it looks like it may have been chilly!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and if you know who these two may be, let us know in the comments!

Mildred Cheek 1890's, Chambersburg, Illinois

"Mildred Cheek age 3 or 4"

Mildred Cheek was born in 1889 to Annetta Taylor and an unknown man, presumably with the name Cheek, who I couldn't find any record of. In 1900, at age 10, she is living with her maternal grandmother, Almina Taylor. In 1910, age 20, she is living with her mother and step-father, a farmer named Charles Lipcaman. Mildred married Guy Buzzard, a high school teacher, and together they had two sons, Robert and Richard.

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

Charles Bales 1890's, Bloomington, Illinois

Charles Ransom Bales was born in 1848 in Blue River, Indiana to parents Seth and Margaret Bales. Bales lived in Bloomington, Illinois for most of his life where he was known as an expert penman and taught penmanship for many years.

 In 1903 he began dabbling in alternative medicine and advertised his "Vitapathic treatments" in the local paper. Vitapathy was, in the founder John Bunyan Campbell's own words, "A religious scientific system of health and life, for body and soul, with all-healing spirit power." Vitapaths believed, among other things, in immortality and the power of electrical treatments. Bales claimed in his ad that if he could not cure his subject's ailments, they would not have to pay. Later, in 1905 and 1907, he is listed in the Bloomington directory as an osteopath, a practice that involved massage and manipulative treatments of bone and tissue. He finally retired from medicine around 1911, when he is listed as a card writer.  Charles Bales died in 1915 in California.

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

Benjamin Pitman 1870's-1880's, Cincinnati, Ohio

The back reads:
"Benn Pitman
Courtroom reporter
in Lincoln Conspiracy
Trial
Introduced shorthand
system invented by
his brother."

This is my 100th post and almost the 6th anniversary of this blog! To celebrate the occasion I wanted to post a special photograph I've had for a while but never got around to putting on here.

Born in England in 1822, Benjamin "Benn" Pitman assisted his brother Issac in developing a system of shorthand, which he went onto popularize in America by publishing numerous textbooks and founding the Phonographic Institute. During the Civil War he served as a Union soldier before becoming a reporter and acting as the stenographer on the Lincoln assassination trials, during which he used the Pitman system of shorthand. In 1873 Pitman became involved in the arts and crafts movement in Cincinnati, Ohio and introduced the "Pitman School of Wood Carving" He promoted wood carving and other decorative arts as a new profession for women.

He also lived in an incredible house that served as a showcase for his students work as well as his own (here are some great pictures of it!). The house is still lived in today.

It's been an amazing 6 years running this blog. Here's to another 100 photographs!