Laura A. Wilson and Elizabeth Cheney, Christian, Illinois 1860's

Laura Alice Wilson was born in Ohio in 1853 to Abraham Wilson and Nancy Watkins. Her mother died that same year. Laura was raised for many years by her grandparents, John and Emma Watkins. On September 24th, 1874, Laura married Charles Wesley Cheney in Illinois. They had three children: Nellie J., William Glenn, and Nuna Florence. In 1883 the family moved to McPherson, Kansas. After the death of Charles, Laura lived with Nellie and her husband, Dr. George R. Dean. When Nellie died in 1903 at the age of 27, Laura moved in with her youngest child, Nuna, and her family. Not long after, she moved again to live with her son, William. In the years before her death, she was living in a boarding house with two other women. She died in 1939.

Elizabeth Cheney, Laura's stepmother

Laura's father, Abraham, was a blacksmith and Civil War veteran. He married 4 times in his life. His second wife was Elizabeth "Lib" M. Cheney, who he married in Christian, Illinois in 1860. His third wife was Jennie, and his fourth was Ada L. Roby in 1880. In 1900, Abraham, who was deaf and suffered from dementia in his old age, was killed after being struck by a train.

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Lydia Strobridge, Merrill, Wisconsin 1887

The inscription on the back reads:

"April 15th, 1887
Lake View
for
Susan Gilbert"
In different, probably more recent handwriting, it says:
"Nancy's great, great
Grandmother
Strobridge"

Lydia Jane Kline was born in Pennsylvania on May 31st, 1834 Pennsylvania to John and Lovina Kline. She had many brothers- James, Johnson, Joshua, Daniel, and Edward- and one sister, Mariah. In Wisconsin, Lydia married Cyrus Strobridge, a man who worked several different jobs throughout his life: He was a postmaster, a tavern keeper, and a lumber dealer. Lydia and Cyrus had three daughters: Sarah, Lyberty, and Franc. Lydia died in 1897 at the age of 62.

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George E. Douglass, Columbus, Ohio 1880's

George Douglas was born on July 27th, 1859 to Mary Elliot and William Douglas. He grew up in the county of Northumberland, England with his siblings Mary, Robert, Elizabeth, and Hannah. Though I can't find an exact date, George's father died sometime before 1870. As the eldest son, George worked as a coal miner to help support his family while his siblings went to school.

In 1882, the Douglas family moved to the United States. George's mother and siblings settled in North Lawrence, Ohio, while he went on to live in Columbus. I wonder if the photographer of the photo, J.M. Elliott, was related in some way to Mary? It might explain why they chose to go to Ohio. George probably had this portrait done not long after he arrived in Columbus when he would have been 23 or 24.  He married Myness Edgar in 1891 and their only daughter, Alma Ruth, was born in 1896. For much of his life in Ohio, George worked in the telephone industry, first as a clerk and then as a "repairer". He died in 1922 at the age of 62.

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Mariella Wood, Marshall, Texas 1890's

Mariella (sometimes spelled "Mary Ella") Wood was born in 1886 in Marshall, Texas to parents Martha and Samuel E. Wood. She was the eldest of 6 children: Joseph Glen, Ruby Ackert, Samuel Eldred, John Robert, and Mattie Callaway. In December 1900, Mariella became ill with what was thought to be "a cold and some congestion". She died suddenly on December 10th at the age of 14, most likely from diphtheria. Tragically, the Wood family also lost 4-year-old John Robert just a week later from the same illness "after a painful and difficult operation had been performed as a last resort". I can only imagine how Mr. and Mrs. Wood felt during all of this.

There is also a second name on the back of the photo: Naida Adams. I'm unsure why this woman's name is on the back of this photo or her relationship with the family, but I do know she was living in Marshall, Texas around the same time. She was born in 1898 and would have been 2 at the time of Mariella's death. Naida's story is just as tragic. In 1921, the same year she married her husband, Ernest McClaren, she died in childbirth. It's possible she was a friend of the Wood family and the photo was given to her as a gift.

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The Laner Brothers, Fayetteville, Arkansas 1927

The back reads:
"Laner Bro's Shoe Shope
N.W. Corner Block and Center
In basement of Eason Building
1927
L -> R
Monroe LANER
Nichols "Nick" Hopper (15 or 16)
Julius LANER

-?
Wiley Holt"

Julius Laner, born 1868, was a Swiss shoemaker who lived and worked in Esculapia, Arkansas. As late as 1925, his business was simply referred to by his own name. With his wife Alice, Julius had three sons: Julius A., born in 1905, Monroe, born in 1907, and Aubrey, born in 1910. Julius passed down his trade and his shoe shop to his two eldest sons, Julius and Monroe, who renamed the business "Laner Bros". The shop was located in Fayetteville, Arkansas in the basement of the Eason Building, which is also known as the Old Bank of Fayetteville (the building has since been restored and was added to the National Historical Register in 1994). 

Julius A. married Golda Reeves, a telephone operator, in August 1924. They had one daughter, Susan, in 1936. Monroe lived with his brother until he married Emele Colwell in 1941.

Nichols "Nick" Hopper was born in 1913 to Ernest and Ethel Hopper. He was an apprentice to the Laner brothers at the time this photo was taken and is later listed in the 1940 census as a "cobbler".

Wiley E. Holt was born in 1908 to Wiley and Edna Holt. He worked as the shop's delivery driver.

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The Berquist Family, Chicago, Illinois 1900's

The back reads:
"Dad, Edd, + Maggie
My Great Grandfather
Berquist
Uncle Edd Berquist
Maggie Berquist"

This 1900's cabinet card is of Solomon Berquist and two of his children, Edd and Maggie Berquist.

Solomon was a stonemason from Sweden. He and his wife Johanna had eight children in total: Frank, Edward, Charles, Henry, Barnhart, Alfred, Thomas, and Margaret. Margaret, or Maggie as she was called, was born in 1885. She married Boyd T. Culver, a mason, in Minnesota in 1913. They had two sons, Edward and James.

Edward W. Berquist, or Edd, was born in 1869. He married Emilie Gartz in 1896 and they had two daughters, Alvina and Ruth. In Chicago, Illinois, Edward was employed as a "pipeman" in the fire department- apparently "pipeman" is slang for the firefighter who handles the "pipe", or hose. His bravery as a fireman was noted several times in the Chicago Tribune, including this mention of a daring rescue in 1904:

Emilie Berquist died in 1918 and Edward was cared for in old age by his daughter, Alvina, and her family.

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Elizabeth Francis Chatham, Leona, Texas 1850's

The inscription on the back reads:

"Elizabeth Frances Chatham
(Feb. 18, 1839-Dec. 1905)
aged 18

Married William Rufus Rhodes
(Oct. 28,1823-June 1899)

June 24, 1862
at Leona, Leon County, Texas"

Elizabeth Francis "Bettie" Chatham was born on February 18th, 1839 to parents George and Cenia Chatham. If the inscription is correct and Elizabeth was 18 in the photograph, it would have been taken in 1857. In the 1860 census, Elizabeth is single and living at home with her parents. William Rufus Rhodes was the co-founder of Chatham Machinery Company along with Col. R. K. Chatham, Elizabeth's brother. I think this is probably how he and Elizabeth met. According to the inscription, she married William in Leona, Texas in 1862, though several documents indicate that her first son, Albert Marshall, was born in 1859. I wonder where he was in 1860? Elizabeth and William went on to have 4 more children: Sally Emma, Henry G., Sidney Earle, and Edith Maude. Elizabeth was an active Christian Scientist and held many meetings at her home. She passed away in 1905.

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