Hazel E. Worsdell, Carthage, Missouri 1900's

The back reads:
"Hazel Worsdell
To Helen Farley
From
Great Aunt Alice
Clarence Farley's Wife
Helen's Mother"

Hazel E. Worsdell was born in Carthage, Missouri on March 16, 1893. Hazel was the youngest child of Elizabeth and William Worsdell. She had a brother and sister, Ralph and Rebecca, who were both much older than her. Her father William was a preacher from Ohio, the son of English immigrants. The Worsdell family seemed to have relocated often as Rev. Worsdell moved from church to church. In 1905, he was preaching at a church in Byron, Kansas when he suddenly fell ill and returned to his family in Vermont, Illinois. Hazel lost her father a few months later when she was only 12 years old. Her mother, Elizabeth, moved Hazel and her sister Rebecca to the nearby town of Eureka. Here Elizabeth worked as a dressmaker to support herself and her two daughters. Rebecca's health soon began to decline. The family struggled financially and eventually sold their house and most of their belongings before moving to Henry, Illinois. Rebecca died there in 1906.

Hazel, now with just her mother, moved again, this time back to Missouri. In Sedalia, Missouri, Elizabeth and Hazel lived with Elizabeth's sister, Augusta, who was also a dressmaker. As soon as she was out of school, Hazel began working as well. At 17, she was working in the office of a printing company and in 1911, at 18, she was working as a clerk at a Chasnoff's department store. That same year, she married Clarence Newton Farley. According to a newspaper article, the engagement was announced at a party Hazel had with her friends from the department store. Hazel is described in the article as "a pretty and well-liked young lady", while Clarence is described only as being "employed at the Globe Clothing store." They were married on September 17, 1911.

In 1912, the couple moved to a farm in Green Ridge, Missouri, but returned to Sedalia in 1917. Clarence worked as a postal clerk in Sedalia for 34 years (and also apparently raised American chinchilla rabbits as a hobby.) During this time, Hazel and Clarence had four daughters: Grace, Helen, Ethel, and Lillian. Sadly, their youngest daughter Lillian died in 1950 at only 26.
According to the writing on the back, this photo was once gifted to Hazel and Clarence's daughter, Helen, by a "Great Aunt Alice"- an older sister of Hazel's mother. Helen lived with her parents for many years and did not marry until later in life.

Hazel Worsdell Farley passed away in 1969, age 76.

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

Granddaughter of Mrs. S.P. Garner, Lincoln, Kansas, 1900's

The message addressed to Mrs. S.P. Garner reads:
"Me age about 18

Hello Grandma
can you guess
who this is?
Wish I was back thair
to help eat those peaches

Mrs. S.P. Garner in 1939,
age 94. She lived to be 99.

and charries.
Goodbye dear Grandma
ans soon."

Mrs. S.P. Garner, this young woman's grandmother, was born Sarah Permelia Spurgeon in West Virginia, 1845. She married William C. Garner, a Civil War veteran who was also born and raised in West Virginia, in 1869. They moved to Lincoln, Kansas where they lived for many years. They had 7 children: Charles, Viola Irene, Harry, Phoebe, Linley Darwin, William, and John, though I don't believe all of them lived to adulthood.

According to the newspaper article on the right, Mrs. Garner had 13 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. The young woman in this photo is one of her many granddaughters, though it is unclear which one as she is not identified.

If you know who this girl or her grandmother may be, let us know in the comments!

Father Joseph Wonderly and Students, Peru, Indiana 1920's

The writing on the back reads:
"High School Girls
Top Row: Thelma Gilbert, Antionette Lewis, Theta Johnson, Genevieve Withers, Gertrude Brennan
Second Row: Joan Carrol, Hazel ???, Thelma ???, Father Wonderly, Martha Frances, ???
Third Row: Lucille Damica, Georgianna Wagner, Catharine Richmond, Alice Crume, Selene ???
Bottom Row: Mary Kruntzer, Mildred Gillen, Margaret Cade, Mary Kammel"

Joseph S. Wonderly was born August 26th, 1895 in Huntington, Indiana to John and Kate Wonderly.
Joseph suffered many losses as a child. His mother died in 1902 after giving birth to Joseph's youngest brother, Robert. His older brother, John, died of tuberculosis in 1914 and his father, a respected locomotive engineer, died in 1919.

Joseph Wonderly in his high school yearbook.

Joseph went on to attend St. Mary's Parochial School, St. Joseph's College, and Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of the West. He became ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Aldering at Fort Wayne, Indiana on June 10th, 1922. He took a foreign language course at Maryland University and intended to do missionary work in China, though I have found no record of him ever doing so.

I believe this photograph was taken during Father Wonderly's time in Peru, Indiana, between about 1923 to 1928, when he taught at the St. Charles Borromeo School. The school was founded in 1922 by the Sisters of Providence from St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.

Father Wonderly then set out for Texas around 1929. In Pampa, Texas, he was a pastor at the Holy Souls church and taught at the Holy Souls Parochial School. He lived in Pampa until 1940, when he returned to his home state of Indiana. Rev. Joseph Wonderly died in Indiana in 1976, age 81.

If you know who any of these folks may be, let us know in the comments!

William Dorsey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1870's

The inscription on the back reads:
"Presented to me by his
daughter, Sarah Dorsey,
during my visit in their
home at Colorado Springs
June 6th 1906
S.K.J"
Though the name of the man in this photo is not written, I believe it is William Dorsey of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

William Dorsey was a prominent minister of the Society of Friends, a merchant of the firm Benedict Dorsey & Son, and was a founder of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He was born on October 18th, 1810 to parents Benedict Dorsey and Mary Johnson. Benedict was a merchant and with his son ran a china store, Benedict Dorsey & Son. In 1834, William was married to his first wife Elizabeth Knight. Sadly, both Elizabeth and William's father, Benedict, died in 1841. In 1842, not long after his 32nd birthday, William was married again to Susanna Haydock.

An article from the Evening Telegraph, November 11th, 1869

William was a member of the Building Committee for Swarthmore College, which opened in 1869. On the day of the school's official opening, Dorsey gave an address alongside Lucretia Mott, a fellow Quaker and an activist for abolition and women's rights. When William Dorsey died in 1874 at age 63, his obituary was published in newspapers across the country.

From his first marriage, William had two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. With Susanna, he had Sarah. Sarah lived with her sister, Elizabeth, in Colorado Springs for many years. She was an active member of several groups, including the Needlework Guild of America and the Women's Advisory Board of the El Paso County Horticultural Society. In 1906, the same year her sister Elizabeth died, Sarah presented this carte de visite of her father to an "S.K.J". I wonder who those initials belong to?

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

Annie Clark and Thomas Glenn Newell, Minnesota, 1883

This photo of Annie and Thomas Newell is a copy of an earlier tintype from the 1880's.

Thomas Glenn Newell was born in St. Clair, Michigan in 1858. His parents, Samuel and Marion, were Scottish immigrants. Samuel was a weaver and a farmer but became a doctor later in life. From Michigan, the family moved to Canada, and then to Minnesota. While he was in his early 20's, Thomas lived with his sister Marion and worked as a telegraph operator until 1883, when he married Annie Clark.

"Rosanna" or Annie Rose Clark was born in Lake City, Minnesota in 1861. Her parents, William and Margaret, were Irish immigrants. Annie was the second eldest of ten children. She married Thomas Newell when she was about 22 years old. This photograph is likely their wedding portrait. Together, Thomas and Annie had 8 children: Thomas, Raymond, Anna, Lillian, Octavia, Yetieve, George, and Theodore. While in Minnesota, Thomas worked as a dentist.

According to a newspaper article I found, in 1902 the eldest Newell son, Thomas, accidentally set fire to the family home while lighting a stove. Mrs. Newell was badly burned on the face and neck while trying to smother the flames and the younger children were forced to jump out of an upstairs window. Luckily, all survived.

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

Dave and Lizzie Roussy, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1900's

This lovely young couple is Dave and Lizzie Roussy.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Holtz was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1882. She was the daughter of  Frederick Holtz, a farmer and Civil War veteran, and Anne Maria Geiger. Both parents were German immigrants. Lizzie had 3 older siblings: Christian, Hermina, and Herman. On May 16th, 1901, Lizzie married David John L. Roussy.

David was born in Switzerland in 1878 and immigrated to the United States in 1892. In Wisconsin, he worked as a steward at the Milwaukee Club. The Milwaukee Club, established in 1882, is an exclusive club for businessmen that still exists today. It was during his time as a steward that he served in WWI. He later worked as a shipping clerk, and as a woodworker.

David and Lizzie had 3 children: Marie Jane Evalyn in 1903, Depierraz in 1908, and Nathalie in 1917. (Depierraz is an unusual name. I haven't been able to find it anywhere else. I wonder if he went by Pierre?) Depierraz married Rosella Berns in 1927, while neither Evalyn nor Nathalie ever married.

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

Nicholas Feo, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1940's

This very dapper looking man is Nicholas Feo, born in Williamstown, New Jersey on July 8th, 1906. His parents, Philip and Julia Feo, were Italian immigrants who arrived in the United States in 1901. Not long after his birth, the family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Philip worked as a bartender. Nicholas had one sibling, a younger brother named Peter. I wonder if it is one of Peter's children who wrote "Uncle Nick" on the back of this picture?  Nicholas married Philomena "Mamie" Di Carlo in 1940. He died in New Jersey in 1980.

The photographer, Sebastian Faragalli, was also Italian American. He operated his photography studio on Passyunk Ave in the 1930's and 40's.

This photo postcard was found with the picture of Uncle Nick:

Here is a rough translation of the Italian writing:

"Lorella Elena on the right is 16 years. Sitting is Giannina, 18 years. And I, Feo Francesco, am 13 years. ?? 1940. We wish you a good Easter to all. Good Tidings. Greetings to all- Your Cousin Francesco Feo"

Though I couldn't find any record of Francesco, Giannina, or Lorella Elena Feo, I would guess they are Nicholas's cousins writing to him from Italy. The photo appears to have been done by an itinerant or traveling photographer because it was taken outside- you can see the dirt ground and the edge of the backdrop.

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