Photograph/autograph album presumably from the 1860s era and possibly from Maine. It contains 5 gem-sized photographs, not identified, and five inscriptions. Whether any of the inscribers are shown in the photographs, I don't know.
The album measures approximately 5-1/2" by 3-1/2"; many pages were removed at some point, so I can only imagine what insights they would have brought to the table.
The inscriptions of two of the people are what leads me to believe that the album might have belonged to a Maine resident - assuming I've identified them correctly:
- R. S. Webster, who inscribed his page at Portland, but did not designate a State; he may have been clothing merchant Richard S. Webster, a native of Standish, Maine
- Nellie R. Barrelle, who might have been Rhoda Ellen Barrell, "Nellie", daughter of Hon. Elijah Barrell. Nellie did not marry until about 1863, which, assuming she's the correct Nellie, would help date the album. Nellie would marry:
- Lindley Franklin Lemont, also known as Frank L. Lemont, whose Civil War letters are included in the Paul W. Bean Civil War Papers at the University of Maine. One source noted that Lemont, a Captain, was "shot with the most bullets". He married Nellie about 1863 and died in 1864.
- Virgil Horace Sprague of Greene, Maine. According to The History of Androscoggin County Maine, edited by Georgia Drew Merrill published in 1891, Virgil and Nellie married on July 5, 1868.
Two of the other other inscribers were from Germany and Spain, and the third also had a foreign sounding name. They may have been mariners.
- Rudolph Schroeder of Bremen, Germany
- Enrique ? of Madrid
- Gustave S. ?
If you can tease out the names, please leave a comment or contact me directly.
The photographs: [click on an image to enlarge it]
One (or more) page is missing after the page with the photograph above. The next three photographs appear on the pages preceding the page inscribed by R. S. Webster.
The last photograph appears on the page after that inscribed by R. S. Webster.
If you recognize any of these names or the photographs, please leave a comment or contact me directly.
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