Thursday, October 29, 2015

1910s+ Photograph Album with Scenes of Quaker Point, West Bath, Maine, Presumably Owned by the Vacationing Mikels Family


Note of November 1, 2015:  Information provided by two expert researchers has provided information that the album was likely the property of the family of Dr. and Mrs. Frank M. Mikels (Mikelsy), who had Bath, Maine, connections.  

See more information on the Mikelsy/Mikels family here, a link provided by one of the researchers.

1910s+ photograph album, with at least some of the scenes from the Bath, Maine, area.  The M.H.S. written on the inside back cover may refer to Morse High School at Bath.  If the album owner was only vacationing in Sagadahoc County, however, the high school may have been located elsewhere in Maine or out of state.

New: See the entire album at the end of this post.

With the new information, however, it's likely that the initials did represent Morse High School, as at least one of Dr. Mikel's brothers graduated from there, so perhaps he, and/or his wife Delia Libby (Cohen) Mikels did as well.

Young women Marg, Eleanor and Ruthie, whose photograph is missing, were presumably teammates on the Girls Basket Ball team.  Interestingly, Dr. Frank Mikels had a sister Ruth P. Mikels/Mikelsy, born about 1887.


The album measures approximately 7" by 5-1/2" and is rather thick; it contains 95 photographs.  If you can tie the clues in the album together to identify the possible owner and those pictured, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  See the identified photographs and a few more typical ones, at the end of this post.

Clues:
  • Quaker Point, presumably at West Bath, Maine
  • Palm Beach; perhaps a nickname for a Maine beach, if not in Florida or ?
  • 1919
  • Maine, 1929
  • Man in uniform, February 22, 1920; hat and double breasted coat
  • Man in uniform; hat and double breasted jacket
  • Besion, Pine Blisters, New Meadows, 1919
  • Bill Philbrook, Summer of 1919
  • Bert and Frieda, Quaker Point, 1919
  • New Meadows, February 23, 1920; New Meadows, Maine
  • Wharves
  • Automobiles
  • Vessels
  • Man in uniform at the wheel of an automobile - possibly a chauffeur or military man
  • Granite cliff
  • Pierse and Kelley, 1910 [or 1919]
  • Louise and Kelley, 1910 [or 1919]
  • Selma's Birthday Party; presumably Selma Mikels
  • Geanne, Selma, Ira, 1920; the first two are children, the latter a man; presumably Geanne and Selma Mikels and possibly Montrose Ira Marx, younger brother of the girls' mother Delia (Marx) Mikels
  • Selma, 1920; child about age 3
  • Geanne and Selma
  • Marg; young woman; on a page noted as M.H.S. Basket Ball Girls
  • Eleanor; young woman; on a page noted as M.H.S. Basket Ball Girls
  • Ruthie; photograph missing, but presumably a young woman; on a page noted as M.H.S. Basket Ball Girls
Dates in the album are from 1919 to 1929, with one possibly from 1910.  Scenes include ocean and/or lake; wharves; vessels; automobile and buildings.  Below, the pages with identification and a few other images.






























3 comments:

  1. This appears to have belonged to a member of the Mikelsky family of Bath. Here they are in 1910. Son Frank changed his last name to Mikels and lived in Los Angeles in 1920 with young daughters Selma and Jeanne. You'll find more info on the family here (PDF).

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Chris! You and my other favorite researcher, Ed Hamilton, came to the same conclusion, and I've updated the blog post accordingly.

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    2. Hello Pam - I am not sure if you will even see this since 2015. I am Montrose Marx's great-granddaughter. Frank Mikels was his brother in law. Someone mentions that there is a picture of Montrose in here. I would love to know which photos and if I may be able to get at least a digital copy? Thanks so much!!

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