Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Early to Mid 1900s Photograph Album, with Scenes and People from Oxford County, Maine


Early to mid 1900s photograph album that belonged to family from Oxford County, Maine, likely Sumner, Maine, and/or Paris, Maine.  The album measures about 10" by 7" and contains 57 photographs and one newspaper clipping.

Many of the photographs show iconic Maine scenes of haying, stacks of firewood, "upta" camp, sleds, antique autos, farmhouses and the like; see examples at the end of this post.

New - see the entire album at the end of this post.

From clues in the album, I believe the owners were Elliott Edwin Newell and his wife Edith Frances (Barrett) Newell from Sumner, Maine, and South Paris,  Maine.  They also lived for a time at Buckfield, Maine, judging from the address on a Real Photo Postcard.

One of the photographs is a Real Photograph Postcard of Edith, which was intended to be sent to her future husband Elliott, though she apparently handed it to him rather than posting it.  I believe I recognize Edith in other photographs, including one with a man, who perhaps was her future husband, or by then husband, Elliott Edwin Newell.



From brief online research, hopefully correct:  [corrections and additions requested]

Elliott Edwin Newell was born September 21, 1892 at Sumner, Maine, son of Leslie Levi Elliott Newell and Persis Anna (Thayer) Newell.   Elliott had at least two siblings, sister Elizabeth May (Newell) Marston and Maude Josephine (Newell) Mann Austin.  Photographs of Elizabeth and Maude and their family members may appear in the album.

Edith Frances Barrett was born January 20, 1893 at Sumner, Maine, daughter of Selden G. Barrett and Minnie M. (Bicknell) Barrett.  Edith had at least one sibling, Virgil Gilbert Barrett.  One of the photographs in the album shows Virgil's daughter Virgilyn as a young child.  Other photographs may show Virgil and family members.

Elliott and Edith married at Sumner, Maine, on August 26, 1914.  They had two children, Elizabeth Esther Newell, who married Walter Franklin Bragg, and Stanley Barrett Newell, who married Barbara M. Martin. There is at least one photograph of Elizabeth and Stanley in the album, and there may be more, of themselves and their family members.



Elliott Edwin Newell died in 1953, and Edith Frances (Barrett) Newell in 1970.  They're buried at the Riverside Annex Cemetery at South Paris, Maine.

Sadly, very few of the photographs in the album have identifications.  Of those that do, they were either likenesses of the following people or were directed as gifts to them.  Other than the photographs shown above:
  • "Aunt Edith, Oct. 1941".  This is a photograph of a young girl so the identification was apparently made many years later
  • "Miss Virgilyn Barrett, my Pal", a cute photograph of a young girl in front of a barn door.  Virgilyn was the daughter of Annie M. (Barrows) Barrett and Edith's brother Virgil Gilbert Barrett.
  • Henry Adams Barrett of Athena, Oregon, Edith's cousin- a long newspaper clipping about his 80th birthday celebration - headlined "Henry Barrett Recalls 70 Years in Athena" and describing a life of sheep ranching and horses.  Henry was the son of Jennie Eilza (Mays) Barrett and Charles A. Barrett, who was a brother to Edith's father Selden B. Barrett
  • Phila B. (Jordan) Bosworth in a lovely white dress and formidable hat.  She was the wife of James D. Bosworth of East Sumner, Maine.   This is a Real Photograph Postcard, and it's possible that the photograph was meant to be sent to Phila, rather than that it is Phila's photograph.
  • Individual photographs, perhaps school photographs, of two girls, who were apparently the children of Elizabeth Esther Newell and her husband Walter Franklin Bragg.  These appear to be the most recent photographs in the album, so I'm not naming them.
A few of the photographs:  [Click on an image to enlarge it.]














 




 If you have corrections, additions or identifications, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  Please don't post information about living people.  Thanks!





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