Cabinet photograph of a Young Woman Identified as Grace E. Mathews; New Haven, Connecticut Studio

Cabinet photograph of a young woman identified on the reverse as Grace E. Mathews.  The photograph was taken by the Randall studio of New Haven, Connecticut.

Online research revealed several possibilities, but there are likely more:

• Grace E. Mathews, born about 1866 in Connecticut, daughter of English immigrants James and Elizabeth (Williams) Mathews
• Grace E. Mathews born about April 1878 in Connecticut, daughter of John W. Mathews and Mary E. Mathews
• Grace E. Mathews, daughter of Stilson S. Mathews and Theodosia S. (Manual) Mathews, born about 1877 at Brunswick, Maine; married James Wesley Lowry at Portland, Maine on November 29, 1903
• Grace Elizabeth Mathews, born at Portland, Maine about 1874, daughter of Jonathan Bennett Mathews and Sophia L. (Sharkey) Matthews; married Herbert Shaw Philbrick; presumably of Massachusetts; graduated from Smith College in the Class of 1897; was Dean Women at of Colby College 1899-1903

If you recognize Grace from your family photographs or research, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Cabinet Photograph of Susie M. Bancroft; Boston, Massachusetts, Studio

Cabinet photograph of a woman identified on the reverse as Susie M. Bancroft.  The photograph was taken by the Worden studio of 48 Winter Street, Boston, Massachusetts.

There are several possibilities for a Susie M. Bancroft.  Hopefully a reader will recognize her from family photos and research.

One tempting possibility is Susan M. (Bancroft) Richardson, wife of David L. Richardson, whom she married November 29, 1854 at Reading, Massachusetts.  That Susan M. Bancroft was born March 18, 1836, the daughter of George Bancroft and Mary (Porter) Bancroft.

There was a Susie Maria Bancroft, born February 26, 1868 at Reading, Massachusetts, was born about 1859, daughter of Haskell and Abbie Bancroft.  She married Edward A. Hamden on September 12, 1877 at Reading, Massachusetts; and William H. Thresher on April 25, 1894 at Boston, Massachusetts.

Though it's unlikely that either of these Susan/Susie possibilities was known as Susie M. Bancroft at the time the photograph was taken, it's possible that she was identified by her maiden name by a family member or friend.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, or a different theory on the identity of Susie M. Bancroft, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

c1890 Cabinet Photograph of Louise Benson of Oakland, Maine

c1890 photograph of a young woman identified on the reverse in contemporary handwriting as Louise Benson of Oakland, Maine, "friend of Merrick's".

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

She may have been Louise May Benson, born November 20, 1872, possibly at Waterville, Maine, daughter of George Tyler Benson and Susan Elizabeth (Pollard) Benson.  An area in the west of Waterville was set off in 1873 as West Waterville and later renamed Oakland in 1883.  The Benson family may have lived in the section that ultimately became Oakland.

George Tyler Benson worked as a carriage ironer before enlisting in the Union Army during the Civil War, in which he was at least partially disabled.   He later served as Postmaster of Oakland, Maine.

Louise attended Colby College in 1896 and 1897.  She may have been the Louise M. Benson who was boarding at New York City and working as a stenographer.

By 1910 Louise  was back in Maine, living with her parents at Oakland and working as a typist, with the same situation by the time of the 1920 Census.  By 1930, she was still at home with her parents, but with no occupation listed.

By 1940, Louise's sister, Nellie Shaw (Benson) Wilbur was living with her parents and Louise in the household at Oakland, Maine.  Her husband, educator Herbert Lemuel Wilbur, was by then a patient at Foxborough State Hospital at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Louise was living at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at the time of her death in September 1873.  Like Louise, her parents and sister Nellie Shaw (Benson) Wilbur, were all long lived.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

c1907 Photograph of Mildred Johnson of Brockton, Massachusetts

Circa 1907 Photograph, likely a school photograph, of a young woman identified on the reverse as Mildred Johnson of Brockton, Massachusetts, a student, or recent graduate, of B.H.S., presumably Brockton High School.

The photograph itself measures approximately 1-1/2" by 1"; the matted piece measures approximately 2-1/2" by 2".  It was found with a collection of other photographs from the Brockton, Massachusetts area.

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

Mildred Ames Johnson was born August 2, 1889 at Brockton, Massachusetts, the daughter of Albert Edward Johnson and Jane A. (Cushman) Johnson.  On August 15, 1925 in New York City, Mildred married James Ernest Mann, son of James William Mann and Eliza J. (McNeil) Mann.  James was born July 10, 1879 at Salem, Massachusetts.

On the World War I draft registration card James Earnest completed in 1918, he indicated he was a traveling salesman for Parker Brothers, Inc., and his home address was 245 Lafayette Street at Salem, Massachusetts.  His nearest relative then was his grandmother, Margaret (Luscombe ?) O'Neill, as his parents had both died by 1894.  In 1921 he filed a patent for an improvement to a Parker Brothers game.

James and Mildred lived at Salem, Massachusetts, where they're listed in city directories from the late 1920s and early to mid 1930s.  I don't know if they had children.

James died in 1936 and Mildred in 1969.  They're buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery at Salem, Massachusetts, with James' brothers and their wives.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.

c1890 CDV of Genesta Rood of Somerville, Massachusetts; Born in Nova Scotia in 1885

c1890 carte de visite of Genesta May Rood of Somerville, Massachusetts.  The photograph was taken by the L. W. Cook studio of 585 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts.  The identification on the reverse as her surname spelled phonetically as Rude.

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

Genesta May Rood was born about November 1885 in Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, in Guysborough County, the daughter of Henry Rood or McRood and Lucinda Grace (Flynn or Hinds) Rood.  The family moved to Massachusetts about 1887 and settled at Somerville.

On June 11, 1911 at Somerville, Massachusetts, Genesta married Stanley Elisha Brown, son of Charles Elwin Brown and Harriet W. (Cushman) Brown.  Stanley was born October 6, 1888 at Morrill, Maine.  Genesta and Stanley lived at Somerville, Massachusetts, and Arlington, Massachusetts, and had at least one child, a son.

It appears that Genesta and Stanley retired to the Belfast, Maine area, perhaps to Stanley's nearby childhood hometown of Morrill.  Genesta died at Belfast, Maine, in 1967 and Stanley in 1973, also at Belfast.  They're buried in Grove Cemetery at Belfast, Maine.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

c1900 Photograph of Ora Autumna Simonds of South Braintree, Massachusetts

Circa 1900 photograph, presumably a school photograph, of a girl identified on the reverse as Ora Simonds of South Braintree, Massachusetts.

The photograph itself measures approximately 1-1/4" by 1"; the matted piece measures approximately 2-1/2" by 2".  It was found with a collection of similar sized photographs of youngsters and young adults, mostly from Brockton, Massachusetts.

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

Ora Autumna Simonds was born November 9, 1890 at Braintree, Massachusetts, the daughter of Henry Willie Simonds and Emily Claribel (Arnold) Simonds.  On October 25, 1910 at Braintree, Ora married Myron Austin Haskell, son of Henry A. Haskell and Annie (Butterworth) Haskell.  Myron was born at Hyde Park, Massachusetts, on August 4, 1888.

Ora and Myron lived at Braintree, Massachusetts and had, I believe, three sons.  Ora died in 1951 in Arizona; Myron died in 1959.  They're buried in the Lakeside Cemetery at Braintree, Massachusetts.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.

c1880 CDV of Miss Calef, teacher; Photo by Brockton, Massachusetts; with Info on Mary Ethel (Hall) Penniman

Circa 1880 photograph of a woman identified on the reverse as "Miss Caleff, Whitman School".  The photograph was taken by the Howard & Thomson studio of Brockton, Massachusetts.  She may have been Isabella Calef, a native of Lowell, Massachusetts.

The CDV is especially interesting because it contains additional information, written presumably at a later time, by one of Miss Calef's students who called her Miss Calef, rather than Caleff.  Coincidentally, this information ties in with a memorial card I featured in November of 2013, but the items were purchased separately; more information farther below.

Written above:

M. Ethel Hall (Grandma Ethel); Keziah Murdock; Rita Penniman; all went to Miss Calef at Old Whitman School and was later called Old High School.  I went to New Whitman School on Gilford St Brockton.

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

"Grandma Ethel" was Mary Ethel Hall, daughter of Augustus Florentine Hall and Susan Elizabeth (Osborne) Hall and wife of Walter Aldrich Penniman.  Ethel and Walter had a daughter, Rita Mildred Penniman, who may be the Rita Penniman named above.

A post from November 2013 features memorial cards of Ethel and her father-in-law William Reed Penniman.  After Ethel's death from cancer in 1897, Walter married the above-named Keziah Murdock, who was by then the widow of Everett F. Mank.

As for Miss Calef, I believe she was Isabella Calef, born March 7, 1847 at Lowell, Massachusetts, daughter of James Calef and Mary Ann (Shattuck) Calef.  In 1880, a Belle Calef was living at Easton, Massachusetts, and working as a teacher.

By 1900, Isabella was living in the household of her sister Helen and Helen's husband Charles H. Tilton at Somerville, Massachusetts; no occupation was listed then or in 1910.  Sadly, by 1920, she was a patient at the Gordon Home Hospital at Dorchester, Massachusetts, and by 1930 she was at the Boston Home for Incurables.  She died in 1933 at Boston, Massachusetts.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.