Willie Joseph Brennan, May 1898, Orlando, Florida

Cabinet Card. May 8, 1898, Orlando, Florida. Photographer:  E. W. Jackson. “Ivory Finish.”

Price:  $10.00           Size:  4 and 1/16″ x 6 and 1/2″

Seemingly, the last name for this handsome lad is Brennan. (It’s so easy to scribble names when we know them.) Other possibilities were tried. Nothing showing up for him online, like his possible sister, Gertrude Brennan, in our prior post. Unusual, since we have his full name and that he was born in June of 1884. Both cards were found together in an antique store in California. City directories for this time period in Orlando are not available (in a quick search). Nothing showing in census and newspaper records, death records, etc., at least without getting into hours and hours of searching.

Some info and a photo (!) was found on the photographer, E. W. Jackson. He’ll be upcoming in the next posting…(well, almost next).

Gertrude Brennan In 1894

Cabinet Card taken October 13, 1894. Photographer: Howard. “Enameled Ivoryette.” Orlando, Florida.

Price:  $10.00           Size:  About 4 and 1/4 x 6 and 1/2″

A beautiful, young lass of Irish descent:  Gertrude Brennan, taken in Orlando, Florida on October 13, 1894. We’ll do some research this weekend for her. The next post will be a possible relative, a portrait of a young lad, Willie Joseph Brennan. They are possibly siblings but we’ll find out. Just getting this one up quick-like for Saint Patrick’s Day.

Well, very surprisingly, nothing was found for Gertrude in the usual search places online (census, city directories, newspapers, etc.) It’s possible, too, that the date on the back is Gertrude’s birth date, rather than date the photo was taken, but a broad search under dates was tried. Also, tried with potential brother, Willie or William Joseph Brennan (see next post). The photographer, Howard, is possibly Clarence E. Howard, born PA, about 1858. City directories for this time period in Orlando, seem to be unavailable. (This is just in a general, quick search.) And maybe the Brennan head of household exists in directories that are not digitized, at Orlando libraries, perhaps.

Source:  Year: 1900; Census Place: Orlando, Orange, Florida; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0116; FHL microfilm: 1240175.

Detroit Woman By Marratt

Cabinet Card, circa 1880s. Photographer:  William Marratt. 131, 133 and 135 Woodward Ave, Detroit, Michigan.

Price:  $7.00

Here’s another Cabinet Card with no writing on the back, but at least we have the location and photographer or studio on this one. See our post on William Marratt. But the subject is a beautiful young lady, a Detroiter, we presume, posing with hands resting on the back of a wooden chair with brocade fabric (I’m guessing brocade). Note the wedding ring on her left hand. She bears a strong resemblance to a friend, which is neither here nor there, but it’s funny how closely someone can resemble someone else….The time frame is probably the 1880s due to the dress style, the type of sleeves (close-fitting) but this is a semi-educated guess from me, after consulting a lovely book from my shelf, Dressed for the Photographer, Ordinary Americans & Fashion, 1840 – 1900, by author Joan Severa, (a great reference, and I hope I’ve applied the correct interpretation for this photo.)

Young Man With Hat

Cabinet Card. Circa 1880s. Photographer unknown.

Price:  $5.00

No identifying info on this one for either the subject or the photographer, but it’s a nice photo with a nice rural backdrop. The young man wears a sack suit and bow tie, holds an open book in one hand and his low-crowned hat with upturned brim in the other, and by virtue of the fake stonework, gets to strike a casual pose. The headgear might remind one of a parson’s hat because of the short crown but from a quick online search it appears the parson’s hat has a much wider brim.

Anna (Gibson) Ely, Ypsilanti, Michigan

Cabinet Card, circa 1883 – 1885. Photographer:  Lewis & Gibson, Ypsilanti, Michigan

Price:  $15.00

Photographers, Jefferson Gibson and Emerson Lewis, had reportedly teamed up for only about three years, giving us a very good estimate for this Cabinet Card date, 1883 to 1885, with this portrait of the beautiful Anna Gibson (no relation to the photographer that we know of). Though she wears a ring that might indicate that the photographic duo continued into late 1886, just as likely, this image was taken before her marriage to John Young Ely, December 22, 1886. The marriage record lists both bride and groom as being native residents of Farmington, Michigan, he age 22, occupation farmer, and she age 20. John, died very young, we’re sorry to report, at age 32 of peritonitis. Anna was the daughter of Joseph Gibson who was born in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland (an inadvertent Irish connection with our last few web posts) and Martha Morrison, of Michigan.

The 1900 Federal Census shows Anna, widowed, with her three children, Martha, William and Joseph, renting at 304 N. Hamilton, Ypsilanti, with her sister, Mary Gibson and three lodgers, though numerous later records show a longer residence at 307 N. Hamilton (including some that show Anna’s occupation as nurse).

Sources:  “Jefferson Gibson.” Portrait and Biographical Album of Washtenaw County, Michigan. Biographical Publishing Co. Chicago 1891. pp. 228 – 229.

“Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3K4-MP8 : 10 March 2018), John Young Ely and Annie Jennie Gibson, 22 Dec 1886; citing Farmington, Oakland, Michigan, v 2 p 38 rn 1121, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,342,479.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Ypsilanti Ward 3, Washtenaw, Michigan; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0112. (Ancestry.com).

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 March 2018), memorial page for Anna Jane Gibson Ely (27 Jan 1867–22 Jul 1956), Find A Grave Memorial no. 11715472, citing Oakwood Cemetery, Farmington, Oakland County, Michigan, USA ; Maintained by Kätzchen (contributor 47304829) .

“Find A Grave Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVD-GQWR : 13 December 2015), John Young Ely, 1897; Burial, Farmington, Oakland, Michigan, United States of America, Oakwood Cemetery; citing record ID 11715471, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

Death Records. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan.

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Ypsilanti City Directory, 1931. p. 84. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

Cabinet Portrait By W. A. Armstrong

Cabinet Card. Circa 1879 – 1896. Photographer:  W. A. Armstrong, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Price:  $7.00

A photo of a clean-cut young man, wearing a suit jacket with short lapels and a bow tie. The tie has a diamond (or maybe “paste” – hand-cut glass) cross pinned to it. The photographer was W. A. Armstrong; studio address:  389 Broadway, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

That the photographer at the above address shows up in city directories from 1879 through 1896 would seem to be a sure sign of his success:  He was in business for at least these number of years, and did not incur the necessity of changing locations. From the 1880 Federal Census, he is listed as William A. Armstrong, born in Pennsylvania about 1838, of Pennsylvania-born parents. His wife’s name was Sarah, and they had a 3-month old daughter. But to do justice to Mr. Armstrong, we’ll need to put up a separate posting for him, as a quick search has his name appearing in several photographic journals of the day.

Sources:  William Hogg’s The Milwaukee Directory for 1879, Vol. XII. p. 606. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

Wright’s Milwaukee Directory, 1896. p. 1112. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Roll: 1436; Page: 28C; Enumeration District: 104. (Ancestry.com)

Dad And Kids, Darlington, Wisconsin

Cabinet Card, circa 1870s – 1880s. Photographer:  J. Polkinghorn, Darlington, Wisconsin.

Price:  $7.00

A Cabinet Card by photographer J. Polkinghorn in Darlington, Wisconsin of….surely this must be the dad in the photo with his young daughter and son. He wears no wedding ring, but perhaps there was none, or he was a widower. An interesting detail in this image is the man’s shoes which show dirt and general wear on the half over the toes, as if he was accustomed to wearing gaiters. No names for this family, unfortunately, but we hope they will be recognized by someone with Darlington or Lafayette County roots. The photographer’s backdrop is interesting, quite vague with that blank expanse in the middle and something tall and carved on our left, what it’s depicting is anyone’s guess, and then on our right a fancy, curved railing leading off to somewhere in our imaginations.

The photographer

Nothing definitive comes up for J. Polkinghorn but he could well be the John Polkinghorn born in England about 1857 who appears on various census record in Darlington, or Lafayette County. This person’s census records show no connection whatsoever to photography (dealer in musical instruments) but it still could be him, and likely, whoever he was, he would have listed himself in the city directories, but we’re not finding the city, or even the county records, online at this time.

That Faraway Look, Detroit, 1894 or ’95

Cabinet Card, 1894 – 1895. Photography by Burton J. Holcombe & Co.

Price:  $6.00       Size:  4 and 1/4 x 6 and 1/2″

The above photo of the beautiful woman with the faraway gaze looks over-exposed or faded, but to me, this enhances the dreamy quality. I think it’s true that the more you study a photo, the more it comes to life for you. Was the photographer experimenting with different poses?…the glimpse of the gloved hand, index finger slightly pointing…for depth, a little mystery perhaps, even some subtle humor….“Get on the right track, at Nine Mile and Mack…”  keeps coming to mind – I know, different era, but still!

Here’s our Photoshop version below, to try to put ourselves in the photographer’s place…maybe better to have her left hand appearing somewhere, since we get the fact that her right holds….no, wait…that’s maybe not the muff (to match the fur jacket) that she’s holding but a prop she’s just standing next to that was then touched up? Though from afar the impression is of someone carrying something, about to go on a short journey.


And yes, it’s obvious the card’s in somewhat rough shape, but after you time travel back to that point it’s funny how you really don’t regard the condition. Though we have no i.d. for the woman, we, thankfully, have half a name for the photography studio, along with the address and from this we discover that the bottom of the card read as:  B. J. Holcombe & Co.   212 Woodward ave., Detroit.

B. J. was Burton J. Holcombe. The 1894 and 1895 Detroit city directories show the same address as the one on the card. Multiple directories show that Burton Holcombe had moved frequently, and more detailed information about him will be found in the next post.

Sources:  R. L. Polk & Co.’s Detroit City Directory, 1894. p. 673. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Detroit City Directory, 1895. p. 698. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

Edward F. Hartley, Chicago Photographer

A Nice Gentleman, Chicago 1891 cc2

We love these photo studio illustrations with the studio name appearing multiple times (eight in this case, including the name under the building). The block on the sidewalk is called a carriage step, carriage stone or mounting block, if you were wondering. The above is the reverse of the Cabinet Card in the prior post.

Most of what appears presently online for Edward F. Hartley (1847 – 1887) comes from obituaries; some of the information we found conflicts, that being his year of marriage, studio location prior to Chicago (Jacksonville or Decatur but no record was found of either in city directories or newspaper ads) and whether he competed for professional photographer association prizes. In any case, Hartley was a very successful and well-known Chicago photographer whose studio was located at 309 W. Madison Street since at least 1877. The son of Methodist minister Charles Hartley and his wife Louisa (Louisa’s given name per the 1850 Federal Census; however her maiden name wasn’t located.) Edward Hartley was born in Wadsworth, Ohio, on November 9, 1847, (per the Daily Inter-Ocean.) On October 5, 1871 (or 1873) he married a judge’s daughter, Virginia Boyd; they had no children. Below an excerpt from Edgar E. Boyd’s Record of the Boyd Family:  John Boyd from Scotland and Descendants, which was compiled in 1913:

Virginia Boyd

Below, two obituaries, from, left to right, from the Decatur Daily Republican (Decatur, IL) and the Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago, IL) and a funeral announcement from the Inter Ocean.

EF Hartley ObitInter Ocean ObitFuneral of EF Hartley

Below, a humorous analogy in advertisement by E. F. Hartley, showing the shrewd businessman in action. The “Sign of the Rooster” mentioned at the bottom of the ad, can be seen in other ads put out by him, as in the insert below, a rooster standing atop another rooster, victorious. (We found another, showing Hartley’s rooster having completely beaten down the competition. That one was too graphic for our sensibilities, and we remind ourselves that this was the 1880s…probably what we today would view as negative in advertising (therefor to avoid) was perhaps just seen as getting the point across. The dogs at the trough image is a little rough, too. No pun intended 😉  As for the $2.00 Cabinet Cards, this price was for twelve Cabinets and one panel, a smokin’ hot deal for the public, to be sure.

Hartley AdHartleys Rooster

Below, from a couple of our readers (thank you!)….see the comment from J. Hill. Here’s the beautiful shadow box and a close-up in sepia of the handsome, newly-married couple, names unknown, photographed by the Hartley studio. Note the bride’s lace at the neck (unusual by today’s standards I think, because it’s not symmetrical) love her dark gloves, the beautiful embroidery on the bodice…and very unusual, that white piece of fabric sticking out below the bodice, seemingly so random, but in a way balancing out the lace on the neck in the overall effect. And those would be artificial orange blossoms (most likely made from wax) in the bride’s headpiece and the groom’s boutonniere, that now lovingly surround the Cabinet Card. Orange blossoms were worn and made popular by Queen Victoria at her wedding to her beloved Prince Albert.

Update:  In response to a query from a reader, for the question of whether the Hartley studio continued after his death in 1887….There is a possibility that Edward’s brother, Charles F. may have continued with the business, more research will be forthcoming. Below, the news clipping on Hartley’s will appearing in Chicago’s The Inter Ocean:

Sources:  Ancestry.com. Illinois, Marriage Index, 1860-1920.

Year: 1850; Census Place: Lawrence, Stark, Ohio; Roll: M432_731; Page: 94A; Image: 196. (Ancestry.com).

“Passed Away” Decatur Daily Republican (Decatur, Illinois) October 13, 1887, Thur, p. 3. (Newspapers.com).

“The Final Reward. Edward F. Hartley, the Well-Known Photographer, Answers Death’s Dread Summons.”  Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago, IL) Vol. 16, Issue 199. October 10, 1887, p. 5. (Genealogybank.com).

 “Laid to Rest” October 13, 1887, Thur, p.3 The Inter Ocean (Chicago) (Newspapers.com).
“Public Patronage Trough”  Chicago Daily Tribune. March 15, 1885, Sun, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).
“Hartley’s Rooster” Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago, IL) Vol. 16, Issue 44. May 7, 1887, p. 4. (Genealogybank.com).
Hamilton, E. L. “With quiet determination, Queen Victoria chose a white wedding dress, launching the trend that endures to this day.” March 20, 2018. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/03/20/queen-victoria-wedding-dress/ (accessed November 6, 2018).
“Edward F. Hartley’s Will.”  The Inter Ocean (Chicago, IL). November 2, 1887. Wednesday, p. 10. (Newspapers.com).

A Nice Gentleman, Chicago 1891

A Nice Gentleman, Chicago 1891 cc1A Nice Gentleman, Chicago 1891 cc2

Cabinet Card photo. 1891. Photo studio: Edward F. Hartley, Chicago, Illinois.

Price:  $10.00    Size:  4 and 1/4 x 6 and 1/2″

Sometimes we get lucky with names, sometimes not:  Here’s a beautiful Cabinet Card portrait of a kind-looking older gentleman, maybe in his seventies or eighties. The writing on the bottom says (insert your best guess here on the name)  “D. A. Tibbles. 1891.”  So, Ancestry, Find A Grave and city directories were searched but we couldn’t find anyone under the possible last name of Tibbles or variations to fit his initials (and alternates) and time-frame.

The photo was taken by the Hartley (Edward F.) Studio, located at 309 W. Madison St. in Chicago. We’ll look into E. F. Hartley in the next post.