I found this cabinet card in a box of many other photos at a local curio shop called Keepers. There was actually a duplicate of this photo in similar condition but I chose this one because the names of the children are written on the back. The girls are Mom (center) and Edna (right) and the boys are Mark (left) and Hoyse (center). Mark appears to be wearing a photo pin, which were popular as a death memento or mourning piece. The back may have had a lock of hair of the deceased person, which appears to be a woman. While digging through the box for other treasures, I found the photo below.
These are certainly the same children a few years earlier than the photo above. The scalloped/deckled edges were popular in the 1890s, so I am dating the younger photo as 1895 and the second photo as 1900. The photographers were Sharp in Cardington, OH and Mahr’s or Mahrl Studio of Ashley, OH.
UPDATE: After studying the writing, I have come to the conclusion the name is Hayse.
Who Were They? 
Fabulous finds. I’m jealous.
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Wonderful photos! They look like they all played well together. :)
“Mom” was really a young ‘un.
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Are most of your images from the Ohio/PA area?
My husband’s family immigrated to Youngstown so I will follow along with some interest.
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Your dating of these pictures is impressive. :)
Ray D. Mohr, Photographer, active in Ashley (Delaware County) in 1900.
A. M. Sharp, Cardington, Ohio 1896-97
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How popular was the name Hoyse? I have never heard of it before..they are beautiful children..you don’t suppose that it was their Mother that died? How very sad if it was:(
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I was thinking the same thing Far Side, about both things you mention.
I wondered if their mom had died – back then, childbirth was still a ‘risky’ proposition and it would have been really sad if there was a 5th child (baby) involved too. A thought to sad to mention – dwell on.
Hoyse is not very common – I’ve been searching – there are some men so named – but its really very rare. I was going to ask if the name might possibly be Royce? which isn’t real common – but much more so than Hoyse.
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I really studied that name closely. At first I thought it was Hope because of the way the Y is formed, but it resolved to Hoyse every time I tried to make it something else. It’s definitely a letter H at the beginning. I’ll scan it tonight and add it to the post so you can see it as well. Maybe I’m not reading it right.
You’d think if his name is Hoyse and very rare, we’d be able to find him easily!
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I’ve looked high and low for Hoyse and can’t find one that “fits” in this picture. I think Hoyse might be Irish or perhaps German – I wonder if this poor kid used his middle name instead.. :)
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I’ve playing around with this – looking for possible fits – and I perhaps I found a possible fit.
Albert and Artie Bishop of Westfield, Morrow County, Ohio had the following 4 children:
Mark (Aug 1890), Edna (Aug 1892), Hayes (Dec 1893) and Grace “Mom” (Jul 1896). The US census for 1900 image is hard to read – it looks like Hoyes to me… Sadly, in 1910, Hayes/Hoyse is gone… and another girl, Virginia H. (b. abt 1903) has joined the family.
I’m going to “explore” this some more.
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This is excellent work Iggy – but update me if you find more. The person who had these photos was out here in California, so I wonder if one of the kids migrated west.
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This is very old but little Hayes Paul Bishop died at the age of 8 in 1902. Sister Edith Roosevelt Bishop died in 1917 at 24. They are buried together.
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