Being inquisitive may have brought you here, wondering “who were they?” of some old photos in your collection. Well today, we can answer the question of this photo, to some extent. Someone helpfully identified the subject as Damares Day or Dom Day Shimplon or Shimflor or…something. Thinking the name Damares is fairly unusual, I searched census records in Ohio for Damares Day, and wouldn’t you know there are three of them?
Damarrus Day, born 1848
Damaris Day, born 1844
Damarus Day (or Dary), born 1849
By the photo, I can tell this is an 1860s image. The clothing is distinctly mid 60s, plus the photo mount and the masking of the image are also consistent with that time frame. The subject looks like she could be anywhere from 15-25 years of age to me.
The photographer was Paynes Photograph Gallery in Mount Vernon, Ohio, at the corner of Main and Gambler Street. Somehow, Gambler Street speaks to the wild and untamed history of Ohio.
UPDATE: Her name is Dommoris Day Shrimplin. Thanks Iggy!
Who Were They? 
Who They Were was “Dommoris Day Shrimplin”.
Born on Sep. 22, 1848 in Brinkhaven, Knox County, Ohio and died on Mar. 16, 1908 in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California; Dommoris “Dom” was married in Brinkhaven, Knox Co., Ohio, by Rev. J. Preston, to Lewis C. Shrimplin on March 18, 1869. They had one son, Louis Selwyn Shrimplin who was was a Musician/Pianist/Teacher in the Napa Valley.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38133122
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Wonderful! It’s amazing, all the other women were from Knox County, OH as well. Wonder if there was a local “celebrity” with that same name.
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Also interesting, I followed the trail of their son Lewis Shrimplin. He was married to Wanda in 1927. On Ancestry there is someone who has Lewis Shrimplin with the correct date of birth married to a different woman but with several children. I’ll have to do more work on this!
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A very modern face and hair style for a woman from this period. Not the usual oiled and tight against the head fashion.
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I’d guess she was about 18 when the photo was taken. Young women did not always follow the hairstyles of their mothers – nor do we today, ha ha. Young women could have short hair, wear bangs, buns, twists, curls etc. that were considered styles of youth.
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Louis’ son Lewis (crazy) moved to Los Angeles. With such an unusual name – I would think practically everyone in the phonebook would be “off-spring”.
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I wonder if the black trim on her sleeves meant anything? Or is it purely decorative? Lovely old photo for sure:)
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I have seen similar designs on historic dresses, I think it’s just decorative.
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