This is Minnie Dwyer and her husband John. Minnie was Benedicta’s sister, and was previously featured in this photo of four of the sisters in their hats. The couple seem to have flowers – he with a boutonniere and she with some type of bouquet or corsage. This may be a snapshot from a wedding.
These two snapshots have been digitally enhanced so you can see the detail better. They are from the Benedicta Trunk album and both were in some other photo album before Ben put them in her own album. The photo on top is of four people in a cemetery. While our modern conventions might make that seem odd, in times past visits to the cemetery were not as moribund as they seem today. Cemeteries were designed to be park-like, encouraging family to reflect on their dear departed and to embrace the reality that is death. They also encouraged people to visit the graves, tend them, and bring family to visit the deceased person, making this photo very realistic of what might have happened. The photo was torn by whomever removed it from its original album, and the tear goes right down the middle of the man in the center.
The second photo is of a woman taking a shirt (?) off a child while another child watches, and a second woman climbs out of a car. The scenery in the background is a large field with a few trees. I imagine this was a family picnic.
While I still have a few more photos to feature from the Benedicta Trunk album, today I will be mailing the photo album to her grand niece Thea. Thea kindly allowed me to complete the postings of the photos during our phone call the other day. Thea is really a very nice lady and told me she has shared the website with family members. I’m hopeful that they will comment if they know anything about those folks featured.
Remember Me
This is the album – it’s made of something like plastic, which I believe might be celluloid. Having done so much work on this, I will definitely remember!
PS go Steelers!
In other family reunion news, I got a note from Irene Monroe‘s great granddaughter, and she has received the cabinet cards. She plans to have copies made for Irene’s granddaughter and grandson, and also some cousins. The family didn’t know much about Irene as a young woman and definitely not about her brother or mother, so what a great feeling to know they will be getting that glimpse at their ancestors!
This is a rather large presentation card – about 5.5×7.5 and on very heavy card. The edges are sharply angled. Featured on this presentation card is Bess Sparrow’s son. Noted on the back in lovely script it says “S. Foster Stewart 6 mos 12 days.” He is certainly a handsome baby!
I found an Foster S. Stewart born in 1907 in Pittsburgh who’s mother was named Bessie Stewart. If that is our baby, on the 1910 census Mother and Son were living with possibly her brother, a William Rich. Foster was listed as being the nephew of the head of the household. I have as yet to figure out how Bess Sparrow was related to Benedicta Trunk. Perhaps they were friends.
Here we have two cabinet cards of Uncle Karl Trunk and his family. The first is from the 1890s, which we can tell by the deckled edges of the card. Also, there are three girls in the first photo, while the second shows four girls and a boy.
I find the setting of this second photo really unusual. It looks like they are sitting in an alleyway between two houses. The brickwork is wavy, as though the ground settled after the bricks were lain. There is no photographer information on the photo. However, I’m going to date this in the 1900s because of the ages of the children. The youngest girl in photo #1 looks to be about 8 in photo #2.
Who Were They? 