Merrill HIGGINS

Name: Merrill HIGGINS

Location: Portsmouth, Ohio

Date: 1891/1892

This striking photograph completely caught my eye. That is one intense baby gaze!!

According to the back of this photo, taken in "Portsmouth, O.", the baby pictured here is named Merrill Higgins. Merill Higgins was luckily pretty easy to find. The name Merrill isn't terribly common, and the image came from Lutz photography studio in Portsmouth, Ohio--not a big town. I did a quick search and found out quite a bit about how this striking baby grew up. According to the 1900 Federal Census and his WWI draft card, Merrill was born on Dry Run Road, Scioto County, Ohio 16 July 1891. He was the son of a grocer, Amois L Higgins and Dora A, both of Ohio. They had three other children at the time: Leroy, Ollie, and Ralph. By 1917/1918 was married with two children, and was living on 2113 7th Street, in Portsmouth, Ohio as a shoemaker for Selty shoe company.

From here, Merrill's path is harder to follow, and is easily confused with another Merrill Higgins in Ohio, but born four years later in 1895. Is this your Merrill? And what became of him?

-B.G.

Clarie MORROSSEY and Irma J. CHAPPEL

NAMES: Clarie Morrossey, Irma J. Chappel
LOCATION: St Louis, Missouri
DATE: unknown, circa 1930?


These ancestors were rescued--framed!--in an antique store in Gilbert, Arizona. According to the back of the image, the two women are named Clarie Morrossey and Irma J Chappel and are "on the St.L.Mo side". The dog's identity is a mystery. If you squint at the factory in the background, you can make out the word "Cahokia". There is no date on the image, but judging by the clothing and the style around the image, I'd guess sometime in the early 1930s.

At first, I thought Cahokia was the name of the factory--but it's actually a the name of a part of East St Louis, Illinois, across the river. In fact, google maps show that the factory, with its characteristic double-stacks, still exists today (see map, left). This puts the women and the dog across the river in the Kosciusko neighborhood. Judging from the google streetview of tagged railway tracks, probably not the best place for a twenty-first century stroll.

Urban blight aside...who exactly are these ladies? They were probably in their 20s or 30s when this photo was taken, giving them a birth year of 1900 +/- 10. When I searched for an Irma Chappel born around 1900 living in St Louis Missouri, I got a pretty good hit: according to the 1930 Federal Census for the Independent City of St Louis, District 397, there was an Irma Chappel living at 2127 S 4th Street with a woman named Margaret Riley and her son, Martin. Though the streets through this part of town have changed in the passing decades, the building numbers on the still-existing 2nd Street put this address just blocks away from where--judging from the view of the factory--this photograph was likely taken! Strong evidence that we got the right gal. When we get into the details from the Census, we can see that Irma was renting her place for $10.00/month, most likely from the widowed Mrs. Riley. Interestingly, Irma is listed as married for nine years, but there is certainly no husband listed as living with her. She had not attended college in the past year, but she could read and write. The Census also notes that she was born somewhere in North Carolina to two parents also born in North Carolina.

Unfortunately, initial searches for information on Clarie Morrossey have turned up empty--even when looking page by page through the same district where I found Irma in the 1930 Federal Census.

Think you're related to Clarie or Irma? Drop a line!

- B.G.

Introduction...what is this blog about?

About the time I really began to research my only genealogy--a highly addicting but rewarding hobby--I was visiting my parents out in the Phoenix area. I had just spent a delightful morning carefully thumbing through old family photographs, many of which we didn't even know we possessed. Putting faces to names made all of the research and family stories really come to life. Who knew that in the 1930s, the men of my family had a striking resemblence to the Mafia? And strikingly similar to one another too: as one distant cousin said, "Seen one Cornish man, seen 'em all."

That very afternoon we went to a funky antique store downtown. The store was packed with neat pieces, and a fabulous chair with zebra print that I would have gladly lugged home--were home not 2,000 miles away in Orlando, Florida. As I continued to poke around, I came across what I can only describe as a treasure: an entire photo album following the courtship of a couple, Talmage and Hazel. The photos were being sold for 25 cents each. God knows how long the album was in the shop, being cannibalized (ok, that's a strong word, but you know what I mean) photo by photo. Having just seen pictures of my own ancestors, I felt immediately drawn to this photo album, and felt not just a desire, but a need to rescue it from its poach-ified fate. So I counted up the 149 remaining images and bought the courtship of Talmage and Hazel, lump sum.

But what then? Though I'm a big fan of anything old and authentic, I couldn't really see keeping this photo album of strangers around. In some people's eyes, it could even be a little creepy. I thought about the grandchildren of Talmadge of Hazel--and then thought about how I would freak out if somehow a photo album like this existed for my own family, somewhere, on a dusty shelf next to some depression glass. Was Great Grandpa Frank now someone else's "instant ancestor" somewhere? Maybe. And I'm sure I'll never know. But it became my mission--and the start of the Ancestor Rescue Mission--to reunite Talmage and Hazel with their rightful family.

Now I troll around estate sales, antique stores, and eBay, searching for wayward antique portraits and snapshots that contain some clues to the images' contents, be it names or places. It is my hope that by posting these images and researching the people in them, that I can help reconnect families to their visual histories.

- Boomlet Genealogist

FAQ

Question: Is this some sort of commercial site? What's the deal?

Answer: No! I am doing this as a hobby. If I have posted an image of your family member that you would like, please get in touch. The intent of this site is to get photos back into the hands of their families--not to make a profit.

Question: Hey, that's me/my uncle/my grandmother on there! Can you take me off?

Answer: Of course. If you or your family member is in the image, and you do not feel comfortable wit it being posted on the internet, please get in touch and I will take it doown. Please also keep in mind that all research I do on the images is from public records...there is no private information being unveiled on this site.

Question: I have some old photos of people I don't know. Can I post them here too?

Answer: No, at least not right now. The website isn't set up for multiple users. However, if there is any sort of name or location indicated on your image, and you can send me a scan of it, I am happy to do a bit of research and post it.