Unfortunately, I owe emails to a few very kind people about genealogy issues, but I have had no time to work on my leads. Instead, today, I thought I’d share with you some photographs of people unknown to me that I found in an antique store in Long Beach, California. When I go into antique stores, the old photos capture my attention more than all the other old discarded belongings put together.
I haven’t had the time to do much research on these photos either, but I post them here in case they can one day be matched with family or friends of the subjects.
Perhaps the most unusual is one of a cast of a woman’s face, rather than of a living subject. I will assume the woman was dead and hence the cast was made, but I can’t know for sure.
The photographer was Jordan, and the photo was taken in Washington, D.C.
The back helps more than most do.
Her name appears to have been Mercy (room to think Mary, but it seems pretty clearly Mercy to me) Ferries or Ferriss. Perhaps Ferris. She had eleven children: Adeline, Mary Jane, Caroline, Eleanor, John, Franklin, Luther, and four others.
A.M. Noble might be the name of the man (assuming) who made the cast.
A brief search right after I obtained the photograph yielded census information about a Mercy Ferris in 1900, 60 years old, a widow, one son living at home, a New Yorker. Unfortunately, there is no 1890 census as the records were destroyed in a fire. What is also unique, maybe, is that the photo was in Washington DC. I’m not finding much with a name like this for that area.
I judge the photo to be from about 1880-1915.
My next photograph I love for its peaceful scene of family or friends socializing in a beautiful porch setting.
I love the details of the mismatched chairs (including wicker one), the tablecloth, the sweater with tie, and the netting hanging down the side of the porch.
Unfortunately, nothing was written on the back of this photograph. Any ideas on how to research this photo?
And here is one more.
Maybe we can find the family of this young lady. The photograph is from St. Louis.
Her name was Miss Lena Buckhold and here is her address! In a quick search, I did see a Lena Taylor who died in California in 1980. Her maiden name was Buckhold, and she was born in Missouri on January 15, 1891. Could that be this Lena? It seems like a promising lead.
Please pass on this post, and let’s see if we can find the families!
The Family Kalamazoo 
Thank you for posting these! My grandparents moved to Long Beach in the early 1920s, but the photographic record of the family is slim…the picture on the porch is so evocative, that I really enjoyed it even without knowing the ‘cast’. Looking at the fashion and hairstyle, I’m thinking maybe 1920s-early 1930s??
I also like the porch picture. I found myself studying that picture very closely. It is a shame that families lose these treasures.
I know that sometimes the photos that show up in antique stores and flea markets are copies and that the family still has the photos, but how many times are these the last chance for the family to have these photos?!
I posted this on my genealogist groups on Face Book. Good Job.
Thank you so much for doing that! It would be so nice if some day I get a message from someone who recognize a name or face!
I hope someone Googles these names and finds these. As for the porch, there’s so little to go on, unless you can find images of those chairs by doing a Google Image search. It could be anywhere.
I hope so, too, Amy! Re the porch photo, I know. It’s very demoralizing. I didn’t want to put “Long Beach” as a tag for it because who knows where it was taken!
Love the photo’s! I hope someone sees these or knows the photographer.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope so, too!
Great of you to post these. At least now they have a chance of being reunited with family. I want to go sit on that porch; ’twas a kinder, gentler time.
Doesn’t it look lovely, though?!