Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘antique photographs’

FINALLY IDENTIFIED: A Lovely Gal in Kalamazoo: WHO IS SHE?

Posted in DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Joseph Peter DeKorn, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Photography early 20th century, Photography late 19th century, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 2, 2022| 34 Comments »

I first posted this photo years ago, wondering who the girl could be. Then I found a photo of her with Alice Leeuwenhoek, which gave a bit of context regarding her age. However, now I can finally post the name of this beautiful girl. Her name is Ruth Case and she was born around 1906. She lived in Ross Township in Kalamazoo County, according to the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses. In 1940 she was still single, living with her parents, her brother, and most likely her sister-in-law and niece.

The Case home was apparently a farm in Augusta, Michigan, which is Ross Township, owned by Ruth’s father, Charles Case.  Their property was just a bit north of W. E. Upjohn property (sections 28 and 27), which you can see on the map (C. M. Case in sections 16 and 22). The Upjohn estate was called Brook Lodge and eventually became a retreat for the Upjohn Company (pharma). I have photos that Alice took at Brook Lodge, including some with my grandfather.

These photos could have been taken in Augusta or in Kalamazoo.

If you have any further information about Ruth or her family, please let me know and I will update this post again.

***

Over two years ago I published this post, asking for the identity of a girl in a photo I discovered. I have another clue now, which I will post at the end.

***

The photograph was created from a glass negative taken by Joseph DeKorn. All of his photographs were taken between approximately 1895 and 1918, and the majority were shot in Kalamazoo.

Although I don’t know who this lovely girl is, I have hopes that I can eventually discover her identity. The juxtaposition of the two houses might lead to a solution, for instance.

Any ideas on the time period of the dress, hair, and shoes (within that 1895-1918 range)?

I remember wearing tights that bagged at the knees like these stockings. Do you think they are cotton?

I’ll put Balch Street and Burdick Street in the tags for this post, just in case it was taken in the neighborhood where Joseph lived.

***

OK, THE NEW CLUE.

I found another photo of the girl, taken probably at the same time, at the same place, but with the addition of an adult Alice Leeuwenhoek, but most likely before her marriage to Clarence Moerdyk.  The above photo was made from a glass negative, but this one was an actual photograph I found in a different family collection.

Alice was born in 1897, so can we say that this photo is somewhere around 1917?

 

Read Full Post »

Grandpa’s Baby Pictures

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Photography early 20th century, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , on January 2, 2019| 33 Comments »

In scanning this newest batch of antique and vintage photos, I ran across these two photos of Grandpa (Adrian Zuidweg, Jr.) as a baby! They are set in this handmade paper frame, and his name is written on the back, so there is no doubt as to who it is. Plus those blond curls are a big giveaway.

Grandpa was born in 1908 in Kalamazoo. How old do you think he looks here? These photos are clearly before the accident with the needle that blinded his one eye. That happened when he was three. But I don’t think he’s very far into “being two” either.

It might help to know what in the world he is “in” or standing with in the photo on the right. It appears to have rockers at the bottom. Any ideas?

Click once and then once again should make the image large.

I’ll repost the other photos I have where he is young so you can see the comparison. I think that by comparison with these others, that he is strictly a baby in the photos above. So less than two. But let me know if you disagree!

Cora and little Adrian circa 1910

Adrian Zuidweg 1908-2000

Adrian Zuidweg

I know I’m pretty lucky to have all these wonderful photos of Grandpa and many other relatives. The curse, though, is that I am responsible for scanning and organizing digital images, organizing actual photos, and then deciding and implementing how these photos will be passed on to future generations! I may have mentioned before ;): I need an assistant!

 

Read Full Post »

Now the Work Begins

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Joseph Peter DeKorn, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2017| 32 Comments »

This past week I was back in Michigan for a visit with Mom who was having surgery. Surgery went very well, and Mom is doing great!

I came home with some vintage and antique photos. Eventually I will share some of them.

For now, I have to go through the process I use for all these photos.

  1. Scan each photo, using the scanner attached to my computer. I originally bought it for business, but it’s just a simple home scanner. I scan them into .tiff so that the best quality is preserved.
  2. The originals are then put into acid-free clear (plastic) sleeves and sometimes then into acid-free photo boxes for storage, preferably in a fire safe (locked file cabinet that can withstand fire up to a certain temperature).
  3. Then I use my zamzar.com account to convert the .tiff files into .jpg. Jpeg is easier to use as I wish because it’s a very accepted file type. Each new jpeg has to be downloaded to my computer individually. This takes a bit of time. Zamzar is the best program I have found for file type conversions, and it is well worth the subscription.
  4. I create appropriate folders and store the .tiffs and the .jpgs together in the folders.
  5. Photos from the 60s and 70s sometimes need a little TLC as they are already turning yellow or even brown. I use Picmonkey not because it’s better than photoshop (it isn’t), but because it is extremely user friendly and doesn’t take up too much time.
  6. I create another folder for each new folder. These use the same folder names, but add the term “watermarked.”
  7. Then I use Water Marquee to create a watermark for thefamilykalamazoo.com and watermark one full set from each “watermarked” folder.
  8. At this point, I have both watermarked and unwatermarked jpegs for sharing.

That’s it! Then I’m done. What is your process for saving old photos?

From a Joseph DeKorn glass negative

Adrian Zuidweg (Grandpa) on the right

The dog is Bobby

Read Full Post »

Trying to Find Their Families

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Photography early 20th century, Photography late 19th century, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 14, 2016| 11 Comments »

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!

Read Full Post »

Aunt Carrie Paak Waruf’s Countenance

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Michigan history, Paak, Peek, Photography early 20th century, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 6, 2016| 24 Comments »

I’ve written before about my great-great-grandmother’s sister, Carrie Paak Waruf, and her husband Henry Waruf: Who Was Hank Waruf, Kalamazoo Gunsmith, Tennyson’s Words for Henry Waruf’s Funeral, and All the Peek Girls (note that Paak can be spelled Peek, Paake, etc.). And when they traveled to Cuba.

But I’d like you to look at some photos I have that Grandpa had me mark Aunt Carrie.

The first one is a favorite. Carrie and Henry Waruf were well-off merchants. They had no children. And Aunt Carrie did like to spend money on her outfits. Is that a fur piece or a feather boa around her neck here? And what about this hat? On what planet was this popular? I assume it was expensive. That almost looks like a Minnie Pearl price tag on it. Is that a ribbon? Overall the hat mystifies me. I’d place her at around 40 in this photo. What do you think? By the way, she was born in 1862, so that would make the year of this photo around 1902.

Photo #1

Here is another photo of Aunt Carrie.

Photo #2

These are obviously the same woman, although the 2nd photo seems to be a much younger photo. This brings up the mystery of her age that arose in the post What Can the Photographer Tell Me When He’s No longer Here. The evidence on the 2nd photo about the photographer made it seem as if this photo was also around 1900. So now I am more confused than before. But it makes me wonder if that successor craziness went on more than once. I still think she looks under 35 in the 2nd photo, maybe even much younger than that.  Look at the differences in wrinkles with the first photo.

Now, if anybody has an idea on the date of that peculiar hat, it would help assign dates to these photos!

I’m very satisfied with the identity of the woman in photos one and two because I have another photo or two of her with her husband. There is no doubt.

Here is the bigger mystery. Grandpa also told me that this next photo was Aunt Carrie. I don’t see how that is possible. What do you think?

Photo #3

Is this Aunt Carrie? Or is it one of her sisters? There were Alice, Anna, Mary, and Carrie. This is not my great-great-grandmother Alice. But could it be Mary or Anna?

Here is Mary:

Photo #4

Mary Paak Remine

Mary Paak Remine

Here is Anna:

Photo #5

Annie Paak

Annie Paak

And here is Alice:

Photo #6

Alice Paak DeKorn

Can you hear me screaming? She almost looks like a sister. She looks enough like them that Grandpa called her Carrie. But who is she?

 

Read Full Post »