ANTIQUE FAMILY PHOTOS: Lena's Life: New Info on Charles;

ANTIQUE PHOTOS BLOG

I love antique photos. You can learn so much about how things have changed, and again how little has. We inherited 3 trunks of photos from the late 1800's to the 1940s and 50's. Most came from an enigmatic, extremely hard working but photo-loving woman named Lena, an ancestor of my husband, born in 1879. She had more contacts, more postcards (several hundreds) and more photos of herself taken than anyone who is not a well know celebrity. She seems to have collected antique photos from all around her. She unfortunately didn't identify many, only writing "Lena" on many given to her. I think she assumed she would remember, and of course after that it wouldn't matter!

We are still sorting through all the stuff trying to piece together Lena's fascinating and sometimes tragic life. Meanwhile, here are a variety of photos, including some of the highest (and lowest!) fashion.

I have also included the very old family photos I have from my mom's side of the family.

I hope you enjoy, and thank you for visiting my blog.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Lena's Life: New Info on Charles;

Since I last posted I have gone through two of 3 trunks full of family stuff, including hundreds of postcards to Lena, old newspapers from the early 1900's, tons of old photos (heavens! there were a lot of photos of Lena!), greeting cards, visiting cards, etc.

In the midst of all this stuff I found, by sheer luck I might add, a tiny clipping, above. So we know that Charles, who married Lena in 1903, died in 1905 in California, after son Colon was born. We haven't yet found how they met, since she lived in Missouri and he in California. What happened between the time they got together for that picture in 1901 and their marriage in 1903? When did Lena get together with Charles in Middletown, California? Was Charles sick when they married (he sure looks sick or something! The biggest question is, why did we find no mention of Charles anywhere except this little newspaper clipping? Maybe we'll find some of these answers as I continue going through the trunks.