Identifying Thrift Store Photographs

Photographs of six men. Can I find out who they are? The first is from the C. Bau's Studio at 24-26 Federal Street in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Greenfield is in Franklin County. On the back in black ink is "4-1-'99 Lyman W. Griswold, Greenfield, Massachusetts." I searched Ancestry Family Tree for Lyman Griswold in Greenfield. He turned out to be Lyman William Griswold, born 18 October 1869 in Watkins, Schuyler County New York, son of Theophilus Lyman Griswold and Isabelle Holden, and died on 30 January 1944 in Greenfield. He was buried in Green River Cemetery in Greenfield. Lyman W. Griswold. The second photograph is from the Nason & Son studio of Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland is in Cuyahoga County. On the back in pencil is "Nelson Ebert son of Jonas Ebert." I searched Ancestry Family Trees and found only one Nelson Ebert who was a son of Jonas. There was a Nelson D. Ebert who died on 22 February 1898 and is buried in Jackson Township Cemetery, North Jac...

I tend not to purchase more recent photos , but this one appealed to me. The nuclear family looked so happy and clean cut. What could I find out about them? There is no studio mark on the elaborate frame. On the back in blue ink is "Arnold Vadin & family. Leone. Dianne. Jimmy." Diane, Leone, Jimmy, and Arnold Vedin, circa 1943 or 1944. I was uncertain is if the surname was Vadin or Vedin. When I searched on Ancestry Family Tree I searched for an Arnold Vadin with a wife Leone, no matches. When I searched for Arnold Vedin with a wife Leone, among the entries that came up were an Arnold W. Vedin who was married to a Virginia Maxine King. When I clicked on that I discovered that Arnold had also been married to Leona Irene Alexander.  The family appears on the 1940 US census, for Brookings, Brookings County, South Dakota: VEDIN, Arnold, 26, b. South Dakota, carpenter building construction VEDIN, Leone, 22, b. South Dakota VEDIN, Diane, 3, b. South Dakota VEDIN, James, 2, b. S...

I purchased a set of photographs of University of Michigan students from the late 1890s. Three of them were the same individual, Edgar P. O'Leary.  The first is from the Gibson and Clark studio of Ann Arbor, Michigan. On the back in pencil is "Edgar O'Leary." Edgar O'Leary. The second photo does not have a studio name. It is quite small, 3.5 inches by 3 inches. On the back in black ink is "Mr. O'Leary May 24 1898" and the letter L. Mr. O'Leary. The third photo, also quite small, does not have a studio name. On the back in black ink is "Edgar P. O'Leary July 10-99 After" The word After is in quotation marks. Edgar P. O'Leary.  What can I learned about him? I searched Newspapers.com  and Genealogybank.com for "Edgar O'Leary."  I quickly discovered he had moved from Michigan to Colorado. I located census records in Kansas and Colorado. Below is a time line of his life. 1875 (March)- Edgar lived with his parents and s...

Photographs of two women. The first is from the D. E. Cole studio of Washington, Iowa. Washington is in Washington County. On the back in brown ink is: "Aunt Mary Wilkins (mother's sister) CCP" and in blue ink "To Minnie E. Wolfe From Carl C. Phelps Feb 1960." This one was easy. I searched Mary Wilkins in Washington County, Iowa in the US censuses. Two individuals showed up. The woman in the 1880 census was not the woman in the photo. In 1900, Mary E. Wilkins, born May 1846 in Pennsylvania, was the wife of John Wilkins and they had a daughter Minnie E. Wilkins. In 1910, Mary E. Wilkins headed a household that contained her elderly uncle, John R. Delancy, and three cousins, Albert W. Delancy, Joseph Hughes, and Anna E. Hughes. In 1920, Mary E. Wilkins was a Pennsylvania native, born about 1847. She was living in the household of her son-in-law and daughter, C. H. Wolfe and Minnie Wolfe. That couple had five children- Isabel, Howard, Thomas, Ellen, and Alice. Mary...

Two photos of siblings.  These are from the C. W. Yearborough of Goldendale, Washington. The first has on the back in black ink "This is Earles picture I sent you Jack will tell you they are good of them and they are just as good as the pictures too. with love Dora." Also on the back in blue and black ink "son of Dora Smith[,] Surptong[?], Wash. nice of Grandma Wallis." Earl Smith AKA Earl Henry Meier. The second photo on the back in black ink "Dear Aunt this is Jessies picture I will send you it looks just like her with love to Aunt. Dora." In blue ink " Jessie Smith daughter of Dora Smith[,] Alderdale, Washington. Grandma Wallis's niece. Jessie Smith AKA Jessie Laura (Meier) Allison. This was harder than I expected. I searched for Earl Smith, son of Dora and Jessie Smith, daughter of Dora in both Ancestry Family Trees and the US censuses. Nothing turned up. Then I searched all of the records for a Smith in Alderdale, Klickitat County, Washington...

Two more photographs. They are by the C. A. Carlson studio at 1509 Fifth Street in West Superior, Wisconsin. The first has written in black ink on the back is "Mr. & Mrs. Matson." The scone has written in black ink on the back "The Matson children September 1895." So I started by looking at the 1900 census for Douglas County, Wisconsin where West Superior is. There were 27 Matsons. There were four heads of households. None of them had five children. I then searched Matsons throughout Wisconsin, and found that there were 572. I checked the counties bordering Douglas County- Bayfield, Burnett, Ashland, and Washburn- and failed to find any matches. So these people will remain unidentified for now.   

 I returned to the antique store and sorted through the rest of their piles of photographs. I spent about $102 total on them. There was a set from Madison, Wisconsin that were University of Wisconsin students from 1893 through 1896. The first ten photos are from the Curtis studio of Madison. The first photo is marked on the back "W. F. Stiles UW 93 Lake Mills Wis."  Lake Mills is in Jefferson County. The 1921 University of Wisconsin alumni directory, available on Ancestry.com, lists him as Wilbur F. Stiles "B.S.A. 93. Farmer. Lake Mills, Wis." Lake Mills is in Jefferson County.  The 1920 census for Waterloo, Jefferson County lists him with wife Irene (Simmons) and five children- Dwight, Hugh, Russell, John, and Laura. Findagrave indicates he was born in 1866 and died in 1957. He was buried in Rock Lake Cemetery in Lake Mills. Wilbur F. Stiles, '93. The second photograph is marked in black ink on the back "Chas. C. Parlin, Brodhead, Wis. U.W. '93."...