Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

James Otis Barnaby's Long Island and Brooklyn photograph albums (2 volumes, each 35 x 27 cm) contain a total of 91 albumen prints that primarily consist of views of buildings and sights from around Long Island, New York and Brooklyn, New York City.

James Otis Barnaby's Long Island and Brooklyn photograph albums (2 volumes, each 35 x 27 cm) contain a total of 91 albumen prints that primarily consist of views of buildings and sights from around Long Island, New York and Brooklyn, New York City. Subjects include Prospect Park in all seasons, Coney Island, Medford, Long Island train depot and other locations in rural Long Island, and the Great Falls of Passaic River in Paterson, N.J. during the winter. Other images include a Revolutionary War era house, Boys' High School, Garretson's homestead, and "Darby's Patch," a former shantytown in Brooklyn. Although the majority of images are scenic there are several photographs of animals and people, including children. One photograph ("Garretsons") shows two men (one possibly James Otis Barnaby) on a country road with a barn and picket fence, a camera on a tripod in the left foreground. Photographs include brief manuscript captions.

The albums have black leather cover boards and are housed in beige cloth traycases.

The Leonidas, Michigan photograph album (14.5 x 17.75 cm) contains fifteen snapshot views of Leonidas, a settlement in St. Joseph County, Michigan. The photographs focus on streets, buildings, and roads.

The Leonidas, Michigan photograph album (14.5 x 17.75 cm) contains fifteen snapshot views of Leonidas, a settlement in St. Joseph County, Michigan. The photographs show views of streets, a train depot and train, a paint shop, a cemetery, residences, and a group of four individuals in a carriage drawn by two horses.

The L. L. Flower family photograph album consists of 37 photographs depicting family, friends, lumber business, and leisure activities of Lucius Leonard Flower, Jr., of Mann Creek, Pennsylvania, and Corning, New York.

The L. L. Flower family photograph album consists of 37 photographs depicting family, friends, lumber business, and leisure activities of Lucius Leonard Flower, Jr., of Mann Creek, Pennsylvania, and Corning, New York. Lumber-related photographs include sawmills in Mann Creek (near Mansfield) and Corning, a group of sawmill employees, and logs loaded onto the railroad cars of the Fall Brook Railway. Other images show Flower's family and friends relaxing outdoors, posing on a bridge over the Tioga River, and sitting on front porch steps with bicycles. Several photographs show a trip down the Tioga River on the houseboat, "City of Rome," co-owned with Flower's partner in the Fralic & Flower lumber business, Daniel Fralic. Also included are photographs of the interior of Flower's home in Mann Creek, a self-portrait of Flower reading, Flower's son Thomas Albert Flower, and his daughter, Dr. Edith Flower Wheeler. Additional photographs show crowds at the Tioga County Fair watching a man on a high wire, views of the Niagara River and falls, and the buildings of Mansfield, Pennsylvania. Photographs include handwritten captions. The album is approximately 19 x 26 cm.

Also included are two manuscript sheets describing the houseboat trip on the Tioga River in August, 1892.

The Lukens-Parry family carte de visite album contains 49 studio portrait photographs primarily related to the Lukens and Parry families of Chester, Pennsylvania. The Lukens and Parry families were both prominent members of the Pennsylvania Quaker community.

The Lukens-Parry family carte de visite album contains 49 studio portrait photographs primarily related to the Lukens and Parry families of Chester, Pennsylvania. The Lukens and Parry families were both prominent members of the Pennsylvania Quaker community.

The album (14.5 x 12 cm) has embossed brown leather covers, metal clasps, and "Album" stamped in gold on the spine. A taped-in note close to the front of the album reads "my relatives & friends of years ago - Sarah Kinderdine Lukens later Mrs. Wm. W. Downing - Mar 20th 1950." The note as well as numerous inscriptions identifying most individuals represented in the album were all added by Sarah Kinderdine Lukens Downing in 1950.

The Lyman Trumbull family papers contain personal correspondence of United States Senator Lyman Trumbull and of the family of his second wife, Mary Ingraham Trumbull. Letters primarily pertain to personal matters and family life during the 19th century, with a focus on Chicago, Illinois, during the Civil War, and Saybrook, Connecticut, home of the Ingraham family. The collection also contains a number of school notebooks, legal and financial documents, two watercolor paintings, photographs, and ephemera.

• Trumbull Family Letters
  • Lyman Trumbull Miscellaneous letters (1838-1895)
  • Lyman Trumbull to Julia Trumbull (1844-1855)
  • Julia Trumbull to Lyman Trumbull (1860-1866)
  • Lyman Trumbull to Mary Ingraham Trumbull (1869-1884)
  • Letters to Mary Ingraham Trumbull (1859-1914)
  • Miscellaneous Trumbull family letters (1850-1903)
• Ingraham-Rankin Family Letters
  • Julia Ingraham and George Rankin letters (1868-1899)
  • Miscellaneous Ingraham family letters (1824-1913)
• Letters to J. F. Uhlhorn (1860-1869)
• Mather Family Letters (1837-1893)
• Miscellaneous Letters (1834-1908)

The Trumbull Family Letters subseries contain the letters of Lyman Trumbull, Julia Trumbull, Mary Ingraham Trumbull, and various other family members.

The Lyman Trumbull Miscellaneous letters (1838-1895) contain personal correspondence, both written and received, by Lyman Trumbull. Among the items written by Trumbull are a letter describing a trip to the Minnesota wilderness, and a draft of a telegram congratulating president-elect Benjamin Harrison. Incoming correspondence includes letters from his siblings and cousins, as well as copies of letters from Abraham Lincoln and J. F. Buchanan. General Nelson Miles sent an invitation to Lyman and Robert Lincoln wrote a lengthy letter regarding the financial history of his late mother, Mary Todd Lincoln.

The Lyman Trumbull to Julia Trumbull letters (1844-1855) contains 12 letters written by Lyman to his first wife. The letters primarily discuss his health and occasionally refer to his social life.

The Julia Trumbull to Lyman Trumbull letters (1860-1866) consist of Civil War-era letters from Julia to her husband regarding her life in Chicago, where she remained while Lyman served in the United States Senate. Most of the letters focus on local social life and on the couple's children. Though some of these letters contain brief remarks on political matters, the focus on family is maintained throughout.

The Lyman Trumbull to Mary Ingraham Trumbull letters (1869-1884) are primarily personal, and include letters written both before and after Lyman's marriage to his cousin, Mary Jane Ingraham. Prior to their courtship and marriage, Lyman's letters show a certain degree of affection, and he often mentioned sending photographs and gave Mary updates about his life in Chicago. Lyman's letters following his wedding recount life in Chicago, while Mary was away visiting her family in Saybrook, Connecticut; he often asked when she planned to return to Illinois. Of particular interest is his letter of February 1, 1881, in which Lyman described the decline and death of "brother John" near Jackson, Michigan.

The Letters to Mary Ingraham Trumbull (1859-1914) comprises the largest unit of correspondence in the collection, containing approximately 290 items. It consists primarily of family letters written to Mary Ingraham (later Trumbull) throughout her life; frequent correspondents included her mother Almira, and sisters Annie and Julia. The center of the Ingraham family was Saybrook, Connecticut, where most of the letters originated. After the 1880s, friends and acquaintances wrote more letters than family members, including a letter of condolence sent on the death of Lyman Trumbull. A letter of May 8, 1910, from Emma Sickles of the Domestic Science Association includes a description and typed copy of a bill to fund educational programs for housewives, a bill the organization attempted to push through the United States Congress. The large volume of letters provides a rich family chronicle.

The Miscellaneous Trumbull family letters (1850-1903) contain correspondence of various Trumbull family members, particularly the children of Lyman Trumbull and Julia Jayne. Several letters are from the couple's sons Perry and Walter, who described various occurrences and interests. Of note are a letter from Julia to her father describing a dinner she had with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and a lengthy letter regarding economics from W. H. White, who had recently read Coin's Financial School.

The Ingraham-Rankin Family Letters subseries contains the letters of Julia Ingraham, George Rankin, and various other Ingraham family members.

The Julia Ingraham and George Rankin letters (1868-1899) are the correspondence of Lyman Trumbull's cousin and sister-in-law Julia Ingraham and her husband, George Rankin. The majority of letters date from the 1880s or later, and include a letter describing a family visit to the Trumbulls in Chicago in the summer of 1889. Though most of the letters are between Julia and George, the couple's children as well as George's mother and a cousin also corresponded.

The Miscellaneous Ingraham family letters (1824-1913) contains correspondence of the Ingraham family of Saybrook, Connecticut. Two of the Ingraham daughters, Mary (m. Lyman Trumbull) and Julia (m. George Rankin), are represented extensively elsewhere in the collection, and many of these letters relate to their father, John D. Ingraham, and brother, John D. Ingraham, Jr. John D. Ingraham wrote one letter, dated 1856, to Lyman Trumbull, and various nieces and nephews also sent letters. Much of the correspondence relates to family news and social life during the Civil War. Of particular interest is an envelope dated June 27, 1865, which contains "Folwers [sic] bought the day of Annie's funeral."

The Letters to J. F. Uhlhorn subseries (1860-1869) contains letters between James Uhlhorn; Lyman Trumbull's nephew, John Frederick Uhlhorn; and a woman, Maria, addressed as "sister." John's letters date from the early Civil War period and discuss business matters and his frequent related visits to Washington. Maria, writing from New York after 1862, discussed the declining health of their mother and other family-related news.

The Mather Family Letters subseries (1837-1893) consists primarily of letters written and received by Almira Mather Ingraham, wife of John D. Ingraham and mother-in-law of Lyman Trumbull. Her brother, Samuel Rogers Selden Mather, was one correspondent; he provided family and social news from New York. Almira wrote a letter to her brother and sister-in-law that contains a short description of proceedings surrounding a nearby execution (January 10, 1843). One item is a printed advertisement for an upcoming publication of the genealogy of the Mather family.

The Miscellaneous letters subseries (1834-1908) contains letters that are difficult to attribute, and include several unsigned items. The letters of identified authors are from John Bond to his uncle, from Charlie to a grandmother (one mentioning a death within the Ingraham family), and from M. J. Rankin to an "Aunt Mary." The collection also includes a short poem entitled "A Memory."

The Letter Book series consists of four small notebooks containing manuscript copies of official letters written by Lyman Trumbull, and copied by his second wife, Mary Ingraham Trumbull (1837-1903). Each book is only partially filled, and the volumes have additional writing that does not appear to originate with Trumbull. Several brief thoughts and sayings appear in one volume, as well as a small number of personal financial accounts. Childlike pencil drawings of houses with a few correspondence copies and a short poem are in another. The correspondence in these volumes is not duplicated elsewhere in the collection.

• The Annie Ingraham school report book (1860-1864) of various reports from the author's time at school, with a number of personal inscriptions and reminiscences in the back.
• The John D. and Annie Ingraham journal (1853; 1859) is 2 pages of journal writing from John D. Ingraham and one page of journal writing by his daughter Annie.
• The Mrs. John D. Ingraham diary (1900) has entries for the first half of 1900, which focus primarily on family visits and daily life in Saybrook, Connecticut. The diary also includes a page of accounts, several loose pages of additional entries, and letters addressed to the author.
• The Julia Ingraham autograph book (1866-1892) contains autographs from various acquaintances around Saybrook Sound, Connecticut.
• The Julia Ingraham Rankin journal and commonplace book (1883-1890) primarily documents family life in Saybrook, Connecticut, and includes entries on poetry, copied excerpts, and inserted clippings.
• The Mary J. Trumbull diary (1887-1890) documents daily life and has approximately 17 items inserted, including several letters, newspaper clippings, and ephemera.
• The Julia Ingraham Rankin notes on Shakespeare (1892) consists of various personal notes and thoughts compiled from various works of Shakespeare, including some of his most famous plays, such as "Romeo and Juliet."
• The [Julia Rankin] notebook (1911-1914) contents primarily consist of academic essays on a variety of topics, readings, and lectures. Laid in the book were a large number of manuscript poems, many attributed to other authors, and four newspaper clippings. One clipping contains a poem dedicated to "La Grippe," written by John Howard, M. D.

The Documents series (1799-1897) is a selection of items related to the career of Lyman Trumbull, including list of candidate endorsements he made, as well as various certificates. Other documents are powers of attorney, a manuscript copy of "The Whole Finance Bill," and a school report for Julia Ingraham.

The Financial papers series (1838-1913) covers a variety of topics, some of which concern the Ingraham family's involvement in shipping. A handful of documents regard the sloop Connecticut, though the majority consists of various receipts and invoices, many addressed to Mary Ingraham Trumbull after the death of her husband Lyman. Other items of interest are an inventory of Lyman's estate (February 1, 1882) and a cure "For Ivy Poisoning," written on the back of a document dated May 24, 1902.

The collection's Photographs (8 items) include a tintype, a cabinet card, and 5 photographic prints, most of which are informal pictures and studio portraits of unidentified women and children. The cabinet card photograph shows a group of men posing outside of a hardware store.

• Several people in front of Vose & Co. Hardware Store
• A portrait of two girls
• Two small, individual photographs of babies
• Three children waving American flags
• A woman in a garden
• A woman accompanied by a dog
• William W. Patton photograph album

The final item, a carte-de-visite album belonging to William W. Patton, contains 159 captioned photographs and prints, including studio portraits, pictures of Renaissance statues, reproductions of religious paintings, and illustrated views of the Alps and Switzerland; captions are also present for items that are no longer extant. Groups of studio portraits show famous persons such as John Ruskin, Thomas Carlyle, and Charles Dickens; residents of Edinburgh, Constantinople, and Cairo in native dress; and members of Patton's traveling party during an 1866 visit to Palestine. Also present are 3 images of Venetians with vibrant artificial coloring and a picture of a "Chinese Convert, Ah Ting, San Francisco." Pictured works of art include statues and paintings from collections in Venice, Florence, Rome, and the Vatican, including items by Raphael and Michelangelo; one carte-de-visite shows an early version of Thomas Ball's Emancipation Memorial statue, differing slightly from the version erected in Washington, D.C. The remaining items consist of groups of photographs and artificial illustrations of Alpine mountains and Swiss scenery; some of the Swiss scenes are colored. Additional items include a carte-de-visite collage of several landmarks within the Giant's Causeway (Ireland), a photograph of Cairo, photographs of monuments in Alexandria, and a print labeled "Procession over human bodies in Egypt."

The Watercolors series (2 items) is comprised of two paintings of pastoral scenes.

The Ephemera, Cards, and Invitations series (13 items) contains four invitations and wedding announcements (1874, 1893, 1909, and undated), two greeting cards (1900 and undated), a 1912 postcard, five calling cards (1879 and undated), and a cooking pamphlet entitled "One Master Recipe for Ten Delicacies, with many serving suggestions," by "the Lady with an Apron."

The Miscellaneous series consists of printed materials, writings, and billfolds. The printed materials (1858-1924) are newspaper clippings, a printed copy of a petition, four speeches made by Lyman Trumbull, advertisements for the Mediterranean Express Line and "The Ormond," an astrological booklet called "Were You Born in September?" (1909), reports and a constitution of the Washington Union Brotherhood, a recipe book, and a 1924 recipe card with various recipes for gelatin desserts. Several of the writings are related to Lyman Trumbull, the Ingraham family, and housekeeping. Of note are an account of the brief life of Alma Ingraham Trumbull, daughter of Lyman Trumbull and Mary Ingraham; a set of knitting instructions; several poems, including a child's work entitled "The Cake Shop Romance;" and an astrological chart. Also present is a leather Billfold with metal adornments that contains a small newspaper clipping and a calling card for Mrs. Lyman Trumbull.

The Mark A. Anderson collection of post-mortem photography contains approximately 1068 items including photographs, ephemeral items, documents, manuscripts, printed items, and realia pertaining to the visual history of death and bereavement between the 1840s and the 1970s. Photographs make up the bulk of the collection.

The Mark A. Anderson collection of post-mortem photography contains approximately 1068 photographs, ephemeral items, documents, manuscripts, printed items, and realia pertaining to the visual history of death and bereavement between the 1840s and the 1970s. Photographs make up the bulk of the collection. Mr. Anderson assembled this collection from dealers, antique shops, and individuals. His motivation stemmed from a desire to document and to provide historical perspective on various end-of-life practices which, in the 20th century, fell into taboo and disfavor.

The majority portion of the photographic items in the collection are neither dated, nor attributed, although approximate dates can often be determined by when particular photographic formats were in use (see timeline at www.graphicatlas.org.). Consequently, the materials have been organized first to accommodate their sizes, formats, and preservation needs, and second to reflect major subject themes present, though scattered, throughout the entire collection. These non-mutually exclusive subjects are as follows:

• Post-mortem portraits
• Post-mortem scenes
• Funeral tableaux
• Funerals and funeral processions
• Floral arrangements and displays
• Memorial cards and sentimental imagery
• Cemeteries and monuments
• Funeral industry
• Mourning attire
• Unnatural death

The first three subjects - post-mortem portraits, scenes, and funeral tableaux - all depict the recently deceased, and so fall into the narrowest definition of a post-mortem photograph. Their distinction into three separate subjects is a partly arbitrary decision, made to break up what would otherwise be a large and unwieldy grouping of photos, but also to roughly shape the order of the collection (post-mortem portraits without décor tended to date earlier chronologically than broader, beautifying scenes).

Post-mortem portraits:

The post-mortem portrait photographs, comprising 251 items in the collection, depict the bodies of dead family members and friends. These images show the deceased, sometimes posed with living family members, and for the most part do not include elements of a larger scene, such as floral arrangements, banners, or other décor.

These portraits include the earliest photographic images in the collection, including 28 cased daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes. 78 cabinet card photographs date from the late 1860s to around the turn of the century. Among many notable cabinet cards are two images of Frances Radke, taken and retouched by R. C. Houser, showing her image before and after Houser's post-capture work (3.1 and 3.2). Also of note is a framed crayon enlargement of infant Adelaide Banks by photographer/artist Edward Stuart Tray (26) and a post-mortem carte de visite of an unidentified African American infant taken by photographer S. P. Davis of Danielsonville, Connecticut (4.282u).

Post-mortem scenes:

The post-mortem scene photographs, numbering 155 items in total, are similar to the portraits described above, except that they show the deceased as part of a larger environment, whether in a private home, a funeral home, or out-of-doors. Most of these views are mounted photographic prints from the 1880s to the early decades of the 20th century, frequently centering on the corpse, lying in a casket or coffin, amidst an abundance of floral arrangements, banners or flags, family members or friends, and/or personal belongings. Their caskets are often lined with white cloth.

Many of these images have unique qualities; several examples illustrate the variety of postmortem scenes in the collection. Six photographs by W. Jakubowski and Co. and Jos. Ziawinski, of Detroit, Michigan, include five wedding photographs (of the bride and groom, bridesmaids, and family members) and one post-mortem scene of the wife. She appears to have died within a short time following the marriage; the funeral home scene image contains one of the wedding photographs and a banner marked "Dearest Wife" (18.5-18.10). One mounted photograph depicts a dog, laid on linen, in a homemade casket (14:17). The collection also contains examples of different persons on display in the same funeral home/parlor (e.g. 18.1-18.4). A set of two cabinet card photos of a child in a buggy is accompanied by one of the buggy's metal lanterns (23.1-23.3). Also of note is a photogravure of the 1888 painting "Requiescat" by British artist Briton Rivière showing a dog seated next to its deceased owner (25.2).

Funeral tableaux:

The collection's 35 funeral tableaux photographs show the deceased in an open casket or coffin, typically in front of a church or homestead, with a posed assembly of funeral attendees or mourners. They often show a large group of family and friends, and so are frequently large format prints. Group portraits of this sort were occasionally framed and displayed in the home. Most of the examples in this collection are large prints (many of them mounted), with smaller examples, including a real photo postcard, two snapshots, and one cabinet card. Particular items of note include a framed tableau on the steps of the Church of The Descent of The Holy Ghost in Detroit by Thomas Hoffman (27), a photomontage image of a nun's funeral (28), two tableaux scenes by F. A. Drukteinis taken outside of the same church in Detroit during different seasons and involving the same family (20.12 and 20.15), and three related tableaux scenes (two mounted and one unmounted) involving a presumably Hungarian family that were taken outside of what appears to be a Catholic church in Cleveland, Ohio, during three different funerals (20.16a-20.16c).

Funerals and funeral processions:

The 70 items depicting or pertaining to funeral gatherings show various aspects of the movement of the deceased from the home or funeral home to the cemetery and funeral and burial ceremonies. This group is comprised of real photo postcards (22 items), snapshots (13 items), and a variety of other formats. Examples include an albumen print depicting the Plymouth Church decorated for Henry Ward Beecher's funeral in 1887, and snapshot and postcard photographs of a burial at sea.

Floral arrangements and displays:

Additional documentation of funeral decoration may be found in the collection's 176 still life portraits of floral arrangements and other decorations. A portion of the floral display photographs include pre- or post-mortem photos of the deceased either incorporated into the display or added to the image after printing. One particularly fine example is a large format photograph of a floral arrangement for the funeral of Joshua Turner Mulls; the display included a cabinet card photo of Mr. Mulls and a modified enlargement of the cabinet card. Accompanying the floral arrangement photograph is the cabinet card depicted in the display, with artist's instructions for coloring the enlargement (22.1-22.2).

Memorial cards and sentimental imagery:

The collection includes 105 memorial cards and ephemeral items bearing sentimental imagery. Memorial cards were created as tributes, often displaying birth dates, death dates, and other information about the deceased. Many of these cards include border designs and some bear photographs of the departed. Black-fronted memorial cards gained popularity from 1880 to 1905. Of many interesting examples, the collection includes two examples of memorial cards which haven't yet been personalized (4.306-4.307) and two reflecting World War I-related deaths (4.316 and 4.317). Materials with sentimental imagery include items such as a photograph of an illustration entitled "Momma is in Heaven," a memorial book dedicated to Olive C. Partridge in 1897, and other items.

Note: an advertisement for the Memorial Card Company of Philadelphia is located in the 'Funeral Industry' section of the collection (14.35).

Cemeteries and monuments:

61 photographs, printed items, and realia explicitly pertain to cemeteries, burial markers, or monuments. Some of the cemeteries and monuments are identified, such as the Garfield Memorial at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio (4.1-4.3). The collection includes examples of cemetery-related realia, including an ovular, porcelain headstone photograph (pre-mortem) of the deceased.

Note: cemeteries may be seen as background for many photographs throughout the collection.

The funeral industry:

The Mark A. Anderson collection of post-mortem photography holds a diverse selection of photographs, ephemera, and printed materials related to the business aspects of death, dying, and bereavement. This group contains around 153 items overall, including receipts (1896-1956); various types of advertising materials (including an undertaker's advertising card, a cabinet photograph of the Arbenz & Co. storefront advertising undertaking as a service, fans from a church and the A. C. Cheney funeral home, a thermometer, and other items); and 118 coffin sales photographs (illustrating a massive selection of different casket models offered by the Boyertown Burial Casket Company of Pennsylvania).

Two photograph albums, that of Clarence E. Mapes' furniture store and funeral home and that of the Algoe-Gundry Company funeral home, provide visual documentation of a rural and an urban funeral home (respectively) in Michigan in the first half of the 20th century:

The photo album and scrapbook of Clarence E. Mapes' furniture store and funeral home in Durand, Michigan, dating from ca. 1903-1930, contains interior and exterior photographs of the furniture and undertaker portions of the shop. The album includes photographs of casket showroom display mechanisms; an example of a "burglar proof" metallic vault; a posed photo of the embalmer standing over a man on the embalming table; images of carriage and motorized hearses; business-related newspaper clippings; and various family and vacation photographs. Several prints, dated August 1903, appear to depict the aftermath of the Wallace Brothers Circus train wreck on the Grand Trunk railroad at Durand. Among these photographs are carriage hearses, a horse-drawn cart carrying ten or more oblong boxes (for transportation and perhaps burial of victims of the wreck), a man standing in an alleyway near three stacked boxes, and a large group of persons standing in a largely unearthed section of a cemetery. The Mapes album is accompanied by a C. E. Mapes Furniture advertising fly-swatter.

The Algoe-Gundry Company album dates from ca. 1924 to 1960 and contains (almost exclusively) 8"x10" photographs of this Flint, Michigan, funeral business. The album includes images of the exterior and interior of Algoe-Gundry buildings, hearses, ambulances, and billboard advertisements.

One album was produced ca. 1939 by the Central Metallic Casket Co. of Chicago, Illinois. Titled "Caskets of Character," the album contains images of patented (or soon to be patented) casket designs as well as a printed cross-sectional view detailing the company's "Leak-Proof" Separate Inner Sealer.

Also of interest is funeral director's license granted by the Michigan State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors to Vincent J. George of Fowler, Michigan, in 1938. (25.1)

Mourning attire:

In America, mourning attire tended to follow trends set in Europe. The bereaved wore mourning clothing according to current fashion trends and societal expectations. Mourning clothing styles, often dark-colored and somber, depended on how close the mourner was to the deceased and local societal expectations. Seventeen portrait photographs show men and women wearing mourning attire without the deceased present. This group includes cabinet cards, a 1/9 plate ambrotype of an adult woman, two tintypes, and one carte-de-visite.

Note: persons wearing mourning attire may also be found scattered throughout the other sections of the Mark A. Anderson collection. While most are concentrated in the funeral photographs, mourners are also present in postmortem portraits, postmortem scenes, and cemetery photos.

Unnatural death:

43 photographs (mostly snapshots) depict "unnatural deaths," deaths not caused by age or naturally occurring disease, such as suicides, accidents, murders, and war. The larger portions of the snapshots are mid-20th century police photographs of crime or accident scenes.

Nine Indiana State Police photographs show a train-automobile accident; a group of eight unmarked photos depict the body of woman, apparently violently murdered, at the location of her death and in a morgue; 14 are of a man struck down, beneath a train; two are of a rifle suicide; and the others are of varying accidents. One World War I-era real photo postcard appears to show a man who was shot dead in a foxhole. A stereoscopic card by photographer B. W. Kilburn shows the burial of Filipino soldiers after the Battle of Malolos, Philippine Islands [ca. 1899].

Note: The photograph album/scrapbook of the Clarence E. Mapes furniture and undertakers shop contains several photographs of what appear to be the aftermath of the Wallace Brothers Circus train wreck, Durand, Michigan 1903 (see above description in the 'Funeral Industry' section of this scope and content note).

The Namur, Québec photograph album (24.5 x 18 cm) contains eleven snapshots of people in the countryside around Namur, Québec at the turn of the twentieth century.

The Namur Québec photograph album (24.5 x 18 cm) contains eleven snapshots taken in Namur, Québec. Multiple photographs feature women fishing and riding bicycles. The album has a dark red leather cover with "'The Farm', Namur Que." stamped on the front.

The Nathan Smilie Tupper Lake Adirondacks photograph album (13 x 20.75 cm) is a snapshot album with 37 photographs of the Adirondacks region of New York and groups of men boating, camping, and hunting. The album includes many night photographs taken with a flash. This album belonged to Dr. Nathan Smilie of Philadelphia.

The Nathan Smilie Tupper Lake Adirondacks photograph album (13 x 20.75 cm) is a 32 page album with 37 snapshots of the Adirondacks, groups of men, hunting, campsites, and cottages. Throughout the album are night photographs of deer taken with a flash.

Of note on the first page is a picture of Smilie and his guide, Jim Eccles, in a small boat entitled "Madawaska Sept 2-1901/Flash Light Outfit. 'The Oregon.'" Inside the boat is the equipment used to take flash photographs.

The New Bedford whaling albums contain approximately 175 photographs in 4 albums pertaining to the whaling industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The New Bedford whaling albums contain approximately 175 photographs in 4 albums pertaining to the whaling industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Of the four albums, three were likely compiled by photographer Joseph Sisson Martin while the fourth was published by New Bedford bookseller H. S. Hutchinson & Co. All four albums (30.5 x 26.5 cm) are leather bound and show considerable wear. The Hutchinson album has some flaking of the leather cover. There are some loose pages, but in general the albums remain intact.

In 1903, H. S. Hutchinson & Co. commissioned the album Cutting In a Whale (Volume 1), which documents the processing of a sperm whale carcass in graphic detail. The 25 gelatin silver images document various stages of the process, including the whale being carved up while alongside a ship and various pieces being hoisted onboard for rendering into whale oil and other commercial products. The original photographs were taken by photographer and accomplished travel writer Marian Shaw Smith, who herself was married to a whaling ship captain. Smith rode along on the bark California as it sailed to the western Pacific Ocean and then procuded the images that went into Cutting In a Whale, developing and printing her roll film while at sea. Each photo is accompanied by a detailed caption.

The other three albums in the collection (Volumes 2-4) were produced by New Bedford photographer Joseph Sisson Martin in the 1910s. Martin primarily photographed whaling ships and associated craftsmen who worked around the wharves, creating a nostalgic tribute to a disappearing industry. Two of these albums also contain many earlier pictures that were taken by other photographers dating back to as early as 1868 and reproduced by Martin. Although specific photographers were not identified or credited by Martin, a number of photographs can be traced to earlier works by Joseph G. Tirrell, a major chronicler of New Bedford's whaling industry. Several of Martin's selections from Tirrell's body of work differ slightly from the Tirrell images held by the New Bedford Public Library. The third Martin album (Volume 4) may possibly contain mostly his own work. The majority of the images in this album are from 1905-1918, and each photograph is dated and captioned in a more detailed manner than the other two Martin albums. Throughout all three of the Martin albums, there are occasional checks or crosses in red pencil present in the right-hand margins. It is not clear when these markings were made or what they signify, though they may possibly represent a selection of photos that were intended to be used for some other purpose. Additionally, in the first Martin album (Volume 2) there are seven photographs of engravings of whale chases, while there are also two photographs (one in Volume 2 and another in Volume 4) of the half-sized model whaler Lagoda located in the Old Dartmouth Historical Society (now kept at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.)

• A.E. Wayland (Volume 4)
• A.R. Tucker (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
• Alice Knowles (Volume 4)
• Andrew Hicks (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Bertha (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Canton (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Catalpa (Volume 3)
• Charles W. Morgan (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Commodore Morris (Volume 3)
• Daisy (Volume 4)
• Desdemona (Volume 3)
• E.B. Conwell (Volume 4)
• Eliza Adams (Volumes 3 and 4)
• Evelyn (Volume 4)
• Falcon (Volume 3)
• Francis Barstow (Volume 3)
• Golden City (Volume 2)
• Greyhound (Volumes 3 and 4)
• Harry Smith (Volume 2)
• Horatio (Volume 4)
• James Arnold (Volume 3)
• Josephine (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
• Josephus (Volume 3)
• Kathleen (Volume 2)
• Laconia (Volume 3)
• Lagoda (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Leonora (Volume 2)
• Massachusetts (Volume 3)
• Morning Star (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Niger (Volume 3)
• Pedro Varela (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Platina (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Progress (Volume 2)
• Rousseau (Volume 3)
• Sullivan (Volume 2)
• Sunbeam (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
• Swallow (Volume 3)
• Tamerlane (Volume 3)
• Viola (Volume 4)
• Wanderer (Volumes 2 and 4)
• William Graber (Volume 4)

The Noble Strong Elderkin family album consists of approximately 305 photographs, photomechanical prints, and assorted ephemera relating to the family of Congregational minister Noble Strong Elderkin.

The Noble Strong Elderkin family album consists of approximately 305 photographs, photomechanical prints, and assorted ephemera relating to the family of Congregational minister Noble Strong Elderkin. The album (32 x 29 cm) has a green cloth binding. Items of interest include photographs of family homes and churches in Boulder (Colorado), Las Vegas (New Mexico), Cragsmoor (New York), New Haven (Connecticut), and Ogden (Utah); gatherings on Paw Paw Lake, Michigan; a group of Chi Phi members posed in Atlanta, Georgia, for the congress of 1900; Pearl Street in Boulder during 1901; gambling houses on 25th Street in Ogden; and views of Taos, New Mexico. Several large format photographs show school groups, including the interior of the West Division Street Kindergarten; a group of schoolchildren with teachers posed outside a school building; and teachers leading schoolchildren in outdoor activities outside of a school in "Forestville."

Photomechanical prints show tourist attractions and scenic views in Great Britain and Belgium. Ephemeral items include newspaper clippings, some of which pertain to Tiwa Pueblo Indians at Taos; a program from the San Geronimo Feast and Taos Carnival, 1902; and a booklet of souvenir photographs from Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Subjects identified in photographs include: Gustav Lubeck, Albert Hunt, Eline Lubeck Elderkin, Frieda Washington, Elvira Lubeck, Charles McCoy, George Elderkin, Laura Leburg, Dr. Edward F. Williams, Bryant Harroun, Oscar Maurer, Lucius Porter, Eleanor Booth, Marian Booth, Tom Horn, Bernard Devoto, Alice Gunnell, Howard C. Riis, Judith Elderkin, Noble Elderkin, Jr., Louise Pierce, Georgiana Rogers, Leana Elderkin, Frank K. Sanders, Rebecca Holdstock, Amy Ford, Marjorie Richardson, Ruth Sinclar.