Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Photo Number 393

Cash and Ida front Pam
This is an old snapshot..
Cash and Ida Back Pam
Cash and Ida Swint with Negir the cat.
The dog apparently was not important enough to mention. I am not quite sure on the date of this photo..1930’s? Interesting name..Cash..how many people do you suppose had that first name?

Thank you Pam for sharing all your photos with us!

Thanks for stopping by, do come again:)
Update from Abra:
The 1910 census lists  Ida Swint, a servant for Cassius & Ella Phelps in Williamstown, Berkshire, Massachusetts. Is it a coincidence, or, since the photo was found in this same area, is it plausible that this is the same Ida Swint as in the photo?

A theory I have is that Ida is pictured with either Cassius Jr or Cassius Sr. Is it possible the owner of the photo labeled it in such a manner as thinking those viewing it would automatically know who Cash was but needed to identify Ida? If this is the case, it would have been more clear if it was written 'Cash with Ida Swint and Niger the cat.' Does that make sense?

Ida Swint no longer lived with the Phelps' in 1920, so if this is the correct Ida, then I would guess the photo was taken between 1910 & 1920. I couldn't find Ida in either the 1900 or 1920 census, so she is a bit of a mystery woman.

I was also theorizing that perhaps the cat is a gift from Cassius/Cash Phelps to the servant Ida, thus the importance of naming it in the photo. Note that Cash is dressed rather formally, while Ida is wearing an apron, which could be another indication of her servant status. 

12 comments:

  1. Gee, if they didn't think the dog was important enough to name... what kind of people were they!!

    :) Cash was a mildly popular name back in 1885 and that popularity died out well before 1900. Its only once again become mildly popular (starting about 2003). Just eyeballing the Swints in the census, they appear to be located mostly in Arkansas and Georgia.

    The man appears to be in his late 30s-early 40s to me. The ground cover... are they fallen leaves?

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  2. It seems to be fall/winter. The shadows from the trees are bare and it looks like a load of leaves on the ground. I know a couple of guys named Cash born in the 1960s.

    I think the cat's name is Niger. Does Negir make sense to you? I would like to know more.

    The dog's name is Rascal in the story I'm concocting.

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  3. My friend has a dog named Cash, lol. Oh, I also have a friend who named her son Cash and he's only 4, so it's enjoying a resurgence. Sort of. Among dogs and children. :-)

    Norkio

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  4. Maybelline..I just thought that the dot of the i was off to the right of the g. Some of these people didn't know how to spell worth beans:)

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  5. 1930s to early 1950s - I have seen folks dressed like these two in our old famliy pictures as late as 1951 or 52 in rural Mississippi and rural Colorado

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  6. I did a bunch of searching, and could not find a Cash Swint. I also looked up Cassius Swint (Cash is also a nickname for Cassius), but no luck. I even tried Cassimer, still no luck. I found many records for Ida Swint--many various locations and timeframes. The most interesting one, and possibly a match is this:

    I found a 19 year old Ida M. Swint as a servant for Cassius P. (age 55) and Ella E. (age 54)Phelps, living in Williamstown, Berkshire, Massachusetts. The Phelps' had nine children at the time, including 29 year old Cassius, Jr. Although the 1910 census states that Ida was born in MA, I could not find a record for her in the 1900 census. The only Ida Swint I found remotely close to that age was born in Arkansas, but family tree records matching that Ida, show her as dying in 1903. I also checked the MA online vital records and could not find an Ida Swint listed there under births or marriages before 1915. My guess is she was born elsewhere and was listed as born in Mass. because the family was; perhaps the age is off as well.

    My theory at this time is this is a picture of Cassius Phelps (Sr or Jr) and the servant Ida Swint. If you look closely, Ida appears to be wearing an apron, which would fit with her servant role. Cash, on the other hand, seems to be dressed more formally. Her hair seems someone short for 1910, and she is not listed with the family in 1920, so I would estimate this photo as somewhere between that timeframe. Also, for timeframe, perhaps Ida kept in contact with the family even if she was no longer their servant, or still worked for them but lived elsewhere, and then this photo could have been at a later date. It seems to speak of the twenties to me.

    Another thought, perhaps the cat is a gift to the servant and that is why it is of importance in the picture, while the dog isn't named.

    What do you think of these theories? (The fact that this Ida Swint/Cassius Phelps connection is located in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts seems like more than a coincidence to me, since that is where the found photo originated; I wasn't even searching for Ida in Massachusetts, I just stumbled upon it). I will try to revisit this in the future to see if I can find out what happened to Ida, or at least identify a Phelps connection that may be interested in the photo or could give us more info as to the validity of this theory. ~Abra

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  7. I was unable to find a Cash Swint (or Cassius, for which Cash is the nickname), but found many records for Ida Swint in many regions.

    The one I found most interesting is the 1910 census listing for Ida Swint, a servant for Cassius & Ella Phelps in Williamstown, Berkshire, Massachusetts. Is it a coincidence, or, since the photo was found in this same area, is it plausible that this is the same Ida Swint as in the photo?

    A theory I have is that Ida is pictured with either Cassius Jr or Cassius Sr. Is it possible the owner of the photo labeled it in such a manner as thinking those viewing it would automatically know who Cash was but needed to identify Ida? If this is the case, it would have been more clear if it was written 'Cash with Ida Swint and Niger the cat.' Does that make sense?

    Ida Swint no longer lived with the Phelps' in 1920, so if this is the correct Ida, then I would guess the photo was taken between 1910 & 1920. I couldn't find Ida in either the 1900 or 1920 census, so she is a bit of a mystery woman.

    I was also theorizing that perhaps the cat is a gift from Cassius/Cash Phelps to the servant Ida, thus the importance of naming it in the photo. Note that Cash is dressed rather formally, while Ida is wearing an apron, which could be another indication of her servant status.

    I couldn't find a matching family tree for Ida, but there are a lot of family trees for the Phelps family, so I imagine I could track someone down if we think this might be an accurate theory. What do you think? ~Abra

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  8. I couldn't find any Cash Swint(s) either and was "thinking he was one of the many mysterious "just use my intials" men - I didn't know the photo came from Massachusetts, my reading skills need some help. :)

    I was beginning to thinking is was a nickname, like the man was a grocery man and was always saying "Cash Only!" or his initals were C. A. S. (Himself!)

    You theory seems really... well .. involved. Williamstown, MA is pretty much "in the boondocks" and if anything, it would lead me to believe the date was later rather than earlier than Connie's guess.

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  9. Hi Abra, Ida apparently got married before the 1920 census or died. The photo was from an Antique shop in the Berkshires..all of Pam's photos were bought in an Antique shop in Lee, Massachusetts...so it is more than likely the correct Phelps family..go for it ( when you have time)! I will bring the names forward in an update..you never can tell:)

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Hi, Thanks for the comments, your input on these old photos is appreciated! English only please! All comments will be moderated! Connie