Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Photo Number Twenty-Seven


This is another photo from South Dakota.  This one was also taken at the Brown Studio in Sterling, ILL.  There is a name on the back of this one, Louise Neitzke.  So ..1888 to 1897 is the time frame we know about concerning Brown Studio..so how about guessing a date of 1890 on this one?   Personally I love the hat..but I also wonder what would cause someone to be photographed in a coat?  Was she going on a trip?
Thanks for stopping..do come again:)
*** Noriko came up with this info..Louise was a maid who worked for Thomas and Mary Galt.  We will date this photograph 1897.

7 comments:

  1. Good Morning Connie, This coat, hat & gloves must have been made for a special occasion to have had a photo taken in them. Such a lovely hat too.

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  2. I bet that was an expensive outfit for that era. Everything is coordinated. A very unusual hat too. It looks big and heavy, but I like it.

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  3. we have a couple of "hat" photos of my husbands ancestors.

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  4. So, today I decided to look on Ancestry.com since you had a name. There is a Louise Neitzke listed as living in Sterling Ward 5, Whiteside IL, on the 1910 census. She's listed as a servant to the couple she lived with. Birth year was about 1882. Her parents were from Germany but she was born in Illinois. If she was born in 1882 - and assuming this is her - the picture could not be from 1890 as she would have only been 12. Let's put the date a bit later, more like 1895 and she would have been 17. The hat and coat may be very expensive for her budget if she's a servant. Maids didn't exactly make a lot of money. Maybe they were a gift. She worked for an older couple named Thomas and Mary Galt. Down the street were a brother and sister also named Galt - John and Elizabeth - who were about the same age as Thomas and Mary. Possibly Thomas's brother and sister? We may never know "who is John Galt". ;-)

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  5. I just looked some more, should have done that before posting but I was so excited to find her in the first place. She was one of 6 children and had three brothers and two sisters. On the 1900 census they lived in a place called Hahanaman. I'm not from this area so maybe others can discuss the geography :-). her parents were named William and Fritzie. I love that her mom's name is Fritzie Neitzke, lol. Her brothers are the three oldest children and Louise is the oldest of the three sisters. Her parents were in their 30s when they started having children, which for the 19th century was practically elderly! her father is listed as a farmer who came to the US in 1870. By the 1900 census her parents had been married 25 years, so married in 1875. Their oldest child was born in October 1875. It's really interesting to dig around about them.

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  6. Noriko..Fritzie Neitzke..LOL.. That is too funny. Thanks for doing the research.. all these Illinois puzzle pieces may fit together who knows! I think I will date the photo 1882 plus 17 equals 1897. :)

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  7. Wow that hat and that hair! And how many yards of material went into making that coat and skirt?
    If she was a maid, it took all her savings to buy the outfit, I am sure.

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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