I can't tell if the leg is braced or not - I see a four wall tent in the background - so they appear to be camping in (or near) Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming / Montana.
Assuming the names are left to right, Ruth appears older than Lois. Oddly, in the US Census for 1930, there are two more likely than other records, in both Ruth is 5 or 6 years older than Lois and the father's name is Walter and they have a young brother named Walter (ugh)!
One family lives in Hampton, Rock Island, Illinois (near Chicago), and the other in Ryegate, Golden Valley, Montana (about the center of the state)
Montana - Walter T Wells 41 Katherine Wells 37 Ruth L Wells 15 Lois I Wells 9 (1921) Walter T Wells 7
Illinois - Walter Wells 38 Alice Wells 31 Dale Wells 12 Warren Wells 10 Ruth Wells 8 Robert Wells 6 Lois Wells 3 (1927) Walter Wells 1
Perhaps one of these families has a connect to Minnesota?
Hi Iggy, I will bet on the Montana family..because if it had been the other family all their children would have been in the photo..so that make it about a 1923 photo..that is believable. Those girls would have been 8/7 and 3/2 in 1922/1923:)
Walter T Wells worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad ("The Milwaukee Road") in Montana as a Station Agent. He moved to Los Angeles with the family sometime in the 1930's - Katherine is shown as the proprieter of a grocery store with Ruth working there as a clerk in the 1940 US census. Ruth has disappeared (she would have been about 19 years old in 1940) Hopefully she got married somewhere in or between Montana and California.
Walter retired and was living in Los Angeles in 1956.
Walter Jr. worked for Douglas Aircraft and moved to Molalla, Oregon (a few miles south of Portland). He served in the U.S. Army Company C, 1st Ranger Battalion during WWII where he spent some time as a POW.
His obit is here --> http://www.genealogybuff.com/or/or-clackamas-obits2.htm
I've not been able to determine what became of Ruth and Lois.
Also note that the person writing the details on the reverse went to the additional trouble to tell WHERE they were. This is often an indication that they were NOT at home.
Perhaps the 1940 Census in Montana will provide more details when it becomes available.
Does the little girl have a brace on her lower leg?
ReplyDeleteI can't tell if the leg is braced or not - I see a four wall tent in the background - so they appear to be camping in (or near) Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming / Montana.
ReplyDeleteAssuming the names are left to right, Ruth appears older than Lois. Oddly, in the US Census for 1930, there are two more likely than other records, in both Ruth is 5 or 6 years older than Lois and the father's name is Walter and they have a young brother named Walter (ugh)!
One family lives in Hampton, Rock Island, Illinois (near Chicago), and the other in Ryegate, Golden Valley, Montana (about the center of the state)
Montana -
Walter T Wells 41
Katherine Wells 37
Ruth L Wells 15
Lois I Wells 9 (1921)
Walter T Wells 7
Illinois -
Walter Wells 38
Alice Wells 31
Dale Wells 12
Warren Wells 10
Ruth Wells 8
Robert Wells 6
Lois Wells 3 (1927)
Walter Wells 1
Perhaps one of these families has a connect to Minnesota?
Hi Iggy, I will bet on the Montana family..because if it had been the other family all their children would have been in the photo..so that make it about a 1923 photo..that is believable. Those girls would have been 8/7 and 3/2 in 1922/1923:)
DeleteA very sweet photo.
ReplyDeleteWalter T Wells worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad ("The Milwaukee Road") in Montana as a Station Agent. He moved to Los Angeles with the family sometime in the 1930's - Katherine is shown as the proprieter of a grocery store with Ruth working there as a clerk in the 1940 US census. Ruth has disappeared (she would have been about 19 years old in 1940) Hopefully she got married somewhere in or between Montana and California.
ReplyDeleteWalter retired and was living in Los Angeles in 1956.
Walter Jr. worked for Douglas Aircraft and moved to Molalla, Oregon (a few miles south of Portland). He served in the U.S. Army Company C, 1st Ranger Battalion during WWII where he spent some time as a POW.
His obit is here --> http://www.genealogybuff.com/or/or-clackamas-obits2.htm
I've not been able to determine what became of Ruth and Lois.
The Montana connection looks best to me too.
ReplyDeleteAlso note that the person writing the details on the reverse went to the additional trouble to tell WHERE they were. This is often an indication that they were NOT at home.
Perhaps the 1940 Census in Montana will provide more details when it becomes available.
Fantastic detective work!
ReplyDeleteDid you notice that the handwriting on this one is very similar to the larger family photo from yesterday?
ReplyDeleteI mailed a copy of this blog post to Denyse in Bend Oregon on July 9, 2012
ReplyDeleteWe will see what happens:)
Denyse's letter was undeliverable. I sent it to her sister Candyce also in Bend OR.
ReplyDelete