Ethel Wight Collection – Part 69

Kane, Kapsemalis, & Karantza

Photo Friday
Ethel Wight Collection
By Don Taylor

This week, for Photo Friday, I identify the people in five more envelopes from the Ethel Wight Studio Collection[i]. The envelopes contain the names who paid for the photos, not necessarily of the individual portrayed in the image. As such, it is vital to analyze the pictures and information to identify the individual therein.[ii] Ultimately, my goal is to unite the photos with family members, some of whom may have never seen the image.

Eleanor Kane, circa 1934

This negative envelope says, “Miss Eleanor Kane, 17 Bradford St #417.”

Eleanor Kane, circa 1934

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1937 and 1938 Portland City Directories indicate that George W Butts lived at 17 Bradford St.
• The 1936 Portland City Directory indicates that Ralph V. Cox lived at 17 Bradford St.
• The 1934 Portland City Directory indicates that 17 Bradford St. Was vacant.
• The 1933 Portland City Directory lists Coleman J Kane, Jr. and his wife Ella M. lived at 17 Bradford.
• Various Ancestry family trees indicate that Eleanor Barbara Kane, the daughter of Coleman and Ella Kane, was born on 25 Aug 1920.

This photo was taken about 1934 before the Kane family moved from Bradford Street.

Ancestry has 19 public trees that refer to Eleanor. FamilySearch has a profile for Eleanor, So I  have uploaded a photo of her to profile LBPV-KX9.

Confirmed to be Eleanor Kane by a close family member.

John Gerald Kane, circa 1936

This negative envelope says, “ Mr. John Kane, 36 Waterville St #591.”

John Gerald Kane, circa 1936

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1936 Portland City Directory lists John G Kane residing at 36 Waterville. There is also a John F and his wife Alice M, living at 36 Waterville. There are also three additional John J Kane’s listed.
• The 1930 US Census lists John F Kane, his wife Alice, and his 16-year-old son living at 36 Waterville.

I am sure this photo is of John Gerald Kane, the son of John F and Alice M Kane, about 1936 when John was about 22 years old.

Ancestry has four public trees that refer to John Gerald Kane, born 18 Dec 1913. Family Search does not appear to have a profile for John Kane, born 18 Dec 1913, so I have added his photo to Dead Fred and a second photo of him to my Flickr photostream. 

A nephew said, “It sure looks like him.”

Eva Karantza, circa 1935

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Eva Karantza, 136 Cumberland Ave #243.”

Eva Karantza, circa 1935

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1934 Portland City Directory places Eva Karantza at 136 Cumberland Ave. Also living at 136 Cumberland are Albert, James, John D, John’s wife Elizabeth N, and Theresa.
• The 1935 Portland City Directory indicates that the Karantza family moved to 3 Elmwood Place.
• The 1930 US Census enumerated John and Alice Karantza and their ten children, including 12-year-old Eva, at 8 Riverside Street, Danvers, Essex County, Massachusetts.

This photo is of Eva about 1935 before the family moved from Cumberland Avenue.

Ancestry has 18 public trees that refer to Eva Karantza. Family Search has profile GH18-4JP for Eva, so I uploaded two photos to her Family Search Memories. 

James Richard Kane, circa 1937 (Age 6)

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. J.C. Kane, 16 Lucas St, #1057.”

James Richard Kane, circa 1937 (Age 6)

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1936 Portland City Directory lists James C and his wife Isabelle T Kane living at 16 Lucas.
• The 1940 US Census lists James Karl Kane, his wife Isabelle, and his son James Richard Kane living at 861 Brighton. James is eight years old.
• James Richard Kane, son of James Carlos “Karl” and Isabelle Blackmore (Testa) Kane, appears in one Ancestry Family Tree. He was born 5 October 1931 in Lewiston, Androscoggin, Maine.

Family Search identifies James Richard Kane, son of James Carlos and Isabelle B. (Testa) Kane, as ID GW83-TZP, and I uploaded a photo of him to his Family Search Memories. 

Teresa/Tacea Kapsemalis, c. 1936

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Thresa Kapsemalis, 291 Brackett #400.”

Teresa/Tacea Kapsemalis, c. 1936

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1935 Portland City Directory lists four individuals with the Kapsemales surname all living at 291 Bracket. They include:
•    Charles C. is a clerk at 387 Congress.
•    John, and his wife Maxine, who is a shoeshiner at 601½ Congress
•    Teresa M, a clerk at 387 Congress.
• The 1930 US Census lists John and Mata Kapsemales living with their children Charles, Tacea, and Thomas. Tacea was born about 1914 in Massachusetts.
• The 1938 Portland City Directory indicates that Teresa married Albert J Karantza and moved to Brunswick.
• Maine Marriage Index, 1892-1996 indicates Theresa Kapsemales married Albert J Karantza on 11 Jul 1937. It appears that Albert J Karantza is the sister of Eva Karantza identified above.

Tacea Kapsemales, daughter of John and Mata Kapsemales, who married Albert Karantza, is identified in three Ancestry public trees. Family Search does not appear to have a profile for Teresa/Tacea; however, her father, mother, and brother, Charles, do have Family Search Profiles.

I added a photo of her to Dead Fred; I also uploaded a second photo of Teresa to my Flickr photostream.

Conclusion

• I fully identified all five Three of them have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories.
• Two did not have a Family Search profile but did appear in Ancestry trees, so I posted their images to Dead Fred.

Notes

If any of these photos are of your family member, I would love to hear your reaction. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before.

Due to software limitations, the images uploaded to Family Search, Dead Fred, and Flickr are a higher image quality than the images posted here.

For all postings of the Ethel Wight Collection, please see here.

Endnotes

[i] The Wight Studio was in Portland, Maine. Many thanks to Ethel Wight’s family for access to and permission to use the collection of their great aunt.

[ii] These images were converted to positives using a lightbox, a Nikon camera and computer software.