Photo Friday – Dyer, Frederick, McKeen, Moody, Murdoch, & Ross

Linwood Dyer Collection – Part 021
By Don Taylor

This week, for Photo Friday, I researched the people in Five photos from the Linwood Dyer Collection. This collection includes hundreds of photos, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Scarborough, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, and Portland, Maine. I like analyzing the images and trying to reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the picture. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in the Linwood Dyer Photo Collection.

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Richard “Dick” Frederick, SHS Class of 1937

The photo identifying information includes:

• Handwritten on the back: Dick Frederic, 37.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• A view of the 1937 Scarboro High School yearbook, Four Corners, found a photo of Richard Carter Frederick “Dick.” That photo clearly shows the same young man. The yearbook indicates Richard was born on November 5, 1919.
• Ancestry Trees indicate this is Richard Carter Frederick, born in Scarborough, Maine, to George Herman Fredericks and Della Roberts Carter.

I added this photo to my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry.

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Eleanor Moody, 1909.

The photo identifying information includes:

• Photographer: The Adams Studio, Portland, ME.
• There appears to be a handwritten signature saying “Adams – “09.”
• On the photo itself is an embossed seal, “Portland High School.”
• A typed label on the front says “Eleanor Moody.” The label is much newer than the photo.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• The 1910 US Census Records show two Eleanor Moodys:
  • Elinor S (or L) Moody is a 42-year-old teacher and head of household living on Coumplane Road in South Portland. Living with her is a 44-year-old sister, Harriett H Moody.
    • The 1909 Portland City Directory indicates she was a stenographer at 98 Exchange.
  • Eleanor Q (or L) Mordie (or Moody) is a 30-year-old head of household living with her two children, Bernice and Lauren, in Bridgton, Maine.

The woman in this photo, if taken in 1909, appears to be younger than 41 years old. Because of that, I cannot positively identify the woman in this photo. Consequently, I uploaded this photo of Eleanor Moody to Dead Fred.

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Helen Messinger Murdoch of Boston, circa 1945

The photo identifying information includes:

• Handwritten on the back: H. M. Murdock F.R.P.S., Garrison Hall, Boston, Mass U.S.A.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• Today, Garrison Hall is an apartment building at 8 Garrison in Boston. It was built in 1910.
• An obituary for Elizabeth Murdoch, who died on 19 June 1944, mentions a surviving sister, Helen Messinger Murdoch, who was one of the pioneers in the field of color photography. She was recently appointed a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (F.R.P.S.).
• Helen Messinger Murdoch’s passport, dated 12 March 1913, indicates she was born on 22 Sep 1862 in Astoria, New York, and lived in Boston, MA, in 1913. Her obituary indicates she was awarded the RPS of GB in 1912 and died in Los Angeles on 29 March 1956. Her interment was to be in Boston.
• A Boston Passenger List from 1933, shows Helen M Murdoch arriving on the Laconia from Liverpool. She was living at 8 Garrison St, Boston.
• Family Search has profile LYYJ-DXY for Helen Messinger Murdock (1862-1956), sister of Elizabeth Murdock (1859-___). Her parents were John Murdock and Elizabeth Smith.

I am confident this photo is of Helen Messinger Murdock in her later years, probably before she moved to Los Angeles in 1945 (when she was in her 80s). I added this photo to my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry. Helen Messinger Murdoch has an article on Wikipedia.

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John McKeen of Scarborough, circa 1950.

The photo identifying information includes:

• Handwritten on the back: John McKeen

What I learned while researching this photo:

• The boy in this photo appears to be about 12 years old.
• I have seen pictures of John McKeen before. (See: Photo Friday – Larson, Leland, Lord, McKeen, & Mills.) He would have been 12 about 1950.

I added this photo to my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry.

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Herbie Ross & Howard Dyer, hunters, probably 1950s

This photo shows two men holding a stringer of pheasants with a dog. Handwritten on the back. “Herbie Ross & Howard Dyer.”

What I learned while researching this photo:

• Howard Dyer was the father of Linwood Dyer. He was a gunsmith and an avid hunter. I have seen photos of him before. In this photo, he is the man on the right. Howard was born in 1900.
• The 1950 US Census enumerated a Herbert W Ross, a 49-year-old fisherman living on the Eastern Promenade in Portland, Maine.

The man on the left may be Herbie (Herbert) Ross of Portland, about 1950; however, I cannot be sure without further information or context.

I added this photo to my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry and tagged Howard Dyer. I also uploaded this photo depicting Herbie Ross to Dead Fred.

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Conclusion

I would love to hear your reaction if any of these photos are of your family member. 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 Ancestry and Dead Fred have higher quality than those here. Feel free to use these photos in your genealogical activities. Please cite “Photo Courtesy: Scarborough Historical Society.”

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