Photo Friday – Skillin, Titcomb, & Wood.

Linwood Dyer Collection – Part 035
Skillin, Libby, Trickey Photo Album.
Portland, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts
By Don Taylor

I identified all the people (4) in nine photos from the Skillin, Libby, and Trickey photo album, the Linwood Dyer Collection, for Photo Friday this week. This collection includes hundreds of images, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Portland, Scarborough, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. My goal is to reunite the images with family members who may have never seen the pictures before. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in the Linwood Dyer Photo Collection.

---

Hyla (Hilea?) Skillin – 3 Photos c. 1897 to 1910.

Three cabinet cards appear to be of the same woman.

1. The first cabinet card has “Warren, 29 Temple Place” in gold tone on the front and “W. Shaw Warren, 29 Temple Place, Boston, Mass. Established 1862.” Handwritten in pencil on the album is “Hilea Skillin.”
2. The second cabinet card has “Elmer Chickering, 21 West St., Boston” embossed in gold on the front, and the back says “The Royal Studio, Elmer Chickering proprietor, 21 West St., Boston.” Also, handwritten in pencil on the album is “Hilea Skillin?”
3. Finally, a third cabinet card has a blank back but includes a handwritten slip of paper saying “Hilea Skillin.

An interesting note is that the third photo is followed immediately by a photo of “Alwood H. Fuller.” It is also proceeded by a photo of “Lizzie Wood m. Chas. Skillin.”

What I learned while researching this photo:

• Ancestry Family Trees suggest this is Hyla Mae Skillings[i], daughter of Charles O and Elizabeth Skillin. Hyla married Alward H Fuller.
• W. Shaw Warren had a photo studio at 29 Temple from 1889 to 1902.
• Elmer Chickering has a studio at 21 West from 1886 to 1918. Elmer died in 1915, but his studio appeared in the City Directory through 1918.

I have encountered the author of the “Skillin Libby Tricky” photo album misspelling names, so I’m not concerned about the spelling difference. Also, the proximity of other family members in the album confirms my assessment.

I estimate the W. Shaw Warren photo to be the first of the three photos taken when she was about 18 years old, circa 1897. I estimate the Royal Studio photo to be taken in 1910 when she was about 31 after she and her first husband separated. Finally, I estimate the last picture to have been taken when she was in her 20s, so about 1903.

I added these photos to Hyla’s FamilySearch profile, her Find-a-Grave memorial, and my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry.

---

John E. Skillin – 3 Photos – c. 1867 to 1887.

These three photos are from the Linwood Dyer Collection. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in this collection.

There are three photographs labeled “John Skillin.” Two are clearly of the same person, and one is a tintype of a baby.

1. The first is a tintype photo. With it is a slip of paper with “John E Skillin.”
2. On the next page of the album is a cabinet card of a young man, with “John Skillin” written in the album on the page. J.M. Peck of 12 Monument Square, Portland, took this photo.
3. Finally, there is a 2½ x 4-inch carte de visite of a boy. Chas. W. Hearn took this photo at 518 Congress St., Portland, Me.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• Charles W. Hearn had a studio at 518 Congress St. in Portland from 1883 to 1889.
• J.M. Peck had a studio at 12 Monument Square from 1881 to 1891.
• Tintypes were invented in the 1850s, and their maximum use was in the 1860s and 1870s, although their use persisted into the 1930s.[ii]
• My previous research found Lewis and Harriet (Trickey) Skillin had a son, John Edward Skillin. Based on the dates of the Hearn studio, the photo of John is likely from about 1883, when John was about 16 years old.
• The photo of John as a young man was probably taken when John was about 21, about 1887 when he was about 21 years old.
• Finally, the tintype was likely taken when John was about one year old, circa 1867.

I added these three photos to my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry. I also added his c. 1887 photo to his FamilySearch profile, G5KK-DWZ, and his monument on Find-a-Grave.

---

Probably Frank & Frederick Titcomb, circa 1891.

This is a 4¼ x 6½ cabinet card of two young boys. Identifying information includes:

• Photographer – Brown, 243 Westminster Street, Providence, R. I.
• A handwritten slip with the photo says “Titcomb.”

What I learned while researching this photo:

• Silas B Brown was a photographer at 243 Westminster from 1877 to 1891.
• The 1900 US Census lists one Titcomb family in Providence County, Rhode Island.
  • Frederick Titcomb, age 41, was born in New Hampshire and lived in Pawtucket. He had a wife, Annie, and four sons, Frank E (b. Mar 1885), Fredik A (b. Sep 1887), Chas. E (b. Aug 1889) and Morris E (b. May 1899), all of whom were born in Rhode Island.

If the photo was taken in 1891, Frank would be about seven and Frederick about four, which fits the apparent ages of the children in this photo.

Although I am reasonably sure this is a photo of Frank and Frederick taken about 1891, I am not 100% certain. If you are related to the Titcomb of Pawtucket, I’d love to hear your opinion of my findings. Because I could not fully identify the individual, I only included the individual’s photo here and in my Flickr Photostream.

---

Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Wood) Lovett Skillin, circa 1894

This 4¼ x 6½ cabinet card of a woman has the studio name on the bottom in cursive, and the studio name takes up the entire back of the card, suggesting it was created after 1880.

The photo identifying information includes:

• Photographer: Arthur A Glines, 6 Winter St., Boston, Mass, 1889
• Handwritten in a separate slip of paper is “Lizzie Wood, m. Chas. Skillin.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• Arthur A Glines had a studio at 6 Winter St., in Boston, from 1889 until 1899, thus dating the photo circa 1894.
• In my research for Hyla Mae Skillin (see above), I learned her parents were Charles O. & Elizabeth Skillin. However, FamilySearch and several Ancestry trees indicate Hyla’s mother, and Charles O. Skillin’s wife, was Elizabeth J. Lovett. But Elizabeth’s mother was Alice Wood. It will take more research to determine if Alice was married twice and had Elizabeth in a previous marriage and William Lovett was Elizabeth’s stepfather.

Even with the name conflict, I believe this photo is of Hyla’s mother, Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Wood) Skillin, so I added it to my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry and my Flickr Photostream. However, I did not upload it to FamilySearch or Find-a-Grave.

---

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, Dead Fred, or Flickr have higher quality than those linked here. Feel free to use these photos in your genealogical activities. Please cite “Photo Courtesy: Scarborough Historical Society.” 

---

Endnotes

---

[i] Ancestry Trees indicate her name as Hyla Mae Skillin, Hyla May Skillings, Hyla M Fuller, and Hyla M Skillin Fuller. From my past work with the family line, I prefer “Hyla Mae Skillin.” Also, that is the spelling of her FamilySearch Profile, K28T-9WK.

[ii] Wikipedia: Tintype History.