Linwood Dyer Collection – Part 017
By Don Taylor

This week, for Photo Friday, I identified 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, and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. My desire is to analyze the images and reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the image. The originals in this collection are held by the Scarborough Historical Society, Linwood Dyer Photo Collection.

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Edna Hall Dingley, circa 1895.

The photo identifying information includes:

• Photographer: Match Studio – Higgins – Bath, ME
• Handwritten on back: Edna H Dingley – Richmond, ME.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• This is a Carte de visite (2.4 by 4 inches) with rounded corners & embossed studio name, suggesting a date of 1890 or later.[i]
• Ancestry family trees suggest this is Edna Hall Dingley, born 11 March 1877 in Richmond, Sagadahoc County, ME. She is the daughter of Libby B Dingley (1850-1910) and Henrietta Lowella (Curtis) Dingley (1852-1945). She married James H Southard (1855-1936) on 6 July 1901.
• I estimate the photo was taken after 1890 and before she married in 1901 (c. 1895).

Results:

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

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Helen Stella Doyle, circa 1896.

The photo identifying information includes:

• Photographer: L. & W.G. King – Portland, ME
• Handwritten on back: Helen Doyle.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• This is a Cabinet Card (4 by 5.5 inches) with rounded corners & embossed studio name, suggesting a date of 1890 or later.[ii]
• The 1895 & 1897 Portland, Maine, City Directories list Miss Helen S. Doyle, a nurse, living at 20 Hill. There are no other Helen Doyles in the Directory.
• The Paul R. Kirk family tree on Ancestry Family Trees confirms this is Helen Stanley Doyle, because the same photo is included in his Gallery. Helen was born 2 Jan 1871 in Perry, Washington County, Maine, the daughter of William Henry Doyle (1827-1913) and Olive Johnson (1833-1885).
• I estimate this cabinet card dates to circa 1896.

Results:

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

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Isaac Gaige Drackley, c. 1902.

The photo identifying information includes:

• Photographer: (none identified)
• Handwritten on front: 95.27.558
• Handwritten on back: Cousin I G Drackley – 1903.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• I was unsuccessful finding an I. G. Drackley in Maine.
• There was a Isaac Gaige Drackley who was born 3 Aug 1882 in LaSalle County, Illinois. He married Carrie [LNU].
• Previous research of Everett H. Butterfield, Fannie Butterfield Eddy, and Lynnford Butterfield, (see article) found they lived in LaSalle County. So a relative in the same area makes sense. As such, I identify this photo is of Isaac Gaige Drackley,
• Ancestry Family Tree suggests this is Isaac Gaige Drackley, born 3 Aug 1882 to William and Cornelia Huddleston (Gaige) Drackley. He married Carrie Barber in 1904 in Miller City, La Salle County, Illinois.
• The young man in the photo appears to be about 21 years old, which agrees with the date written on the back, 1903.

Results:

I added this photo to my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry. Although this photo is not from the Linwood Dyer Collection, it will be stored in that photo collection with the Scarborough Historical Society.

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Leola Ethel Eichelberger, March 1899 (age 8).

The photo identifying information includes:

• Photographer: Gerding, Ottawa, Illis
• Handwritten on front: 95.27.506
• Handwritten on back: Leola Ethel Eichelberger, March 1899.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• The 1900 US Census lists 9-year-old Leola Eichelberger living with her parents, Fredrick and Alice Eichelberger, in Grand Rapids, La Salle County, Illinois. Leola was born in September 1890.
• Grand Rapids Township is about seven miles southeast of Ottawa.
• I’ve run into Leola E. Eichelberger (later Hobson) previously when I wrote about “The Butterfield Bible” back in 2020. I am confident this is Leola when she was 8 years sold.

Results:

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

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Althea, Vera, Constance, & Della Fifield, circa 1908.

The photo identifying information includes:

• Photographer: Merrill, Rockland, ME.
• Handwritten on back: Althea, Vera Evelyn, Constance, Della, & Fairfield – of Rockland.

What I learned while researching this photo:

• The 1910 Census lists Althea M. (age 15), Constance H. (age 14), Vera E. (age 12), and Della L. F. (age 10) Fifield living in Rockland with their parents, Benjamin S & Lottie A Fifield.
• The youngest girl in the photo, Della, appears to be to be about 8 years old and the oldest, Althea, about 13. So, I believe this photo was taken about 1908.
• I am sure of these identifications:
  • Althea Margaret Fifield (1895-1987)
  • Constance H (1896-1935)
  • Vera E (1898-1978)
  • Della Lewis Fostina (1900-1977)

Results:

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

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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, 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.

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Endnotes

[i] Wikipedia – Cabinet Card – Dating a cabinet card.
[ii] Ibid.