Howard, Hughes, Huston, Littlefield, & West

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 reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the image.

Madeline Howard, circa 1937

This negative envelope says, “Miss Madeline Howard, ME Gen Hospital #1042.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1937 Portland City Directory lists Madeline Howard as a student nurse at 22 Arsenal (Maine General Hospital).
• The 1938 Portland City Directory lists Madeline B Howard as a nurse living at 218 Park Ave, Apt 6.
• The 1939 Portland City Directory lists Madeline B Howard as a nurse who married Ally A Accidio. The Maine Marriage Index, 1892-1996 identified that Madeline B Howard married Ally A Accdo on 18 May 1938.
• The 1940 US Census lists Ally A Accido and his wife Madeline living at 90 Grafton Street. Madeline is 24 years old and lived in rural Penobscot County, Maine. Her occupation is a Trained Nurse who is nursing in private practice.

This is a photo of Madeline B Howard circa 1937 when she graduated from nursing school.

Ancestry has 18 public trees that refer to Madeline Borden Howard, born 22 October 1915 in Bucksport, Hancock County, Maine. Family Search has a profile for Madeline Borden Howard, L5NK-NP9. So, I  have uploaded two photos of her to profile Family Search Memories. 

Earnest Winslow Huston, circa 1935.

This negative envelope says, “Mr. E. W. Houston, Head Quarters Battery, Fort Preble #280.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• Fort Preble was a military fort in South Portland. It was built in 1808 and was active until 1950, when it deactivated. It may be that Mr. E. W. Houston was not in Portland; instead, he lived in South Portland. Based upon the photo ID number (#280), the photo was likely taken about 1935.
• The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Ernest W Huston, who was in the US Army and resided at 26 Portland in South Portland. The directory also notes that Portland Street ran from 213 Front Street to the Harbor (Spear’s Wharf) in South Portland, less than a mile from Fort Preble.
• The 1936 Portland City Directory lists Ernest W Huston as a driver (from Bridgewater, Mass.) residing at 26 Portland in South Portland
• In 1937, Ernest was employed at 17 Cross; no home address was provided.
• In 1938, Earnest W. Huston was a driver at 241 Commercial and residing at 70 Forest Ave.
• In 1939, Ernest W. Huston and his wife Sally J resided at 24 Briggs in Portland.
• The 1940 US Census lists Ernest and his wife, Sally, living at 24 Briggs Street. The 28-year-old Ernest was living in Puerto Rico during the 1935 Census.

I’m sure this photo is of Ernest W. Huston about 1935 when he got out of the US Army, and he was about 23 years old.

Ancestry has 13 public trees that refer to Ernest Winslow Huston, born 4 October 1911 in South Portland, Maine. Family Search has a profile for Ernest Winslow Huston, LB19-CC3; I have uploaded his two photos to his Family Search Memories. 

Confirmed to by Ernest Huston by a grandson.

Marjorie Minola West, circa 1935

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Katherine Hunter, 80 Cumberland Ave #433.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Charles H Hunter, an electrician living at 80 Cumberland.
• The 1936 Portland City Directory available at Ancestry is missing pages 454 to 456. So I am unable to confirm Charles or Katherine in that directory.
• The 1937 Portland City Directory lists Charles H Hunter living at 45 Smith.
• The 1938 and 1939 Portland City Directories list Katherine M Hunter living at 45 Smith Charles but is not listed as Charles’ wife, suggesting a different relationship. Also living at 45 Smith are William H and William J. Hunter, Jr.
• The 1940 Portland City Directory lists Charles, living at 335 Congress. William and William, Jr. are residing at 165 Cumberland.
• The 1940 Census lists William Hunter, Jr. as the head of household with his father, sister Kaytlene, and niece Marjorie M West living with him. Marjorie is seven years old.
• Social Security Applications and Claims identify Marjorie Minola West, whose father is Raymond C. West and whose mother is Elizabeth M. Hunter. Marjorie was born on 4 April 1933 in Portland.

Continued research did not find any references to Elizabeth M. (Hunter) West after the birth of Marjorie. So, I suspect Elizabeth died before Katherine took Marjorie to have her picture taken about 1935. In any event, I believe this is a photo of Marjorie Minola West.

Ancestry has four public trees that refer to Marjorie Minola West. Family Search does not appear to have a profile for Marjorie. So, I have added her photo to Dead Fred. 

Josephine (née Melaugh), Dorothy, and Avery Hughes, circa 1936.

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Avery Hughes, 49 Mayo St #699, #700.”

This set of films includes a woman with two children, a boy about six, and a girl around 4. There is one additional image of the younger child.

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• 

  Josephine (née Melaugh), Dorothy, and Avery Hughes, circa 1936.

  The 1934 Portland City Directory indicates that Josephine E Melaugh married Avery E Hughes during the previous year.

• The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Mrs. Josephine E Hughes living at 49 Mayo.
• The 1939 Portland City Directory lists Mrs. Josephine Hughes living at 39 Cotton.
• The 1940 Census lists Avery Hughes and his sister, Dorothy Hughes, living with their stepfather, Carl Belyea, and his wife, Mary Belyea. Avery is eight, and Dorothy is 6.
• Ancestry Family Trees indicate that Dorothy Jane Hughes was born 7 January 1934 to Avery Ellis and Josephine (Ely) Hughes. Josephine’s parents were John & Cora Melaugh.

I am confident this is a photo of Josephine with her two children, Avery and Jane, about 1936.

Josephine Melaugh appears in 27 public trees on Ancestry. She also has a family Search profile, G77V-HWH. Dorothy Jane Hughes appears in six Ancestry Trees. Avery E. Hughes appears in only one Ancestry Family Tree, and in that tree, a marriage record was misread to identify his place of birth incorrectly. Neither Avery nor Dorothy appear to have profiles on Family Search. I have uploaded one photo of Josephine with the two children to Josephine’s Family History Memories. I have uploaded one photo of Dorothy by herself to Dead Fred.

Confirmed to be Josephine (née Melaugh) & Dorothy Hughes by a granddaughter of Josephine.

Robert Allen [Littlefield] (adopted) Howard, circa 1933.

This negative envelope says, “Ms. Geo S Howard, 22 Cedar St #172.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The Portland City Directories lists George S Howard and his wife Lillian residing at 22 Cedar, Apt 4.
• The 1940 US Census lists George and Lillian Howard living at 25 South Street. With them are their three sons, Kenneth, Clarence, and George Jr.; the youngest was 16-year-old son, George Jr., clearly too old to be the child in this photo. However, the Census also indicates that Robert Littlefield, a six-year-old adopted son, lived in the household.
• Ancestry Family Trees indicate that Robert Allen [Littlefield] Howard was born on 7 July 1933.

This photo appears to be of Robert about 1933.

Ancestry has eight public trees that refer to Robert Allen [Littlefield] Howard. Family Search does not appear to have a profile for Robert Allen [Littlefield] Howard, so I have added his photo to Dead Fred. 

Confirmed to be Robert Allen Howard to be “Great Uncle Bobby” by a great nephew. 

Conclusion

• I fully identified all seven Three of them have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories
• I identified three individuals who did not have Family Search profiles but did appear in Ancestry trees, so I posted their images to Dead Fred.
• One photograph was of a person without a Family Search profile; however, his mother was also in the photo; I uploaded his image to his mother’s profile on Fam mmily Search.

For all the Ethel Wight Collection analyses, please see here.

Final Note

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.

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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.