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.

Barbara J Winter, circa 1935.

The envelope this negative was in says, “Miss Barbara J Winters, 149 Percival St #652.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• 

  Barbara J Winter, circa 1935.

  The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Urban A (Marion C) Winter living at 149 Percival.

• The 1940 US Census lists Urban and Marion living at 149 Percival. Living with them are their three daughters, Eleanor, Barbara, and Marion F. Also with them is Urban’s mother-in-law Eleanor Cole.

Because the negative envelope identifies “Barbara,” I am sure this photo is of her, about 1935. Barbara J. Winter, the daughter of Urban Adolph and Marion (Cole) Winter, was born on 26 February 1929. This is a photo of Barbra was about six years old.

Five Ancestry public trees refer to Barbara J Winter and she is found in Family Search as profile L6XQ-K51. I have uploaded one photo of Barbara to her Family Search Memories. 

Miss Persis Winchester, circa 1935

This negative envelope says, “Miss Persis Winchester, 22 DeBlois St #518.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• 

  Miss Persis Winchester, circa 1935

  The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Persis Winchester, a maid at 22 Deblois. Living at 22 Deblois Street is Frederick C. Dudley, whom Persis must be the maid for.

• The 1938 Portland City Directory lists Persis A Winchester, a maid who married Kenneth E. Jackson.

This photo appears to be of Persis Ardelle Winchester, who married Kenneth Emery Jackson on 17 July 1937. Persis was born on 23 May 1916 and would have been about 19 years old when this photo was taken.

Persis Ardelle Winchester is found in 36 public Ancestry trees. Family Search has profile G34C-YWG for Persis A Winchester. I have uploaded a photo of Persis to her Family Search Memories.

Barbara Withee, circa 1935 (age 3).

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Chas Withee, 41 A Chestnut St #604.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• 

  Barbara Withee, circa 1935 (age 3).

  The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Charles S Withee and his wife Eva G, living at 41a Chestnut Street, Apt 8.

• The 1940 Census lists Charles & Eva with their seven-year-old daughter, Barbara living in Portland. They lived in the “same place” in 1935.
• The 1950 US Census lists Charles & Eva living with their 17-year-old daughter, Barbara I Withee, at 10 Montgomery Street in Portland.

I am sure this is a photo of Barbara I Withee circa 1935, when she was about three years old.

I have not found Barbara Withee in Ancestry trees. However, her father, Charles Withee, appears in 13 public Ancestry trees. Family Search does not have a profile for Barbara Withee. So, I uploaded a photo of her to Dead Fred. 

Eleanor Winter, circa 1934

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Irving A Winter, 149 Percival St, Woodfords, #142.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• 

  Eleanor Winter, circa 1934

  The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Urban A (Marion C) Winter living at 149 Percival.

• The 1940 US Census lists Urban and Marion living at 149 Percival. Their three daughters, Eleanor, Barbara, and Marion F, live with them (ages 12, 10, and 4, respectively). Also with them is Urban’s mother-in-law Eleanor Cole.

I believe that Ethel misunderstood what Mrs. Winter said and wrote Irving instead of Urban as Mrs. Winter’s husband’s name. I identified a photo of Barbara previously, and this photo is of a different child, although the eyes suggest they could be sisters. In 1934, Eleanor would have been about six years old, fitting the child’s appearance.

Ancestry has one public tree that refers to Eleanor M Winter, daughter of Urban and Marion (Cole) Winter. Family Search has profile L6XQ-2Z1 for Eleanor Winter, daughter of Urban and Marion (Cole) Winter. I have uploaded a photo of Eleanor to her Family Search Memories. 

Ruby & Elinor Witham, circa 1934 (ages 8 and 5).

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Valeria Witham, 59 Cumberland Ave #402.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• 

  Elinor & Ruby Waltham, circa 1934 (ages 5 and 8).

  The 1933 and 1934 Portland City Directories list Otis A & Valeria G Witham living at 115 Washington Ave.

• The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Otis and Valeria living at 210 Congress.
• The 1940 US Census lists Otis & “Valena” Witham living at 210 Congress. Living with them are their two daughters, 13-year-old Ruby and ten-year-old Elenor.
• Based upon the photo ID number (#402), the photo was taken about 1934.

I am sure this is a photo of Ruby and Elenor. Ruby was born on 8 October 1926 in Bowdoinham, Maine; Elenor (Elinor) was born on 13 November 1929. So this photo was taken when they were about eight and five years old.

Six Ancestry public trees refer to Ruby Leona Witham; seven refer to Elinor. Family Search does not appear to have profiles for either Ruby or Elinor, so I uploaded photos of them to Dead Fred—here and here.

Photo identification of Ruby confirmed by a niece.

Conclusion

• I identified all six Three of them have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories
• Two individuals did not have Family Search profiles but did appear in Ancestry trees, so I posted their images to Dead Fred.
• One individual did not have a Family Search profile, nor did she appear in any Ancestry trees; however, her father did appear in Ancestry Trees. Consequently, I uploaded her photo to Dead Fred.

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 have a higher image quality than the images linked 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.