Linwood Dyer Collection – Part 002
By Don Taylor

For Photo Friday, I identified the people in three photos from the Linwood Dyer Collection this week. This collection includes hundreds of photos, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Scarborough, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. I desire to analyze the images and reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the image. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in this collection.

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Clifford M. Shores – Oakland, Cal. – Christmas 1919.

The photo identifying information includes Clifford Shores – Oakland, Cal. Dec 25, 1919.

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1920 US Census lists 16-year-old Clifford M Shores living in Oakland, California, with his parents Frank W & Cora H Shores. Clifford was born in Michigan, his father was born in Illinois, and his mother was born in Canada.
• The 1924 University of California at Berkeley yearbook for 1924 shows a photo of Clifford M Shores. It appears to be the same young man a few years later.
• The California Death Index, 1940-1997 lists Clifford M. Shores, born on 1 June 1904 in Michigan and died on 12 Jan 1970 in Los Angeles.

I am sure this photo is of Clifford M Shores (1904-1970), taken in 1919 when he was about 15 years old.

I have uploaded his photo to my Linwood Dyer Collection Tree on Ancestry. I also uploaded his picture to his Family Search profile LXZD-C7Z.

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Arthur Sewall, circa 1899.

The photo identifying information includes ARTHUR SEWALL.

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• Wikipedia has a webpage regarding Arthur Sewall (25 Nov 1835 – 5 Sep 1900). This photo is later in life than the one on Wikipedia, but it is clearly the same man.

I have uploaded his photo to my Linwood Dyer Collection tree on Ancestry and a copy to his Family Search profile.

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Etta Libby, circa 1899.

The photo identifying information includes Miss Etta Libby, Portland, Maine.

Why it appears to be this individual.

• The 1900 US Census lists nine people named Etta Libby living in Maine. They are:
  • Etta Libby – wife of Augustine B Libby, residing in Aroostook County.
  • Etta M Libby – A 20-year-old housemaid (servant) in the household of Arthur Moulton living In Portland. (born July 1879)
  • Etta A Libby – the 17-year-old daughter of Samuel and Sarah E Libby, living in Scarborough. (born May 1883)
  • Etta M Libby – a 21-year-old housemaid of Horatio and Sarah Tobey living in Machiasport. (born Sep 1873)
  • Etta M Libby – the 2-year-old daughter of Delmont and Gertrude Libby of Aroostook County.
  • Etta A (or H) Libby, the wife of Hollis L. Libby.
  • Etta S Libby, the 47-year-old wife of Butler Libby.
  • Etta W Libbey, the 5-year-old daughter of George and Rebecca Libbey.
• The wives, children, and the 47-year-old can be excluded from consideration. That leaves three potential candidates to be the Etta Libby in this photo. One Etta lived in Machiasport, about 200 miles from Portland. I am also discounting her as a candidate.  

That leaves two potential candidates that may be in this photo:

• Etta M Libby – A 20-year-old housemaid (servant) in the household of Arthur Moulton living In Portland (born July 1879).
  • Etta A Libby – the 17-year-old daughter of Samuel and Sarah E Libby, living in Scarborough (born May 1883).

1879 Etta – Different researchers indicate that the older Etta’s middle initial is M, and others suggest it is L. All appear to agree that her parents were Roscoe Green and Nellie M. (Small) Libby. She was born on 6 Jul 1879. The 1880 Census for Scarborough indicates that Roscoe and Nellie had one daughter, Emma E, who was 11/12 years old. That fits with Etta, who was born in July, so I’m sure this is her family unit. (By the way, Etta is a shortened form of Emmeretta.)

1883 Etta – This Etta’s middle name is Adele. She was born on 31 May 1883 to Samuel J and Sarah E (Sweetman) Libby. Etta A. Libby married Velorus T. Shaw on 16 Sep 1901 in Scarboro.

Consequently, this photo appears to be of Emmeretta “Etta” Libby (1879-1972). Besides my tree, I uploaded this photo to Dead Fred.

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Conclusion

• I identified three individuals. Two have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories.
• Although I identified one individual, I am not 100% certain, so I uploaded her photo to Dead Fred.

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 Family Search & Dead Fred have higher quality than those linked here.