Linwood Dyer Collection – Part 007
By Don Taylor
This week, for Photo Friday, I identified the people in three photos from the Linwood Dyer Collection[i] and need help identifying the 30 more people in two photos.
James & Mary (Swasey) Cary & Family, circa 1903.
Daughters: Florence, Lillie, & Mattie.
The photo identifying information includes the studio: Smith Photo Co., 27 Monument Sq., Portland, ME. The back contains the following information.
Carrie
One of twins name Florance,
Aunt Ester
Carrie was last name & husband owned co in Portland repaired motors small (electric)
What I learned while researching this photo.
On Family Search, I found Florence H. Cary, daughter of James H (LWL3-YFQ) and Esther Mary (Swasey)(MRP9-CWB) Cary, who had twin sisters, Lillie Mae and Mattie Ethel Cary. The twins were born on 24 April 1894, and Florence was born in 1896.
The 1900 US Census lists James H. Cary and his wife, Mary S., living at 14 Bedford Street in Portland. His mother, Harriett, and brothers, Walter & Benjamin, live with him. James is an Electrician.
The 1905 Portland City Directory lists James H Cary Electrical Works, manufacturers of Dynamos, Motors, Elevator Controllers. [Also] Automatic Starting Devices, Dental Motors, Repair Work a Speciality,. Special Organ Motors and Controllers. Motor Supplies of All Kinds. Office and Factory, 81 Cross St. Telephone 911-3.
On the back of the photograph, the notation about one of the twins being named Florance is in a different pen and hand than the other writing. I believe it is in error. Also, I think Esther and her surname are misspelled. However, I am confident this is the family taken about 1903 when Florence was seven, and the twins were about nine.
I added this photo of Jacob to my Linwood Dyer Collection tree on Ancestry.
Hans Jacob Petersen Enemark, 1905.
The photo identifying information includes –
Dec 1905 – Please accept my best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – Jacob Enemark.
Why I believe this to be the individual.
- The 1900 US Census lists Jacob Enemark as a 23-year-old shoemaker living with his wife, Camilla, and son Carroll (8 mos.) at 26 Gilman, Portland, ME. Jacob was born in Denmark and was a naturalized citizen; he had been in the US for nine years and was born in July 1876.
- The 1905 Portland City Directory lists three people with the surname Enemark. Jacob is a Shoemaker, and the other two, Asmus & Christian, are shoe repairers.
I am confident this photo is a Christmas card photo from Jacob to a customer in South Portland that acted as a reminder of him (and his shoemaking). Ancestry Family Trees suggest this is Hans Jacob Petersen Enemark, born 28 Jul 1976 to Asmus Peter & Christense Henriette (Brun) Enemark.
I added this photo of Jacob to my Linwood Dyer Collection tree on Ancestry.
Neils Sofus Johnson, 1938 (age 16).
The photo identifying information includes [Photo Studio] Kennedy – Portland, Me. Handwritten is
Neils Sofus Johnson, ’38 | DoB Feb 13, 1922 Neils Johnson Jr. | Sincerely Neils, Jr. ’38.
It doesn’t get much better or easier to identify someone than when the name and date of birth are provided. A quick search of Ancestry.com found Neils Sofus Johnson, the son of Neils Sofus and Annie Marie (Lund) Johnson. He was born on 13 Feb 1922 in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine, and died on 1 Sep 2014 in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine.
I added this photo of Neils to my Linwood Dyer Collection tree on Ancestry.
Watson Family (Friends of Olla Swasey), circa 1910.
The photo identifying information includes:
- A stamp indicating the photo was taken at Pier Studio, Edward E Rhoads, propr., Old Orchard.
- The back says,
Watson – friends of Ola Mae Swasey.
What I learned while researching this photo.
- Find a Grave indicates there is an Olla M (Colter) Swasey buried at Black Point Cemetery, Scarborough, Maine. She died in 1932 (aged 48-49)
- A look Watson in the 1910 US Census found
- Oscar F Watson, a Widower, age 35, lives in Old Orchard with his in-laws and two children, Marion (age 10) and Philip (age 9).
- Stephen & Genette live in Saco with their three daughters, Gertrude, Lillian, & Dorothy (ages 20, 13, & 3, respectively).
- James & Georgia Watson are boarders in Saco. They could easily have had a child in the early 1910s.
- My quick review of newspapers failed to find Olla/Ola Colter/Swasey mentioned with any Watsons.
- Based on the clothing and photographic style, I believe this photo was probably taken about 1910.
There is insufficient information to identify the people in this photo. I would love to hear if you know the Swasey family of Scarborough and possibly know of their friends.
Class Photo – Unknown School, Unknown Year.
The photo identifying information includes a tag that says,
Presented by the Portland Evening Express and Press Herald.
What I learned while researching this photo.
- Sadly, there is no other identifying information regarding this photo. As such, I’d like to remind everyone to please label and identify who, where, and why any of the pictures you have. It will significantly help future holders of the photo.
- My Internet search of similar photos resulted in one photo with the same presented by label. It was the Maine Preservation website and a photo of the 1929 class of Roosevelt School.
- The South Portland Historical Society has several photos of Roosevelt School Classes. As I perused their photo collection online, I saw no class photos with the same background.
Hopefully, someone can help identify the class in this photo. If you can help, please use the comment form below. If you don’t want your comment publicly published on my website, put “Private” in the text, and I’ll be sure not to post it publicly.
I have only posted this photo here and to my Flickr Photostream.
Conclusion
- I feel really good about being able to share the photo of Neils Sofus Johnson, Jr., Jacob Enemark, and the James Cary family.
- I have my suspicions about the Watson family photo, but I’m not confident enough to say anything more about the photo.
- Finally, I hope someone can identify the school, date, and possibly some of the students in the final photo. It has the potential to identify 29 children.
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 and Flickr have higher quality than those linked here.
Endnotes
[i] This collection includes hundreds of photos, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Scarborough, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, & Old Orchard, Maine. My goal 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.
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