Towart & Towsey – Also Dixon, Hall, Mitchell, Morse, Peterson, Robbins, Starkey, Towsey, & Towart

Ethel Wight Collection – Part 142
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 typically contain the name of the person who paid for the photos, not necessarily of the individual portrayed in the image. 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.

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Catherine Towsey and Family, 1934.

The envelope this negative was in says, “Catherine Towsey & Family, 44 Forest St #358.”

Why I believe this to be these individuals.

• The 1937 Portland City Directory lists Catherine M Towsey living at 44 Forest. Also at that address are Arthur E (Katherine M), Edward W, and William H Towsey.
• The 1930 US Census lists Arthur E (age 59) and Catherine M Towsey (age 45) living at 44 Forest. Living with them are five children, three sons, and two daughters:
  • Edward W       Age 22
  • John L             Age 21
  • William H       Age 19
  • Catherine M    Age 17
  • Florence A      Age 16

I am confident this photo is of the Towsey family circa 1934. It includes Arthur and Catharine, their daughters, Catherine and Florence, and two of their three sons (Edward, John, & William).

Ancestry has four public trees that refer to Catherine Dixon, wife of Arthur Edward Towsey. Family Search has profile L5ZD-YPJ for Catherine.

I uploaded this photo to Catherine’s Family Search Memories and tagged Arthur in the picture. I did not tag which child is which because I can’t differentiate between the girls or between the boys. Hopefully, a family member can identify them and tag them in Family Search.

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Maureen Towsey, circa 1936 (age 2).

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. John L Towsey, 46 Waterville St #1064.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1940 US Census lists John A Towsey, his wife Helen, and two children, Maureen (age 6) and John (age 1), living at 46 Waterville.

I believe this photo, taken about 1936, is of Maureen when she was about two years old.

Ancestry has three public trees that refer to Maureen Towsey (1934-2018).  Family Search does not appear to have a profile for Maureen, so I uploaded this photo of Maureen photo to Dead Fred.

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Rev. William Towart, DD, Aug 1943 & 1946.

Next are three photo sets, all referring to Dr. Towart. One says “Dr. Towart, Aug 1943,” one says “Dr. & Mrs. Towart, 1946”, and finally one says “Dr. Towart Copy.” Because these images are from after Ethel Wight’s Portland Office closed, the photos must have been taken or processed at Ethel Wight’s Ocean Park (Old Orchard Beach) studio.

Why I believe this to be these individuals.

• A review of Portland City Directories failed to reveal anyone with the surname Towart.
• The 1937 Old Orchard Beach Directory lists William G Towart, Dean School of Methods, residing at “Tanglewood” Randall av Ocean Park (301 Pleasant, Bennington, VT).
• The Biddeford Daily Journal, dated August 23, 1943, page 1, includes a photo, “Baptists Honor Faithful Service.” It contains the same photo as the “Dr Towart Copy” image. The article also names the individuals:
• Front Row: Mrs. & Rev. Joseph G Robbins (of Newton Center, Mass); Ethel & Artemis B Sweezey (of Malden, Mass); Dr. F. F. Peterson (Weston, Mass). The back row included: Mrs. & Rev. William G Towart (Bennington, VT) and Hattie and Clarence B Mitchell (Bradford, Mass).
• The photo in package “Dr. Towart – Aug 1943, is the same man identified as Rev. William G Towart.”
• Finally, the photo package, “Dr. & Mrs. Towart – 1946,” appears to be the same couple identified in earlier photos but a few years older.

I am confident these photos are of

• Rev. William George Towart, DD, (1880-1949) 1943, circa 1943, and 1946.
• Mabel Geneva (Starkey) Towart (1888-1972) circa 1943 and 1946.
• Rev. & Mrs. Joseph G Robbins of Newton Center, Mass., August 1943
• Artemis B. and Ethel (Hall) Sweezey, August 1943.
• Dr. Ferdinand Francis Peterson (Weston, Mass.), August 1943.
• Hattie and Clarence B Mitchell (Bradford, Mass.), August 1943.

Ancestry Trees include:

• William George Towart (1880-1949) – 10 public trees
• Mabel Geneva (Starkey) Towart (1888-1972) – 10 Ancestry public trees.
• Artemas and Ethel Sweezey – I was unsuccessful in finding them in Ancestry Family Trees.
• Rev. Ferdinand Francis Peterson (1876-1967) – 50 Ancestry Public Trees.
• Clarence B Mitchell – 13 Ancestry public trees.
• Harriet Thayer (Morse) Mitchell (1873-1940) – 13 public trees.

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Uploads

Family Search has profile LTKK-8ZB for William G. Towart and profile LTKK-WT4 for his wife, Mabel G (Starkey) Towart. I uploaded three photos of Dr. Towart to his Family Search Memories and tagged his wife, Mabel, in two of them. I also uploaded the group photo to William’s profile and tagged Mabel, Ethel, and Artemis. I uploaded three additional images of Rev. Towart to my Flickr Photostream.

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Conclusion

• I identified thirteen of sixteen individuals. I didn’t determine which of the sisters are which and which two of the three brothers are in the photograph. I also failed to identify the wife of one individual.
• One child didn’t have a Family Search profile, so I uploaded her photo to Dead Fred.
• I identified all of the individuals in a group photo of nine individuals. I uploaded that photo to Family Search and tagged four of them. Finally, I uploaded three photos to my Flickr Photostream.

I will 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, and Flickr have higher quality than those linked here.

For all postings of the Ethel Wight Collection, please see here.

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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.