Brittimart King – Nurse in Portland, ME

Photo Friday
By Don Taylor

Today I looked at a photo which said “Brittimart King” on the back. “Brittimart”—what an unusual name. I figured it would be easy to find her in the records, and it was.

First, I went to one of my favorite Maine websites, MaineGenealogy.Net and did a search for Brittimart King. There were no matches in most of the databases searched. However, the search said to “Check for results” on Family Search. Sure enough, There were results of a Britamart, a Britomarte, and a Brittomarte King, all apparently the same person. Because the photograph was taken at the L. & W. C. King Studio in Portland, I looked at the City Directories for Portland. In 1900, there was a Miss Brittie King who was a nurse, living at 91 Danforth and the L. & W.C. King studio was also listed. Looking at other directories it appears that Brittie came to Portland about 1895 (she is listed in the 1896 directory). The 1905 city directory lists her as “Britamarte,” confirming her name.

Family Search

Britomarte A. King has a profile on Family Search, LYZP-RZ3. It says it says she was born on 1 March 1869 in Maine and died 23 March 1950.

My review of the Portland City Directories on Ancestry.Com indicated the following:

• 1894 – Not Listed
• 1895 – Not Listed
• 1896 – Brittie King – Nurse – Maine General Hospital
• 1897 – Brittie King – Nurse – Maine General Hospital bds do
• 1898 – Brittie King – Nurse – 20 Hill bds do
• 1899 – Brittie King – Nurse – 20 Hill
• 1900 – Brittie King – Nurse – 91 Danforth bds do
• 1902 – Brittie King – Nurse – 254 High bds do
• 1905 – Britamarte King – 91 Danforth

She looks to me to be in her early 30s in the photo. So, keeping in mind the photo and her physical locations, I date the photo circa 1900.

Final Note

If you are related to Brittimart, I’d love to hear from you and possibly reunite the photograph with family.