Donna Darling and Boys at the Lyric Theatre, Birmingham, AL, Nov 5-7, 1923.
Donna in the News 101 Years Ago by Don Taylor
“Donna in the News” reports newly found newspaper articles and advertisements regarding my grandmother, Madonna Montran (aka Donna Montran and Donna Darling). I am always excited when I find a new venue for my grandmother’s exciting show business career of the 1910s and 1920s.
This week, from the Birmingham Post (Birmingham, AL) dated Nov 5, 1923, I learned that Donna played at the Lyric Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 5th, 6th, & 7th, 1923.
The Birmingham (Alabama) Post. Nov 5, 1923.
Lyric
Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday
Musical Comedy Beauty Donna Darling And Boys With Her Dancing Fool Murry Earl and Her Beau Brummel – Tod Watson In a Song and Dance Romance
Linwood Dyer Collection – Part 039 Corinna, Wellington, Maine By Don Taylor
I identified three people from the Scarborough Historical Society photo collection this week. This collection includes hundreds of images, documents, and genealogies of people who lived throughout Maine. My goal is to reunite the images with family members who may have never seen the pictures before. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in the Linwood Dyer Photo Collection.
Lewis Hutchins of Corinna, Maine, 1897 (age 54).
Lewis Hutchins of Corinna, Maine, 1897.
This 5 x 7¼ cabinet card of a man has an embossed studio name and border, suggesting it was created after 1890. Identifying information includes:
Photographer: Weston – Bangor, Me.
Handwritten on the back: Lewis Hutchins, Born 5 October 1842, Photo taken 16 March 1897.
What I learned while researching this photo:
Find a Grave has Memorial 68948467 for Lewis Hutchins, born 5 October 1842 in Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine. He died on 11 September 1910. His wife was Emma A. Ireland (1853-1935).
Family Search has profile M6G9-676 for Lewis Hutchins, born c. 1843, whose wives included Olive Jane Hodge and Emma A Ireland. He was the youngest of ten children; his parents were Isaac Hutchins (1801-___) and Betsey Davis (1797-___).
Lewis lived in Corinna, Penobscot County, Maine, between 1880 and the 1900 U.S. Censuses.
I added this photo to his FamilySearch profile, Find-a-Grave, and to my Linwood Dyer Collection family tree at Ancestry.
Donald S Reed – Birth Record – 14 February 1910.
Donald S Reed – Birth Record – 14 February 1910.
This item is from documents and photos relating to Donald S Reed. The first item is a birth record.
From the record, I learned:
Place of Birth: Corinna, Maine
Child’s Name: Donald S Reed
Date of Birth: 14 February, 1910
Father: Christopher Reed, a woodsman living in Bemis, Me (probably Bemis Mountain area near Rangeley, Maine).
Mother: Anna King, a housewife born in Dover-Foxcroft, Me, and who lived in Corinna, Maine.
The image was a certified copy by the Clerk of Corinna, Maine, dated 21 September 1942.
Donald S Reed – Military Change of Address, Jan 1944.
The second item of documents and photos relating to Donald S Reed is a “Notice of Change of Address.”
From the record, I learned:
Sargent Donald S Read, serial 11097410, was assigned to the 463 Bomb Grp, 775th Bomb Sqdn (H). He had been at L.A.A.B., Lakeland, FL, in January 1944.
His wife, Mrs. Donald Reed, lived in Corinna, Maine, in 1944.
I also learned the following:
The 463rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated on 1 August 1943. The 775th Bombardment Squadron operated from 1 August 1943 to September 1945 and was at Lakeland Army Air Field in January & February 1944. It moved to Italy and entered combat on 30 March 1944. The group received Distinguished Unit Citations for action in Romania in 1944 and over Berlin in 1945.[1]
Donald S Reed & Lucille H Reed at “Camp Buckhorn.”
This is a 5 x 7 colorized photo of a man and a woman at Camp Buckhorn. Handwritten on the back: Donald S. Reed – Lucille H Reed. This photo was collocated with other Donald Reed material.
What I learned while researching this photo:
Donald Stillman Reed (FamilySearch Profile GQBW-4BP) married Lucille Hutchins on 29 June 1934.
Lucille Hutchins FamilySearch Profile, GQBW-483, was the daughter of Claire Russell and Luella A (Moses) Hutchins. And Clare Hutchins was one of the two sons of Lewis and Emma (Ireland) Hutchins, who I looked at above. So, it makes sense that photos of both Lewis and Lucille were in the same photo bundle.
I am confident this is a photo of Donald and Lucille before the war, between 1934 and 1942.
This small, 1¼ x 3¼” photo is of a young man in a military shirt and tie tucked in. It was in a photo/document package with other material relating to Donald Reed. This appears to be the same man identified above with his wife.
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 Ancestry, FamilySearch, and Google Drive are higher quality than those displayed here. Feel free to use these photos in your genealogical activities. Please cite “Photo Courtesy: Scarborough Historical Society.”
Other Ancestry Trees: 92 public member trees on Ancestry include the couple.
I know of no photos, paintings, or drawings of William or Mary. If you have an image of either of them or know more about their lives, I would love to hear from you. If either is your ancestor, I would love to share information with you. Please let me know how we are related.
Linwood Dyer Collection – Part 038 Skillin, Libby, Trickey Photo Album. Portland, Scarborough, & Westbrook, Maine By Don Taylor
This week, I looked at the last two, named people from the Skillin, Libby, and Trickey photo album from the Linwood Dyer Collection. I also continue with three other photos from the Linwood Dyer Photo Collection. This collection includes hundreds of images, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Portland, Scarborough, and Westbrook, Maine. My goal is to reunite the images with family members who may have never seen the pictures before. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in the Linwood Dyer Photo Collection.
Rhoda (Babb) Trickey, before 1880.
Rhoda (Babb) Trickey
This 4¼ x 6½ cabinet card has no markings. However, a slip of paper with the photo says, Rhoda Babb – m Otis Trickey.
FamilySearch has a profile for Rhoda, KCGX-5GZ. It indicates she was born about 1804 in Westbrook, Maine. She married Otis Trickey (1806-1870) on 3 November 1831 in Westbrook. She died on 6 April 1880 in Cumberland County. She and Otis had five children: John B., Mary Rebecca, Lucy Ellen, Harriet J, and Lois.
The last photo I’m looking at from the Skillin, Libby, Trickey Photo Album is a tintype with no identification. However, the handwriting in the photo album with the image is “M. Rice.”
I have not identified the individual in this photo sufficiently to upload to my family tree or Dead Fred, so I only included the individual’s photo here and in my Flickr Photostream.
Edward Rand Sherman, Feb 12, 1900 (age 1).
Edward Rand Sherman, 1900.
This 4¼ x 6½ cabinet card of a baby has an embossed studio name and border, suggesting it was created after 1890. Identifying information includes:
Photographer: H.M. Smith – 478 Congress St., Portland, Me.
Handwritten on the back Edward Rand Sherman, Feb 12, 1899 – Feb 12, 1990.
What I learned while researching this photo:
I researched Edward Rand Sherman previously. He was born on 12 February 1899 to John Curtis and Margaret Eva Lena (Taylor) Sherman in Portland, Maine.
FamilySearch indicates he died in October 1972 in Fairfield, Connecticut. He married Edith Deli.
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 Ancestry, Dead Fred, or Flickr have higher quality than those linked here. Feel free to use these photos in your genealogical activities. Please cite “Photo Courtesy: Scarborough Historical Society.”
Today, I remember my mom, Sylvia Matson (née Kees). She was born on January 15, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan. She used to love to say she was a “duce,” as in a 1932 Ford because she liked them so much. She particularly loved the ones with a rumble seat, Model B Cabriolet and Model 18 Deluxe Roadster.
One of my favorite photos of my Mon and I was taken in 1958 when we lived in Anoka, Minnesota. We lived above a bakery. The bakery was larger than our apartment, so we stepped onto the roof for this photo. You can see the Rum River in the background.
As a high school dropout, one of her proudest days was graduating (with a GED) at 73. Here is a photo of her in her cap and gown.
Finally, my most recent photo that includes both of us includes my two Matson half-siblings, Sharon & Mark. I think it was taken in May of 2013.
She died on October 19, 2019, in Buffalo, Wright County, Minnesota. Her cremains were buried at Gull River Cemetery in Cass County, Minnesota, next to her father.
