Ethel Wight Collection – Part 121
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. As such, 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.
Nurse Margaret Pratt, ME General Hosp., circa 1935
The envelope this negative was in says, “Miss M Pratt, ME General Hosp. #693.” It appears to be a woman in her late teens or early 20s in a nurse’s uniform.
Why I believe this to be the individual.
- The 1939 Portland City Directory lists Margaret Pratt as a nurse at 22 Arsenal (Maine General Hospital).
- The 1940 US Census lists Margaret M Pratt as a 24-year-old nurse at Central Maine General Hospital in Lewiston. She lived in Portland in 1935.
- Ancestry Trees suggest this is Margaret M Pratt, born on 16 February 1916 in Maine. She lived in Portland in 1935 and was a nurse in Lewiston during the 1940 Census. Margaret died on 20 October 2009 in Lewiston.
I am confident this is Margaret, about 1935.
Ancestry has ten public trees that refer to Margaret M Pratt (1916-2009), the daughter of Lewis and Harriet Pratt. Family Search has profile LY6Q-T53 for Margaret M Pratt, the daughter of Lewis and Harriet (Masterman) Pratt. I have uploaded photos of Margaret to him/her Family Search Memories.
Arnold Prange, circa 1935
This negative envelope says, “Mr. Arnold Prange, 21 Pine St, #572.” It appears to be a man in his twenties or early thirties. The envelope looks like it could say “Prauge” for the surname.
Why I believe this to be the individual.
- An initial search for Mister Prauge in Portland yielded no results.
- The 1934 Portland City Directory lists Charles McDougal living at 21 Pine Street and William Manos living at 21a Pine Street.
- The 1935 and 1936 Portland City Directories list Mrs. Olive B McDougal living at 21 Pine Street and William Nanos still living at 21s Pine Street
- In 1934, Charles McDougal passed away. His wife Olive (Hartshorn) continued to live at 21 Pine Street.
- A 1942 Obituary indicates that Mrs. Hildred M Prange, wife of Arnold E Prage of 134 Grant street, died.
- In 1935, Vanessa Abbie Prange sued for divorce from Arnold E Prange.
- Arnold married Hildred McNeill on 27 Nov 1936. Arnold would have a photo of himself taken about when he divorced Venessa and before he married Hildred makes sense.
I believe this photo is of Arnold Edwin Prange, who was born in Dresden, Germany, on 10 Sep 1910 and died 29 Jun 1958. When this photo was taken in 1935, he lived in Portland, Maine.
Alternate Individuals.
- An Arnold Prauge lived in Wichita, Kansas, in both 1935 and 1940. He was married and had four children. I can find no connection for this Arnold to Maine.
Ancestry has 22 public trees that refer to Arnold Edwin Prange (1910-1958). Family Search has profile L5B6-T7J for Arnold Edwin Prange. I uploaded two photos of Arnold to his Family Search Memories.
Stephen Prentice of West Cheshire, CT (& probably his wife, Ethel).
This negative envelope says, “Mr. Stephen E Prentice, Moss Farm Road, Westcheshire, Conn. – Mailed July 23 – 51.” The images consist of one photo of a man and a woman and the second of two women. Both show them holding a string of fish.
Why I believe this to be the individual.
(& probably his wife, Ethel).
- Stephen Elmer Prentice’s draft card indicated that he was born on 8 Nov 1908 and lived in West Cheshire with his wife, Ethel.
- I am reasonably confident that the man is Stephen; however, the women are unidentified. I suspect the woman with the headscarf is Ethel, a second woman took the first photo, and Stephen took the second photo of the two women.
Ancestry has 13 public trees that refer to Stephen E Prentice (1908-1979). Family Search has profile G4Z5-NH2 for Stephen Elmer Prentice. I uploaded one photo of Stephen and a woman (probably his wife Ethel) to his Family Search Memories. I uploaded a second photo of the two women (one is probably Ethel) to my Flickr Photostream. I’d love to hear from you if you can identify the two women.
Charles Prunier, Maine Maritime Academy Graduate, April 1943.
This negative envelope says, “Mr. Chas Prunier – Apr 26 – 1943.” This package of negatives is a reprint request and appears to be of a man in his late teens or early 20s in a military uniform. Before 1943, the Portland studio of Ethel Wight was closed, so this must have come from Ethel’s Ocean Park/Old Orchard Beach location.
Why I believe this to be the individual.
- A search on Ancestry found a similar photo of Charles F. Prunier as part of the second graduating class (1943) of the Maine Maritime Academy. This is clearly the same young man.
- Ancestry Family trees suggest that Charles F. Prunier was born on 23 Jun 1922 and lived in Old Orchard Beach from 1940 to 1943. Charles went on to enter the US Navy as an Ensign in October 1943.
I am confident this photo is of Charles Folsom Prunier, born 23 Jun 1922 in New Bern, North Carolina, lived in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, from 1940-1943, and attended the Maine Maritime Academy.
Ancestry has 13 public trees that refer to Charles Folsom Prunier. Family Search does not appear to have a profile for Charles, so I uploaded a photo of Charles to Dead Fred. I also added two more pictures of Charles to my Flickr photostream.
Estelle Poulin, circa 1936 (age 5).
This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Velmore Poulin – Congress St. #1066.” The photo appears to be of a young girl, from five to ten years old.
Why I believe this to be the individual.
- The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Valmore J Poulin as the treasurer at 552 Congress and living at 30 Vermont av. His wife is Hermance L.
- The 1940 US Census list Valmore and Hilda Poulin living at 30 Vermont. With them is their 9-year-old daughter, Estelle. Valmore and his daughter were born in Maine. Hilda was born in Canada.
I am pretty sure this photo is of Estelle Poulin, about 1936.
I have not found Estelle in Ancestry trees. However, her father appears in 18 public Ancestry trees. Likewise, FamilySearch does not appear to have a profile for Estelle. As such, I uploaded a photo of Estelle to Dead Fred.
Conclusion
- I identified all five individuals this week. Three have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories. Two individuals do not have Family Search profiles, so I posted their photos to Dead Fred.
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.
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.
