Photo Friday – Paquette, Partelow, Patterson, & Payer

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.

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Pauline Paquette, Nurse, circa 1934.

This negative envelope says, “Miss Pauline Parquette, Me Eye & Ear Infirmary #236.”

This is a second photo package/envelope for Pauline Parquette. I reviewed her last week (See Ethel Wight Collection – Part 111).

I uploaded this second image of Pauline to my Flickr Photostream.

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Nurse Phyllis Partelow (later Lawrence), circa 1936.

This negative envelope says, “Miss Phyllis Partelow, St Barnabas Hospital, #1040.”

Why I believe this to be Phyllis Partelow.

• The 1936 Portland City Directory lists Phyllis Partelow as a student nurse at 231 Woodford (St. Barnabas Hospital) and residing at 20 Norwood.
• The 1940 US Census lists 25-year-old Phyllis Partlow living with Elizabeth Carter at 514 Deering. They are both hospital nurses.
• The 1930 US Census lists 15-year-old Phyllis A Partalow as a lodger in the household of Charles C Young. Also living at that address is Florence Partelow, a 50-year-old lodger.
• Social Security Applications and Claims indicate Phyllis Agnes Partelow was born on 4 May 1914 to Charles J and (Florence MacFarlane) Partelow.
• Phyllis married Eugene Francis Lawrence on 24 May 1946.

Ancestry has 17 public trees that refer to Phyllis Agnes (Partalow) Lawrence. Family Search has profile G9NS-VZG for Phyllis Agnes Partelow. I have uploaded one photo of Phyllis to her Family Search Memories and a second photo of her to my Flickr Photostream.

Confirmed to be Phyllis by a granddaughter.

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Lillian Claire Patterson (née Turner – later Soule) circa 1934.

This negative envelope says, “Mrs. Claire Patterson, 299 Cumberland Ave #231.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The woman in this photo appears to be in her late twenties or early thirties and, based on the photo number (230), was probably taken in 1934.
• The 1935 Portland City Directory does not indicate a 299 Cumberland address; however, Mrs. Lena Frost operates a lodging house at 301 Cumberland. The directory lists Mrs. Claire Patterson residing at 301 Cumberland Ave.
• The 1932 Portland City Directory lists Mrs. L Claire Patterson living at 447 Cumberland Avenue, and the 1938 directory lists Mrs. L Claire Patterson living at 355 Woodford.
• The 1940 Census lists no one named Claire Patterson living in Maine or adjacent states, nor does the 1930 Census.
• However, I found that Lillian Claire Patterson, from Portland, Maine, married Ralph L Soule in New Hampshire on 20 November 1937. Lillian was 39 years old. Her parents were Aaron and Nellie (Abbott) Turner of Bradford, New Hampshire. Both were divorced.
• The 1940 US Census lists Lilian C and Ralph Soule living in Portland with Ralph’s two step-children, Margaret and Fred Patterson. Lillian is 42 years old.

I am convinced this is Lillian Claire Patterson (née Turner) (later Soule) about 1934. Lillian was born on 18 April 1898 in New Hampshire.

Lillian Clair Turner appears in 26 public Ancestry trees. She appears in Family Search as profile LC6Y-JVV. I have uploaded two photos of Claire Patterson to her Family Search Memories.

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Margaret Patterson, circa 1934.

The envelope this negative was in says, “Miss Margaret Patterson, 299 Cumberland Ave #230.”

I started this five-pack identification process with Margaret and had difficulty determining exactly who this was. I initially gave up and began looking at Mrs. Claire Patterson (see above) instead.

After finding her mother, I feel confident this is Margaret Patterson. Why do I believe this to be the individual?

• Margaret appears to be in her teens and, based on photo number (230), was probably taken in 1934. However, the 1940 Census shows her living mother and stepfather, Lillian and Ralph Soule. She is only 17 years old, indicating she was about 11 years old in 1934.

I have not found Margaret Patterson in Ancestry trees; however, her mother appears in Ancestry trees, as noted above. Likewise, Family Search does not appear to have a profile for Margaret, so I uploaded a photo of her to Dead Fred and a second photo of her to my Flickr Photostream.

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Francis Kenneth Payer, circa 1935.

This negative envelope says, “Mr. Francis Payer, 238 Danforth St #454.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1935 Portland City Directory lists James A and Adelia A Payer residing at 238 Danforth.
• The 1940 US Census lists James E and Delia A Payer living at 9 Wescott in Portland, Maine. Living with them is James’ stepson, Frank K Payer.
• The Maine Marriage Index indicates that Adelia A Legasse married James E Payer on 5 Jan 1933.
• Maine birth records indicate that Francis K Payer was born on 5 January 1922 to James E Payer and Adelia A LaGasse.

I am confident this is Francis Kenneth Payer, born 5 Jan 1922 to Adelia Agnes LaGasse (later Payer) about 1935, when he was about 13 years old.  

Ancestry has 11 public trees that refer to Francis Kenneth Payer. Family Search has profile G6M5-WQY  for Francis. I have uploaded one photo of him to his Family Search Memories.

Confirmed to by Frances Kenneth Payer by a grandchild of Frances.

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Conclusion

I identified all five individuals:

• Three of them have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories,
• One individual did not have a Family Search profile, so I posted her image to Dead Fred.
• One photo was similar to an image of the same individual I uploaded previously to Family Search, so I uploaded the second photo of her to my Flickr Photostream.

If any of these photos are of your family member, I would love to hear your reaction. 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 a higher image quality than the images 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.