LIllie – Opening Doors in Brick Walls

Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #91 A Series of Brick Wall Photos

The photographs I’m sharing today were taken with a brick wall as the backdrop. None are labeled but in the first, I recognize Florence ROYALTY and her brother-in-law George Wyte LILLIE. I don’t know who the woman in the middle is. There were two copies of this photo in the collection, one had June 14 written across the top but no year.

royaltyflorence-lilliemaybe4picchildren2 — George Wyte LILLIE, an unknown woman, and Florence ROYALTY

For comparison here are two photos taken around 1930. Definitely, before 19 November 1932 as this is when Isaac died.

ReeseFlorence — Isaac LILLIE (1872-1932) with his wife Florence ROYALTY (1868-1946)

1920sRaymondIkeRoy — Isaac and Florence’s sons Raymond (1904-1970), on the left, and Roy (1895-1979), on the right, with their uncle George Wyte LILLIE (1874-1943) in the middle.

The above two photos were taken in Detroit, Michigan, in front of the apartment building the family was living in. Although the coat with the fur collar worn by Florence and the light colored hat with the dark band worn by George appear to be the same, the second set of photos were most likely not taken on the same day. George in the top photo is wearing a tiny bow tie while in the lower right photo he is wearing a tie. In both pictures, he has a cigar in his hand. Also as the copy of the top photo was labeled June 14 it is very unlikely that the other two photos were not taken in the middle of June since the men are so warmly dressed.

Perhaps the next two photographs could be clues to identify the woman in the middle in the photograph at the top. Could she be the mother of the three children in these photos?

royaltyflorence-lilliemaybe4picchildren1 — Three unknown children (sitting)

royaltyflorence-lilliemaybe4picchildren3 — Three unknown children (standing)

Using the bricks as a guide I estimated the height of the children. From left to right, the oldest girl is 17-18 bricks=51-54 inches, the young boy is about 12 bricks=36 inches, and the younger girl is 15-16=45-48 inches. This matches with my estimates of their ages being from youngest to oldest, about 2 1/2, 5, and 7-8 years.

I’ve gone through the LILLIE family tree looking for siblings who were born in the 1920s. The only family group I found which would match was the family of Isaac’s youngest brother Robert Wiley LILLIE (1895-1947) with his wife Neele Audrey OWENS (1898-1942) and their children Roberta Neele b. Oct 1921, Marian Gene b. Aug 1924, and Robert Walton b. Jan 1927.

Roberta’s photo was shared in Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #7 Robert Wiley LILLIE (1895-1940).

I found a yearbook photo of Marian in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 database at Ancestry.

U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012, (Ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2017)

I shared the photos with Robert Walton LILLIE’s daughter Julie back in December hoping to get them into a post at the end of the year. She wrote, “Cathy, I have never seen this picture before, and in my opinion, they don’t look like my Dad and (his) sisters. But, I could be wrong. Let me send to my sister and see if she recognizes it. I will get back to you.” After sharing with her sister she wrote, “My sister didn’t recognize the picture either, nor did she think it was them. But, neither one of us is 100% sure.”

I still think the children could be an older Roberta, her sister Marian, and their little brother Robert. I sent a new request to Julie to take a look at the lady in the middle in the top photo.

robertandmarian — Robert and Marian. Photograph courtesy of family member.

Julie got back to me and sent some photographs including the above for comparison. I believe the children’s blond hair darkened over the years. This would explain the darker hair of the older girl in the photo of the three children. Is she the same person as Roberta seen with the cute blond haircut? Between the time the bottom photo of Robert and Marian was taken and Marian’s picture for the school yearbook, her hair darkened. Alas, Robert and the young boy were not very good studies in either photo. The one above, sent by Julie, shows Robert a bit older than the little boy in the photo with the girls but the cute newsboy cap hides his eyes. In the pictures with the girls, the young boy is looking down, hiding his face.

While we were chatting, Julie told me something I did not know. My research on Robert Sr. and his wife Neele was difficult, to say the least. I never found them together on a census. They were married on 10 April 1920. In 1930 Neele and her oldest daughter Roberta were lodgers in a household. No trace of daughter Marian and husband Robert. I had no idea there was also a son Robert until Julie’s son contacted me.

I have never understood why my Father had to go live with his Uncle Ray and Aunt Clara. I don’t remember my Dad ever explaining it to me, and perhaps he didn’t know for sure. Neele and Robert were married twice and divorced twice. I know my Dad had a rough childhood…..My father seemed to adore his Mother, but not a lot of talk or praise of his Father…..don’t worry about bringing up skeletons, as I am perfectly aware that there are many.

Since we now know Robert and Neele’s marriage had its difficulties, I want you to take another look at the photo at the beginning of this post with the young woman in the middle between George and Florence. Do you notice what I noticed? I have to admit I didn’t see this until I looked at the second copy I have of the same photo which is dated June 14 (without a year).

Is the young woman pregnant? If this was Neele, what happened to the child? Could she have given birth while in Detroit? If this isn’t Neele, would it be possible to find a woman who gave birth sometime after June 14th?

Will someone recognize the children and the young woman in this series of photos taken in front of a brick wall? Are they Neele Audrey Owens Lillie and her children Roberta Neele, Marian Gene, and Robert Walton?

Photos of Neele were shared in Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #79 The Unusual Hairdo (Identified).

These are the last of the photographs from the collection I was gifted by my cousin Joe Rooney who took them off the hands of his cousin Sandra Lillie who saved them from the trash can. I will be taking a week or two off from writing about this collection but will be back with a final post, a synopsis of the family connections made during the process of writing about each of the over 150 photos.

Would you like to re-visit the photos? You can see them on my Pinterest board Old Photographs Saved from Trash Can.

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

Please contact me!
Are you related to a person mentioned in this post? Send an email to
openingdoorsinbrickwalls @ pt.lu or message me on my Facebook page
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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #90 Charlie LILLIE and his Mrs. (Part 2)

Last week I featured this photograph of an unidentified couple in Brookport, Massac County, Illinois.

mrin39470-1970s-charlie-lillie-with-wife — Charlie LILLIE with a woman I believe was his wife in the 1970s

I compared it to this photograph (below) in which Charlie was identified with his wife. I also included a link to the 2014 obituary online of the woman seen as Charles Newton LILLIE’s wife on his death record in 1984.

mrin39470-lillie-charlie-and-wife-cutout — Charlie Lillie and Mrs. cutout of group photo taken around September 1966.

What my readers thought…

Several of my readers noticed differences in the women. Amy thought Fannie May Sides Lillie’s smaller nose and more delicate features in the obituary photo did not match the women above. Vera also said the nose looked totally wrong as noses get bigger with age, not smaller.

Is it an old wives’ tale that a person’s nose and ears continue to grow? I checked around and learned it’s a misconception that cartilage continues to grow as you age. The skin of the nose and ears starts to sag making them more prominent while cheeks cave in a bit. It’s more of an optical illusion we can blame on gravity.

More help came from Joe…

My cousin Joe Rooney sent a genealogy source that couldn’t be ignored. His Mom’s address book. He didn’t send me the actual book but took the time to type up all the addresses for me. Charles & Evelyn Lillie had a P.O. box number in Dallas, North Carolina. This is the town Charlie was living in when he died in 1984. To keep this in perspective, Joe’s mother Ruby died in 1981 so the address is pre-1981.

Who was Evelyn?

We know Fannie May SIDES was the name of Charles Newton LILLIE’s wife from his 1984 death transcript from FamilySearch’s collection North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994.

1984charlesnewtonlilliedeath — “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, *FamilySearch* (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FG42-CMT : accessed 14 February 2017), Charles Newton Lillie, 13 Dec 1984; citing Lincolnton, Lincoln, North Carolina, v 49A cn 49094, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,985,160.

Who was Evelyn seen in Ruby’s address book?

On Ancestry I found a marriage in the Kentucky, Marriage Index, 1973-1999 collection. Evelyn P. HILL married Charles N. LILLIE on 26 October 1974 in McCracken County, Kentucky. The bride was 60 and the groom 65. Both had been previously married and the marriages had ended with the death of a spouse. The number of previous marriages was not included.

I searched North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994 for a death record for Evelyn and found she died on 8 June 1980. Her home address was the same as Charles’ in the 1984 death record at right. Her maiden name was PIERCE.

Evelyn and Charles were married from 1974 until her death in 1980. Charles married again, before his own death in 1984, to Fannie May SIDES.

The featured photo at top must be Charles Newton LILLIE (1908-1984) and Evelyn Loraine PIERCE (1914-1980).

How many times was Charles actually married?

I’m figuring at least four times as I found an early marriage for him in 1933 in Sikeston, Scott County, Missouri. I am confident this is Charles as he was living in Sikeston with his mother Geneva and his sisters Emma Roxie and Alberta Editha at the time of the 1930 census. Charles married Muriel Hurt on 1 July 1933. Although both were from Scott County, they obtained the license in Mississippi County and were married the same day by a Baptist minister in Sikeston.

I couldn’t find either of them in the 1940 census. Charles’ mother Geneva was in Detroit with her oldest married daughter.

On Missouri Digital Heritage I found a single young girl named Muriel Hurt born in 1915 and died in 1937. Was this the same girl who married Charles? Did the marriage not last? The marriage license was signed and returned but the names of their parents were not included.

Who was Mrs. Charles Lillie in 1966?

This leaves me with a void between 1933 and 1974 filled only by Mrs. Charles LILLIE seen in the photo from 1966. Was she the only unknown Mrs. Lillie? I’m beginning to think a newspaper subscription might be helpful.

Until next week, when I’ll be sharing a series of brick wall photographs.

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

Please contact me!
Are you related to a person mentioned in this post? Send an email to
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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #90 Charlie LILLIE and his Mrs.

There were only three color photographs in this collection. Two of them were from the 1970s and shared in Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #73 Ruth Joanna LILLIE, Part 2.

The last of the three is of an unidentified couple in Brookport, Massac County, Illinois. The location was recognized by my cousin Joe Rooney when he labeled it years ago.

The man’s plaid jacket and turtleneck, the woman’s blouse with long pointed collar and button up vest, and their glasses – these point to the 1970s. In the background at the left, behind the man, is a light colored car with a black top. Very little can be seen of it but I believe it’s the same car as in the post mentioned above. [See the photo of Ruth Lillie in front of her car at her home in Brookport, Massac County, Illinois.]

Cousin Joe shared photos from his private collection of family photos with me when he saw my interest in the old photographs. Joe’s mother Ruby was Ruth’s sister. In the private collection I found a group photo of six. In the group were a man and woman I believe are the couple in the first photo. (see cutout above)

Look at the way the man holds the woman in both photos. How the woman’s shoulder fits in under the man’s arm. Compare the man’s nose and smile. He is wearing glasses in one and has glasses in breast pocket in the other. I think, at least, the man is the same in both pictures.

Who were they? This is the group photo taken in 1966.

mrin39470-lillieroxieraymondrubyruthcharlieandwife — Group photo from Joe Rooney’s private collection.

It was labeled on the back with the following names.

mrin39470-lillieroxieraymondrubyruthcharlieandwifeback — Back of group photo from Joe Rooney’s private collection.

Who were all these LILLIEs? Raymond b. 1904, Ruby b. 1909, and Ruth b. 1907 were siblings and children of Florence ROYALTY (1868-1946) and Isaac Spencer “Ike” LILLIE (1872-1932)

Roxie b. 1905 and Charlie b. 1908 were also siblings and the same age as Raymond, Ruby, and Ruth. Ike’s father Albert Spencer LILLIE (1848-1913) remarried after the death of his wife Pernecia Elizabeth GLASS (1852-1899) and had three children with his second wife Geneva Elyse MASON.

I was confident with the man in the top photograph being Charlie LILLIE because he, along with his sisters, were mentioned (without names) in the 1966 obituary of Ike’s brother John Calvin “Jack” LILLIE (1883-1966). Jack was the last living child of Albert and Pernecia.

My 52 Ancestors: #14 Albert Spencer LILLIE (1848-1913) ~ Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can was the very first in what became this series. I mentioned Albert’s marriage to Geneva MASON but did not include the fact that she gave him three more children making him the father of fourteen. Since there were no known photos of his children from his second marriage in this collection, I did not bother to research them in-depth. Their children were Emma Roxie, Charlie, and Alberta Editha.

Was his son Charlie married? Could this be his wife? No name was given for her on the back of the group photo so I had to go back to the beginning. Check census records from birth until 1940. Search for possible marriage records. Check for a death record.

I found a death record for Charles Newton LILLIE who died in 1984 in North Carolina on Ancestry.com in the North Carolina, Death Indexes, 1908-2004 collection. The abstracted information (there was no image) was not enough to confirm it was the same man. FamilySearch had more abstracted information in their collection North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994.

County and state of birth and the parents names (although off a bit) are a match. Most important, the name of his wife was included.

I finally found an obituary online for his widow. Fannie May Sides LILLIE died on 28 July 2014 at CaroMont Regional Medical Center, Gastonia. I have not found a marriage record and her husband was not mentioned in the obituary. However, per the U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, in the early 1990s she lived at the address found on Charles’ NC death record.

I would have liked to include the photo from her online obituary for comparison in this post but without permission I ask you to click on the link to see it. Does she look like either or both of the women in the photos above?

Charles Newton LILLIE (1908-1984) and Fannie May SIDES (1928-2014) are the names I would like to add to the top photo from the 1970s. Would you agree with me?

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

Please contact me!
Are you related to a person mentioned in this post? Send an email to
openingdoorsinbrickwalls @ pt.lu or message me on my Facebook page
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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #89 Everett Isaac LILLIE (1915-1944)

At one point, while doing these posts, I had to develop a system to keep track of the photographs which had been used in posts and those which still needed to be shared and written about. I keep my cousin Joe Rooney’s original scans with his naming system in a folder. Copies with my own naming/numbering system are in my Genealogy folder – where I keep all images, documents, etc. with unique MRINs. I also created a temporary folder: !NOT USED old photos. As it contains copies, I can easily delete each photograph as it is featured in a post.

There are very few photos left in the temporary folder. As I was looking through it in preparation for a new post I noticed something about this young man.

The man is not identified on the back of the photo. He is wearing an overcoat and hat with a cigarette in his right hand and holding a bag in his left. The location it was taken at is familiar. The brick wall behind him is not straight. There are two and a half bricks and then the wall juts out at a tiny angle. The same as in the photos below.

It is in front of the apartment Samuel Royalty “Roy” LILLIE (1895-1979) rented at 2122 Marantette St. in Detroit, Michigan. The address is known from photographs taken about 1930 when the house number was still on the building. It is also the address at which Roy, his mother Florence, his brother Raymond, and his sister Ruth lived when the census was taken in 1930 and 1940.

In the next photograph, we see Florence with her sons Roy and Raymond on the right and a young man in uniform on the left. This young man, holding a cigarette in his right hand, is Everett Isaac LILLIE. The cigarette is what made me take a closer look at the unidentified man in the photo at the top of this post and all photos of Everett.

On Memorial Day 2015 I wrote about Everett Isaac LILLIE (1915-1944), son of Reese Gentry LILLY (1892-1965) and Dovie DEEN (1894-1918). Everett’s grandparents were Isaac Spencer LILLIE (1872-1932) and Florence ROYALTY (1868-1946).

lillieruthjeverettlillie — Everett with his aunt Ruth Joanna LILLIE (1907-1986)

lillieruthjeverettlilliemotherofpatriciaghaganmaybe — Ruth and Everett posing with an unidentified woman.

Everett married before going to Europe to fight during World War II leaving a pregnant wife. No marriage record has been found for them and she remains unknown. Note: The unidentified woman above is older and cannot be his wife.

In Everett’s 1944 obituary his wife and daughter are mentioned as living in New Jersey but were not named. He never knew his daughter Patricia M. LILLIE (1944-2012) who was born two months after his death. She was seen as Patricia M. KENNEDY when she married Ronald R. GHAGAN (d. 1985) in 1976 in South Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut. It is not known if she had children, grandchildren of Everett Isaac LILLIE who died serving his country.

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

Please contact me!
Are you related to a person mentioned in this post? Send an email to
openingdoorsinbrickwalls @ pt.lu or message me on my Facebook page
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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #86 Tintype of an Unknown Man

This very distinguished looking man’s photograph has no identification on the front or back. As with all of the tintypes in the collection, the sleeve or album which may have originally held the picture did not survive.

The man wears his hair short. The damage to the tintype makes it difficult to tell if his hair is parted or combed back without a part. He has no side whiskers and wears a long handlebar mustache combed down sleekly with a slight upward curl at the end. He has a cleft chin and light colored eyes. Even more noticeable than his thin face with its high square forehead and low eyebrows are his large ears which stick out.

The flat bow tie is worn under the turned-down collar of his white shirt. His notch lapel vest has buttons covered in the same material as the suit. The chain of his pocket watch is attached at the third buttonhole. His coat or jacket (the length cannot be determined) matches the vest. It has long lapels and likely buttons only from the mid-section down.

Does the under-the-collar tie date this outfit to the 1870s or 1880s?

Unidentified Man, ca. 1870s or 1880s?
Photo type: Tintype
Tintype size: 1/6 plate; 2 5/8″ x 3 1/4″
Border style: N/A
Sleeve: none
Front imprint: none
Back imprint: none
Photographer: none
Labeling: none
Damage: cracks and rust

Could this be the same man as in the photo below? Yes, the chin is hidden by the older man’s beard and his nose looks broader, but look at the ears! Do ears drop with age? In the picture above the top of the ears are at the same level as the eyebrows (high set ears) while below they are just below eye level (low set ears).

mrin21897-lilliegrandpawgolconda-rooney-collection — ca. 1910, Albert Spencer LILLIE 1848-1913

If the man in the tintype above isn’t Albert Spencer LILLIE (1848-1913), perhaps he was one of his brothers?

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

Please contact me!
Are you related to a person mentioned in this post? Send an email to
openingdoorsinbrickwalls @ pt.lu or message me on my Facebook page
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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #83 William F. HOLT Family of Brookport, Illinois

While doing these posts I’ve opened several doors in Joe’s brick walls. Joe is my 4th cousin once removed through my 4th great-grandparents Landon S. GOWING and Sally CRISP of Amherst and Nelson County, Virginia.

In the beginning, I was only concentrating on getting the identified photos posted with a little family history. Along the way, I’ve been able to identify some of the unknowns.

Although I’ve learned about old photographs and the fashion of the period, I’m still a beginner and nowhere near possessing the expertise others have when working with vintage photography. This proficiency is lacking when it comes to the photo I am featuring today.

I’ve been avoiding doing this one as it was labeled as an unknown family and I don’t know how to classify it.

The original is 4 1/3 by 5 1/2 inches including a border of about 1/2 an inch. It is unique and not similar in format to any of the other photos in the collection. It has been mounted onto a piece of glass. The image is facing the glass like a photo in a picture frame. The glass is larger than the photo and a green border has been painted on the back side where the glass overlaps the photo. The brush strokes can be seen along the edge of the back of the photo which is gray with very light writing on it.

At first glance, I did not see there was writing on it, it is that faint. I tried holding it at an angle by a window (natural light), using a lighted magnifier, and taking a picture of it. I was able to make out some letters and two words. W. F. Holt and Brookport.

HOLT is one of the surnames which has been mentioned a few times in this series. Thelma HOLT was the wife (they later divorced) of Samuel Royalty “Roy” LILLIE and the mother of Lynn Vance LILLIE. Thelma’s parents were from Brookport, Massac County, Illinois.

Her parents were William F. HOLT (1871-1934) and Edith S. WYMER (1874-1948). They had a daughter Lula M. HOLT (1895-1963) and a son Leonard Herman HOLT (1897-1947), both born before Thelma whose birthday was 30 June 1901. This fits perfectly with the family group in this picture. A man and a woman, a young girl about 6 or 7 years old, a young boy about 4 years old, and a baby.

While researching this photograph I learned that wicker chairs first appeared in the 1890s as studio props and continued to be used for several decades. In this photograph, the father is sitting on what looks like a wicker chair or stool. His wife is also sitting and holding a baby. The two children are standing.

I suspect the photo was taken in late 1901. The baby on the mother’s lap is wearing what looks like a voluminous christening gown which completely hides her size and makes it difficult to estimate her age.

The young girl, standing behind her parents, wears a center part. Her hair is French braided from the crown to the nape of the neck and then hangs in two regular braids down her back. The mother’s hair is combed back from her face and likely pinned up in a bun at the nape. Both mother and daughter are wearing similar blouses with large collars adorned with a gathered ruffle which reaches to the shoulder seam, perhaps made by the mother from the same pattern. The mother is wearing a dark floor-length skirt. One of her pointed shoe tips is peeking out from under the skirt.

The young boy has a side part like his father and is wearing a darling suit, similar to the sailor suits children were wearing at the time. The large lapels are embroidered as are the cuffs of the jacket and a row of buttons is on both sides. He is wearing knee pants, knee-high socks, and boots laced up above the ankle. Around his neck, he has a floppy bow tie while his father, who is wearing a three-piece suit without leg cuffs, does not have any kind of tie. The lapels of the man’s jacket have shiny inserts. A watch chain hangs from the vest buttons and is likely tucked into the vest pocket hidden by his jacket. A tiny light circular adornment is on the collar of his vest. His white shirt is buttoned up to the pointed collar. The toe caps of his lace up boots are dull, likely from daily use.

I believe the identification on the back fits the William F. HOLT family of Brookport, Illinois, and the fashion fits for late 1901. One question remains. Does this method of mounting a photo on a piece of glass and adding a painted border have a name or could it have been a homemade preservation attempt by a person who formerly owned the photograph?

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

Please contact me!
Are you related to a person mentioned in this post? Send an email to
openingdoorsinbrickwalls @ pt.lu or message me on my Facebook page
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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #82 A Young Florence ROYALTY?

I nearly missed this photograph, it is so tiny. It was first scanned by my cousin Joe along with an envelope in which I found it. Stamp size, it measures 1 1/8 by 1 3/8 inches.

The young girl looks to be in her early teens. Her hair is tied back at the nape of her neck with a large bow, likely out of the same material as her dress. Her eyes are very light colored, possibly blue. Her dress or blouse may be white or a light color and has a high collar. The extra fabric on the top part of the bodice appears to have vertical pleats sewn down and then left open in the bosom area. The sleeves are a bit puffy in the upper arms; the lower arms are not seen in the photo. Were they bishop sleeves or gigot sleeves?

unknownblueeyedgirlwithbow — Non-identified photograph of a young girl in her teens.

Could this photograph have been taken in the middle or late 1880s?

ca-1910ruthjoannalillie — Ruth Joanna LILLIE ca. 1909.

The dress looks very much like the one Ruth Joanna LILLIE was wearing in this framed portrait. Was the original dress saved and made to fit Ruth or is she wearing a reproduction of the dress? Ruth was the oldest daughter of Florence ROYALTY and Isaac Spencer LILLIE.

Could the young woman be Florence ROYALTY (1868-1946)? We’ve seen photographs of Florence at different ages but none in her teens.

mrin21898-royaltyflorence6yrs — Florence at age 5 or 6 years with light colored hair.

isaac-and-florence-lillie-rooney-collection — Florence, with her husband Ike, is in her late thirties and her hair has become darker.

Another possibility would be Florence’s sister Mathilda J. “Tillie” ROYALTY (1859-1939) who also had light colored eyes. Their sister Olive ROYALTY had dark colored eyes which eliminate her. Tillie was 9 years older than Florence which means the photograph would have to have been taken earlier, perhaps in the late 1870s or early 1880s.

Larger images of these photographs may be viewed in the post on Tillie.

Am I correct in dating this photograph in the middle to the late 1880s? Does this young girl resemble Florence ROYALTY as a little girl and as a married woman? Or could she be Florence’s sister Tillie? Or will she remain unidentified?

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

Please contact me!
Are you related to a person mentioned in this post? Send an email to
openingdoorsinbrickwalls @ pt.lu or message me on my Facebook page
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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #77 Isaac and Florence LILLIE

Last week I shared a photograph of Isaac Spencer LILLIE (1872-1932) and his wife Florence ROYALTY (1868-1946) with their sons Reese Gentry LILLIE (1892-1965) and Samuel Royalty “Roy” LILLIE (1895-1979) taken in the late 1890s or early 1900s (before 1904).

Sometime after the photo was taken Isaac grew a mustache.

This picture was taken by Frank A. Gregory in Metropolis, Massac County, Illinois. Isaac and Florence appear to be about the same age as in the family portrait featured last week.

They donned their hats in this photograph taken during the same sitting.

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #76 The LILLIE Family Portrait

Isaac Spencer LILLIE (1872-1932) and his wife Florence ROYALTY (1868-1946) have been mentioned often in this series. This is because the entire collection appears to center around their family.

lillieikefloreeseroy — Isaac Spencer LILLIE and his wife Florence ROYALTY with their two oldest sons.

When did Florence’s interest in collecting photographs begin? Around 1874 when the first known photograph, a tintype, was taken of Florence at the age of 5 or 6 years? Or the very late 1890s or very early 1900s (before 1904) when she sat with her husband and two oldest sons, Reese and Roy, to have this family portrait made?

The four Lillie family members are wearing the same clothes in this family portrait as in the pictures below.

Could those pictures, labeled penny pictures by an unknown person, have been proofs taken in preparation for the family portrait?

I purposely did not name the sons under the family portrait. The reason being that the dark haired boy between Isaac and Florence appears taller than the light haired boy on the left of Florence.

In the series of photos, someone added the names of the boys. Reese, born in 1892, was two and a half years older than Roy, born in 1895. In the pictures where the boys are with their father, “Reese” appears to be smaller than “Roy.” Could Roy have been so much taller than Reese or was he standing on a stool in the group photo? Or are the photos labeled incorrectly?

In 1917 when the boys registered for the World War I draft, Reese was described as medium, slender, blue eyes, and light hair. Roy was described as tall, medium, gray eyes, and dark brown hair.

From the descriptions, I believe we can assume Roy is the boy between Isaac and Florence and Reese is the boy on the right of Florence.

The photos of Reese (above) are the only ones in the collection. Roy’s pictures were more numerous as can be seen in the links shared in post #64 Brother and Sister in 1950.

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

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Old Photographs Saved From Trash Can ~ #75 A Group of Women

In the group photo below Florence ROYALTY (1868-1946), wife of Isaac Spencer LILLIE (1872-1932) was identified by her grandson Joe Rooney as the woman standing in the back row in front of the right side of the doorframe. No other persons have been identified.

The digital copy I had of the photograph was not high quality and I could not zoom in on the faces. I got out the original and scanned it at 600 dpi which gave me a much larger file and image to work with. The images seen here are low resolution.

I used the auto adjust tool on PicMonkey to brighten it up a bit. The woman identified as Florence resembles the older Florence seen in the 1920 family reunion photograph.

All persons in the photo are female except perhaps the small child standing off to the right side. I wonder if this may be a little boy who sneaked into the picture. His face is blurred and the longer I look at it the more it seems like an optical illusion. He might have been caught while looking forward and then quickly turned his head away from the group.

I estimate from the clothing the women are wearing that this was taken in the 1890s. However, I have a photo of Florence from 1898 in which she looks much younger. Or maybe it is because her hair has a slightly puffy bouffant look below and is combed flat in the group photo.

Could the group photo have been taken in 1899 following the death of Florence’s mother-in-law Pernecia Elizabeth GLASS (1852-1899)? I considered this since the woman thought to be Florence appears to be wearing mourning. Could the dark clothes and the different hairstyle make her look so much older than in the photos taken a year earlier?

Puffy sleeves and slim sleeves. Bonnets and hats. High collars, square collars, round collars. Handbags and drawstring purses. A great variety of dresses. Did women’s fashion change so much during the 1890s?

More about this collection, how it came to be in my possession,
and links to previous posts in the series can be found here.

Please contact me!
Are you related to a person mentioned in this post? Send an email to
openingdoorsinbrickwalls @ pt.lu or message me on my Facebook page
Opening Doors in Brick Walls.

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