One of my favorite artifacts to discover are family photo albums. Most likely, it's because a photo album of my own family started my interest in genealogy and the history of families.
I recently acquired a very full family album which was gift to Eva A Pendleton from her husband in 1884 on her birthday. The album contains family photos and a receipt from the City of Belfast, ME dated 12 Aug 1902 for state, county, and city taxes.
A little bit about the family;
Eva A Patterson was born on 1 Feb 1852 in Belfast, ME to Richard and Salenda (Bowles) Patterson. Her sister Effie Patterson was born two years later on 18 Oct 1854.
Effie married George Pattershall on 7 March 1875 in Belfast, Maine. Married before her sister, she had at least three children.
Eva married Herbert Pendleton on 1 Jan 1880 in Lynn, Massachusetts. From my current research, I find no evidence of children.
Herbert Pendleton's parents were William J and Mary Ann (Bird) Pendleton. The Pendleton's have a long history in the Northport / Belfast area.
As I was looking for clues to the faces in the pictures, I stumbled upon a digital copy of a photo in the album. It certainly helped me identify the man in the photo as Herbert's father, William Jerad Pendleton. I can't say that he looks like he's happy to have his photo taken, but here he is:
Herbert is listed in the 1880 census as a mariner but previous census records show his occupation as a shoemaker. His father, William, was a mariner and a Captain.
The album is inscribed with a gift message and it has George Ralph Pattershall's name in it. Who is George, you ask? George is is Effie's grandson from her oldest son's second marriage. George Ralph Pattershall was born in 1909 in Belfast, ME.
From research, George was a merchant and, in later years, operated a taxi business. George passed in June of 1963. George's father, Ralph, is listed as a master mechanic in the 1900 census, a seaman captain in 1910, and a farmer in1920 & 1930 . He passed in 1941 but his occupation is listed as a Proprietor in 1940. His grandfather, George, was a sailor.
The tax receipt is for Richard F Patterson, Eva and Effie's father. He was a farmer.
I would like to return the entire album to a direct descendant so the artifacts can stay together. Maybe they can identify the faces in the book and would be willing to share their findings. And, now for the photos in the album, there's a lot!
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