Monday, April 29, 2013

Is Estate Sale Photo A Relative?

I'm not in the habit of going to estate sales, but I recently passed one near my daughter's school and decided to check it out. There happened to be a handful of cabinet cards and a few other old photographs. Naturally, I looked through them. “Kalamazoo,” I exclaimed in surprise when among the photos taken in Nashville and Kentucky I found one by photographer L.C. Abbey. How it ended up here in Tennessee I'll never know. There was no question that I would purchase it because it was far from home, but little did I expect the story would go any further than that. Here's the photo I found.



I didn't really look at the photo carefully until after I reached home. When I did I immediately thought it resembled my great-grandmother's brother-in-law, Frederick Karl Allion (1858-1929). So, just for fun, I turned on the computer to compare my estate sale find with my known photos of Fred Allion. Here is the one that made my jaw drop.



Just so you don't think this is an aberration, here is another photo I have of Fred.

Nellie, Emma and Fred Allion circa 1895, probably shortly before the girls were put in the Kalamazoo Children's Home.

The back of the photo showed a nice little scene of Abbey's storefront.



Based on the address, the photo I rescued was probably taken sometime between 1887 and 1899, the time period I know Abbey was in business at 303 E. Main St. (from Kalamazoo city directories). It is possible the photograph was taken as late as 1904 when Abbey died, but I don't have access to the right city directories to determine when he stopped working or to indicate how late his studio was at 303 E. Main.

Fred Allion lived in Kalamazoo from at least 1893-1895, according to city directories and the 1894 census. If my estate sale photo had been in my Taylor album, where I found yet another photo of Fred and his wife, I would not hesitate to identify it is Fred Allion. But, since I found it here in Tennessee, though it looks like it could be an identical twin of Fred, I am reluctant to conclude that it's him.  I also can't imagine how a photo of him made it down here when the Allions and the Taylors (he married Nettie Taylor) lived in Ohio and Michigan (I haven't found them anywhere else). 

I'm curious what you think. Is this the same man?

To read about my attempts to follow up with the family and identify a connection see Estate Sale Photo Update.

8 comments:

  1. Looks like it to me. Did you run back to the sale and check the back and front of every photo there? did you go back and ask the people running the sale where the photos came from?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish I had found the time to go back. While there I had looked at the front/back of the photos there, but no other photos had a name I recognized and all the other ones with a photographer's imprint were taken in TN or KY. If I ever am in this situation again, I'll be sure to ask. Lesson learned.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sonja, back track the location where you bought the photo and try to contact the people that handled the sale. Local newspaper ads, etc. Also, have a look at Tennessee Public Notices to see if there is mention of the estate. http://www.tnpublicnotice.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did end up going online last night and found the company that conducted the sale. I'm waiting to hear back from them. Fingers crossed.

      Delete
  4. I've been examining a lot of old photos from this time period recently, and even the photos you know are Fred are remarkably consistent. This one fits right in. With that Kalamazoo photographer it would be more odd if it wasn't Fred. It's definitely not your imagination.
    Are you accessing the City Directories online? If so, how are you doing that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are a couple of full city directories online (1869, 1899, 1906) that you can download as a PDF. For the details go to: http://kalamazoogenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/05/city-directories-more-than-just-names.html. Also, if you go to http://kalamazoogenealogy.org/default.htm you can search directories by surname (Joe Ferrara mostly has directories ending in 5: 1885, 1895, etc) and then click on the name to view the image. If you haven't seen Joe's site you are in for a treat.

      Delete
  5. I'm certain by now you have found the FAG photo of Frederick Karl Allion for his memorial buried in Marion County, Ohio. Looks like a successful match. Keep me posted

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes, I know that photo as well. I contacted the woman who posted it on FAG and we shared our information on the family.

      Delete