Help solve a mystery!

[Mountain_Man_79]

I really, strongly believe it's her ; same nose, same smile : (enlarged using some URL trickery)
View attachment 866687

Sadly if they had no heir left when they died, the estate was probably sold and that's how the book surfaced in a thrift shop with the picture unclaimed.

M.

Can you do that URL trickery with the photo below it, where she is much younger and holding their son? At least we’ll be close to the same age at that point...

 

[mauve]

I can, but the original is of terrible quality :

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Notice the high eyebrow arch, very much constant between the 3 pictures, the smile and the nose. To me this is the same person.

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

Looks like Rosemary. That is definitely him

View attachment 866689


His family home shows up on the 1940 census as Ward 7, Evanston, Evanston Township, Cook. Isn't that church in Evanston.

The St Marys in question is in Evanston

 

[DaveRedman]

SOme other observations:
I would think the "52" is not the year. WOuld be no reason to have wrote the year without more of a date. My first thought was it is the negative number or proof number (but, ah, um negative number on a roll of film dont go that high , do they?). I suspect that is maybe the client number.

I dont understand the "Glenview 4=45-46" in the rubber stamp.
But I can say that stating the city (next line) as "Glenview, Ill." no zip code, not two letter abbreviation, indicates to me tht the rubber stamp to be made prior to, or shortly after, 1964 when zip codes were started to be used.

THe shape and mullions of the windows are fairly common in old churches.
But the building pictured in post 25 sure is a good match of the brick/stone work. Amazing........

I would think if that photographer was a part time guy, he might be more likley to go some distance to relatives or friends of the familys weddings, more so than a large studio, anyway.

I would think there would be good chance the bride and the owner of photo might have little relationship to the original owner (1891) of the book.

If you are on FaceBook, maybe see if you can find some local group for that city, join it, and post there.

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

I can, but the original is of terrible quality :
View attachment 866701

The more I look at both the photos to the original, I believe you may be right. I think they are one in the same. What a sad ending to this mystery. A fellow photographer took a photo of his own bride that I somehow inherited. He has since passed, but not before loosing his bride and his son. I recall reading in the obituary that he was survived by a daughter in law. The son must have married before passing. Perhaps she would want this photo.

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

And the journey of the book is just interesting. To start off being gifted in Akron Ohio to winding up in the possession of these folks in Illinois, to an antique shop in Pennsylvania.

Thanks all for the joint investigation! We solved a mystery in a day flat. I wish the ending was happier though.

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

Finding the daughter-in-law on Facebook was easy enough. Amusingly, she describes herself as an amateur historian and genealogist. I’m going to reach out and I’ll let everyone know what happens.

 

[Erich_H]

So, not bad!

We probably got:
Rosemary Margaret Loomis Conley
Cook County, Illinois
Born in New York, ca. 1927.

Remains to find the church!

Can we find anything that can put the preacher who owned the book in relation to either Rosemary or James?

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

So, not bad!

We probably got:
Rosemary Margaret Loomis Conley
Cook County, Illinois
Born in New York, ca. 1927.

Remains to find the church!

Can we find anything that can put the preacher who owned the book in relation to either Rosemary or James?

Well, if/when the daughter in law responds, and hopefully in the affirmative, I certainly plan to ask if she knows which church is pictured. That will hopefully work itself out.

I can ask about the book, but that mystery may be tougher to solve. But who knows?!

 

[Erich_H]

Well, if/when the daughter in law responds, and hopefully in the affirmative, I certainly plan to ask if she knows which church is pictured. That will hopefully work itself out.

I can ask about the book, but that mystery may be tougher to solve. But who knows?!

Who here thought at the first post that we could get this far? In a day?
Certainly not @PhotoCal!
I say: get on to the book!

 

[Hendrik]

Near as I can tell, it says “The Seasons, Congratulations and best wishes, Rev(erand) B. L. Peck and wife, from A.Curry. Akron, O(hio). May 1891 (possibly O.A. Curry).

Make that B. C. Peck - compare the C of Congratulations

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

Make that B. C. Peck - compare the C of Congratulations

Good catch! I agree!

 

[Brodhall]

I really, strongly believe it's her ; same nose, same smile : (enlarged using some URL trickery)
View attachment 866687

Sadly if they had no heir left when they died, the estate was probably sold and that's how the book surfaced in a thrift shop with the picture unclaimed.

M.

This is great - can you use the same 'trickery' och the second and fourth (wedding) photo

 

[mauve]

This is great - can you use the same 'trickery' och the second and fourth (wedding) photo

Not really, it depends a lot on the quality of the source, and all the subsequent pictures are very low native resolution. You can try yourself by changing the last parameter MaxSide in the URL :
https://mediasvc.ancestry.com/image...lient=MCCManager&NamespaceID=1093&MaxSide=160

Instead of 160 try with 800 or 1024, like this :
https://mediasvc.ancestry.com/image...lient=MCCManager&NamespaceID=1093&MaxSide=800

But I fear the source is a bad scan. Nonetheless, there's an uncanny similarity in the jawline. Let's wait for @Mountain_Man_79 contact with the DIL.


M.

 

[Brodhall]

Hmm Just found something which may be interesting regarding the signature in the book. A church founded by a Rev O A Curry in 1891
https://akron.thomconte.com/north-hill-m-e-church/

 

[Acraftman]

Maybe. I stared at this one for awhile myself. The windows are very similar, its stone, and the buttresses between the windows seem spot on. No evidence of a low wall, but nowadays that’s a tripping hazard and has probably been replaced with a handicap ramp. I wonder if we can find any older pics of this church? St Mary’s Catholic Church in Evanston Illinois
View attachment 866587

Not sure but if you look at the peaks of the windows they look more of a Islamic ogee arch , it definitely has pronounced buttresses though and I am sure the windows would have been replaced by now. I tried to google this ( islamic influenced stone churches in central illinois usa )but no luck.

 

[Brodhall]

Not the same bride in the photos in any case (thanks for the URL help @mauve ), but it may be that the woman to the right is Rosemary. The wedding dress in the original photo is very 'Grace Kelly' in style, but she didn't marry until 1956

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[WaltP]

I would suggest also checking with the library archivist in BOTH suspect towns. Archivists regularly have detailed records of churches in their towns and architectural changes to them. As well as records of weddings and funerals and copies newspapers.

 

[Brodhall]

Hi, Is anything happening with this mystery??

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

Hi, Is anything happening with this mystery??

Nothing yet. I sent the daughter in law a message via Facebook messenger, although not sure if she uses messenger...she may just use Facebook. That said, if I don’t hear anything back after about a week, I’ll probably post something to her page. I just didn’t want to start there first.