The first photo with this article was taken in Bellows Falls.
The Bellows Falls photo
This is a mounted photo with black mount. Dating photos can be determined by the color of the mount. As decades passed, colors of mounts changed as tastes changed. This photo would date from 1900-1910, give or take a couple years.
There is some history written on the reverse: “This was taken in Bellows Falls Vt when I was visiting Phil my brother They in that town were to have a Fourth of July Parade So I helped my brother & wife to trim their automobile Their son is in the Small Auto on front which was all ‘red’ The car we trimmed with white cheese cloth and Hydrangeas which grew on their land.”
Check out the detail in the decoration. The hydrangeas are a wonderful complement. The car is completely covered, so identifying it might be impossible.
Notice the boy in his pedal car sitting on the hood. His car is decorated too. I love his smile. The driver is dressed rather smartly with a cap. His wife sits next to him. Behind her is a young girl with a white hat. Behind her are two well-dressed women. The one closest is holding a baby.
I’m hoping there’s enough of the house visible for someone to identify the location. It has a rather distinctive porch.
Upper Bartonsville photo
This photo was taken in Upper Bartonsville. The buggy is drawn by two horses. There’s a large sign on the rear. I can’t read it all, but can make out, “Merry widow Willis.” Below that is a music score. They are likely headed to a parade.
The family
The man on the porch with white shirt is Louis Marshall. Louis was a steeplejack, and had been a cowboy in one of the Wild West shows. In front of him, at ground level, is a woman wearing a hat with a 3-foot diameter brim. A man wearing a top hat holds the horse’s bridle. A woman and two young children sit on the porch.
I think this may be the Albert Marshall place. If you take the road from Upper Bartonsville to Cambridgeport, you will pass Marshall Road on the right. 65 years ago, I went with my mother and Florence Pierce out to Marshall Road to see Louis Marshall. I’m pretty sure Louis’s cabin was on his father Albert’s land. If I’m wrong, I’m sure someone will correct me.
The house with ell, and then an attached barn, is classic New England architecture. In the winter a man could leave the kitchen, pass through the ell, into the barn to feed and take care of his animals, all without ever going outdoors. It was a very good system. Many of these old places have lost their barns. Kim Kendall’s barns are as they were 150 or more years ago. This photo would date to 1900-1910.
This week’s old saying: “You have to hoe a few rows of corn with a man to know him.”