"Some pictures from life's other side".......
Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 3:47 am
....with profound apologies to Hank Williams aka,"Luke the Drifter".....................
The majority of these pictures were found in my mother's apartment after her passing in 1987.Many of them were unmarked as to their identities and it took a long time with the help of remaining family members to discover exactly who they were. There were many more that I discarded because I had no idea who they were.There were some with captions written in French(with English translations written underneath the words by my mother)that were of a person she corresponded with during WWII.I still have a few of them I kept and someday hope to get translated.
Others were given to me by my aunt Christine as she was moving out of her home in Jamestown NY to her new assisted living facility in Ocala FL. Those were all captioned thankfully and all were people whom I had never known and most had died before I was born.Probably the most amazing one is of my great uncle Jim(Smith)posing with his Indian motorcycle.
The picture was taken in Pittsford Vermont around 1920 in front of a barn. The structure is still standing;at least it was about 15 years ago when we were visiting there. My aunt mentioned that Uncle Jim was a bit of a maverick(seems that characteristic is quite prevalent in the Smith family genes).The picture shows him and the motorcycle shortly after he and his wife had returned from a trip to Florida. The kicker was they had ridden the motorcycle from Pittsford Vermont to St. Augustine Florida! The trip had taken nearly three weeks and they had ten flat tires on the way down and back. Bear in mind this was just after WWI and there was no interstate highway system! In fact there wasn't much of a road system either.
The following year they did it again only this time he had fitted a side car to the bike. Not to carry his wife(she still rode on the back)but to carry their luggage! Apparently they had just strapped a couple of suitcases to the side of the bike the first time!
There are also several pictures of my grandfather and grandmother on my mother's side.They are seated in their 1903 Stevens-Duryea and the picture was taken about 1910.The story of how he got the car was interesting: He worked as a chauffeur and mechanic for a wealthy Boston man who owned mostly French cars;a Darracq and a De Dion -Bouton to name two. He also had purchased the Stevens but really didn't like it and decided to sell it. My grandfather asked if he might be able to purchase the car on a time payment schedule as he didn't have the full purchase price.
The man must have thought a lot of my grandfather because he wound up giving him the car!
There is also a picture of my grandfather driving a 1901 Orient Buckboard which was basically 4 wheels;an engine and a seat.
There is the picture of my mother and uncle Arthur sitting on a 1904 Curved Dash Oldsmobile fitted with a canvas fairing on the front She looks to be about 5 or 6(my uncle was 11 months younger)so that would have made it about 1914.
There is another picture of her and my aunt Elsie in my uncle Elmer's speedster.Not sure what it was built on;looks like one of the many custom bodies that were available back then.He owned that car when he was in high school so the picture had to be taken around 1933.
The Marine holding the Winchester lever action rifle is my grandmother's brother Jim Dalton.He was in the Spanish-American War so that picture had to be taken in the early 1900's. I remember he used to visit us every Sunday dressed in his blue pinstriped suit(his only suit)for dinner. He was totally bald and had a great white moustache and looked a bit like Santa Claus.He lived at the old soldier's Home in Chelsea Massachusetts. The last time I saw him he was dressed in his blue suit and laying in a casket.
The group shot was made from a tintype I found at my mother's.It is my great great grandfather Henry Holbrook with his wife(a Pennecook Indian)and their three children.His son(Henry Jr.)was a lieutenant in the Civil War).Don't know a whole lot about them.
We now shift over to my dad's side of the family(my great uncle Jim was my dad's uncle).There is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather Annabel & George Smith.I never knew them but she was a very beautiful lady. Then there is the picture of my great grandfather and great grandmother Carlos and Matilde Alexander.Way before my time!
Then there is a few pictures of my dad with his shipmates on the SS-24 in San Diego in the early 1920's.There is also one at sea.
And finally there is a picture of the author(yours truly)taken just after he got his 3rd class stripes in Patuxent River Maryland in August of 1965.That was another lifetime and a hundred lbs. ago.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
The majority of these pictures were found in my mother's apartment after her passing in 1987.Many of them were unmarked as to their identities and it took a long time with the help of remaining family members to discover exactly who they were. There were many more that I discarded because I had no idea who they were.There were some with captions written in French(with English translations written underneath the words by my mother)that were of a person she corresponded with during WWII.I still have a few of them I kept and someday hope to get translated.
Others were given to me by my aunt Christine as she was moving out of her home in Jamestown NY to her new assisted living facility in Ocala FL. Those were all captioned thankfully and all were people whom I had never known and most had died before I was born.Probably the most amazing one is of my great uncle Jim(Smith)posing with his Indian motorcycle.
The picture was taken in Pittsford Vermont around 1920 in front of a barn. The structure is still standing;at least it was about 15 years ago when we were visiting there. My aunt mentioned that Uncle Jim was a bit of a maverick(seems that characteristic is quite prevalent in the Smith family genes).The picture shows him and the motorcycle shortly after he and his wife had returned from a trip to Florida. The kicker was they had ridden the motorcycle from Pittsford Vermont to St. Augustine Florida! The trip had taken nearly three weeks and they had ten flat tires on the way down and back. Bear in mind this was just after WWI and there was no interstate highway system! In fact there wasn't much of a road system either.
The following year they did it again only this time he had fitted a side car to the bike. Not to carry his wife(she still rode on the back)but to carry their luggage! Apparently they had just strapped a couple of suitcases to the side of the bike the first time!
There are also several pictures of my grandfather and grandmother on my mother's side.They are seated in their 1903 Stevens-Duryea and the picture was taken about 1910.The story of how he got the car was interesting: He worked as a chauffeur and mechanic for a wealthy Boston man who owned mostly French cars;a Darracq and a De Dion -Bouton to name two. He also had purchased the Stevens but really didn't like it and decided to sell it. My grandfather asked if he might be able to purchase the car on a time payment schedule as he didn't have the full purchase price.
The man must have thought a lot of my grandfather because he wound up giving him the car!
There is also a picture of my grandfather driving a 1901 Orient Buckboard which was basically 4 wheels;an engine and a seat.
There is the picture of my mother and uncle Arthur sitting on a 1904 Curved Dash Oldsmobile fitted with a canvas fairing on the front She looks to be about 5 or 6(my uncle was 11 months younger)so that would have made it about 1914.
There is another picture of her and my aunt Elsie in my uncle Elmer's speedster.Not sure what it was built on;looks like one of the many custom bodies that were available back then.He owned that car when he was in high school so the picture had to be taken around 1933.
The Marine holding the Winchester lever action rifle is my grandmother's brother Jim Dalton.He was in the Spanish-American War so that picture had to be taken in the early 1900's. I remember he used to visit us every Sunday dressed in his blue pinstriped suit(his only suit)for dinner. He was totally bald and had a great white moustache and looked a bit like Santa Claus.He lived at the old soldier's Home in Chelsea Massachusetts. The last time I saw him he was dressed in his blue suit and laying in a casket.
The group shot was made from a tintype I found at my mother's.It is my great great grandfather Henry Holbrook with his wife(a Pennecook Indian)and their three children.His son(Henry Jr.)was a lieutenant in the Civil War).Don't know a whole lot about them.
We now shift over to my dad's side of the family(my great uncle Jim was my dad's uncle).There is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather Annabel & George Smith.I never knew them but she was a very beautiful lady. Then there is the picture of my great grandfather and great grandmother Carlos and Matilde Alexander.Way before my time!
Then there is a few pictures of my dad with his shipmates on the SS-24 in San Diego in the early 1920's.There is also one at sea.
And finally there is a picture of the author(yours truly)taken just after he got his 3rd class stripes in Patuxent River Maryland in August of 1965.That was another lifetime and a hundred lbs. ago.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
