A Bates Family Mystery

By Eilene Lyon

Found Photo Project #12

I was surprised to find it’s been a year since I last posted a found photo project. This one’s a three-fer: two success stories and one enigma, all from a local antique mart.

The two largest portraits, which have been successfully reunited with family, are both from New Orleans. The first is an 8 x 10 hand-tinted portrait (feature image) with a painted bouquet of roses. It is labeled on the back as “Emily Regina Prechter—High School Graduation.” I love nothing better than a full name, and a unique one, at that.

Regina Eiermann (her married name) was the daughter of George W. Prechter and Emily H. Rougelot. She was the eldest of four siblings, born in New Orleans on September 25, 1913. That places her graduation photo in 1931 or 1932. Though Regina married, she did not have children. A religious woman, she put her energy into running the orphanage and helped at the “Home for Incurables” in the city.

The portrait went to a niece, who was thrilled to see it. She is planning to donate it to the Historic New Orleans Collection which earlier received some Prechter family letters Regina collected.

The second portrait is of a boy about 12 years old and the mounting board states it commemorates his “First Communion.” The back is labeled “Gussie Faust.” I assumed a first name of Augustus. By magnifying the image, I could see his Bible was embossed with “A J Faust.” Again, it took little time to find August Joseph Faust on Ancestry.

I located a granddaughter, but had no way to send her an email, so I mailed off the portrait along with a letter explaining how and where I found it, and how I went about researching and finding her. I’ve done this sort of blind mailing before and never heard a peep.

In this case, I received a lovely thank you card with a very moving letter enclosed. Gus Faust’s granddaughter was one of the unfortunate souls who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She no longer even lives in New Orleans. To have an original family photo show up in her mailbox just before Christmas was like a little miracle. And that’s why I do what I do.

Now for the photograph that has me stumped. Rarely do I find an image with so much information written on it. Yet, I still cannot identify exactly to whom this girl belongs. I’ve not found a single historic record for her.

This is a transcript from the back of the tintype portrait: “Aunt Laura Ba[tes] / Died at age 19 — / Dress in portrait / wine red—shiny / “poplin” probably / about size 6 / Aunt Floss had /    she cried & cried / in back room / water backed up / in her house from / Raccoon Creek—about / 5 ft—red faded on / quilts etc—damaged / Susannah’s size 5 / pink satin wedding shoes /   Father was brother / to Susannah Bates / Brown. Dr. in Mo / had water color made / for each of 11 bros & / sisters.”

While tintypes predominated in the 1860s, they were made long after as well. I have one dated 1921. The dress Laura is wearing (I’m guessing she’s in her early teens), does seem a common style for the 1860s. However, the other information suggests she was probably born a generation later.

Here’s what I have determined so far:

1. Susannah Bates Brown (1847–1915) was the daughter of Ozro Bates and Mary M. Hartman. She was born in Ohio, moved to Indiana at age three (living in several counties) and eventually settled permanently in Parke County, where you can find both Little Raccoon Creek and Big Raccoon Creek.

2. Susannah’s youngest child was Anna Florence Brown, who never married, and lived her entire life in Parke County. The 1950 census gives her name as “Flossie Brown.” I concluded this was Aunt Floss whose house was flooded by Little Raccoon Creek near Jessup.

3. Susannah had seven known siblings (plus a foster sister), so there were not “11 brothers and sisters” to my knowledge. However, one was a doctor who lived in Missouri, Dr. Smith L. Bates. His wife gave birth to seven children with only five surviving in 1900. Most likely the two died as infants in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, before 1884.

Four pieces of information check out: Aunt Floss, Raccoon Creek, Susannah Bates Brown, and Dr. in MO. That is why I’m convinced I’ve found the correct family for Laura. Four hits is too many to be just a coincidence. So, why can’t I find Laura’s parents?!

If her father was Susannah’s brother, it should be simple, but Laura does not appear with any of them in any census (and clearly she lived long enough to be in at least one). If she was born in 1880 or 1881 and died before the 1900 census, she could have no census record. But why no known burial?

There’s a small chance that Laura was actually Susannah’s sister, not niece, perhaps born in the 1850s. But then she would have been enumerated in the 1860 census…and she’s not.

The other confusing thing is that whoever wrote this story on the photograph calls both Laura Bates and Floss Brown “Aunt.” It seems that Laura and Floss were either first cousins or first cousins once removed. They can’t both be aunt to the same person. The title may have been only an honorific.

This has me stumped! Do you have any ideas?