“Orphan” Photos

By Eilene Lyon

Found Photo Project #13

These found photos are not pictures of orphans. They just seem to be stranded in my files with no family home. I believe I have identified the subjects correctly. Some of them have no living descendants. Others, I have tried contacting descendants through Ancestry with no replies or—in one case—a simple response: “Nope.”

There are a few other reasons why I still have some photos, as I’ll explain later.

Wynn Allison Collier

This photo of Wynn Allison Collier at age 21 months is so adorable. You can barely make out his face for the huge harmonica he’s holding. Wynn married twice—both times to the same woman, Helen Lucille Harris (1913–2000)—but had no children. He was born April 11, 1908 in Wichita, Kansas. His parents were Roy Allison Collier and Glenys V. Conine. He had one sister and one brother.

Wynn began his career in soil conservation in 1933, during the Dust Bowl years. He spent five years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers serving during World War II in England and France. After the war, he returned to his conservation career. He died in 1998.

Gyneth Irene Hunt

This baby girl is Gyneth Irene Hunt, born in Bureau County, Illinois, on March 21, 1899. Gyneth became a teacher as a young woman, but soon married to Harold C. Kugler (1897–1936) and they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the 1920s. Six years after Harold’s death in 1936, she married again to Robert Shepard (1903–1982). Gyneth had jobs in the 1940 and 1950 censuses. She died in New Mexico in 1972 and had no descendants.

Millers

These two siblings, and one not pictured, were born around the turn of the 20^th century. None of the three had children and only the brother ever married. He is J. Carmon Miller, born April 18, 1896 in Kinderhook, New York. Mary Margaret Miller was born April 29, 1901, and finally Marcia T. Miller (not pictured) was born December 9, 1904. Their parents were Miles E. Miller and Gertrude M. Kling. J. Carmon married Nina J. McFee in 1920.

Richard James Lee

This cute tyke with his stuffed bunny is Richard James Lee, born August 29, 1935 in Los Angeles. To my knowledge, Richard never married, nor had children. As I researched his family, I kept turning up news reports of criminal activity, primarily by his father. Richard did have siblings, nieces, and nephews. He died at age 66 in California. According to his obituary, he served in the Air Force. He spent 40 years in the second-hand and salvage business.

Narum-La Casse

These two images are the same child. Because I believe she is still living, I won’t give her first, middle, or married names. I did send her a letter and received no response. My research into her life raised more questions than answers.

Her birth record from 1942 gives her surname as Narum and her mother’s maiden name as Smith. Narum is the surname she married under. A man named Kyndall La Casse’s obituary names her as his daughter (with her married name). La Casse is the surname given for the child on these photos, not Narum.

Kyndall La Casse married Elizabeth Harrington in 1944, two years after Ms. Narum was born. She was not Ms. Narum’s mother, nor is Ms. Narum mentioned in Elizabeth’s obituary. So, if La Casse was her acknowledged father, and someone named Smith was her mother, where did the Narum surname come from? I’m stumped.

Looking For Descendants

These last five photos are all of people with living descendants though I’ve yet to make a good connection to any so far. Finding their descendants will take considerably more time than I have to give right now.

Gertrude Ashworth Rothwell was born May 31, 1881 in Boston. Her parents were William Herbert Rothwell (1855–1926) and Lucy Frances Mason (1858–1932). Gertrude married Lowell Tuckerman Clapp (1879–1971) in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1902. They had four daughters together: Ethel, Madeline, Helen, and Barbara Clapp.

Walter Scott Cooper, went by the name of Scott. This photo apparently dates from his marriage to Alma Lydia Myers (b. 1868) in 1889. They wed in David City, Nebraska, where this portrait was done. Scott and Alma moved around quite a bit. Scott was born July 1, 1865 in Jackson County, Iowa. He died in Placer County, California, at age 69 in 1935. He worked as a building contractor, which is probably why he moved so much, following the projects. Scott and Alma had two daughters and four sons born 1891 to 1912.

This delightful portrait of a young woman is Anna Maria Elisabeth Stock. She had many siblings, and one is named as the recipient of this photo on the back: Sarah. Anna was born August 8, 1871 in Wisconsin to August Wilhelm Stock (1836–1917) and Maria Caroline Wilhelmina Wolf (1851–1924), so clearly of German ancestry.

Anna married Paul Bernhard Christian Klug (another German!) in Random Lake, Wisconsin, on November 27, 1890. Anna and Paul Klug had seven children, so I’m sure there are some descendants out there, and hopefully one will become the lucky recipient of this portrait.

This wedding portrait, taken in Greenville, Darke County, Ohio, is only marked “Allie & Leonard.” But that was enough information to trace this to Alice “Allie” May Hansbarger (1885–1977) and Leonard Patrick McGee (1885–1959). They grew up in Darke County, Ohio, and were married there in 1907. Allie and Leonard had two sons and a daughter: David B., Raymond F., and Mary McGee.

Last, we have a portrait of an Irish American family from Scottdale, Pennsylvania. The seated woman is Ellen McCleary Reiley, and her husband, standing to the right, is George Kerr Reiley. The boy at the left is labeled “Patty Reiley,” which is clearly a nickname. He might be a brother or nephew of George or maybe one of their sons (likely Earl). Ellen Reiley died in 1915 and George in 1921. Their children were: Adda Estelle (Reiley) Reese, Howard Arthur Reiley, Earl David Reiley, John Wood Reiley, and Mary Emma (Reiley) Tubman Shirey.