New Jersey Children

These three photos are likely from the 1950's. They come from an album I bought on ebay about 10 years ago. I believe one of the little blonde boys might be named Jeffrey. I think they or their grandparents lived in Englewood, New Jersey. The surname might be Bogert. There is no writing on the back of the photos. They were developed in Englewood, NJ.

Grandmother and Two Boys

The first photo below is of an older woman, I presume a grandmother, and two little boys. She is holding a book and the boy in back also has a book. There is no writing on the back of the photo and no photographer's name on the front. The original belonged to my great grandfather Wallace Gifford Olmstead of Gerry, New York. He died in 1916. I do not believe the woman is his 2nd wife Lillian McCullough Olmstead. I think she is more likely a Damon, McCullough, or possibly a Strong.

The second and third photos are, I believe, the same two boys in the first photo.  They are of slightly different heights so they could be fraternal twins or brothers 1 to 2 years apart in age. I'm guessing the sailor suits' photo was taken a year or so before the peasant outfits' photo. These photos are also from Wallace Gifford Olmstead's collection. Edited to add : I found a note I made about 10 years ago after talking with Nellie Weismann in Gerry. She thought the boys could possibly be Norman and Lester Damon. Lester was born in 1899, Norman was a little older. She did not recognize the woman. 

I think these photos are likely of people who lived in Gerry, Chautauqua County, New York. They are probably related to the Olmstead family, possibly by marriage. 

Chautauqua, New York High School Faculty 1925

This photo belonged to my Dad's first cousin, Mneathea Cowden, daughter of Blanche Olmstead Cowden and Morris Cowden, M.D. She was on the faculty of Chautauqua High School in 1925. I don't know whether she was a teacher or librarian. She had her master's in library science and later in her career was the head librarian in the Scarsdale, NY public schools.

I have the names of the teachers in the back row. The photo is damaged so most of the names from the front row are missing. I will be sending the original to the high school but descendants of those in the photo could download this copy and make prints.

Left to right back row: Mr. Rodwell, Miss Maxwell, Miss Cowden, Miss Empic (hard to read, maybe Empire), Miss Lois (first or last name?), Mrs. Cale or Cole, Miss Peterson, Mrs. Johnson, Miss Wightman, Miss Haynes, Mr. Field.

Front row: Miss Kelley, Smith (Miss or Mrs. torn off). The other names are not available.

The photo is labeled June 1925.

U.S. Army, Probably Fort Knox, 1960's

This is one of several photos from an album I bought on ebay many years ago. There are 3 young soldiers. The last names are Harrison, Kovach, and Fleming (as best as I can make out).  One has the first name of Ras or Ros, he lived at 2237 Madison Avenue,Covington, Kentucky, One is Wally. The photo belonged to Ed, according to the inscription on the back.

9/11/2015: I believe the soldier named Fleming owned this album as he is definitely in many other photos throughout the album. I'm pretty sure his first name is Ed.

2/21/2022: I'm quite sure Harrison is Roscoe Harrison, as I found him in the city directories living at the address he wrote on the back of this photo. Update, I discovered Roscoe died in 2012.

3/2/2023: I have discovered the soldier who owned this album was not Ed Fleming but Ed Ferring, I misread his name tag on his uniform.

Update: 9/11/2015: I will be posting more photos from this album each day the next week.

Family Reunion Western New York

This photo, the original of which is very dark, is of a family reunion in Western New York, most likely Gerry, Chautauqua County. I can only clearly identify two people: Blanche Olmstead Cowden, who is the first woman in the back row, and her daughter Mneatha Cowden, in the middle of the back row holding a little boy. Blanche's husband was Morris Cowden, M.D. I don't recognize him in this photo.

I do not believe this is an Olmstead reunion as I don't recognize any other Olmsteads in the photo. It might be a Strong reunion but I would expect to see more Olmsteads at it since Blanche's mother was Mahala Strong Olmstead. It could be a Cowden reunion. It could also be a McCullough reunion as this photo came from the photo album of Kenneth Olmstead, whose mother was Lillian McCullough Olmstead, 2nd wife of Wallace Olmstead. That is my best bet until proven otherwise. Another possibility is that it is a Damon reunion, although I'm not quite sure of the Damon connection but Kenneth had other Damon photos in his album. I wish the photo was of better quality. I've lightened it but it is still hard to make out several of the people.

As for when it was taken Mneathea Cowden was born in 1897. She looks to be in her late teens or early twenties.

Moe's Grill Room

It's time to resume this blog. Today's photo is not a very good quality photo and I know next to nothing about it. It was in my Dad's photo album so it is likely from New Jersey or New York, certainly the east coast as he never left that area until WWII. The photo was taken in the 1920's or 1930's. It is of Moe's Grill Room. Google has not proven to be a help. I'd like to know where it is and whether it is still in operation.

When I enlarged the photo I can read "our tavern" on the garage, with something underneath I cannot make out.

Edited March 6 2015: Thank you to the reader, Theresa Dempsey, who provided a link to more information about this place, which is very old and near Greenwood Lake, NJ. My Dad spent a lot of time at the lake, a friend had a cottage there. Dad said that is where he played poker with Babe Ruth. 

Here is the link:
njpostalhistory.org/media/archive/059-sep84njph.pdf