#52Ancestors - Family Photo

                I love photos.  Everyone who knows me knows that I rarely go anywhere without my camera.  I photograph wildlife, landscapes and people.  I especially love old photos and always have.  I remember sitting with my great grandmother having her tell me about her Uncle Enoch and showing me his photo.  I search out the old photos, contacting distant cousins in an attempt to put faces on the names that I have spent so much time researching.  To me, it makes everything mean so much more when I can look into the eyes of that person. 

                In our families, we have lots of couple photos and individual shots.  But family photos are few and far between.  The few that we have are true treasures.  One of the best days of research for me was the day I met Tillie Talbot.  She was married to Gedeon and Flavie (Provost) Talbot’s grandson.  She still lived in Greenleaf in a cozy little house.  When I got to her house, she had a small cardboard box sitting on the table.  In it were several 7x9 mailing envelopes.  She invited me to sit down and go ahead and look through them.  Each was labeled, one for Gedeon and Flavie and on each of the others was written the name of one of Gedeon and Flavie’s children.  Inside each envelope were beautiful studio portraits of the families of all but three of their children.  Two of them just had a studio portrait of one of their sons.  There was no photo of little Aurelie, who had died in Illinois.  I was so excited!  I think I bounced in the seat of my pick-up all the way home!

               

The Wilhelm & Bertha (Reich) Quade family, circa 1912.

The girls from L to R: Olga, Hulda, little Bertha, Marie.  Father Wilhelm is standing and Rudolph is the son in back.  Walter is standing at right.  Those seated are Peter, Fred and mother Bertha holding baby David.  

Another family on my husband’s side, the Wilhelm and Bertha (Reich) Quade family, had their own camera and took photos of their farm home near Blue Hill Kansas, various family members and a beautiful family photo with all of them but the son who was behind the camera.  It was taken in the yard of their home, the girls all dressed in white, the boys all wearing shirts, ties and pants. One of my favorites of their snap shots was a photo of my husband’s grandmother Bertha with two of her little brothers posing in front of the family Christmas tree in about 1915.

Hulda Quade & Alfred Lick pose for a
snapshot on their wedding day.  They are
standing in the living room of the home
where Hulda and her siblings were raised
near Blue Hill, Kansas

When their second daughter Hulda married Alfred Lick at their farm home on the 10^th of May 1916, the family camera was used to snap several very special photos.  Hulda and Alfred would later pose for a formal studio portrait in their wedding clothes, but on the day of their wedding, the Quade family photographer took their photo in the living room.  I love the crepe paper bell hanging over their heads. 

The second photo tells the story about how close Wilhelm Quade was to his siblings who remained in Missouri.  It was taken outside the house with everyone who was at the wedding posing on the porch.  It is nearly impossible to put names on all of the faces, but two of the gentlemen on the right side of the photo in front are Wilhelm’s brothers.

  

A true treasure.  Look at how many relatives and friends filled the Quade home for Hulda and Alfred's wedding!

The three photos we have of Hulda’s wedding (the third was taken inside the house and has the happy couple, the best man and maid of honor) were printed on post card backs and in Hulda’s beautiful script was written “Bertha”.  She had had copies made for her seven year-old sister Bertha. 

                The sad thing about these photos is that just six days after the Lick’s second anniversary, Hulda passed away.  She left Alfred with one year-old son Marvin. 

                We have not found photos like this of the other Quade children’s weddings.  Surely they were taken, we just have not found the person who has them.  Hopefully we will find them someday!