Monday, August 27, 2012

Schavey Envelope Collection:
Mable and Harry

At last the time is ripe (in other words, it suits my convenience) to begin a tour of another collection of photos, similar to the WWI-era photo album and the glass-plate negatives. Like the other two, I came across this collection in the files of the Hobart Historical Society. It consists of a number of small photographs stuffed into this envelope:

Envelope holding all the photos
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.


Hence these photos shall be known as the Schavey envelope collection. The very few that are identified show Mable Schavey, along with Harry Breyfogle (whom she married circa 1922), and their son, Kenneth (born circa 1925).* If I've figured out the family relations correctly, Mable was the daughter of Henry Schavey, who was among the many sons of Fred and Anna Schavey. So the "Grampa Schavey" mentioned on the envelope was Henry (born circa 1871), who married (circa 1892) Frances Springman and fathered Mable (circa 1896). The other names on the envelope are thus Mable's siblings.

Mable grew up in western Porter County. In 1900, her parents were farming rented land in Portage Township; by 1910 they had bought their own land in Union Township, where the 1920 census found also found them.

Schavey, Union, 1921
(Click on image to enlarge)
This excerpt from a 1921 plat map of Union Township shows the Schavey farm. The residence of Otto Gruel, noted at the lower left, was just over the Lake County border, on the north side of Ainsworth Road.
Plat map, digitized by Steven R. Shook, via www.inportercounty.org.


I don't know exactly when the Schaveys moved to Hobart, but Mable and her husband and son were there when the 1930 census came around, and so was her father (widowed and remarried).

Let's start with this photo which, according to handwritten notes on the back, shows Mable (Schavey) and Harry Breyfogle on May 10, 1924.

Mable & Harry 5-10-1924
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.


_____________________
*Dates estimated from the 1930 Census.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have a picture of who I am pretty sure is Mabel's brother Clarence from 1924:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/centerforhistory/6284830612/



Rachel