Unidentified Baby, Semi-Identified Photographer

Several drafts ago in my list of local photographers, I included Henry Iverson of Chicago; later I took him out because I thought I had confused the Chicago photographer with the "Iverson, Photographer" of "Hobart, Ind." who had taken a photograph in the possession of our Ols historian. Now I begin to think I was wrong in thinking I was wrong.

Here is another Iverson photo I recently bought:


(Click on image to enlarge)

No helpful notes on the original to identify the baby, and it looks like every other baby in a christening gown. So: on to the photographer.

The Hobart Historical Society has a few issues of a Hobart newspaper that has not been microfilmed or otherwise digitized, called the Hobart Advertiser. Elin Christianson[1] tells us that it was published from 1884 to 1899 and further comments:

The Advertiser was established by H.C. Hanson, a Hobart watchmaker and jeweler. George Scholler, Hobart music teacher and instrument dealer, was associated with the Advertiser as editor for a good part of the time. The policy of the paper was distinctive to Hanson who was an ardent prohibitionist and self-appointed keeper of the public morals, using the Advertiser to campaign against saloons, gambling, and Sunday baseball games. He frequently attacked local residents in his columns and collected caustic comments from the Hobart Gazette and physical injuries and libel suits from irate townsfolk in return. In 1899 Hanson decided to become a preacher and sold his paper to Zora E. Irvin [who] changed the name of the paper to the Indiana Cyclone …. [citations omitted]

After reading that description, I dared to hope that the Advertiser might give some juicy details about a certain Ainsworth scandal, so I retrieved the crumbling papers from the museum archives and read through them. Not a word about my scandal, but I did find an interesting item in the April 15, 1887 issue: an advertisement entitled "New Art Gallery," announcing that "H. Iverson," who called himself a "Practical Photographer," was now in business in Hobart.

The Chicago Historical Society[2] tells us that the Chicago photographer, Henry Iverson, operated studios at various addresses from 1874 through 1885:


(Click on image to enlarge)

In 1886 and later years, he was no longer listed in Chicago directories as a photographer. So it's possible that he moved down to Indiana.

The March 15, 1889 Advertiser, in its "Hobart Tidings" social column, reported that "Mr. Iverson and family left for their home in Kansas, last Tuesday." That may have been the photographer; I can't find any other Iversons who lived in Hobart. The Kansas newspapers that are online don't yield any information about the photographer Iverson in that era, and, of course, the 1890 census is lost.

The 1900 Census shows the Henry Iverson who I believe is our guy back in Chicago, having remarried after the death of his first wife, and working as an insurance agent. I can't find him in the 1910 Census. He died August 31, 1916. The transcription of his death certificate on Ancestry.com says he was a retired miner, of all things! I can't find any death notices in the Chicago newspapers online.

So, in short, he's elusive and I'm not sure about his history before and after his stay in Hobart, but I feel pretty confident that photographs with the imprint of Iverson of Hobart, Ind. (rare as they are) date between April 1887 and mid-March 1889.

I have updated my photographer notes accordingly.


_______________
[1] Elin Christianson, "Hobart Advertiser (1884-1899)," Hobart, Indiana Newspapers Summaries, Aug. 1979 (manuscript owned by the Hobart Historical Society).
[2] Chicago Historical Society, Chicago Photographers 1847 Through 1900 as Listed in Chicago City Directories (1958), online at http://livinghistoryofillinois.com/pdf_files/Chicago%20Photographers%201847%20through%201900,%20as%20listed%20in%20Chicago%20City%20Directories.pdf.

Baring His Sole

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of N.B.

Mildred didn't give us a caption for this one.

The background is the west side of the Lindborg house in Ainsworth.

In the back row, from left to right, we can recognize Gust Lindborg and his daughters, Mildred and Gladys. I'm not sure who the next two women are; the album's owner thinks they might be Edna and Mickey Kimball/Goyette, but looking at the full-size scan of the photo, I wonder — they seem too far apart in age to be sisters — so I'm going to call them unidentified for now. At right are Norma and Anna Lindborg.

In the front row, the kid at left with his foot to the camera is Frank Hanson; crouching next to him is his father, and then Raymond Lindborg.

I am told that the Hansons were friends of the Lindborgs who lived in Gary. The 1930 Census shows a Peter and Josephine Hanson in Gary, with a 15-year-old son, Franklin. (Irene Hanson's parents were also named Peter and Josephine, and their ages correspond to Franklin's parents', but I can't find any intersection of Irene and Franklin.)

As to the date of the photo — judging by the mixture of 1920s and 1930s waistlines among the women, and by the apparent age of Raymond Lindborg, I would guess it was taken about 1931 or '32.

"A Wagon Load"

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of N.B.

Mildred did not name anyone in this photo, but from the "Irene & Abbie" photo we recognize (at left) Abbie (last name unknown, possibly Johnson) and Irene Hanson. The boy sitting on the wagon may be Franklin Lindborg. The little kids in the street are unidentified.

Looming behind Abbie and Irene is the frame part of the Lindborg business building. The upper floor was still a dance hall at this time. Directly behind Irene you can see the brick part — the blacksmith shop — and between her and the boy on the wagon, a glimpse of the former saloon building. Far in the background to the right of the wagon, there is the Raschka (later Shearer) warehouse. Just peeking out from the right edge of the photo is the Ainsworth general store.

Abbie, Irene and I

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of E.H.
Abbie & I

"I" was Mildred Lindborg, of course. Abbie's last name is lost to memory. The 1920 Census shows an Abbie Johnson, born around 1906 of Swedish-immigrant parents, living in Gary — seems a good candidate to be Mildred's friend, but I just don't know.


Irene & Abbie

All we know about Irene is her last name, Hanson. We find an Irene Hanson just a year older than Mildred, in Miller in the 1910 Census and Gary in the 1920 Census; that's a possibility.*

Judging by the shadows in the road, the photographer is wearing a dress.

In the background is downtown Ainsworth. In both pictures we can see the Raschka (later Shearer) warehouse; in the second picture, to the left of Abbie's upper arm, "W. Raschka" is legible on the side of the warehouse. At the right of both pictures, we catch a glimpse of the general store. The second picture also takes in the former saloon building, now (1920s) serving as — what? a little grocery? On the telephone pole next to it are signs reading "Gasoline Filling Station" and "Fisk Tires," but perhaps the gas and tires were being sold from Gust Lindborg's shop.

______________________
*Irene had a brother, Curtis, which leads me to wonder about the unidentified Hanson boy we've previously seen (#7 in this Labor Day group photo).

Labor Day 1920something

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of N.B.

Mildred wrote, "Labor Day 1921" — I think, but the last digit is nearly illegible; it could also be "4" or "6." Judging by the clothing, I'm inclined to think it is 1921.


(1) Hulda Palm (wife of Peter). (2) Peter Palm (Anna Lindborg's brother). (3) Grandma Larson. (4) Anna Lindborg. (5) Mrs. Bowman. (6) Mabel Larson(?). (7) [first name unknown] Hanson(?). (8) Franklin Lindborg. (9) Gust Lindborg. (10) Helen Palm(?). (11) Gladys Lindborg. (12) Esther Palm(?). (13) Norma Lindborg. (14) June Bowman(?).

Location unknown.