Mary

Written on verso: Mary
Printed on verso: I.H. Bonsall, Photographer, Arkansas City, Kan.
This small photo is partially wrapped in purple crêpe paper. The back flap has something written on it that I cannot quite decipher.

I.H. Bonsall had been an apprentice to Matthew Brady, visually documenting the US Civil War. Bonsall was active in Arkansas City, Kansas in the 1870s.

As for Mary, the little girl with the determined stance, I really don't know who she is. Ellen Snyder McDowell, the keeper of this album, did have a little sister named Mary Snyder who would've fit the age of this girl. But I am unable to explain why Ellen's sister would be in Kansas when the rest of the family was in Casey, Illinois.

Ellen Snyder

Printed: Wm. Echelberry, Casey, Ill.

The young woman on the left is my great-grandmother, Ellen Snyder, the compiler of this album. This looks like it was taken before she married Ben McDowell in 1879.

The McDowell Family Album

The McDowell Family Album is something of a mystery. This family has never been real big on recording their history. In fact, during the 20th century family members were unable to name their grandparents for official documents like death certificates.

To illustrate this point, my Mom's cousin gave me this album when we visited him in Centralia, Washington over 30 years ago. "Here kid," he said, "Take it. I'm not into this gynecology crap."

Though the photos are mostly unmarked, they are interesting portraits of a colorful family who were part of the history of Colorado in the era of the silver boom in the 1880s-1890s. And obviously, they didn't look back.

The album was curated by my great grandmother, Ellen McDowell. She was born Ellen Snyder in Casey, Illinois, Apr. 17, 1862. She married Benjamin F. McDowell in 1879 and the young family moved to Ouray, Colorado in the 1880s. Ben deserted the family in 1896 and Ellen supported her four sons and two daughters by running a laundry-- by hand-- for the silver prospectors. She followed her sons to Centralia, Washington in the 1920s, where she died Feb. 15, 1949.