Cora Kincaid

Cora Kincaid

Printed: Arms, Grand Ledge, Michigan

Coralynne M. Bennett, a cousin of Jennie Reeves, married Arthur B. Kincaid. She lived from 1875 to 1953.

Theodore and Jennie Hoss

Printed: T.R. Williams, Centralia, Wash.

I have been told this is a photo of my great-grandparents, Theodore and Jennie (Reeves) Hoss, on their wedding day, Feb. 20, 1890.

Theodore Jacob Hoss was born in Wisconsin in 1863. Part of his childhood was spent in Nebraska. The Hoss family arrived in Washington Territory in the mid-1870s.

Theodore and Jennie were a power couple. She "became the leader in every group she joined," according to one family member. The Red Cross and the GAR were two groups where she was active, and she was indeed the State Chair of the GAR for a year.

He was a progressive Democrat who was a frequent candidate in a conservative Republican county. Occasionally he'd get elected to a city or county office. His runs for the legislature were not successful.

How radical was he? As the Democratic nominee for US Congress in 1918 he stood for equal wages for equal work for men and women. That was pretty radical.

But he was also a successful businessman and had a role in starting Centralia's first electric utility and streetcar line. Theodore died in 1947.

Theodore and Jennie are buried in Centralia's Pioneer Cemetery

Jennie's Mother

Written on verso: Jennie's Mother, 1889, Lydia Melissa Reeves

My great-great grandmother. Although this has an 1889 date, I suspect this photo was taken at a much earlier year. In the late 1880s she survived Typhoid Fever, but died as a result of complications from surgery for cancer in 1892 shortly after she turned 50.

She lived in Centralia, Washington for a brief time, 1889-1892. I have a copy of a letter she wrote back to relatives in Michigan about her impressions of this area. It's very charming and hopeful.

Unfortunately, no one in my grandparents' generation was old enough to remember her, so I didn't get any firsthand accounts of what she was like, except that she was terribly missed by her family. 

Eunice Baylis

Written on album sleeve: Eunice Baylis

Printed on verso: S.T. Speechly, Ground Floor Gallery, No. 72, South Main Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Negatives Preserved. Pictures Enlarged.

Eunice E. Upham (1840-1897) married Richard Samuel Baylis (1830-1886) in 1861. She was born in Ohio but spent most of her life in Michigan. She was an aunt to Jennie Reeves, the keeper of this album. 

Unidentified

Tintype.

Although there are no markings on this tintype or the album sleeve, I am guessing the woman on the right side is my great-grandmother, Jennie Reeves, standing behind her brother Charles LaFayette "Lafe" Reeves. If so, this was taken in the 1880s. 

Della Oding

Tintype. Jewelry was painted gold. Written on album sleeve: Della Oding

Della was a cousin to Jennie Reeves, the compiler of this album.

Della Letitia Burns lived all of her life in Michigan (1862-1934) it would seem. She married John Carl Oding in 1879.

Jessie Reeves - Wife

Tintype. Written on album sleeve: Jessie Reeves - Wife.

Jesse A. Reeves was born Aug. 6, 1833 in Ohio and died June 4, 1908 in Michigan.

Interesting this is the same background studio set as in several other tintypes in this album. For some reason in the back of my mind I think Jesse lived in Kansas for awhile. But I am incredibly rusty on all my genealogical facts.

Jesse was an uncle to Jennie Reeves, who kept this album. He was an older brother to her father, Walter Francis "Frank" Reeves. The fact she did not name her aunt suggests this couple were not really a big part of her world when she was growing up.

But like so many other photos in this album, it is an interesting portrait even without any background information. There is a certain magic to these personal visual portals into the 19th century.

Jennie and Mother

Tintype. Written on album sleeve: Jennie and Mother.

A mysterious photo. It is possible this is a portrait of  Jennie Melissa Reeves (upper right) and her mother Lydia Melissa (Upham) Reeves (lower right), but the images don't really match other photos. The other two women are unidentified.

If it is them, this was probably taken in the 1880s. Lydia would've only been in her 40s but looks much older here to our 21st century eyes. She was apparently a frontier woman, struggling frequently as a lone parent raising three children while her husband was out on long scouting missions for the Army-- or so they say.

Sid, Jennie

Tintype with "Sid, Jennie" written on album sleeve.

Siblings Sid and Jennie Reeves, born in 1872 and 1869. This would've been taken during the 1872-1884 "lost years" where I cannot account for their whereabouts. What is intriguing is that these studio props show up in a few other tintypes with different people in the album.

According to family legend, their father, William Francis "Frank" Reeves served as a civilian scout for the Army on the Western frontier at some point in those dozen years, and the family sort of moved around on the edge of the frontier behind him. If that is so, these two children with serious expressions waiting by an empty chair seems a little heart breaking.

One family story tells about the Mother and her three Reeves children basically scraping by in a modest cabin in the dead of winter out in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas while Dad was gone on a long scouting mission. The local tribe took pity on the family and left a freshly killed deer at their doorstep to help them get by.

Jennie, Lafe

Tintype with barely readable notation on verso: "Jennie, Lafe"

Charles LaFayette Reeves and his sister, Jennie Melissa Reeves. Jennie was my great-grandmother and the curator of this album.

Jennie was born Sept. 22, 1869 in Lansing, Michigan. Before accompanying her family to Centralia, Washington Territory in 1889 she briefly taught school.

She married Theodore Jacob Hoss in Centralia, Feb. 20, 1890. They were something of a power couple, both of them deeply involved in politics and social groups. Although Centralia was and remains a very conservative town, Theodore and Jennie were outspoken progressives.

Jennie died in Centralia on Valentine's Day, 1952.

Lafe

Tintype

Barely legible on verso: Lafe

Charles LaFayette Reeves (Aug. 18, 1862-June 4, 1939) was better known as Lafe. He was the older brother of my great grandmother, Jennie. 

Lafe accompanied his family from Michigan to Centralia, Washington Territory in 1889. He married a woman named Elizabeth (Bessie) in 1903 and they both were Christian Scientist converts. When my grandmother Leona survived the influenza epidemic in 1918 she credited Lafe with her recovery.

Lafe was a barber and I only recently learned worked just 7 miles from my home over in Elma, Washington during the early 1900s. In spite of the expression in this photo, he is remembered as a big, friendly man who was also a ventriloquist. 

Charles and Bessie had no children. We visit their graves every year and the headstones are eroding away down there in Centralia.

OK, now here's a mystery for you research wizards. Between the birth of Sidney A. Reeves (Lafe's youngest sibling) in Michigan, Mar. 28, 1872 and the year 1884 when the family is safely back in the Wolverine State but a bit further north, I cannot account for the whereabouts of the Reeves family. There are some pretty wild stories, all unconfirmed, which include George Armstrong Custer and Little Bighorn. I'll get to it eventually here. It would seem this tintype of Lafe was taken during this lost chunk of time. And he looks worn beyond his tender years. There's a good story somewhere in there.

Sid

Written on album sleeve: Sid

Written on verso: S.A. Reeves, 1891, Mrs. Theo. Hoss

Printed: T.R. Williams, Centralia, Wash.

Sidney A. Reeves was the youngest of three. He was born Mar. 28, 1872 in Michigan. When the Reeves family moved to Washington Territory in 1889 he was still a teenager. In this photo he is 18 or 19 years old.

They tell me he was employed as a butcher and was an avid hunter. He never married and lived with his sister Jennie and her husband Theodore Hoss until 1920. Eventually he moved to the country where he raised hunting dogs.  

Sid died in Centralia, Washington Aug. 21, 1938. He is buried in Centralia's Pioneer Cemetery under a rapidly eroding simple headstone.

 

Ben Huff - 1889

Written on album sleeve: Ben Huff - 1889

Bottom margin: Baldwin, Flint, Mich.

According to my grandmother, who would provide narration as I frequently perused this album in the 1960s and 1970s, Ben Huff was a guy my great-grandmother Jennie Reeves was sweet on before the whole Reeves family pulled up roots and headed to Washington Territory in 1889 shortly before statehood out here.