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. 

Loyal S. Kincaid

Loyal S. Kincaid

Printed: Marvin, Grand Ledge, Michigan

On verso: To Aunt Melissa, a Merry Xmas
Age 3 mo., 23 days
Height 2 1/2 ft.
Weight 17 lbs.

Loyal Kincaid was born July 30, 1890 in Michigan, died June 1, 1968. He served as a private in World War I.

Aunt Melissa was my great-great grandmother, Lydia Melissa Reeves, who would've been living in Centralia, Washington in 1890.

Interesting to read this early use of "Xmas." A little digging shows the term has actually been around a lot longer than I suspected.

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.

W.F. Reeves / Camp Douglas, U.T. ...

 

Tintype sewn into cardstock. The face is slightly tinted and the military buttons have been painted gold. This is really a most amazing artifact. This is the face of a man who survived over two years of Hell.

Written on front: W.F. Reeves

Written on verso: Camp Douglas, U.T., Jan. 24th / 66. Received Feb. the 17th, 1866.

Walter Francis Reeves was my great-great grandfather. He was born in Ohio, near Kent, Oct. 13, 1838, the youngest child of Walter Francis Reeves and Martha (Gee) Reeves. His Dad was a vet of the War of 1812 and died when Walter the 2nd was very young.

Even so, since Walter the 2nd shared his father's name, he was known as "Frank."

The Reeves family moved to Michigan. The early 1860s was something of whirl for Frank. He married Lydia Melissa Upham in 1861. Became a father in 1862. And then joined the Union Army at the very end of 1863.

Frank was one of Custer's Wolverines, being a private in the 5th Michigan Cavalry (Co. G). He took part in many battles, including the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Five Forks, and Appomattox. In some of these battles, Frank might've been shooting at relatives of mine on my Dad's side who were serving in the Confederate Army. 

My grandmother, who remembered him well, told me Frank used to call U.S. Grant "a drunken butcher." Although he was proud he served his country, he carried very bitter memories of the War. It never ceases to astound me that I heard opinions of a Union vet only second hand, and know quite a bit about his personality from people who remembered him. Our history is closer than we think.

After marching in the Grand Review, Frank didn't get to go home to Michigan. Instead they transferred him into the 1st Michigan Calvary and sent him out West in places like Fort Leavenworth, Fort Laramie, and as shown in this tintype, Fort Douglas, Utah Territory. He did take part in some battles with the Native Americans, including at Willow Springs, Dakota Territory, Aug. 12, 1865.

Frank was honorably discharged at Salt Lake City on Mar. 10, 1866. So far as I know, at that time he had been the farthest West of any of my ancestors. He would return.

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.

Mrs. W. F. Reeves, Lafe

Tintype. On the back is written: Mrs. W. F. Reeves, Lafe

This is my great-great grandmother with her firstborn, Charles LaFayette Reeves ("Lafe"), who was born in 1862, placing the date of this portrait in the Civil War era.

Lydia Melissa Upham was born in upstate New York on Sept. 6, 1842. Apparently she was known as Melissa. In 1861 she married Walter Francis Reeves (known as "Frank") in Michigan. I am guessing it was shortly after this photo was taken that Frank enlisted in the Union Army.

The Reeves family migrated to Washington Territory in 1889. In a letter Melissa wrote back home to Michigan from Centralia, Washington in 1891 we learn she had been a victim of typhoid fever in 1888 and had never been the same since. I had heard one reason the family moved West was the hope the climate would be better for her health. 

Melissa died at age 50, Sept. 25, 1892, in Centralia, Washington and is buried there in the Pioneer Cemetery.