Unidentified

Photo of unidentified woman.

On verso: Photographed by A.M. Cheney, Lansing, Mich. Rooms over the City Book Store.

A two-cent bank check stamp is affixed to the verso, looks like Mr. Cheney's initials are on it.

Unidentified

Unidentified man in what looks like a costume as part of a marching band?

On verso: Lutges, Cor. Jefferson Ave. and Griswold St. Over Ives Bank, Detroit.

W.F. Reeves

Tintype. Barely legible writing on back: W.F. Reeves

Walter Francis Reeves, known as "Frank," was my great-great grandfather. Although we have several stories, we cannot verify where the Reeves family lived from 1872-1884. The only documentation I have are some tintypes, like this one, probably taken in that time period.

The story here is that after serving as one of Custer's Wolverines in the Civil War, Frank returned to Michigan only to rejoin Custer as a civilian scout. Since his Army career had previously taken him as far West as Utah, Frank had some experience on the frontier.

Supposedly Frank missed out on being part of the fiasco at Little Bighorn in 1876 as the result of some fluke of circumstance.

But like I said, these are just stories with no documentation.

Unidentified

I would've called this portrait a tintype, but embossed into the metal it says: "Melaino type plate for Neff's Pat19feb56.

I think it says "56" at the end, it is hard to read. So this is not a tintype, it is a Melaino Type.

The face has been tinted, the jewelry painted gold.

No idea who this is or why she is in the Reeves Family Album.

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.

Unidentified

Tintype

Lafe

Tintype. Written on album sleeve: Lafe.

Portrait of Charles LaFayette Reeves.

Lafe

Tintype. Written on album sleeve: Lafe

Charles LaFayette Reeves, probably taken during the "lost years," 1872-1884.

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.

Sid

Written on album sleeve: Sid

Sidney A. Reeves. I'm guessing this was taken in the early 1890s in Centralia, Washington.

Unidentified

Printed on verso: H.A. Seymour, Photographer, Corner Courtland and Francis Sts., Jackson, Mich.

Unidentified

Who these people are I do not know and cannot guess. Photo probably taken in Michigan, but possibly in Centralia, Washington.

William Reeves?

A tintype supposedly identified in error on album sleeve as "W.F. Reeves," but somewhere long ago a relative said this was William Reeves (1821-1891?) and his wife Ivey/Lucy Jane (Miller) Reeves.

William was an older brother of my great-great grandfather, Walter Francis Reeves.

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.

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

Although there is no identification on this tintype, I know it is a portrait of Charles LaFayette Reeves, known as Lafe, who has been already been mentioned here.


It would appear this tintype was also taken during the 1872-1884 Reeves mystery years where I did not find any documentation on their location, only unconfirmed stories.

Aunt Eunice

Written on album sleeve: Aunt Eunice
Printed on verso: Lutges, Cor. Jefferson Ave. and Griswold St. Over Ives Bank, Detroit

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.

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.

Unidentified

Tintype of unidentified girl