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.
The Diogenes Club
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Unidentified
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
On verso: Lutges, Cor. Jefferson Ave. and Griswold St. Over Ives Bank, Detroit.
Friday, December 13, 2013
The Warren G. Harding Song
Some people say he's the worst President we ever had
But allow me to tell you he was not entirely bad
He actually made a speech in the South touting near-desegregation
He promoted the idea of arms control for peace in every nation
He had affairs, his friends were crooks, but, by God, he had Presidential looks
In the end, in the Presidential canon, he should be grateful he wasn't
James Buchanan.
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.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Unidentified
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
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.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
W.F. Reeves / Camp Douglas, U.T. ...
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.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Lafe
Charles LaFayette Reeves, probably taken during the "lost years," 1872-1884.
Sid, Jennie
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.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Sid
Sidney A. Reeves. I'm guessing this was taken in the early 1890s in Centralia, Washington.
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