Sunday, June 29, 2014

Keith Wessman (1925-2014)

Keith Hayward Wessman was the last living of the ten sons of Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman and Jean Hayward Wessman. [1] He died in Henderson, Nevada, this week at the age of 89.

After Jean's funeral, 1959.
Front, left to right: John, Keith, Liz, Boyd, Gam.
Back: Ernie, Harry, Jean, Phil, Norinne, Paul.

Here are a few anecdotes about his early life taken from several family histories.
Keith was a premature baby and did not do well at first. Henry said to put him out in the dirt and sunlight. He got quite brown. For many years, he was called "Brownie."
[One day] Jean was scrubbing the kitchen floor in her bare feet. Keith was in the bathroom (just off of the kitchen) taking a bath. He was about seven or eight years old. She said that she just got done and needed to wash her feet so she could get her socks and shoes on. She came and sat on the edge of the tub and put her feet in the water. She slipped right into the water. It ended up that she popped Keith up in the air and he ended sitting on top of her. It was a big surprise but they laughed about it for many, many years. 
Keith's first memories of his parents are of taking two cars loads full of family and friends and going up to the canyons to camp, eat, swim and play ball. On Saturdays, Jean made bread. She would also cook beans all day. After coming home from the canyons, the family would sit and eat biscuits and beans. Keith learned to love biscuits and beans from this experience....
Henry expected certain things out of his children. One time, Keith tried to run away from church and he almost got home. The next thing that he knew, he heard the old Dodge tearing up the road. Henry never went over 45 miles per hour.... He came screeching up the road and spotted Keith. He got Keith right back in the car and took him back to church. Keith does not know how he found out he was gone.
Another time, Keith was attempting to cut school (the first time). Henry ran him down and took him right back. Keith did not try to cut school again until he was a senior.
Keith with his niece Ann.
After his father died, Keith (even though he was six) felt as if he had to grow up. He wanted to do things that would bring his mother comfort. He did not want to give her anything to worry about. He knew that she was counting on him to do what he should.
The [Wessman] children were ... musically inclined.... Around 1930-31, John got an accordion for Christmas. Dick played quite well also on the guitar, ukulele and mandolin. They played quite a bit together. Keith took up the accordion and the girls took piano lessons. They were good at it. [Jean] tried to teach Keith the piano, but he never took to it.
Keith and Lilly Wessman and family, 1961.

Jean fought tooth and nail about Keith going into the service during World War II. Finally, she said that he was going to be 18 on his next birthday and there was nothing she could do to stop him. She signed for him to go a month before he turned 18. She was a good letter writer to all her sons in the service even though others may or may not have been. Ernie and Keith frequently sent letters home to their mother. Getting mail to Keith was tricky because he was on the ship.
Seven Wessman sons in the service, World War II.
From the Salt Lake Tribune, November 11, 1944: Seven uniformed sons of Mrs. Jean H. Wessman of 184 E St., have won for her a good citizenship medal, the fourth such destinction [sic] to be given a Utah mother during this war.... 
The Wessman servicemen are as follows: Cpl. [Corporal] Richard H. Wessman, 32, stationed with a repair squadron in Italy; Cpl. Philip H. Wessman, 24, who served for two and one half years in the Pacific Theater, now stationed with an infantry outfit in England; G.M. 3-c [Gunner's Mate 3rd ClassKeith Wessman, 19, somewhere in the South Pacific; Sgt. [Sergeant] Ernest H. Wessman, 23, now stationed with the field artillery at Camp Shelby, Miss., also served two and one half years in the Pacific Theater; S-Sgt. [Staff Sergeant] Paul H. Wessman, 30, stationed at an army general hospital in England; Pvt.  [Private] John H. Wessman, Camp Fannin, Texas, and Amm 2-c [Aviation Machinist's Mate? (US Navy) 2nd Class] Gammon Wessman, 21, reciptient of the Presidential Citation for serving in the battle of Attu and Kiska

Note.
[1] Henry and Jean Wessman had fifteen children: Merle (1909-1945), Henry (1911-1972), Richard (1912-1997), a stillborn son (1913), Paul (1914-1985), Jean (1916-2004), John (1917-2004), Elizabeth (1918-1999), Philip (1920-1989), Ernest (1921-2010), Gammon (1923-2004), Keith (1925-2014), Norinne (1926), Boyd (1928-1985), and Marilyn (1930-2010). Henry died in 1932 when Marilyn was one year old.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

FamilySearch Family Tree Hints Now Showing

FamilySearch announced at the end of May that it would be adding a "hints" feature to Family Tree. I pulled up Family Tree this afternoon on my tablet and saw the new hints. I had just been working on my desktop and hadn't seen it, so I checked back there and didn't see any, so this great new feature is currently on my tablet but not desktop version of Family Tree. I imagine it will be coming soon to the desktop version of Family Tree.

Here is a quick example of the Record Hints feature. 

My fourth great-grandfather Joseph George Defriez (1821-1887) worked for many decades as a parish doctor and surgeon in London's East End. He provided primary care, did surgery, attended women in childbirth, did postmortem examinations for murders, and provided medical care during cholera epidemics.

His entry has already been sourced, but FamilySearch came up with an additional recommendation.


I clicked on the link and reviewed the source. The name and date and place of his marriage to Mary Ann Godfrey were all correct, so I added the source to Joseph's entry.



With that source processed, his Record Hints section now says, "There are no pending record hints for this person."


This is what his entry looks like right now on my desktop computer, with the new source added and no Record Hints section showing yet.


Now that I've figured out how that works, I'm mostly going to leave the hints alone so other relatives can have the experience of adding sources to entries, and then when I get my weekly email of changes to watched entries, I'll review the added sources and make sure they're correct.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Ann Prior Jarvis Diary — May 27–June 4, 1884

In this installment, Ann comments about life as a mother-in-law after her son-in-law does some interior painting in her home.



27 Tusday Weather pleasant read a book in the forenoon feel lazy after going out yesterdy

28 Wed Weather raing

29 Thus Weather fine Thomas [Cottam, her son-in-law] White washed three rooms for us it is good to have Sons in law although mothers in law are voted a nuisance.

30 Friday weather changeble spent the day kniting sent a letter to Heber we do not get many letters from Arizona now I expect they are busy.

31 Saturday Weather pleasant Father & I rode out in the buggy


June 1 Sun Weather fine Father & Josey is gone to sunday school I want to go to sunday school and teach if my health would improve I went to meeting it was a dull one

Monday 2 Weather hot George came here I called at his home to see Eleanor she is very sick I hope she will soon be well
called to see Em

Tuesday 3 Weather warm Brig borowed my horse for two days I can not get out to see the Eleanor or Em
The relief Society quilted a large quilt in my room only a few attended

Wed 4 Weather fair quilted a quilt

(There is nothing in the Walker diary during this period.)

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Ann Prior Jarvis Diary — May 13–26, 1884

This installment is rather pastoral with checkers, buggy rides, spring rains, and a Sunday School picnic.



13 Tusday Weather warm Em came in the morning stayed all day  I took her home in the buggy took her carpet rags to the weavers Mrs Calkins loaned me a book

14 Wed Weather warm Father has gone to the Temple
Josey & I had a nice ride in the buggy in the evening we saw Amelia I felt the ride done me good Sent a note to Jo[indecipherable]

15 Thurs Weather stormy rain Father went to the Temple played checkers with Brig read knited  Bought some cocoa I think it is to damp for me to take my accustomed ride

16 Friday Weather fine Father went for the last of Johnsons list. My health is improved. I hope I shall not take cold again in a hurry I took Sister Calkin to Br Squire's in the buggy

17 Satu  Weather fine Josey & I took a ride in the evening  called at Em

18 Sun Weather Stormy thundering lightning I have ^not^ gone to meeting to day spent the day reading writing

19 Mon Weather changable



20 Tus Weather fine I went to the relief society helped to quilt a patchwork quilt for sister Keates who is sick I and Josey rode in the buggy in the evening

21 Wed Weather Cloudy was sick in the night could not sleep untill two in the morning was thankful I could lie down then We have a nother Temple in the land of Zion

22 Thus  Weather changeable I have a bad head ache. dull weather. Josey had a letter from Charley to day raining again strange weather for [indecipherable]

23 Friday Weather fine finished a pair of Knited stockings read the deseret news ^it is^ the last day of school for this term

24 Satu Weather fine went to Mr Dodges farm
the School had a picnic at the Spring

25 Sun Weather Stormy did not go to meeting
Josey went to meeting

26 Mon Weather fine went to the first Ward Sunday School pic nic at Dodges spring
the children had a good time Mustards left to day


Brief excerpts from Charles Lowell Walker's Diary.

18th May Sund We have had some very nice rains of late, and the whole country seems blooming with flowers and grass. In fact we had no spring like this for 20 years. Fruit and vines look promising... (II:631)

St George 22nd May, 1884  I see by the Papers that the Logan Temple was Dedicated... (II:632)


Notes.
Mrs/Sister Calkins — Either Marietta Symonds Barney Calkin (1810-1886) or Agnes Elizabeth Perkes Calkin Thompson (1840-1916), but probably the former.

"the last of Johnsons list" — ?

Sister Keates — Either Susanna Mehitable Rogers Sangiovanni Pickett Keate (1813-1905) or Jacobine Christoffersen Keate (1845-1896).

Mr. Dodges/Dodges Spring — A small spring near St. George, used for recreational purposes.

Mustards — Perhaps David Mustard. His daughter Margaret Mustard Sant and her family moved to Idaho in the early 1880s.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Myron Tanner Visits New York

This is an 1891 New York newspaper article about one of John Tanner's sons, Myron Tanner, the oldest son of his third wife, Elizabeth Beswick Tanner.

* * *

A Mormon Bishop at His Birthplace.

John Tanner of Warrensburgh [why Warrensburg and not Bolton Landing?] about sixty years ago embraced the Mormon faith and with his family went to Kirtland, Ohio, thence to Nauvoo, Ill, and with the Mormon exodus to Salt Lake. His son, Myron Tanner, aged about sixty years, has just returned to his native heath for the first time in fifty-seven years. His home address is Provo, Utah, where he is a high dignitary — bishop — in the Mormon church. He speaks laudatory of the future prospects of the territory, believing that when the mineral deposits and agricultural possibilities are fully developed and the territory admitted as a state it will have the greatest value of any state in the Union.

Daily Times (Troy, New York), "A Mormon Bishop at His Birthplace,"
May 7, 1891. From fultonhistory.com.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Joseph George Defriez: East End Surgeon


Tanner Line

By the mid-1870s, most of the Defriez children had left home. The boys had gone to sea and were sailing around the world and the girls had married. Their father Joseph George Defriez continued his work as a medical doctor in the East End of London and their mother Mary Ann Godfrey Defriez helped run a branch of the post office.

1871 England Census.

Their home at 173 Bethnal Green Road in Bethnal Green would have been a busy one, centered as it was in a crowded and poverty-stricken area of London. The Defriezes were busy people and usually had a servant or two to help run their home.

Some of you may have seen the magnificent BBC production Call the Midwife. (If you haven't, you may want to remedy that, but do realize that due to its medical content it is not suitable for children.) The show is set in Poplar, London, somewhat closer to the Thames than Bethnal Green, but although the show is set seventy years later, many of the people and situations would give you a sense of the lives the DeFriezes would have lived.


Joseph was the oldest child of Joseph Defriez, a funeral feather merchant, and Sarah Harrington Defriez. (See: Joseph Defriez and the Freedom of the City of London.) He had been well educated and he had a busy practice involving all areas of medicine. He married active and intelligent Mary Ann Godfrey in 1842 and they had ten children.

In 1863 and 1864 the Poor Law Board of the House of Commons held hearings looking into the practices of Dr. Moore, who, like Joseph was a medical officer of the Parish of St. Matthew in Bethnal Green. The hearings and testimony provide a glimpse into Joseph's medical practice.

Here is a chart showing the number of childbirths Joseph attended over a ten-year period. He attended between 7 and 52 normal cases in a year, and between 3 and 7 complicated or "extra" cases.


Here is his deposition in the Moore case.


What a treasure! This is the first time we've ever heard Joseph George Defriez in his own words.

Note the insight into the Dickensian conditions: he is saying that he attended a child living in a filthy attic in a home just 40 feet from his house. It was a crowded, poverty-stricken area in ways that we can scarcely imagine in modern America. (For more insight into the poverty in England at that time, read Dickens' Oliver Twist or David Copperfield.)

And don't miss the genealogical content: "I live opposite Hollybush-place...I have lived there 14 years. I have eight children living—10 in family."

At the time his wife Mary Anne had given birth to nine children. Their son Arthur died in 1849, and curiously, if Joseph had given the deposition a few days later, he would have had to report nine living children since his son Herbert was born two days after the February 13, 1864 deposition.

Tragically, their youngest sons, Herbert and Alexander died about two years later. They died in the winter, so it may have been from diphtheria or another infectious illness, rather than cholera, which showed up in the summer, including the huge June 1866 epidemic in the East End, which would have kept Joseph busy all that summer after the deaths of his son, attending and quarantining patients and filing medical reports for some of the 5,600 deaths.

About a year after the deaths of their two sons, the Defriezes were saddened to hear of the death of their son Josiah in an accident on board the ship Mary Warren. He was buried at sea somewhere near Indonesia.

* * *

A few years later Joseph found himself in legal trouble after a patient, Sarah Parker, died during the birth of her twins.

Something about the death suggested the physician may have been at fault and he was called into court. [1] The court record shows that Joseph George Defriez, surgeon, age 50, surrendered himself at court, the famous Old Bailey, on April 6, 1871. This means that he probably would not have spent time in the adjacent and infamous Newgate Prison.

Joseph was charged with "feloniously Killing and Slaying Sarah Parker."


The other prisoners on trial that day were William Hill, a cabdriver also accused of manslaughter, and Louisa Salter, accused of perjury.

All three were found not guilty.

Here is the summary of his trial.
JOSEPH GEORGE DEFRIEZ, Killing & manslaughter, 3rd April 1871. 
326. JOSEPH GEORGE DEFRIEZ (50), Feloniously killing and slaying Sarah Parker. He was also charged on the Coroner's Inquisition with the like offence. 
MESSRS. HARRIS and HUMPHERY conducted the Prosecution; and MR. METCALFE the Defence. 
It appeared, from the medical evidence, that the cause of death was rupture of the womb, caused, probably, by the presence of twins, and not by any neglect of the prisoner, who was the surgeon attending the deceased. 
NOT GUILTY.

* * *

In the mid-1870s, Mary Anne Defriez was searching for spiritual meaning. She became affiliated with a small offshoot group of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but was quickly disappointed by its practices. Then her son Ebenezer returned home to England. He had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia and migrated to Utah where he was called as a missionary to England.

His parents welcomed him with open arms. Joseph outfitted his son as befitted a minister and Mary Anne and her son William and daughter Frances joined the Church. (Their son Charles, my 3rd great grandfather, was also a sailor and left Australia and the Orient and joined his brother Ebenezer in Utah and subsequently joined the church there. Their shipboard training came in handy in St. George when they were called upon to help lift the heavy baptismal font into place in the St. George Temple under the direction of another old British sailor, George Jarvis, later Charles's and his sister Frances's father-in-law.)

Unfortunately, this was a difficult era for the Church in England. The actions of Apostle Albert Carrington left Joseph George Defriez with little sympathy toward the Church. (Story here, but do be aware that the content is disturbing.) Somehow Mary Anne and a few of her children retained their testimonies through this trying time and they left for America in the summer of 1877.

A granddaughter summarized the events as follows:
This was a terrible blow—[Joseph's] authority defied, his dignity wounded, his social standing shattered, his home broken, his loved ones gone. He never seems to have regained his former prestige, but his life became lonely and morose. He refused to associate with the friends of his wife or children, or his wife’s kindred. He must have suffered greatly, and finally concluded he was not entirely right in the course he had taken, ‘tho’ he still considered himself wronged. 
Several years after his wife’s departure, she received a book from her husband, entitled, “A Wife’s Duty.” On the fly-leaf he had written, “I will forgive you for all, if you will only bring my baby back to me,” and signed. But it was too late, his “baby” [Frances "Fanny" Godfrey Defriez Jarvis] was married and had a home and children.
Joseph continued to work as a doctor but left his home on Bethnal Green Road and moved into the home of his brother-in-law, William Clarke.

* * *

Not much is known about his last years. He died on August 29, 1887, shortly after attending a Masonic dinner.

His wife Mary Anne remarried in St. George, Utah, where she was a central figure in the early music scene, including teaching many children to play piano and organ, even after she went totally blind, and at some point (probably) divorced and moved with her daughter's family to Mexico, where she died in 1902.


Joseph George Defriez's will was proved not long after he died. He probably left his comfortable middle-class estate to his children who remained in England, Joseph and Mary Anne, and perhaps other relatives as well. 


If someone cared, they could order his will. In the United Kingdom, wills were formerly ordered from Somerset House. It is now more complicated, but still possible with the information shown in the record above.

I see that Joseph's grandfather's will can be ordered more easily online since he died before 1858 (Will of Richard Defriez, Gentleman of Saint Georges East, Middlesex).


Notes.
[1] A History of the Criminal Law of England, Vol. 1, mentions a case where a doctor was tried and convicted of manslaughter "for causing the death of a woman in delivering her of a child. The judge...summed up strongly for an acquittal, remarking on the slightness of the evidence that the man was drunk at the time; but the jury convicted him, well knowing that he was a notorious and habitual drunkard" (573-574). Since Joseph George was acquitted, there was probably no malpractice involved.

Sources.
1851-1881 England and Wales Census.

"Bethnal Green: Building and Social Conditions from 1837 to 1875," November 2013, British History Online. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22751.

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com, 2010.

London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com, 2010.

London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com, 2010.

Overson, Margaret Jarvis. George Jarvis and Joseph George DeFriez Genealogy. Mesa, Arizona: 1957.

The House of Commons, "Poor Law (Sarah Dove). Parish of Bethnal Green—Charges Against Dr. Moore, &c." Accounts and Papers: Thirty-Six Volumes. Vol. 52, Poor (United Kingdom), Session 4 February–29 July 1864. 28 April 1864, 19, 24–25, 43, 55–57, 66, 76. (Source.)

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London's Criminal Court, 1674 to 1913. [Website.] http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Josiah Godfrey Defriez (1847-1866)


Tanner Line

Josiah Godfrey Defriez enjoyed a busy and comfortable childhood in Bethnal Green, London. He sometimes went on visits with his doctor father, Joseph George Defriez, and enjoyed the poetry and music of his refined mother, Mary Ann Godfrey Defriez.

Josiah was the third child in the family, and probably the first to leave home. On October 8, 1865, he signed on as cabin boy on the ship Mary Warren and began a voyage around the world. The ship arrived in Melbourne, Australia in February of the next year.

On October 7, 1866, Josiah fell from the top mast during a storm and was killed. The captain buried him at sea. Unlike other sailors who died in debt, his estate consisted of £2.17.6, and it was sent home by the consul at the next port. (Assuming I'm reading the cryptic notes correctly.)

On Ancestry.com a few family members list his place of death as "Tengah, Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia" but I cannot find a source for that claim.

Word of his death arrived in Bethnal Green sometime after March 6, 1867. It was a time of sorrow and mourning for the Defriez family: they had lost their youngest son, Herbert, in December 1865, then their next youngest, Alexander, in January 1866. The family may have never quite recovered from these deaths, but that is another story, and will be continued this week.



Except for a few legends shared by well-meaning but inaccurate relatives, the book George Jarvis and Joseph George DeFriez is accurate in most regards, so it was a surprise that the author, Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson, got her uncle's death date wrong, placing it in 1871. I will use the date found in the maritime records and correct it in Family Tree.


Sources.
The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria), "Shipping Intelligence," February 16, 1866, 4, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/5770163.

The National Archives, Maritime deaths [database online], findmypast, (Source).

Overson, Margaret Jarvis. George Jarvis and Joseph George DeFriez Genealogy. Mesa, Arizona: 1957.

Monday, June 2, 2014

A Picture of Samuel Shepherd and Charity Bates Swarthout Shepherd?

Tanner Family

Last fall Gary and Ardyn Fredericksen put this picture on Ancestry. I saw it last week and was intrigued.


None of us in this branch of the family had ever seen a picture of Samuel Shepherd, a veteran of the War of 1812, Mormon pioneer, and original settler of San Bernardino, California.

Ardyn is a descendant of Charity Bates and her first husband, Philip Swarthout.

After Philip died and after Samuel Shepherd's first wife, Roxie Ray, died, Charity and Samuel blended their large families and had a 42-year marriage before they both died of old age in 1877.

The note attached to the picture says:
I believe this to be Charity Bates Swarthout Shepherd and Sam Shepherd. This was the oldest picture in the family photos and after talking to other surviving members of the Shepherd family (living in Utah), they had this same photo.
And an additional note in Ancestry says:
See the note about the identification of the photograph. Charity's daughter, Lucinda, looks so much like her. The photo was in the collection of a direct descendent.
As with the identification of the historical Christensen and Tanner pictures — and proposed daguerreotypes of Joseph Smith; see (Rumor-Mongering: Joseph Smith Daguerreotype) and (And Yet Another Joseph Smith Photograph) — there are several techniques to identify the subjects of historical but unlabeled photographs, including the following considerations.

What is the provenance of the picture? (Who owns it and why?)
The photograph belongs to a direct descendant of Charity Bates Swarthout Shepherd. She and her husband have been very helpful in answering my questions about the family and the photograph, and the reported chain of ownership makes sense and does not contain any clues or red flags that would suggest that the subjects of the photo were any other of their ancestors.

The Fredericksens contacted an elderly Shepherd descendant in Utah and got confirmation that a descendant of Samuel also owned a copy of this picture. 

Is the technology appropriate to the time?
Yes. The picture would have to have been taken before 1877 when Samuel and Charity died. A look at the Pioneers of San Bernardino collection shows a number of similar photographs from around 1870, and they resemble the photograph in technology, detail, architecture, and vegetation.

Butcher Shop of T. F. Allen on Third Street in San Bernardino, c. 1875. Source.

San Bernardino Deluge Hose Co. 2, c. 1860-1870. Source.

Were there daguerreotypists or photographers operating in the area at the time?
Yes. See above.

Were the people being identified in the area at the time?
Yes. The Shepherds lived in San Bernardino almost continually from 1851 until they died in 1877.

1870 US Census, San Bernardino, Samuel and Charity Shepherd.

Any family resemblances? Do the ages of the people in the photograph seem to be accurate?
Yes. Both people in the picture could be in their 70s or 80s.

Here is a comparison of the subjects. First is the man in the photo followed by photos of Samuel's children; next the woman in the photo followed by photos of Charity's children. Samuel and Charity had one daughter; her photo is at the end.

Note shape of face, head, brow, noses and chin; distance between nose and mouth; male facial hair; coloring; etc.

Shepherd Family


Rollins Don Carlos Shepherd (1830-1909) c. 1900.  From FamilySearch.
Marcus deLafayette Shepherd (1824-1904). From FamilySearch.
Julia Ann Shepherd Tanner (1829-1899). From FamilySearch.

Swarthout Family


George Washington Swarthout (1817-1872). From Ancestry.
Lucinda Swarthout (1818-1895) and her husband James Coburn (1815-1898), San Bernardino.
A close-up of Lucinda.
Nathan Swarthout (1823-1903), San Bernardino Public Library.
Hamilton Swarthout (1828-1894), San Bernardino Public Library.


Daughter of Samuel and Charity

Lydia Shepherd Davidson (1836-1929), from Ancestry.

So are there family resemblances? Very definitely.

What can the clothing tell us about when the picture was taken?
Melinda Bowers is a graphic designer with a specialty in historical clothing design. She blogs at Heritage Paper Dolls.

She noted that even on the frontier, people kept up to date on fashions and the women made or altered clothing based on fashion journals, so if clothing appears to belong to a certain era, it most likely does. 

She said the following about this picture:
This dress in actually a little closer to the 1860s in style than the 1870s. In the 60s, dresses had that sloping shoulder look (think civil war era) and wider type sleeves for dressy dresses, but loose sleeves for everyday wear. Can you see the dropped shoulder on the dress? The shoulder seams are down off the natural shoulder, giving the bodice a sort of upside-down triangle look that is fitted, gathered, or pleated above the waistline. The skirt is hard to see, but the shape is a dome shape (1860s) rather than a bell shape (1870s-80s). By the 1880s, dresses were very much bell shaped, with a flared bottom, and usually drawn up into a bustle, although the work dresses wouldn't have been, since that is so impractical. But the work dresses would still have been more narrow in the 1880s than in the 1860s and early 70s. Also in the 80s, the sleeves would be more form fitting, not nearly as loose as these sleeves are.
I also have found patterns on cloth from that era similar to her dress, but I can't see the pattern very well. The pattern appears to be more similar to ones from the 1860s rather than the 70s.


What other details help locate the picture and identify the subjects?
The new England frame house in the photograph is consistent with Samuel and Charity's birthplace of Vermont and time in the Northwest Territory, Midwest, and California. All the materials showing in the house should be available in California at the time. The house, including the clapboards, resembles the one in the later picture of Lucinda and James Coburn. The vegetation including the small evergreen and fruit trees (note the grafting), are consistent with the picture being located in San Bernardino. Samuel's pipe is consistent with his history.

Conclusion
I agree with the Fredericksens that this appears to be a photograph of Samuel and Charity. Many thanks to them for putting this picture online!

So, any thoughts? Additional details you see? Is that a child standing in the doorway? If you arrive at this post by web search, have you seen a copy of this picture in the family before? Where? Were identifications included?