Orphan 0063

This is actually a portrait, measuring 20” x 16”.  It looks like it may have been done in charcoal.  A friend of a fellow DAR member found it in a frame on the side of the road.  The friend salvaged the frame for herself, and gave the portrait to my DAR friend in hopes of finding a home for it.  My friend turned it over to me knowing I collect orphan photos and try to reunite them with family.

Fortunately, not only is the portrait identified, it includes vital data as well.  The following was found taped to the paper backing of the frame.

Orphan 0063A

The portrait is evidentially Irvine and Anna Rebecca (Wertz) Bennett.  According to the information attached, Irvine was born on 9 October 1848 in Southampton, Bedford, Pennsylvania, and died on 30 September 1909 in Curwensville, Clearfield, Pennsylvania.  He and Anna Rebecca Wertz married on 22 June 1873 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  Anna was born on 8 June 1853 in Bedford County, and died on 3 August 1920 in Clearfield County.  They had two children, Georgia and Bruce.

Georgia was born 17 March 1874 in Bedford County, married Harry Mellott about 1894 [1], and died on 16 April 1953 in Clearfield County.  Bruce was born on 15 September 1876 in Bedford County, and died on 17 January 1899 in Curwensville.

The Search

Since the couple married in 1873, I started with the 1880 census, and found the four family members living together in Southampton, Bedford, Pennsylvania. [2]  I then proceeded to the 1900 census, where I found Irvine and Anna living in Curwensville, Clearfield, Pennsylvania; their daughter was not living with them.  [3]

Knowing that their son Bruce had died in 1899, I continued my search for descendants of their daughter Georgia.  In 1900, I found her, living with her husband and three children, a few households away from her parents in Curwensville, Clearfield, Pennsylvania.  Using the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses, I was able to construct Georgia’s family as follows:  [1,4,5,6]

Child’s Name Birth Date
Stanley A March 1895
Augustus E April 1897
Mildred October 1899
Olive A Abt. 1904
Nile Abt. 1906
Pearl B Abt. 1908
Berndetta Abt. 1910 (probably died between 1910-1920)
Glen L Abt. 1913
Margaret V Abt. 1915
Phyllis B Abt. 1917

*Note:  There were at least two other children, who died in infancy.

A chance encounter on Ancestry, provided an obituary for a child of one of Harry and Georgia’s children, practically ending my search (other than to find additional sources to confirm).  Details are suppressed in this post as many of the family members are still living.  I will be contacting a great-great-granddaughter in hopes of reuniting this portrait with family.

UPDATE – 11/29/11 – Over the weekend I was contacted by someone who is researching the Bennett line and is working on the revision of a book on the Bennett family.  Since I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to claim the portrait in my previous attempts, I still had it and am now passing it on.  What a lovely addition to his collection and the book!

Sources

1.  1900 U.S. census population schedule, Curwensville, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, enumeration district (ED) 94, sheet 5B, dwelling 93, family 99, Harry A Mellott; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed June 8, 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1397.

2.  1800 U.S. census population schedule, Southampton, Bedford, Pennsylvania, enumeration district (ED) 236, p. 24, dwelling not indicated, family 206, Irvin Bennett; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed June 8, 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 1098.

3.  1900 U.S. census population schedule, Curwensville, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, enumeration district (ED) 94, sheet 5B, dwelling 85, family 89, Irvine Bennett; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed June 8, 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1397.

4.  1910 U.S. census population schedule, Pike, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, enumeration district (ED) 98, sheet 5B, dwelling 93, family 99, Harry Mellott; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed June 8, 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 1332.

5.  1920 U.S. census population schedule, Clearfield Ward 2, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, enumeration district (ED) 63, sheet 7A, dwelling 122, family 130, Harry A Mellott; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed June 8, 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1552.

6.  1930 U.S. census population schedule, Clearfield, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, enumeration district (ED) 16, sheet 24B, dwelling 525, family 557, Harry Mellott; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed June 8, 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 2017.