Another B. L. Wilson Gallery Photo

Unfortunately like most of the photos in this album this photo not been labeled.  It follows the previous post photo of George and Verda Wagoner (Wagner).  I would like to think there might be a connection, but there is not way of knowing until someone comes across this blog and recognizes these three children.  It appears that George and Verda had at least six children.  I have found records for three boys and three girls plus the mysterious "Ray" that I will keep searching for.

George and Verda Wagoner (Wagner)

This photo was taken by the Traveling B. L. Wilson's Gallery, as was the photo in the previous post.  That gentleman is not identified but this couple is George and Verda Wagoner.  It is Wagner according to their headstones in the Fredonia City Cemetery in Fredonia, Wilson Co., Kansas.  On the back it also states "Ray's parents, Ella Wood's cousins."

 According to the records of the Pennsylvania Historical Society of Nebraska George is indeed Ella's cousin.  His mother, Christina Eckard and Ella's father, Christopher Eckard are brother and sister. 

The Society's records also show George as married to Alverda (Waggoner, Waggener).  Referring to Alverda as Verda seems logical from what I know of family.  However, the records do not show Alverda and George as having a son named Ray although it does list six children for this family. 

It continues to appear that the gentleman in the October 20, 2011 post in on the Eckard side of the family not the Wood side.

Traveling B. L. Wilson's Gallery--The Biggest Mystery of All

I am sure that years ago the traveling photo galleries were a wonderful idea.  Getting photography to the masses was probably both lucrative to the photographer and a rare treat to many people in America.
However, owning several of these traveling gallery photos presents a lot of questions.  Some of the photos in this album may never be identified but I can determine which side of the family is pictured.

Knowing that the Penn Dutch side of the family appears to be the only side that was ever in Bucyrus Ohio narrows identity down somewhat.  A photo by a traveling photographer expands the possibilities.

Once I have to rely on visual recognition I am lost.  Everyone begins to look like each other the longer I look at them.  Is it just me or does this gentlemen look like an older version of the man in the J. Daugherty photo from Ohio?  Maybe it is wishful thinking...maybe it is just that marvelous white beard....what do you think?

Vince and Carrie (Kerr) Hiskey--Niece of Ella Eckard

This photograph was taken in Humbolt, Nebraska by Thortin Photography.  It was found loose between the pages of the album.  On the back it says simply Vince and Carrie. 

Although I cannot be 100% sure I believe it to be the niece of my Great-Grandmother Ella Eckard Wood.  Her sister Margaret Ann Eckard married John Andrew Kerr and the family lived in the Humbolt area as did their daughter Carrie and her husband Vincent Hiskey.  In fact Carrie is buried at the Heim Cemetery at Dawson along with her parents and Uncle John W. Eckard and Aunt Emma Eckard Thornton.

For more information on the Heim Cemetery please check out the Pennsylvania Historical Society of Nebraska.

Sarah and Winchester Massey

This photo was taken in Denver, Colorado by Horace E. Hunt .  So close to home, and yet I had never heard my Grandparents talk about Grandpa having extended family in Colorado. 

The back says "Sarah and Winchester Massey.  Sarah is half sister to William Wood."

I believe that Sarah would have been the daughter of Israel with his first wife Elizabeth Jones.  They were married on February 6, 1838 according to the Indiana State Library's Marriages through 1850 database. 

A quick check on Ancestry indicates that both Sarah and Winchester died in Littleton, Arapahoe County, in the early 1900's--Sarah in 1907 and Winchester in 1911.  Since they are actually very distantly related I haven't verified this.  Ancestry does not list any children for them.

Minnie and Zadok E. Kelly Taken in Humbolt, Nebraska



On the back this photo is identified as Minnie and Zed Kelly.  According to the family records I have Minnie was born about 1877 in Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio.  Her parents were John Andrew Kerr and Margaret Ann Eckard.  Margaret Eckard Kerr was the oldest child, to my knowledge, of Christopher Eckard and Christina Gross and would have been about eight years older than my direct ancestor Ella Elizabeth Eckard.  Margaret  married John Andrew Kerr in 1876 and Minnie was their first child.  She was born in 1877 also in Bucyrus.  Records indicate she married Zed Kelly in 1900.  I am not sure when they moved further west but Zed died in April of 1946 in Denver, Denver County, Colorado.  I do not have a death date for Minnie, only that it is believed she died sometime after 1953.  Although I know they had children, I don't have any details on them at this time. 

A Young Boy Whose Picture was Taken by Hughes Photography in Humbolt

No information on this photo.  In the album it follows a photo that was also taken in Humbolt, but that is very little to go on.  There is a chance that the previous couple could be the parents of this young man.  This is a very weak connection since there are several Humbolt photos and I know that over time photos get moved around in an album, or tucked into a free space.  

Another Photo by Hughes Photographers in Humbolt Nebraska

The only information on this photo is the photographer, Hughes of Humbolt Nebraska.  Since my ancestors, Ella Eckard and William Wood appear to have met and married in the area of Dawson, Nebraska this photo could be from either side of the family.  Any ideas?


This is a good time to recommend to Pennsylvania Dutch Societies.  The first is the Blooming Grove Historical Society.  I have enjoyed my membership even though I don't expect to ever get to visit there. I have kept the annual journals and still refer back to them as I learn more about who my ancestor were.

The second society, one which I probably feel more tied to is the one at Dawson Nebraska.  It is The Pennsylvania Historical Society of Nebraska.  They have an annual picnic in August that I hope to attend in the near future. 
It is well worth a visit to either of these sites if you believe your ancestors may have been Pennsylvania Dutch. 

Two of My Humbolt Nebraska Mystery Photos

Humbolt is in close proximity to Dawson Nebraska where I know I can trace my family.  Ella Elizabeth Eckard moved there as an adult and had many family members in the Pennsylvania Dutch Colony at Dawson.  I believe she met and married William V. Wood there.  I know that the first four of their five children were born there.  Neither of these photos look like the one confirmed photo I have seen from Ella's early years in Dawson.  However, I have every reason to believe that these are family members or close friends.  On the back of the photo at the left there is a faint inscription that appears to read: Miss Will Woods, March the 3 1894.  What appears to initials are B.E. and beneath that E.G. S. but that part of the inscription is very hard to read.  Both of these photos were taken by Hughes Photographers in Humbolt. Do they resemble any you have seen before?

Lillie Alberta Eckard: Half Sister of Ella Eckard: Another Bucyrus Ohio Photo

According to the back of the photo Lillie is the half sister of Ella Eckard Wood.  She was born May 14, 1878 and died March 6, 1964.    She also had a full sister, Leafy V. Eckard who was born July 3, 1882 and died March 6, 1886.  Her parents were Christopher Eckard and his second wife, Margaret Catharine Winter Eckard.  This is all the information I have on her at this time.  What do you know about her?  Does she look like the older of the two little girls below?

Who Am I? A Woman from Bucyrus Ohio.

Again, a photo from Bucyrus, Ohio.  Again, probably a connection to Ella Elizabeth Eckard and the Pennsylvania Dutch.  My educated guess is that it could possibly be either Christina Gross Eckard or Margaret Catharine Winter Eckard, both wives of Christopher Eckard.  I believe this because I am so very sure that the distinguished gentleman of the previous post is Christopher, my great-great-grandfather Eckard.  Until I am proven wrong I will go with that assumption.

To my knowledge Christina Gross Eckard was the first wife of Christopher Eckard.  He would have been twenty-seven at the time of his marriage to Christina so the possibility does exist that she was his second wife.  Christina was the daughter of Johann Gross and Dorothy Wagner Gross.  I have Christina's birth as Jan 30, 1830 in Pennsylvania.  She died in Bucyrus in 1876 when her youngest daughter, Emma, would have been only eight years old. 

Margaret Catharine Winter Eckard was Christopher's second wife.  She was considerably younger than Christina having been born in 1848.  I do not have a marriage date for Margaret but it must have been between Christina's death in July 1876 and the birth of Margaret and Christopher's first daughter, Lillie Alberta Eckard, in May 1878. 

I am descended from Christina and Christopher through their daughter Ella, one of six children from this union.  Ella was the wife of William Wood.  Their youngest son, Carl Emerson Wood was my paternal grandfather.