Here we have a nice portrait of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) with his second wife and their children. Roosevelt was president from 1901 to 1909, and this image was taken while he was in office, in 1907. Both Mrs. Roosevelt and their 16 year old daughter Ethel wear the huge flowery hats that were in style then. It is obviously summer-time, not just because we can see ivy and a leafy bush in the background, but because everyone is in very light-colored clothing, except the two older boys who wear dark suit coats, though their pants are still light. They make a very poised group, though look a bit bored by the routine.

The photo is attributed to the Pach Brothers, and since it was the presidential family we can suppose they were photographed by one of the Pach’s themselves, rather than one of their employees. The original Pach Brothers were born in Berlin, Germany, and brought to New York by their parents in 1853. Gustavus or Augustus (1848-1904), Oscar (1850-1903), Gotthelf or Godfrey (1852-1925), and Morris (1837-190?) were all involved in the family photography business in the 1860s, but Morris soon left to go into the cigar business. In 1895 a fire destroyed their studio and 30 years worth of accumulated negatives.

Soon after 1900 the business passed into a second generation of Pach’s — effectively becoming Pach Cousins’ though they retained the well-know Pach Brothers name. Alexander L. Pach (1864-1938), a son of Morris, was the eldest of this new generation. Alfred Pach (1884-1965), son of Godfrey, was another important figure in the business. These two probably took this presidential image. Alfred was the last of the Pach’s in the business, but by the time of his death in 1965 the studio was incorporated, and so continued in business up until 1994.

This is an excellent image of a young Native American, identified as a Navajo called ‘Indian Jim’ in the description. He is seated, holding a bow and arrow, with more arrows in his lap, a powder-horn and leather bag hung around his neck. He also has a woven bag, hanging on the opposite side, suspended from what appears to be a fur strap. He is wearing a checked shirt, a rag wound around his head, and denim trousers.

This photo is attributed to John Gaw Meem (1833-1908) and was copyrighted in 1914 by Cyrus P. Jennings. Another photo, posed similarly but depicting Manuelito of the Din’eh Navajo tribe, was also attributed to Meem and copyrighted in 1914 by Jennings, and is dated to about 1865. This John Gaw Meem was the first of three to bear that name in the family, and the grandfather of the famous architect. All three attended the Virginia Military Institute: the architect beginning in 1910, his father the missionary in the class of 1884, and this one in the class of 1852. He served in the Civil War, so if this attribution and date are correct, he probably served on the Western frontier after the war. I have found no other mention of his taking photographs; he returned to Virginia and farmed after leaving military service. The family doesn’t seem to have any other connection to the Southwest until after 1920 when the architect took up residence in Arizona.

This isn’t a very good quality image, but it has historic interest. First, it shows the different attitude toward criminals a century ago. It is also an example of the different attitude toward the display of dead bodies. On the positive side, it happens to be a good example of typical working-man clothing for the time period as well.

The picture shows a group of men holding up the bodies of Ben Kilpatrick and Ole “Frank” Holbeck, who had tried to rob the mail and express passenger train near Sanderson Texas on the 13th of March, 1912. They were killed by the Wells Fargo Express Messenger (Doug Trousdale), who struck one in the head with an ice pick while he was gathering up the $60,000 in loot. Taking the gun from the dead man, he waited patiently until the other robber, who had been in front holding the engine crew at gunpoint, came back to investigate why his partner was taking so long. Trousdale shot him as soon as he stuck his head in the baggage car.

The photo was taken by Norman E McLeod. There was a Norman E McLeod who was a photographer in Cleveland in the 1870s and 1880s, but this is a different one. This McLeod was born in Georgia about 1855. The earliest mention of his photographic activities I found was in the late 1880s when he opened ‘Happy Hollow’ in Hot Springs Arkansas, a comical souvenir photograph gallery that turned into tourist park that:

Makes specialty of photos in the act of hunting, fishing, Indian fighting, or riding broncos, donkeys, steers, and buffaloes, in picturesque scenery. Everything furnished free. Menagerie. Always open, with music. Donkeys, ponies and rigs for hire cheap. Vaudeville Theater open in season.

According to one source McLeod sold his interest in ‘Happy Hollow’ to Dave Anselberg in 1908, but in the 1910 census we find him still listed as a photographer, though he was also running a boarding house. His last listing in the Hot Springs directories was for the 1912-13 issue, but that information was probably gathered late in 1911 — as this picture shows he was in Texas in the Spring of 1912.

This is an interesting image of Inuit Eskimos of Alaska, inside an igloo. We see three Eskimo women and a child sitting around a bowl of crabs, stripping the delicate meat out of the leg shells. With them is a non-native woman, the photographer’s wife according to the caption. That would be Margaret. Clearly, the photographer had to remove half of the roof of the igloo to make the shot, but no doubt the Eskimos didn’t mind. We have seen another image by this photographer of Eskimos building an igloo, probably this one — most likely built just to be photographed.

The photographer was Captain Frank E Kleinschmidt. He made documentary films 1912-34, such as The Alaska-Siberian Expedition (1912) and Captain F. E. Kleinschmidt’s Arctic Hunt (1914). His main occupation however was as Captain of a merchant freighter, plying the waters from Seattle to Alaska. His wife, Margaret Alaska Young Kleinschmidt (1884-1962), while not Inuit was Alaskan born. Her father was Rev. Samuel Hall Young, who went to Alaska with his young wife in the 1880s to spread the Gospel among the heathens (probably much to their everlasting regret). Frank and Margaret Kleinschmidt had twin daughters born in Nome, Alaska in 1907.

Here is a nice view of the lighthouse that was built on the east end of Eagle Island in 1839. Eagle Island is in Penobscot Bay, and the lighthouse was constructed to help ships navigate into Bangor, which was establishing itself as a major lumber shipping port. The first light burned whale oil, and emitted a steady white light. The light was automated in 1959, so the Coast Guard tore the house down in 1964. The light tower still stands, though today there are so many trees it can only be seen from out in the bay.

The photograph was taken by Joseph John Kirkbride (1842-1899) about 1890. Kirkbride was not a professional photographer, but a talented amateur. He was a physician from Philadelphia, and the son of Thomas S Kirkbride, M.D., who had been physician to the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. In the 1860 census their house is the next listing after the list of inmates, so they must have lived next-door to the asylum.