Unknown Woman? by Gebhardt & Co., Memphis Tennessee

Here we have another photograph of an unknown woman, maybe.  See update below.  The only thing I do know is that the photograph was taken in Memphis, Tennessee at the Gebhardt & Co. studio located on Main street.  However, because she was a lady she used the ladies entrance  at no. 2 and 4 Mulberry Street!

The photo was taken between 1880 and 1895 which is when the Gebhardt studio, by this name and at this location, was in operation.



UPDATED January 15 2017

Today, Kent looked at the photograph and said she looked like the same woman in a painting we have.  We compared the two and she does appear to have the same facial features and she is prominently wearing a good size brooch.    The painting is that of a woman not yet married in her finery with her hair still down while the photograph is the married matronly picture showing a settled woman.  At least that's what we think!

We know the painted woman is Louise Elizabeth McLean, wife of Quincy Shumate. She was born July 28 1855 in Tennessee a daughter of Ephraim Harvey McLean and Mary Frances Hardin.  We know this because there is a fragile piece of paper on the back of the painting that tells us that it was painted by her daughter Pattie Shumate. The note also tells us that Pattie painted and it was her first first painting ever! She goes on to say that she was using a picture taken from a tintype, 3 1/2" x 4 1/2",  of her mother that was taken about 1876, it was a year or so before her marriage to Quincy and she was about 21 years old in the painting.  And it was taken in Shelbyville, Tennessee

Mary Kay Killebrew Conaway, The Dresden Connection

We think it's possible that the Confederate Officer is Thomas Leroy Killebrew and the man on the right could be his
son William Thomas Killebrew

These pictures did not come out of Moran Place in Dresden but from an estate sale in Memphis. However they do have a Dresden, TN, connection and now reside in our home, Moran Place Redux. :)  We hope you enjoy this discovery as much as we do and one we are still researching.

In case you hadn't noticed, Kent and I like history and genealogy.  A lot.  That means we frequent estate sales almost every weekend. Sometimes, just like the people in Northwest Tennessee who visited the estate sale at Moran Place we go just to see the interior of homes we would never have the opportunity to see.  We always go looking for bargains just like everyone else and sometimes we find them, sometimes we don't.   But we always go with an eye toward historical items and on random occasions serendipity occurs.

Yesterday, such a "fortunate happenstance" came into play when we visited 440 S. Greer St. in Memphis.  I noticed a drawer with pictures and some empty frames.  I sat down on the floor and pulled the drawer out hoping to find something of interest.  My first find was a tintype of a baby and it was annotated on the back "Bill Killebrew" with the following information: "Connie Lodice, P.O. Box 2563, W. Helena, AR. 3 Print to Prints from orig."   The Killebrew name piqued my interest.  I came across three other pictures of interest: 1) a framed copy of a Confederate Officer in uniform, two stars at his collar and carrying a sword, 2) a loose copy of a post-civil war man, possibly the same man who is in uniform and 3) a framed picture of an unidentified man ca 1880-1900.

We know this is "Bill Killebrew" but which "Bill Killebrew?"  We think this baby picture is of the man in the red
oval frame.  We think he might be William Thomas Killebrew.

I asked how much for the pictures and was told "we don't usually sell pictures, we sell frames."  Um, yes you do sell pictures, we attend estate sales all the time by this company so we know they do sell pictures.  But I wasn't going to argue so I said how much for the frames??  He didn't know which made me laugh.  We wandered down to ask the check out person and was told he could go $8, I said how about $5?  He said no but then promptly knocked off $2 on another item we bought.  Go figure.

Could this be William Thomas Killebrew, son of Thomas Leroy Killebrew and grandfather of Kay Killebrew Conaway?

A quick search of property records told me that Lawrence S. Conaway owned the bungalow style home built in 1920.  My next search was marriage records for Shelby County which told me that Lawrence Stephen Conaway married Kay Killebrew (bingo!) on March 10 1967, the service was performed by Loyal O. Hartman, Jr.   A google search for Kay Killebrew Conaway led me to the obituary of her brother, William Kenneth Killebrew Sr who was born January 4, 1938 in Dresden, TN!!    According to his obituary, their parents were William Thomas "Captain Bill" Killebrew and Marie Buckley Killebrew of Memphis.  This branch of Killebrews moved to Memphis in 1943.  Kay was born June 17 1941 and passed on November 20, 1005 per the SSDI.

Is the perhaps the Confederate Officer in a post-war picture? 

Kay Killebrew's grandparents were William Thomas Killebrew (1869-1943) and Alice Ruth Moore (1877-1862), both interred at Sunset Cemetery in Dresden.  We believe that the "Bill Killebrew" in the baby picture might just be Kay's grandfather, William Thomas Killebrew, and to us, the baby picture bears a resemblance to the man in the red oval frame.  Kay's great-grandfather was Thomas Leroy Killebrew (1839-1907).  He married Martha Ann Kennedy (1841-1928).  They are also interred at Sunset Cemetery.

We believe there is a strong possibility that the Confederate Officer is Thomas Leroy Killebrew. There are two stars on the officer's collar which indicates he was a lieutenant.  Thomas Leroy Killebrew served in Co. H, 33 Reg. Tennessee Infantry. He was promoted from Brevet Lieutenant May 8 1862, to 1st Lieutenant.   Killebrew tendered his resignation January 12 1863 however he appears on a roster for Jan and Feb 1864 as a a private and teamster with Co. H 33rd Infantry. Oddly enough, in May 1864 he appears on a register of patients at Ocmulgee Hospital at Macon Georgia with chronic diarrhea  His rank was Captain at that time.

Initial research leads us to think this just might be Thomas Leroy Killebrew, Co. H 33rd TN Infantry

A search for person named on the back of Bill Killebrew's baby picture, Connie Lodice of West Helena Arkansas turned up the following information.  She is the daughter of Peggy Craig and Raymond Eugene Tucker.  She married Thomas Joseph Lodice.  Connie's sister, Pamela Jo Tucker married Stephen M. Conaway who, if I'm correct, is the son of Lawrence and Kay Killebrew Conaway.   I am still researching the Conaway family

If I've mangled any of the family information let me know and if anyone can confirm our suppositions regarding the identity of the men in the photographs we'd like to hear from you.

Nathan Moran, The 1940's - Evenings at The Aragon and The Peabody Hotel

Since I've been scanning pictures I found in Bub's military folder I decided to go ahead and post a few more today.  Both are souvenirs from evenings out but only one is annotated and dated.

THE ARAGON-OCEAN PARK, CALIFORNIA

The Aragon was located at Lick Pier, in Ocean Park California.  The ballroom and pier were built in 1922 and opened in March 1942.  In 1942, the ballroom was renamed The Aragon and held Swing Shift Dances.  In 1951, Lawrence Welk and his band was booked for a four week engagement at The Aragon. Welk and his orchestra were so popular it turned into a ten-year engagement leading to a weekly show which was broadcast Saturday nights on ABC.  Soon after The Aragon declined in popularity.  In 1967 it became known as the Cheetah Club and hosted bands like The Doors and Pink Floyd.  In 1970 the building was destroyed by fire.

This picture was taken May 6, 1945.  Bub Moran is seated on the left.  The two ladies are:

Sgt Melba Hamilton 

C.W.A.C., (Canadian Women's Army Corps) 

R.C.C.S (Royal Canadian Corps of Signals) 

and 

S-1 Sergeant Jeannie McLean, 

Signal Corps, 

both of Vancouver Birks, British Columbia, Canada.

The fellow on the right is unknown.

THE PEABODY-MEMPHIS TENNESSEE

The second picture is undated and the occasion isn't documented but was taken in the early - mid 1940's.   

The only person we can identify is Bub Moran, first person on the left. 

The location was The Peabody Hotel in Memphis, the Skyway and Plantation Roof.   The original Peabody Hotel was built in 1869 at the corner of Main and Monroe.  It operated until 1923.  In 1925 a new Peabody Hotel was built on Union Avenue. The Skyway and Plantation Roof were added in 1939 and immediately became a hit with big band dances. The likes of Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo and Lawrence Welk (again) played at the Skyway.  The Peabody closed again in the 1970's due to economic and social factors of the area.  The Belz Corporation purchased the hotel and after a renovation that took six years to complete The Peabody reopened September 1, 1981.  It is still known as "The South's Grand Hotel." 

Unknown Girl by Bingham of Memphis Tenn pre-1897

This is a beautiful picture of an unknown girl.  The photographer's mark is Bingham, Memphis Tennessee.  There seem to have been two Binghams in the Memphis Area.  Benjamin Bingham was the oldest photographer in Memphis when he died at the age of 63 in 1897 *Anthonys Photographic Bulletin no. 28 page 273.

There was also Brown H. Bingham who was in business with his uncle in the 1880's and then he opened his own shop in the late 1890's.  I'm thinking that Benjamin Bingham was Brown H. Bingham's Uncle and that Brown went into business for himself at the death of his uncle in 1897.

Of course I could be totally wrong!.  Either way this photograph of an unknown female relative was definitely taken in Memphis by someone named Bingham.

What I find interesting are her fingernails.  It looks to me as if they are painted and yet I don't know if finger nail paint was around at that time and if it was, would a well brought up young lady be wearing something so scandalous as fingerpaint?