Allen County, Indiana Genealogy

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Genealogy Gems: News from the Allen County Public Library at Fort Wayne, No. 243, May 31, 2024

Preservation Tips: Preserving Family Photographs—19th Century Photographs

by Christina Clary

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The earliest forms of photographs were tintypes, ambrotypes, and daguerreotypes. These typically date from 1840 to 1900. Daguerreotypes were the first to be developed and were printed on silver-plated sheets of copper. Their popularity waned around 1860 as ambrotypes and tintypes gained popularity. Ambrotypes were printed on glass, while tintypes were made on sheets of lacquered iron. Tintypes were especially popular during the Civil War, as they were more durable than ambrotypes. Most soldiers’ portraits were tintypes.

Distinguishing between daguerreotypes and tintypes can be difficult. The easiest way to identify them is to turn the lights off and shine a light directly at the photograph. If the image stays the same, it is a tintype. If the image looks like a photographic negative, it is a daguerreotype. The metal edges of these photographs can tear through paper envelopes. Completely wrap each photograph in tissue before placing it in a paper envelope or an archival quality plastic sleeve. Ambrotypes will need extra padding to prevent the glass from breaking, so be sure to wrap them well. These, along with any glass plate negatives, are better stored in a four-flap paper enclosure that wraps around the item. Keep them in a cool, dry place. Heat and humidity can cause rust and flaking on tintypes and daguerreotypes.

In the latter half of the 19th century, there was a shift from metal supports to paper supports. Collodion, albumen, and gelatin photographs are the most common types you might find in your family collection. The primary difference between these types lies in the chemical processes used for their development. Collodion photographs required a quick process to complete before the plate dried. They are less common than albumen and gelatin photographs. Both collodion and albumen photographs can have either a glossy, smooth surface or a matte finish. All three types typically exhibit purplish-red and brown tones.

Albumen photographs were popular from 1860 to 1880. This process used egg whites mixed with chloride, which caused the distinctive yellow tone they have developed with age. Since albumen prints were made on very thin paper supports, they were typically mounted onto a larger, sturdier support. Many cabinet card portraits are albumen prints. These have the studio name printed on the front or back and a cardboard-like feel. In contrast, collodion and gelatin photographs do not yellow with age and retain their purplish-red tones. Gelatin photographs, which replaced albumen in popularity in the 1880s, remained popular until the 1910s. These may exhibit some image fading over time, while collodion photographs do not.

The care for these photographs is the same regardless of the type. They should not be exposed to light, heat, or humidity for extended periods of time. Gelatin is especially sensitive to humidity. Albumen and collodion tend to be more brittle and can crack. Be sure to have clean, dry hands when handling, and only hold the edges when possible. Photographs should be stored individually in archival envelopes or an archival quality plastic sleeve and laid flat in boxes.

'...and how their smiles did set alight the room with warmth and charm'. In order to counteract the ubiquitous online...

Posted by The Daguerreian Dandy-Photography of the 19th Century on Saturday, February 24, 2024

February 24, 2024 post by The Daguerreian Dandy-Photography of the 19th Century on Facebook:

'...and how their smiles did set alight the room with warmth and charm'.

In order to counteract the ubiquitous online commentary regarding the inability or unwillingness to smile from those who sat before the lens in the 19th and early 20th centuries, this set of images (which barely scratches the surfaces of examples readily available of this nature) provides a highly valuable insight into the realities of early photography-it can be utilised as an antidote to the umpteen claims that no one smiled back in the day (indeed, that camera capabilities did not allow for this), that people feared coming off as a fool or as one not in charge of one's mental faculties if one dared crack a grin. Despite the repeated narrative from multiple corners of the internet, the Victorians did employ photography to convey humour, to experiment with drollery and satire, and to relate joy in various occasions in life. All before the lens.

You will notice that this collection (I will try and include another post of the same ilk soon so plentiful are qualifying examples) is many and varied. Included is images from the 1840s-the first commercial decade of photography-through to the early 20th century.

And these sitters, bless them all, will continue to display their individuality and convey their mirth and spirit for many centuries to come... 

Finding Fort Wayne Photographs Published on November 1, 2018 by the Allen County Public Library on YouTube.
Presented by the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library. There are many visual sources for Fort Wayne and Allen County, showing streets, buildings, people and more. Learn about some of the sources available for locating old photographs of your town! For more information about the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library, go to: http://www.genealogycenter.org/

ACPL Community Album posted Sep 22, 2020 by Allen County Public Library on YouTube
This is an introduction to the Allen County Public Library’s Community Album, with directions on how to search and explore results. We’ll focus on the historic photos by comparing things we know about present-day Rudisill Blvd. with older ones found in the album. At the end of the session kids will: 1) Know how to find the community album on the library’s webpage 2) Understand the general content of the database 3) Gain curiosity about what’s in the album and how it relates to their lives and their family history. Access the full Community Album online at http://contentdm.acpl.lib.in.us/digital/

Our Community Album Premiered April 5, 2022 by ARCH, Inc on YouTube
Historian Randy Harter leads an exploration into The Allen County Community Album. Historic images and the founding of neighborhoods are detailed. Neighborhoods in southwest Fort Wayne are highlighted such as Williams-Woodland Park Historic District, Historic South Wayne Neighborhood Association, Fairfield Neighborhood, and Historic Oakdale Neighborhood.

May 26, 2023 post by WANE 15 on Facebook:

It’s a common phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words, but how many memories is it worth?

It’s a question that a Fort Wayne family has been finding the answer to since uploading a viral Facebook post in April.

The Secret to Finding Old Family Photos Premiered September 22, 2022 by Lisa Louise Cooke's Genealogy Gems on YouTube
Discover more than 100,000 old family photos on Dead Fred. Founder Joe Bott explains how to find photos of your relatives on this free website.

Photo-gravures of Fort Wayne! : its artistic residences, business streets, parks and beautiful suburbs ; together with its largely diversified business and manufacturing industries, Publication date 1889 on Archive.org.

Oldest photographs in the world posted May 13, 2009 by hilbert2547 on YouTube
Here you can see the oldest photographs in the world. The people lived in a world without electricity, cars, aeroplanes and trains were just invented music: Ludwig van Beethoven "Für Elise"

Who Am I? Photo Identification Project on Facebook

Historic Photo Contributions

Fort Wayne and Allen County Photos

Historic Photos of Fort Wayne by Turner Publishing on Archive.org
A video book trailer showcasing some of the photography within the new release [2007], Historic Photos of Fort Wayne by Scott Bushnell.

1. The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indianahas a 20-page list with information about local photographers in their DIRECTORY OF FORT WAYNE PHOTOGRAPHERS 1843-1930 by John D. Beatty.
2. Three photograhers are found in the first 1858 Fort Wayne City Directory. Benham B. H. Photograph and Ambrotype Gallery on page 29. Photos of some early cameras and people were posted February 25, 2019 on Facebook by The History Center.
3. Public Domain search results for History of Fort Wayne finds over 30,000 images at picryl.com
4. 1921-1979 Log Cabins in Allen County, Indiana 31 photos on The Genealogy Center web site.
5. 1960s Photos of Fort Wayne by Richard Stamats from a January 18, 2013 Comment onthe original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook.
6. Allen County Community Album at the Allen County Public Libraryhas over 64,000 photographs and documents in 110 collections according to their January 31, 2020 Genealogy Gem ezine.
7. Allen Co IN Old Photos submitted by researchers on FamilyOldPhotos.com Free Old Photo Archive.
8. Daniel Baker has over 1,400 photos in flickr.com albums most are Fort Wayne area places. Daniel A. Baker Photograph Collection includes location map that consists of hundreds of images of Fort Wayne taken and donated by photographer, Daniel A. Baker. Many of the photographs are from Baker’s collaboration with local historian Randolph L. Harter for the 2018 book, Fort Wayne Through Time, where they were arranged in a “then and now” format with the “then” images dating as far back as the 1890’s. Copied from a longer description at the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library. Described in the newspaper article Then and now, side by side Pair goes to great heights for updates of historic photos by Rod King published January 6, 2019 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
9. FOUND: Photo of BAKER Family of Fort Wayne (1880's) a young couple with 3 children posted June 18, 2013 on Indiana Genealogical Society blog.
10. Looking Back: Christmas around town in old photos by Corey McMaken published December 4, 2018 online by The Journal Gazette newspaper.
11. "Click trip through city changes" by Emma Downs published October 30, 2011 in The Journal Gazette newspapermentions their extensive photograph collection.
12. Chris Crawford: Documentary Photography - 1994 to the present includes Fort Wayne area photos.
13. Community Development Photos in the City of Fort Wayne Documents at The Genealogy Center.
14. Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online has at least 40 Fort Wayne color postcards or other items and 64 Allen County postcards
15. Directory of Fort Wayne Photographers 1843 - 1930by John D. Beatty at The Genealogy Center
16. Digital Collections and Indiana State Library Map Collectionat the Indiana State Library.
17. The Fort Wayne 1x Project - on tumblr systematically documents the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
18. Fort Wayne IN Old Photos submitted by researchers on FamilyOldPhotos.com Free Old Photo Archive.
19. Fort Wayne IN Trolley Coaches - Indiana Service Corporation (ISC) - Fort Wayne Transit (FWT) on TrolleyBuses.net
20. Adam Griebel Photography on Facebook posts lots of local photographs of historic buildings such as churches, schools, and more stating: Sharing unique drone-based pictures and videos in Northeast Indiana.
21. Historic photographers and their studios posted October 10, 2020 on the Archives of Hoosier History Live podcast on Saturdays, noon to 1 p.m. ET on WICR 88.7 FM introduction starts with: Nearly 200 years before the era of ubiquitous cell-phone "selfies" - and decades before the Brownie camera introduced snapshots to the mass consumer market - photographers were capturing images across Indiana.Clear back in the 1820s, a teenager in New Harmony was experimenting with "solar picture drawings." In the early 1840s, a professor at Indiana University became Indiana's earliest documented photographer. For this exploration of photographers and early photography studios beginning in the early 19th century, Nelson will be joined by photo historian Joan Hostetler, founder of the Indiana Album. The organization maintains the Indiana Photographers Project, a database that records biographical and studio information about photographers who have worked in the state from the early days of photography to the present. The two longest-operating studios in Indiana, according to Joan, are the McDonald Studio of South Bend, which was founded in 1861, and the W.H. Bass Photo Co., which is based in Indianapolis and has roots dating to 1897. Both studios are still operating today.
22. History Center Digital Collections at IPFW - Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne on mastodon Digital Object Network.
23. IPFW University Archives Gallery collection represents a small portion of the history of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) on mastodon Digital Object Network includes several image galleries including the History Center Digital Collections.
24. The Indiana Album has over 600 images tagged with Allen County and Fort Wayne
25. Family Photographs in the Indiana State Library Genealogy Collection at the Indiana State Library.
26. Jarrard’s City Studio - An April 13, 2019 post with photo posted on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebooksays Robison Park postcard with advertising for “Jarrard’s City Studio” on it. Harry Jarrard’s photography studio was located at 86 Calhoun Street Street in Fort Wayne. Harry Jarrard also had a photography studio at Robison Park.
27. John Gevers professional site: http://www.johngevers.com/ and flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/newmediabrew/ has excellent detailed photographs of Fort Wayne.
28. Journal Gazette's Throwback Thursdays archive photos posted on Twitter
29. The Library of Congresshas photos of Allen County, Indiana and Fort Wayne, Indiana.
30. John McGualey takes lot of amazing photographs including drone photos of local sites posting on flickr as John McGauley
31. mDON Collection at the Helmke Library of Purdue Fort Wayne has several collections of photos and documents including:
    1. Fort Wayne Area Election Returns (80 results)
    2. Fort Wayne Area Government Information (509 results)
    3. Fort Wayne Area History Collection (17 results)
    4. History Center Digital Collections (574 results)
    5. Miami Indians(152 results)
32. Penny Postcards from Indiana for Allen County and Fort Wayne on USGenWeb Archives. CardCow.com has 14 pages (264 cards) January 2013 of Fort Wayne, Indiana post cards and Summit City News Agency postcards of local scenes. Most contain addresses with postage.
33. Postcards From Fort Wayne by kristinafh on flickr, also has other Albums with some more local photos
34. Postcards of Fort Wayne - 100s of images posted on CardCow.com
35. Visit Fort Wayne Media Galleries  current photos will open your eyes to whats possible in Fort Wayne or Instagram gallery.
36. You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebookphotos, postcards and newspaper clippings posted February 3, 2017, 15 more February 3, 2017, 15 more February 3, 2017, 15 more February 3, 2017, street scene February 4, 2017, 20+ bridges February 4, 2017, 40+ February 4, 2017, 25+ February 4, 2017, many comments on a large 1930s photo of downtown Fort Wayne Printing, Edison/General Electric Lamp and other old buidings February 7, 2017,

Aerial Photographers

Drone photography has become a thing in the 21st Century with several local photographers posting on Facebook and elsewhere.

Vintage Aerial: Historic Photography of Rural U.S. Farms and Homesteads Dec 15, 2022 by Allen County Public Library on YouTube
The Genealogy Center Join Vintage Aerial to learn more about the collection of over 18 million photographs spans the second half of the 20th century, documenting a time in American history when life revolved around rural communities and small farms. Our common American heritage happened in that time, in those rural communities. They want to share the period preserved in these photos, and the memories they represent, with the generations who came too late to experience it firsthand. Presented by Alexis Petrie, Nathan Lewis, Lance Roper, and Fritz Byers. Alexis Petrie Alexis is the Customer Relations & Engagement Manager. She has a background in history, enjoys spending time with her fiancé, and is excited to see what new adventures await at Vintage Aerial. Nathan Lewis Nathan is the Director of Archive Development, responsible for making much of Vintage Aerial's content available online. He has a background in audio and electrical engineering, and is a professional mixologist. Lance Roper Lance is the Director of Customer Experience at Vintage Aerial. He enjoys spending time with his wife and three cats, having a good Manhattan with the team, and coffee roasting. Fritz Byers Fritz is Vintage Aerial's President & CEO.

1. Above the Land on Facebook
2. Adam Griebel Photography - Sharing unique drone-based pictures and videos in Northeast Indiana. on Facebook
3. Aerial Photographs and Historic Maps from the 1930s to the present at Indiana Archives and Records Administration
4. Allen County iMap GIS Portal has an aerial maps GIS Data Viewer for various years back to 1938. We have a video on our Maps page.
5. Hidden View Photography on Facebook. Hidden View Photography offers great quality photos and videos from our own unique view points.
6. Historic Aerials states: The Largest Database of United States Historic Aerial Imagery
7. John McGauley posts photos on his @JohnMcGauley Twitter page and Pure Hoosier website: www.johnmcgauley.com/
8. Sky-Hye Aerial Photography on Facebook: Aerial Photographer for homes, businesses, farm land, and sports teams/stadiums or whatever else you
9. Allen County has over 54,000 photos some by address in over 1,500 rolls of film at Vintage Aerial in their Film Roll Index with 36 images each roll taken since 1965.

Books of Area Photographs

1. Several Allen County Photo Album series 1854-1954, 1955-59, and 1960-69 by the News-Sentinel.
2. Allen County Photo Album 1955-59 by Jon Swerens was discussed in New book signing in Bluffton published December 1, 2009 on the Allen County Photo Album blog.
3. Allen County Photo Album 1960-1969 - Upcoming book ‘Allen County Photo Album 1960-1969’ offers pictorial look at decade of change in Fort Wayne and Allen County by Kevin Kilbane published July 18, 2018 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.

Rescuing Photos from Dying Digital Platforms: How to Save posted Apr 30, 2019 by Allen County Public Library on YouTube
Presented by the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library. "Rescuing Photos from Dying Digital Platforms: How to Save" With the news that Google+ is shutting down, people are scrambling to make sure they have saved their content. Let's explore how to save digital platform content that you and family members have put online. We will be focusing on Facebook, with additional tips for Twitter, Instagram, and websites. Macs, PCs, IPhone, and Android will be used for this presentation. For more information about the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library, go to: https://www.genealogycenter.org/ For more information about the Allen County Public Library, go to: https://acpl.lib.in.us/

Videos

The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indianahas hundreds of videos at the Allen County Public Library on YouTube. Here are a view titles regarding what to do with photographs.

1. Creating Your Family Photo Archive posted Nov 13, 2021. Do you have a collection of priceless family photographs that you've digitized, but you aren't sure what to do with the digital files? Join senior librarian Elizabeth Hodges on Tuesday, September 28th where she will discuss how she has been working to create her own family's photo archive. Handout: https://static.libnet.info/images/pdfs/acpl/Genealogy/Handout_Creating_Your_Family_Photo_Archive.pdf
2. Who, What, Where, When, How to Look at Your Photographs: Analyze, Organize, and Preserve posted Feb 14, 2022. You know that box of photographs you've been meaning to get to, but it just seems so overwhelming? Well, join us as we sort through some tips, hints, and clues on how to identify, organize, and preserve those family photographs. Presented by Kay Spears. Handout: https://static.libnet.info/images/pdfs/acpl/Genealogy/Miscellaneous_Photography_Websites.pdf

Photograph Information

When the relatively unknown Abraham Lincoln became the Republican presidential nominee in 1860, people wanted to know...

Posted by Lincoln Collection on Saturday, March 19, 2022

Saturday, March 19, 2022 post by the Lincoln Collection on Facebook:

When the relatively unknown Abraham Lincoln became the Republican presidential nominee in 1860, people wanted to know what he looked like. Artists and photographers set about meeting the demand, often taking “shortcuts” that ranged from reproducing photographs taken by others to a nineteenth-century version of photoshopping. This engraving by J.C. Buttre is an example. Buttre took the steel plate from his engraving of John Charles Frémont, burnished out Frémont’s head, and replaced it with an engraving of Lincoln’s head based on a photograph taken by Mathew Brady. In 1865, Buttre revised his engraving again by adding a beard to Lincoln’s face.

Abraham Lincoln (1860): Beardless Lincoln, Item ID: 71.2009.081.0198

Abraham Lincoln: Bearded Lincoln, Item ID: LN-1007

November 6, 2023 post by the Indiana Album on Facebook:

Detecting Fakes - Did you know that text-to-image generator programs such as Midjourney and DALL-E allow you to type in requests such as "1850s daguerreotype of a midwestern little girl holding a cat" and it will invent realistic-looking, but completely "synthetic" (fake) images? Learn more about why this concerns historians and archivists: AI Imagery May Destroy History As We Know It

As a non-traditional archive whose collection is purely digital, we have to stay alert for altered images. Not that traditional photographs weren't manipulated (see examples), or digital images aren't regularly enhanced using Photoshop, but generative A.I. (artificial intelligence) has taken it to a whole new level.

It is only a matter of time before a well-intentioned submitter or a mischievous prankster shares a deep fake image with us, so we need tools to authenticate originals. This series by Professor Haney Farid for the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) is an excellent resource on the topic.

From the darkroom to generative AI

📷How do you share photos with your friends and family?📷 In 1907, Kodak introduced “real photo postcards”, which enabled...

Posted by Ohio History Connection on Monday, April 1, 2024

Monday, April 1, 2024 post by the Ohio History Connection on Facebook:

How do you share photos with your friends and family?

In 1907, Kodak introduced “real photo postcards”, which enabled customers to make postcards from photos they took and send them through the mail. Up to this point, postcards had no space for messages; the back was reserved for the address, so if the sender wanted to include a note to the recipient they had to write on the front of the card. An act of Congress on March 1, 1907, finally divided the back of the postcard to allow space for a message and an address, and the popularity of RPPCs exploded. Ordinary people could now use photographs to document and share images of everyday life: families and neighbors during leisure time, city and village streets, work on factory floors and family farms, and more.

Learn more about the history of real photo postcards and how to identify and date them on the Ohio Memory blog: Exploring Old Photographs: Real Photo Postcards #OhioHistory #Kodak #Postcards

Image: Pusateri Collection postcard, ca. 1913. Courtesy of Milan-Berlin Library District. Via Ohio Memory

1. 13 Websites for Finding Old Family Photos by Maureen A. Taylor on FamilyTreeMagazine.com.
2. American Museum of Natural History Starts Digitizing, Makes 7,000 Photos Available to the Public by Gannon Burgett published April 29, 2014 in PetaPixel.com brings 145 years worth of its historic photography collection to the computer age.
3. Center for Digital Scholarship at IUPUI University Library. Site includes a variety of databases including historic Indiana atlases and maps, War of 1812 Collection, and Indianapolis city directories.
4. Collections Search Center at the Smithsonian Institution has 8.6 million cataloged records. Their Smithsonian Institution Archives on YouTube has videos such as Preserve Your Treasures: How To Remove Photos from a Sticky Album uploaded October 21, 2010 and Preserve Your Treasures: How To Store Your Photographs uploaded November 17, 2010.
5. DeadFred has over 100,000 images anyone can upload to their site. Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 74 - An Amazing Story Featuring DeadFred
6. Free to Use and Reuse: Presidential Portraits at The Library of Congress.
7. GenDisasters - Events That Touched Our Ancestors' Lives has old photos.
8. Historical Photographs Digital Collections Harold B. Lee Library at BYU.com Brigham Young University.
9. How Google Images can help you research your family history like never before published August 12, 2012 on The Sociable.
10. Indiana a collection of electric railroad, interurban, and streetcar photography from many eras on newDavesRailPix.com - railroad and trolley photos.
11. Indiana Album has a couple hundred Fort Wayne photosand hundreds of business photos for northeast Indiana from Johnson Brothers Sign Company Collection of South Whitley, Whitley County, Indiana and much more.
12. Indiana Historical Society Digital Images at the Indiana Historical Societyindianahistory.org.
13. Indiana Memory is a collaborative effort to provide access to the wealth of primary sources in Indiana libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions. DPLA Search page to over 45,000 results on Indiana Memory.
14. Indiana State Library Digital Collections see blog Indiana State Library’s Oversize Photograph Collection now available online and in-person and Indiana State Library Photograph Collections
15. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog has over one million digitized images of their 14 million item collection online.
16. Life Magazine Photo Collection on Google has photos back to the 1860s organized by decade, including the Eavey Food Market, but not general searches like Fort Wayne or Allen County.
17. Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection at the Allen County Public Libraryhas over 3,500 ebooks on Internet Archive
18. Moment in a moment Fake vintage, vintage photos are in vogue by Maura Judkis of the Washington Post newspaper published October 30, 2011 in the The Journal Gazette newspaperdiscusses the technique of taking photographs by overlaying historic photos in the same scene and location.
19. Penny Postcards from Indiana on USGenWeb Archives.
20. Personal Archiving Preserving Your Digital Memories from The Library of Congress.
21. Prints and Photographs Online Catalog at the Library of Congress also on Flickr and American Memory Photographs
22. Tips for Photographing Gravestones on Genealogy.com
23. U. S. History Images by Karen J. Hatzigeorgiou images are all in the public domain and are free for anyone to use in any way with just a couple of exceptions.
24. U.S. National Archives photostream on Flickr
25. Wabash Valley Visions & Voices Digital Memory Project preserving the past and present for the future. Focuses on the Wabash Valley region in west central Indiana and east central Illinois, includes yearbooks, maps, and court records.
26. W.H. BASS PHOTO CO. – INDIANA RAIL TRANSPORTATION IMAGES at Indiana Historical Society.