Shaking the Branches

We were hoping that some of us might have access to photographs that maybe haven't been viewed in a while.  This one is so beautiful, I think.  Terrie Sue Baker Bruce emailed this photo of the entire Alcott family (William Reynolds' parents and siblings) all dressed up in their Sunday finest, looks like.  That would be mother, Louisa Elsworth Toy Alcott, and father, James Franklin Alcott, with children, left to right, John Wesley Toy Alcott, Raymond Francis Alcott (w/dapper hat), Ethel Dorothy Alcott (Vint), William Reynolds Alcott, Benjamin Franklin Alcott.  I'm taking a guess on the date, thinking it's around 1906 - 1908 or thereabouts.

We know these complete full names (plus tons of other Alcott information) thanks to cousin Ruth Adele (Alcott) Holman who has done momumental family researching her whole life (and is still doing).

This is a photocopy of a photo of the first four Alcott children, undated, but young John in the ... umm... dress (!) was born in 1895.  I'm guessing this is 1897 or 1898.

 

I spent a whole evening puzzling over this photo of the "Bindery Bunch."   Remember to click on the photos to magnify them a bit. We know from a newsclipping that William said his father had worked for Curtis Publishing Company, a Philadelphia firm that published the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies Home Journal.  This photo definitely shows William Reynolds Alcott with the small penciled x-mark - he would have been 17 in 1907 - we just didn't realize he had worked there as well.   A little research on the company finds that the Curtis Publishing business began in Philadelphia in 1891, but doesn't say where; the current "Curtis Center" building had its cornerstone set in 1911 at the intersection of Sixth and Walnut. So was the Curtis Building at 418 Cherry Street in Philadelphia in 1907?  A mystery.  However, the company (now defunct) does have its records archived at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.  Ha!  I've always wanted to visit the history-lover's mothership.  Think I'll just gather up my curator's white cotton gloves and dust jacket and get back to you in a couple months on this one.

Below is maybe one of the last photos we have of William's parents together.  Louisa died September 27, 1944, at 80 years of age.  J. Frank died on January 26, 1952, at 92.

--cds