Processed by
Pamela Tranfield
August 1994
Revised by Dorothy Nicholson
10 January 2007
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
2 boxes of stereographs, 1 box of postcards |
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COLLECTION |
19071914 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Forms part of the Cecil Beeson/Blackford County Historical Society Collection. Heritage Photo Services. |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
Some copyprints created by the Blackford County Historical society are in the Blackford County Subject Files (P 0290). |
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RELATED |
The Herbaugh Family Colleciton (P 0283) contains images of Cora Covault Tuttle. The Bantz Family Photograph Album (P 0289) contains a snapshot that shows the exterior of the Tuttle Shoe Company, ca. 1910. |
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ACCESSION |
1994.0734, 2002.0560 |
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NOTES: |
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Clay Hodge Tuttle was born in Wheeling, Delaware County, Indiana, 5 April 1869. He was the ninth child of Thomas W. Tuttle and Elizabeth (Rose) Tuttle. Tuttle was a shoe salesman with an interest in commercial photography.
He began his career as a shoe salesman in Indianapolis in the late 1880s and joined the Weiler Department Store in Portland, Indiana, ca. 1893. Tuttle arrived in Hartford City, Indiana, from Portland in 1895. He worked in the shoe department of Weiler's Hartford City store until ca. 1904, when he became a traveling salesman for the Tappen Shoe Company of Coldwater, Michigan. Tuttle returned to Hartford City ca. 1906, and established a shoe store there on West Washington Street. In 1909 he purchased the Bonham Shoe Store on the northwest corner of the Courthouse Square in Hartford City.
On 28 June 1911, Tuttle married Cora Covault. He may have returned to Hartford City to be near Covault, as the pair corresponded as early as 1907. The Tuttles lived at 232 West Washington Street in Hartford City. Tuttle operated his shoe store until 1932. He died at his home 9 November 1939, apparently of a heart attack.
Tuttle was not a studio photographer, but photographed town and rural scenes in and around Hartford City. The main format of his work appears to be photographic postcards, which were popular in the United States from approximately 1905 to 1913. He does not appear to have advertised his work as a photographer in Hartford City publications, nor is this aspect of his life discussed in his obituary notice.
Cora Temperance Covault, born in Blackford County 9 June 1876, was the daughter of Phillip Covault. Phillip Couvault was a jeweler in Hartford City from as early as 1858. Her mother was Emily Townsend Covault. Cora Covault's brother, James F. Covault, was a dentist in Hartford City. Cora Covault died 25 June 1956 at Hartford City Hospital.
Sources:
Materials found in the collection.
Ellis, John S. Our County. Its History and Early Settlement By Townships.
Whippoorwill Publications: Evansville, Indiana, 1987.
G.W. Hawes' Indiana State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1858-59. Volume 1. Indianapolis: George W. Hawes, 1858.
Hartford City News‑Times, 10 September 1939.
Indiana Gazetteer. 1916-1917. Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1916.
The collection is comprised of stereographs, photographic postcards, and photograph prints created mainly by Clay Hodge Tuttle. They reflect Tuttle's ambitions as a photographer, his family, and his interest in townspeople and rural scenes. Images include photographs of family and social life in Blackford and Delaware Counties, natural phenomena, floods, accidents, parades and fairs, rural life, and business and industrial activity in Hartford City. Tuttle also created novelty postcards for Christian holidays. Tuttle appears in a few of the portraits and these may have been created by family members or friends.
The photographs were originally contained in subject files in the Cecil Beeson/Blackford County Historical Society Collection, but were removed from that collection in order to reestablish the provenance of the items. Since the original order of the collection had been greatly disturbed over time, the processor grouped the photographs into four series by type of material: stereographs, postcards, and an album.
Series 1: Stereographs. The stereographs reflect Tuttle's activities as a commercial photographer. Tuttle stamped the cardboard mount with an item number and date, which he then signed or initialed. Many of the people and events are identified on the front and back of these images. The set is not complete, as there are large gaps in the numbering sequence.
Box 1, Folder 1 contains thirty stereographs dated 1909. Images include crowd scenes at a carnival and Firemen's Day at Hartford City; images of Tuttle's family at Wheeling, Indiana; interiors of the Tuttle Shoe Company; the Renner Stock Farm; portraits of the Del Thomas Family; Cora Covault Tuttle; and the Lake Erie and Western Railway. The photographs are numbered 2 to 158.
Box 2, Folder 1 contains twenty-five stereographs dated 1909‑1911. Images include an eclipse of the moon; buildings, businesses and streets in Hartford City; views of Hartford City and surrounding countryside in winter; the Fort Wayne Paper Mill; the Renner Stock Farm; a little French boy and his pup; employees of the Tuttle Shoe Company; portraits of Tuttle; and portraits of Cora Covault's nephew, Phillip Thomas. The photographs are numbered 204 to 432. Item numbers 208, 217, 228, 262, 267, 271, 278 and 294 are slightly larger than the other items and are located in sequence at the back of the folder for conservation reasons.
Series 2: Photographic Postcards. There are eighty-four black-and-white photographic postcards in this series. Thirty-seven of these are signed by Clay H. Tuttle and are dated 1908 and 1909. Forty-one other postcards in this series are also believed to be the work of Tuttle as the images are similar in period, place, and subject matter as those identified by Tuttles signature or initials. A small number of these postcards are portraits of Tuttle that may be attributed to family members or friends. There are five group portraits of Covault's and Tuttle's parents, siblings, and friends posing in gardens and yards in Hartford City. The items are believed to have been originally housed in the photograph album created by Cora Covault yet were found with photographs that make up the Herbaugh Family Collection (P283). The items date from ca. 1908‑11.
Images include: winter views of Hartford City and the surrounding countryside; the Renner Stock Farm; street scenes in Hartford City; and portraits of family and friends posed in gardens and yards in Hartford City, group portraits of schoolchildren; crowds at public events in Hartford City; homes and businesses in Hartford City; the 1913 flood in Peru, Indiana, and Hartford City; fires; streetcar accidents; and construction of coal docks in Hartford City.
Series 3: Cora Covault Tuttle Album. It consists of 231 black-and-white photographic postcards and portraits that were originally housed in an album. The processor attributed the assemblage of the album to Cora based on the subject matter and the presence of two postcards with correspondence from Tuttle to Cora Covault. The postcards were removed from the album for conservation reasons and stored in a box. They are arranged and numbered according to the original order found in the album.
The majority of the images are believed to be the work of Clay H. Tuttle, and date largely from 1907 to 1911. Images from this album include the zoo and gardens at Lincoln Park, Chicago; views of Muncie and Anderson, Indiana; a strike by streetcar employees in Muncie; crowd scenes and portraits of circus performers at fairs in Hartford City; portraits of rural people in Blackford County; farm animals and domestic pets at the Renner Stock Farm, Blackford County; winter scenes in Hartford City and the surrounding countryside; group portraits of Tuttle's and Covault's family and friends in gardens and yards in Hartford City and Wheeling, Indiana; and novelty cards for Christian holidays. Postcards in the album dating from 1909 to 1914 include natural events such as an eclipse of the moon and the flood of 1913 in Indiana, as well as residences in Hartford City. Tuttle and Covault married in 1911, which may account for images of Toronto, Ontario, and Niagara Falls in this album. The earliest photographs include domestic cats and a portrait of Tuttle.
Included with the album were six small portraits dated ca. 190811. All but one of these photographs is mounted, and most are believed to be the work of Tuttle. These were found loose in the final pages of the photograph album. Subjects include Cora Covault, her parents, and one portrait of Clay H. Tuttle. These items are stored with the stereographs in Box 2, and are numbered 228232.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Stereographs, 1909, numbers 2158 |
Stereographs, |
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Stereographs, 19091911, numbers 204432 |
Stereographs, |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Eighty-four images of: winter snow scenes in Hartford City, Indiana, 1909; Clay Tuttle with his camera in the snow; Covault and Tuttle family; rural scenes; farm animals; 1913 flood; crowds; airplane; houses and buildings; Hartford City Coal Docks; railroads; interurban crash. |
Postcards, |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Images numbered 1227 |
Postcards, |
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Loose portraits numbered 228232 [stored with stereographs in box 2] |
Stereographs, |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, P 0282).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.