Processed by
Pamela Tranfield
September 1994
Revised by Dorothy Nicholson
November 2003
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 |
1 photograph album |
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COLLECTION |
Ca. 1890ca. 1946 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Forms part of the Cecil Beeson/Blackford County Historical Society Collection. |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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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 |
None |
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RELATED |
None |
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ACCESSION |
1994.0734T |
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NOTES: |
Martin Levi (Mort) Bantz (1876‑1954) and Cornelia Ford Bantz (1863‑1948) were proprietors of the Senate Saloon at 123 West Washington Street in Hartford City, Indiana, from ca. 1907 to ca. 1916. An Indiana state gazeteer for 19161917 states that Martin Bantz operated a cigar store, while the Hartford City directory of that year lists him as a farmer, residing at 709 East Main Street.
Martin Bantz was born in Dunkirk, Indiana, 20 February 1876, the son of Henry and Sarah Bartlett Bantz. Cornelia Ann Ford Bantz, born 4 August 1863 in Ft. Recovery, Ohio, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Ford. The couple married on 1 February 1900. A son, James, was born in Dunkirk, in 1906. Their daughter, Florence, was born ca. 1910 in Hartford City.
Martin Bantz died of a stroke 2 October 1954 in Hartford City. Cornelia Bantz lived in Dayton, Ohio from ca. 1932 until her death 3 May 1948. They were buried side-by-side at Buckles Cemetery, near Dunkirk, Indiana.
James Bantz was a method engineer for the Overhead Door Company of Hartford City until 1971. He died in 1985 at Columbia City, Indiana. Florence Bantz worked as a nurse in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. She married Herschell Jackson of that city, and, as late as 1985, was known to reside at Pleasant Lake in Steuben County, Indiana.
Sources:
Cemetery Records. Roll 175. Blackford County. [Microfilm in Indiana State Library]
Directory of Hartford City, 19061907. Troy, Ohio: Troy Democrat Printing Company, 1906.
Hartford City and Montpelier Indiana City Directory. Vol. 3. Asheville, N.C.: House of Directories Publishers,1916.
Hartford City News-Times, 4 May 1948.
Hartford City News-Times, 3 October 1954.
Hartford City News-Times, 15 April 1985.
Items found in the collection.
Polk's Indiana State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 19161917. Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co. Directory Publishers, 1916.
This photograph album contains 331 photographs, postcards, snapshots, and cyanotypes depicting the family and social life of the Martin and Cornelia Bantz family of Hartford City. The photograph album and corresponding loose photographs were not found together in the Cecil Beeson/Blackford County Historical Society acquisition. The processor brought the items together in order to re-establish their original context. Six images originally adhered to the album pages became unglued during processing. These are stored as enclosures between the album pages, as is a partial page that contains three images. Seventeen images found by the processor in subject files in the Cecil Beeson/Blackford County Historical Society acquisition have been placed in a folder stored with the album. These photographs are of the Bantz Family, and are of similar style, format, and subject matter to those that were found in the album.
The images are largely 3 x 5 snapshots. A number of photographs were taken in front of the family business, the Senate Saloon. These include group and individual portraits of Bantz family members posed beside an exterior sign advertising Berghoff's Beer. Friends and people who may be employees of the saloon are also posed in front of this sign. A number of candid photographs depict groups of adults, largely women, posing for the camera while drinking from bottles of beer. The location of these photographs appears to be a farm or backyard.
Views of Hartford City are also represented in the collection, such as a scene of people walking on West Washington Street that includes the exterior of the Tuttle Shoe Company. There are also images of delivery wagons and their drivers posed on Hartford City streets. A few of these subjects are identified through annotations on the album pages.
The Bantz children, James and Florence, are photographed on family outings, in front of their home, and at play in the street and alley adjacent to the Senate Saloon. These images include candid snapshots as well as posed scenes. A number of images depict Florence Bantz as a small child drinking from a bottle of beer. Individuals who may be care-givers to the children are also photographed. The latter pages of the album include studio portraits of other members of the Bantz and Ford families.
The cyanotypes depict what appears to be a hunting and fishing holiday at a lake. The images include adults posed with their fish and what appears to be a captive bear.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Folder of loose photographs, [ca. 19101913] Photograph album, [ca. 1890ca. 1946] |
Visual Collections, Photograph Album, PAC |
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 0289).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.