Processed by
Pamela Tranfield
March 1995
Revised by Dorothy Nicholson
5 March 2004
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 photographs, 3 folders of OVA photographs, 4 folders of manuscript material |
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COLLECTION |
Ca. 1885–ca. 1950 |
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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: |
Oscar J. Anderson was born ca. 1892, possibly in Delaware or Blackford County, Indiana. His grandfather is believed to have been Orlando Anderson, a druggist in Hartford City, Indiana, ca. 1900. Oscar Anderson graduated from Common School, Fowler Township, in Benton, Indiana, in 1904.
He worked for M. L. Harrington as an automobile salesman in 1919 and may have married into the Harrington family of Fowler, Indiana. By the 1940s Anderson became the proprietor of a Ford automobile dealership in Redkey, located in Jay County, Indiana.
Sources:
Items found in the collection.
A History of Blackford County, Indiana. Hartford City, Indiana: Blackford County Historical Society, 1986.
McKnight, L. A. Progress of Education in Benton County. Indianapolis: County Board of Education, 1906.
The collection consists mainly of black-and-white portraits made at photographic studios in Indiana, Illinois, and California between ca. 1885 and ca. 1950. Manuscript material consisting of a letter to Oscar Anderson and an insurance policy in his name, make it likely that the collection originated with Oscar J. Anderson of Fowler and Redkey, Indiana.
At least four generations of the Anderson family are believed to be represented in the collection. The processor arranged the photographs into six series based on the physical features of the subjects and the locations of the photographic studios that produced the images.
The family groupings include the Orlando and Sarah Anderson Family (Series 1) and the Oscar J. Anderson Family (Series 2). Oscar Anderson was identified from a photograph of a school football team in Fowler. The photograph is dated 1903 and was made at the MacAdams Studio in Fowler.
The Harrington Family (Series 3) is based on an annotation on the verso of a carte de visite which identifies an “M. C. Harrington” as a young child. Oscar Anderson worked for Harrington through the 1920s and may have married into the family. The young women in this series may be related to Anderson through the Harringtons, as Anderson’s image does not appear in this series. The items date from ca. 1910 to 1931, which may indicate that the subjects were close family members. All photographs in this series were made by Alex Frechette at the Fowler Studio, Fowler, Indiana.
(Series 4), The Uncles and Cousins of Oscar J. Anderson [?] are believed to be related to Oscar Anderson through his father. The adult males in these photographs resemble individuals in a family portrait stored in Series 1, Folder 1. The photographs were created at the Rickert Studio, Huntington, Indiana and photographic studios in Illinois and California.
Portraits Not Identified by Location (Series 5) contains photographs of men, women, and children that could not be placed according to physical features or the name of a photographic studio. A portrait of a group of women may have been taken in Hartford City. Della Herbaugh Seelig of Washington Township stands in the second row from the front, third from the right.
Manuscript and Printed Material in (Series 6) includes a letter to Oscar J. Anderson from Jacoby Eisehman of Las Vegas, Nevada. The letter discusses equipment used by Eisehman’s auto business and invites Anderson to leave Fowler and join him in the company business. The series also contains Oscar J. Anderson’s insurance policy that lists his wife “Franc” as a beneficiary.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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[Orlando Anderson Family (?), photograph by J.C. Adams Studio, Hartford, Indiana] [ca. 1885] |
OVA Photographs, |
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Orlando and Sarah Anderson (?)] [ca. 1900–ca. 1913] |
Photographs, |
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[Three Family Portraits, Orlando Anderson Family (?)] [ca. 1918] |
OVA Photographs, |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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[Two portraits of babies, Anderson
Family (?)] |
Photographs, |
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[Fowler Township Common School Football Team, Oscar Anderson holding ball] [1903] |
Photographs, |
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[Portrait of young girl, Anderson sibling (?)] [ca. 1900] |
Photographs, |
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[Man in uniform, subject may be Oscar Anderson or sibling] [ca. 1917] |
OVA Photographs, |
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[Anderson Family photographs made in Muncie, Indiana] [ca. 1935] |
Photographs, |
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[Anderson Family photographs made in Fowler, Indiana] [ca. 1940–1945] |
Photographs, |
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[Small child posed beside toy racing car, Anderson Family (?)] [ca. 1925] |
Photographs, |
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[Anderson Family photographs made in Redkey, Indiana] [ca. 1935–ca. 1950] |
Photographs, |
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[Wedding of Anderson son (?)] [ca. 1955] |
Photographs, |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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[Harrington Family (?)] [ca. 1880–ca. 1893] |
Photographs, |
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[Harrington Girls (?) Photographs Made by Alex Frechette of the Fowler Studio] [ca. 1910–ca. 1921] |
Photographs, |
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Mother and Two Daughters, Harrington Family (?)] [ca. 1925] |
Photographs, |
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[Two Sisters, Harrington Family (?)] [ca. 1928] |
Photographs, |
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[Young Woman, Harrington Family
(?)] |
Photographs, |
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[Portrait of Young Woman][ca. 1930] |
Photographs, |
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Lona [Harrington Family (?)] 1931 |
Photographs, |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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[Wedding photograph made by Rickert Studios, Huntington, Indiana, Anderson Family (?)] [ca. 1913] |
Photographs, |
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[Portrait of young girl made by Rickert Studios, Huntington, Indiana, Anderson Family (?)] [ca. 1925] |
Photographs, |
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[Anderson Family photographs made by Rickert Studios, Huntington, Indiana] [ca. 1930] |
Photographs, |
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[Portrait of man by Moorfield, Indianapolis, Indiana, Oscar Anderson’s sibling (?)] 1920 |
Photographs, |
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[Portrait of woman by The Foster Shop, Lafayette, Indiana] [ca. 1920] |
Photographs, |
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[Photographs made by studios in Illinois, Anderson Family (?)] [ca. 1900–ca.1920] |
Photographs, |
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[Photographs made by studios in California, Anderson Family (?), Folder 1] [ca. 1900–ca. 1920] |
Photographs, |
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[Photographs made by studios in California, Anderson Family (?), Folder 2] [ca. 1930] |
Photographs, |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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[Large gathering of women, event unknown, Hartford City (?)] [ca. 1900] |
Photographs, |
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[Portrait of woman] [ca. 1920] |
Photographs, |
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[Sister and brother, Anderson Family] [ca. 1945] |
Photographs, |
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[Young woman, about age 16] [ca. 1950] |
Photographs, |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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[Letter from Jacoby Eisehman to Oscar J. Anderson] 1918 |
Manuscript Collections: Folder 1 |
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[Insurance policy––National Casualty Co.] 1929 |
Manuscript Collections: Folder 2 |
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[Social Service speech] [ca. 1948] |
Manuscript Collections: Folder 3 |
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[Greeting cards; invitation] [ca. 1920s] |
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 0294).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.