Can you help me identify the wife?

[waywardangler]

He looks older than 50s and she looks older than 30s although life was much harder then.  I would bump them into the 60s and 40s into the 1870 range as Oceans thought.

[KC]

Actually found out from a distant relative (that has diaries)....that a photographer traveled around the area and took photos.  It was a really big treat.  The ones I posted are photographs not paintings.  

[Oceans64]

There were probably others doing this but in Atlanta there was:
Joseph Van Stavoren Age 67 in 1880 Census and was a Portrait Maker
James G. Van Stavoren Age 25 in 1880 and an Assist Portrait Maker.  James relationship to Joseph is listed as son...

From a relative posting here: http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/bulletin.aspx?Artist=62450
James was a photographer and Joseph was a portrait painter. We believe James was a relative of Joseph and they were working together, though at this time we do not know how James was related.

I haven't checked but they were probably advertising in newspapers etc.

[cogar]

Wayward, those two pictures above are of the wife’s Great-aunt Blanche Mollohan (1881-1917), a sister to her Grandfather Lucius Mollohan (1886-1959). 

And here below is a photo of Lucius and two more similar portraits. The 1st one includes Lucius and his other sister, the wife’s Great-aunt Madama Mollohan (1875-1904) …… and the 2nd one is of Madama by herself.

The face of Madama looks a tad older in the 2nd picture and she is wearing a different suit or dress ….. so they may/must have been drawn from two different photos and/or by two different artists. 

[waywardangler]

Cogar, that is so neat that you have the photo and the pic of some of your relatives.  Most I see are selling the pic for the value of the frame because they have no idea who the person in the pic is.  Quite sad.

[KC]

I just found out from family history that Addie (Adlai) was an old family name.....and in the family line was Adlai Ewing Stevenson......who ran for President twice and Adlai Stevenson (Vice President of US)!  Very Interesting.  Have known very little about great great grandmother's side of the family!

[Oceans64]

When I was out and about yesterday I saw several of these drawings available at Goodwill and Antique Stores.  I thought it was interesting that the prices were all over the map.  At Goodwill they wanted $99 and the pricey Antique Mall they wanted about $150 with 20-30% off and at another stand alone antique store they wanted $49.  All were about the same size and frame quality.

Not that you would ever sell your relatives... lol

[CuriousCollector]

I've bumped this thread because I think I found the original photo on which the wife's drawing is based.  You can see more of the dress she's wearing, and a flat, brimmed hat in her lap.  Can anyone give me more clues on when this picture might have been taken?

Here is the drawing again:



Now, here is the photograph.


Any ideas on when this photo might have been taken?  Thanks!

[cogar]

Yup, I think that was the photo that was used.

With all those "makeshift" flower pots full of flowers I would hafta guess the picture was taken on the back porch.

[talesofthesevenseas]

That type of straw hat is called a "boater" and was popular from 1880 through about 1930, so unfortunately it doesn't help a lot to date the photograph. I'd attack it from a genealogy angle first and narrow down the times when you know she was about this age, then start picking apart the fashion to dial it in.

Here's an article on boaters:
http://www.millerhats.com/hatcare_index/boater_hats.html

[Oceans64]

This is a long shot but can you get a close up of the brooch at her neck?  I did a quick search and crescent moons seem to be popular brooches so maybe we could ID that way?....  As I said a long shot as they may still be popular today...

ETA:  There are a few pics with swords thru a moon when I googled.  Is this brooch a sword piercing a moon?

[CuriousCollector]

Wow, the boater hat complicates things tons!  Elizabeth (the wife I think it is) died in 1877 at age 43, and Lemuel remarried in 1878 to a woman about whom we know nothing -- birth date, death date, nothing!  I wonder if it could be her?  She would have raised my husband's direct ancestor (he would have been about 6 when his mother died, and 7 when Dad remarried), and perhaps there was affection there.  If his habit with the second wife is any indication, he did have a thing for much younger ladies!  She was about 25 years his junior.

Here is a closeup of the pin.  It does indeed look like a crescent moon with a sword or arrow through it.

[Oceans64]

Nothing yet but this is great page for the meanings of pre1930's jewelry... Had to use the cached option to get the page:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:d6o4ZaJkxZkJ:eccedea.co.uk/epages/eshop171613.sf/en_GB/%3FObjectPath%3D/Shops/eshop171613/Categories/15/9+crescent+moon+sword+brooch+antique+meaning&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Sword - honour and protect.  Crossed swords may indicate death on the battlefield.
Moon - death and rebirth. See also crescent.
Crescent - many meanings incl: Female spirituality,  Moon Goddess.  Glory.  See also moon.

Aside from the above, I thought this was a "fun fact":  "For example, a Victorian brooch that is decorated with ivy represents everlasting love, deep friendship or marriage, though if this brooch is also dotted with pearls it means it's a mourning piece (pearls represent tears), so it would have been worn by someone who wanted to remember a departed loved one. "

[KC]

Similar one here....dates 1900+
http://www.goantiques.com/detail,vintage-jewelry-cresent,77359.html