Dr. Thomas Wesley Stumm - My Great Great Uncle

Talk about finding a photo of an ancestor that you have no idea what they look like!!  This photograph of my Great Great Uncle Dr. Thomas Wesley Stumm was one of those finds for me.  I was holding my breath as I scoured the tiny pictures in this "1901 Graduating Class of Rush Medical College".  I knew T.W. graduated in 1901 from Rush Medical College from a small biography written on him. So I was praying he was in this photograph.  AND HE WAS!!!  Yeah I'm yelling...yelling with joy!  Yeah! Yeah!  Yeah! 

I have to add I was half way expecting him to be rather large for several reasons.  First, he died very young of a massive heart attack.  And Second, my Great Great Grandma Amanda Stumm Boren, was very large.  Amanda is Thomas's sister.  Family lore is that she was over 300 lbs. and they had to cut the door off the house to get her out when she died.  Now I want to say that Amanda Stumm was not always large, it is said that when she was younger she was normal size.  But Amanda Stumm Boren had a gland problem that caused her to be soo large.  I also don't know if I believe they had to cut the door off the house because I have one picture of her that she is large...but I feel she would fit through a door.  I have an aunt that wrote a family book.  In that book she says that her Grandma Boren (Amanda) was a clean freak.  (that's my description, not my aunts)  In the book were told that Amanda's house was so spotless that you could eat off her floor.  Why do I mention that?  Because I want everyone to know that although Amanda Stumm Boren may have been fat, Amanda was not lazy!

So here are my pictures of  Dr. Thomas Wesley Stumm and the one and only picture I have of my Great Great Grandma Amanda Stumm Boren.

Graduating Class of 1901
Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois

A little closer view of T.W. Stumm
in the 1901 Graduating Class
Rush Medical College

 Here's a link to Rush Medical College's Digital Collection of Class photos.
http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_rsh_classp.php?CISOROOT=/rsh_classp
I just love online digital collections! 
While your there check out all of ICarli's digital collections.

T.W. Stumm
1901 Graduation Picture
Rush Medical College
Chicago, Illinois

The Boren Family 1908, Carterville, Illinois
The back of the picture says -
"The Boren Family
Taken 58 years ago in 1908"

Amanda Stumm Boren - Cropped from The Boren Family picture

The Back of the Boren Family picture with names.

Number 6 in the picture is my Great Great Grandma Amanda Boren. Maiden name Stumm.
Number 10 in the picture is my Great Great Grandpa Ephraim Boren. 
Number 3 in the picture is my Great Grandpa James Dallas Boren. 
Number 1 in the picture is my Great Grandma Lulu Boren.  Maiden name Woods.
Number 2 in the picture is my Great Uncle Ralph Clinton Boren. (also a Doctor)
Number 21 in the picture is my Great Aunt Bernice Boren.  Married name Venable.

My Grandpa John Lewis Boren is yet to be born as are 6 other children of James and Lulu (Woods) Boren.

Lhasa Terrier Gerru, TOO cute little Puppy!

Why did I purchase this postcard?  It's not my usual purchase.  I originally started collecting travel postcards.  Then I started purchasing postcards with people on the beach in old bathing suits.  Then I started liking beach photographs, not just postcards.  Then once my genealogy hobby started I added Illinois photographs to my searches.  But I noticed I liked any photos with information on the back.  And then it grew to cute kids.  And then I noticed I couldn't pass up hardly any old photos.  Now I'm scouring the backs of all postcards for Illinois ancestors.  And then I noticed hey some of these other postcards are cute.  And now I have a problem. 

So you see why I never invite anyone to go antiquing with me. It's for their own protection. I'm pretty sure no one is going to want to stand around and wait for hours while I go through every picture and every postcard in the store. It's just a hunch I have.

Well thought this little doggy was just TOO cute!

Oh, I forgot, I also scour the antique stores for books about local history.  Or old bibles with family history of any family.  The Bible thing I just started and I haven't found any worth purchasing yet.

Photographs found in Antique Store in Cape Girardeau, Missouri

All these photographs I found in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  But Cape Girardeau is right across the river from Southern Illinois.  Cape is also not far from Western Kentucky.  I like to purchase pictures with names on the back in case someone might recognize them.  But I have to wonder why are there so many scribbles on the backs of some of these photos?  It doesn't bother me as long as they are real scribbles and not someone scribbling on the backs of the photos to help them sell.  Enjoy.

Coy Cobb or maybe Guy Cobb



Henry and Hattie Zimmerman 1904

Marge Hill, John Anderson, Herrin, Illinois

 Not sure why the back of this picture says also "John Anderson".  It clearly has one person in the photo and it is a woman.  Maybe she is John Anderson's friend and the person writing this wanted to remember that.  Not sure.  Anyhow, Herrin, Illinois is in Southern Illinois. Also want to point out that the woman in the picture is in front of a building that says "High School".  I'm not familiar with Herrin High School, so I can't say if that's what the building is or not.

Henry and Margaret Benton
Aug 30, 1944

 I love Naval Men!  They are so handsome in their uniforms!  Lucky woman.  I'm not sure what the word right before Benton is.  Lee maybe.  And I may be wrong in stating their surname is Benton.  Benton could also be the location. There is a Benton, Missouri and a Benton, Illinois near Cape Girardeau.  If I could decipher that one word I might be able to decide if Benton is a surname or location or something else all together.

Quince Jiffers and Joe Edwards

Found this photo in an antique store in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  If I'm correct the back says it's
Quince Jiffers and Joe Edwards.  May also be Quince Jeffers as that looks to be written also.  Not sure what the "Etho" that is written near the end of Edwards is all about.  Could it actually be Joe Edwards Etho?  Could it be an abbreviation for a last name?  Maybe Ethe?  Or Eth.?  There are alot of Ethertons or Atherton's across the river in Southern Illinois.  But anyhow I liked the photo.  It's really old and has enough information on the back that someone might recognize the names as their family.  I would love to find an old photo of any my ancestors that I've never seen before.  That would be just wonderful!  So maybe I can make someone else's day wonderful by them finding this picture of their family.

Ada & Charles little boy - Carbondale, Illinois - A Nice Fine Boy

Found this photograph in an antique store in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  Purchased it because it was from Carbondale, Illinois.  Carbondale was and is probably still home to much of my family.  And I love finding anything historical about Carbondale and the rest of Southern Illinois.  It doesn't have to be JUST my family.  Maybe somebody knows who this young lad is.

According to the back of the photo he is Ada and Charles little boy, age 11 and in the 7th grade.  The picture was taken in 1949.  We also know that this young lad's birthday is in September. On the car in the photo we can read "Harris Sub", "601 N. B", and "Carbondale".