Miss Martha Quosick – Bloomington, Illinois

Here we have Martha,

I found these 2 Cabinet Card photos this past week at a shop in Phoenix, Az. I bought both of them as I could see they had the same name on the back.

The back reads “Miss Martha Quosick, 712 E. Taylor St. , Bloomington, Illinois”

They both give the name and address, and then the other one, with the white gown, where she is holding a fan and wearing a crown says “Elected Queen of….. Oct 5th and coronated on…” someone trimmed the edges of the photo and so I cant make out the rest of what it once said as it was trimmed away.

From some google searching I have found that Martha D. Quosick married Axel E. Olson

Martha was born March 10, 1882 and died March 12, 1947

Her parents were Herman G. Quosick and Mother Johanna S. Kathrey they were born in Nordhausen Germany

Husband Axel Born Aug 19, 1881 and died March 23, 1931

They had children listed in the 1940 Census, Raymond, Albert, Dorothy and Edgar

Daughter Dorothy M. Olson (B-Dec 12 23, 1918 and D- Nov. 13, 2001)

Dorothy married Harold W. Finger. (1915-2006)

In the one photo she is dressed in a dark long dress with a fur(maybe a mink? Its a long fur) and she has a had adorned in feather.

In the second photo she is wearing a long white dress, holding a fan and wearing a crown.

So I would guess she came from a family of wealth with the clothing and I am not sure if this would have been a school type pageant/college?

Very pretty woman, makes you wonder her story and her history and did her married life contain pretty fancy dresses like she wore when she was “Miss Martha”

My mother found this info, sometimes finding an obituary or death gives some clues often times to how peoples photos came to be here in Az, many people come here to retire, and when they pass away, many of their items go to estate sales if family dont come to claim the items. This could have been where some of these old photos ended up.

Anne Elizabeth Taylor passed away peacefully at her home in Sierra Vista, Ariz., on Jan. 23, 2009.

Anne was preceded in death by her parents Harold J. Finger and Beatrice T. Finger, and by her brother Harold F. Finger.

During her career Anne worked in libraries in Mississippi, Texas, Arizona and Germany.

Anne was a librarian at El Paso Community College for 10 years before moving to Arizona in 1992. In 2000-2001 Anne served as president of the Special Libraries Division of the Arizona Library Association.

When Anne retired in 2003, she was head of the archives and library at the Arizona Historical Society Museum in Tempe. Following her return to Sierra Vista, Anne was active in the Sierra Vista Historical Society until her illness prevented her participation.