Osias Koppman Family Photo – Russia, Austria and New York

This photo was also found in Arizona. Measures around 7 x 9″. A section broke off on the way home, the paper is brittle but it had wonderful notes of the people on it.

On the back it reads Charles, Osias Koppman, Becky, Ethel Koppman, Isadore (moving R to Left)

Jacob(Jack), Pesach at age 3 died at age of 4

From genealogy site research on Family search Osias the father has naturalization papers that he arrived in 1891 to the US, they were in New York. Some records say the parents are born in Russia or Austria, the kids are born in Austria. Osias was born in 1858 and his occupation is listed as “Bartender”
Can you see Osias behind the bar? Think he had quite the personality to go with? Hes listed as Ozias in one other record.

His wife Etta or is listed as Ethel.

It would seem this photo was taken before they came to the US since Pesach died and hes not listed in US census records. Jacob is listed in the 1910 census but he is 19 yrs old then. He is the boy at the bottom right and he looks to be young, perhaps 6 or 7? So my guess is this is this was taken in the late 1890′s?

They would later give birth to David 1904 who was born in  NY and this was taken before that.

I wonder what happend to little Pesach? And where the little guy was buried as he is probably somewhere in Austria.

Ive also seen a few records that the families last name could have been listed as Koffman.

 

 

 

Coast Guard and General Cable – Sepia Saturday

I looked all over what I had for this weeks theme on Sepia Saturday, could not really find any women at work, factories, just a few pics of a plane or a man in a pilots uniform. So I just pulled out a few pics with Large equipment or machinery to follow the theme photo of the week.

These photos came out of a great batch I got from an Auction, I have been working on an entry to showcase everything (2 albums and a stack of photos!) but its a work in progress. So here you will get a little glimpse into “Ernie’s” albums.

Ernie was in the Coast Guard, so I am not sure if these are all Coast Guard pics, some of them show General Cable Company also or if the two worked together?

The album shows what looks like them going places to install power poles, the wood posts that run your electrical lines.
So Enjoy the fellas on the Power Pole!

The General Cable Company Vehicle

The fellas on the shoreline… looks like they are grating? Im not sure?

And this guy….what are those things?

Great shot of the guys  after what looks like a long day in the sun hard at work

Ive acquired many new photos so please check back here often and visit the other entries, my main emphasis is finding photos with identifying info on them and trying to see who they were and where they came from using genealogy research and internet detective work.

Day at the Beach with the Colonel – Sepia Saturday

When I check the Sepia Sat post Im always hoping for a theme I can match and do something that relates well. Im fairly new to collecting old photos. Ive always saved my own and family mementos, but nothing else really. My actual new hobby/love of old photos of people I never knew is recent, about a year old.

I found this photo album for sale on a lesser known site, and ended up purchasing it, LOVED IT!

Wrote the seller who had another up for sale and asked if they were related, he said they were and he has one more he was not going to list. Well this tore my heart out. I hate when collections get split up, scattered, photos taken out and put up for individual sale. The story of the past is ripped apart.  Well after some back and forth emails he offered me everything, even some cabinet cards that were related.

What made it even more intriguing was when I asked where these came from? Were they his? He said No, but they belonged to his neighbor, who gave them to him and said to keep them and sell them for lots of money when he died, and that he DID NOT want them going to his kids.

I found that odd, but as I said intriguing. There were no names listed where these were for sale to identify who they once belonged to.

Well when I got them, the name was inserted in the front and I know who this gentleman of these albums was, these are his younger years. I wonder are they pre married life as I have a couple albums that are similar. Their good times albums and women or a love interest of  their youth that perhaps didnt pan out? Maybe his wife or kids never knew and these were hidden away?

Ive not been too sure what I want to do with these yet so they will still remain anonymous, but this is the first preview of photos from the many albums I have. I peeked through the albums tonight hoping to find something to follow the ocean, beach theme, and this fella had exactly what I needed. Thank you Colonel (he was identified in one album as Colonel, so we will call him that). The albums are labeled as Michigan, so these could be on the beach there.

Im still not too good at dating photos so comments are welcome to help out.

This first photo is a young woman/girl in her swimming attire, amazed at how much clothing one wore to the beach back then! I Love the stockings!

Next we have a  gentleman in a suit and hat with a wonderful striped umbrella. Makes you wonder what colors it was, how much different these photos would look in color.

It appears he plunked the umbrella down and the Colonel and his Girl have a shot in front of it.

This group shot is great! Everyone looks so dressed up for sitting on the beach. We all know how beautiful the ocean is, but we also know how sandy it is. And werent they hot? With all those layers? Perhaps the weather was a slight breeze that day and just right? They look ready to camp out there for awhile.

This last photo is sort of the odd man out. Its in the album and contained in the pages with all of the others, but it is a larger photo and just different. Is this some random woman they snapped a photo of? Its a little distant but I believe she is holding a pair of flippers and not sure what else is around her, from a distance looks like a woman draped in seaweed, but I dont think so, she reminds me of a Mermaid?  :)   But it looks like something is attached around her waist.

I do wonder will our beach photos look strange in the future? Everyone barely clothed? Will styles change that much? I dont think so… but the beach is one of these places I find therapeutic, and gritty, nice to stroll on, but a pain to dust it all off and vacuum out of your car. I cant imagine how much sand these people had tucked in every nook and cranny of their pant legs, shoes, boots and socks!

 

P.S. I came home today and had left these in my office, well the room smells like a smoker was here. Cigg smoke…. another thing that can endure with the years if photos are cooped up.

Trains, Depots and Railroad Worker Photos – Sepia Saturday

Im excited to finally have some photos to go along with the Train theme on the Sepia Saturday Blog (see menu on side to visit Sepia Sat website). Click any of the images for a larger close up view.

I found this batch up for auction. The photos I’m posting go along with full album collections with real names and families connected, so I do have some info about these very photos which helps add a little more to the stories that may go along with them. This first photo above says “1916 A.W. Mueller” . Great shot with the accordion style gate pulled across. It also says “BR” on the sides, not sure what that stands for. And is that a flask the man is holding? Hes ready for the ride drink in hand.

I may not be that old but I do remember as a kid in the 1970′s seeing a red caboose at the back of our local train, when did they phase those out anyways? I also live a short distance to my hometown train station and can hear the rumble of the train in my home or when lying still in my bed. I also live on the east side of the tracks, the bad side as they say, how is it train tracks designated good vs bad when it comes to people in town? Its sorta true here and real estate on the east side is less valuable here then on the west side.

The next set of photos came out of another collection I’m working on also, eventually a blog post will go up about the albums these came out of.

It says on the back “Mom, Dad, Ernie, Reta 1931-1933 Mapleton Train Station Depot, it is now in Florence on Water Front”

Im not sure if it was Ernie himself who updated and put notes on the back of these photos but its wonderful whoever did this, they took time in later years to leave info so information is’nt lost.

Today this is now “Waterfront Depot” Restaurant and Bar in Florence, Oregon

http://thewaterfrontdepot.com/

“Built in 1912, this Southern Pacific Railroad Depot served Mapleton, a community 15 miles east of here. With the widening of Highway 126 in 1976, it was saved from demolition by local contractor, Mike Johnson and rebuilt on the present site by Jim Alexander in 1977 under the ownership of Hogesky.”

from

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM5JH4_Mapleton_Depot_relocated_Florence_Oregon

I love that someone saved this place and it is still being used today.

About the people in the photos

From Internet obituary…

http://www.tigardtimes.com/features/story_2nd.php?story_id=126767141301123800

(the young boy) Pete David (Ernie) Kolleas was Born July 30, 1925 in Portland, Oregon. He died Feb 16, 2010 at age 84. He was the son of Pete Theodore and Margaret (Jackson) Kolleas. During WW II he served in the coast guard. His father Pete is from Greece and Mother Margaret (Geri) is from Scotland. So my guess is this is his grandparents or parents in the photo.

Mr. Kolleas worked as a gasoline tank truck driver for Mobil Oil in Portland for 35 years before retiring.

He loved to work with his hands, doing such things as model railroading, string art, making various types of models and wood lawn furniture.

His sister(the little girl in the photo) Henrietta (Rita) KOLLEAS /Wilson.

• BIRTH: 20 Oct 1926, Woodburn, , Clackamas, Oregon
• DEATH: 7 Oct 1997

This one reads ” Dad – front of R.R. Bunk House for laborers Lakeside 1936-1941″

This one reads “Siboco Oregon Rail Road Friends – Ernie, Dad, James M. God Father 1926-27. ” See little Ernie in front?

It appears all that time as a little boy running around with rail road grownups and train depots carried into his retirement years as stated in his obituary that he loved model rail roading.

Its the train that created my place of birth here in California, now we have the modern Metro Link gliding across our local tracks, but we also still have the large engines hauling freight coming through here.  Sad thing is our original train depot caught fire long ago. At one time a lone train station with a hotel behind it in the middle of the desert. You can imagine how dusty everyone was around here with the wind and open space. Here is a photo of it below

The Southern Pacific Railroad built a line from San Francisco to Los Angeles which was completed in 1876. Along the line was a water stop located in what is now Lancaster. The Southern Pacific constructed homes for their employees engaged in maintaining the railroad. The Gilwyn Hotel was built near the water stop in the beautiful desert plains area and a small town began to develop.

Generally, the name “Lancaster” is attributed to a Mr. M.L. Wicks, a real estate developer who in 1884 purchased over 38,000 acres of land for a price of about $96,000 from the Southern Pacific Railroad. He then named the area for his former home, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. However, in publications pre-dating Mr. Wicks, a place called ‘Lancaster’ in association with the railroad was mentioned. So the name of the city may probably be most accurately attributed to the Southern Pacific.

taken from

http://digital-desert.com/lancaster-ca/

Todays Lancaster Train Station

As we head home in the afternoons and sometimes sit and wait at the light to get home, Now and then my teenage son tells me how many train cars he counted as the guard rails go up, just like I used to do as a kid. :)