‘The photo has an important personal significance for me.’
Family matters: Beth Follini gets the picture
‘In a photo of this era we usually expect something deeply serious.’
I discovered this photo when helping my mother declutter her cosy apartment in Halifax, Canada. She is a member of Halifax Meeting. We are from a long line of Quakers, direct descendants of Thomas Iredell, who was born in 1676 at Riggs Bank. He migrated to Philadelphia in 1700, carrying with him a letter of introduction from Friends in Cumberland. Family myth has it that Thomas converted to Quakerism through listening to George Fox speak at Pardshaw Crag.
In this photo, taken circa 1896, are Mary Roberts Piersol and her husband, William Hazelton Folwell Sr, with their two younger daughters, Edith Grace Natalia Constance Folwell (standing) and Elizabeth (Bessie) Piersol Folwell (in front). Taking the photo, we believe, would have been their eldest daughter (my great-great grandmother) Julia May Folwell, a keen amateur photographer.
Each of the sisters went to the Friends Seminary in Philadelphia, and wrote letters using the Quaker vernacular of thee and thou. Their letters can be viewed among the memoirs of Julia May Folwell, in the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University. Julia’s memoirs were kept from when she was a teenager in the 1890s up until her death in 1955, giving a full account of her life as a Quaker and suffragist.
In a photo of this era we usually expect something deeply serious. But here, Edith is putting what looks like a pot-lid on her mother’s head, and Mary is holding what looks like a shaving brush in front of her husband. And they are all making what would have been understood then as ‘victory’ signs! What could they have been celebrating, we wonder? My mother speculates that perhaps they are celebrating William shaving off his moustache and beard – the shaving brush provides a strong clue that this is the case.
Although this is a joyful photo, there is a bitter-sweet ending. Not long after this was taken, the younger daughter, Elizabeth (Bessie), died, at fourteen, of what was described as a ‘feverish illness’ (probably typhoid fever, which was rife in Philadelphia at the time). Eight months after Bessie died, William also passed away.
Julia May named her daughter (my grandmother) Elizabeth Folwell Hoisington Barton after Bessie. And I was named Elizabeth (Beth) by my mother after my grandmother. So this photo has an important personal significance for me.
After discussions with my mother, we decided to donate this tintype to the Historical Society of Philadelphia. Founded in 1824, it is one of the largest history libraries in the US. Crucially, it is able to preserve this precious photo, and ensure that the story behind it can be told for years to come.
Beth (daughter of Maida Barton Follini, grand-daughter of Elizabeth Folwell Barton, great-grand-daughter of Julia May Folwell) is the fundraising manager for Britain Yearly Meeting.
Comments
What a lovely memento of your ancestors! It tells us so much more than the stereotypical portrait of the time. The family were clearly enjoying making these photos and decided to keep this one in the family album.
By JonathanS on 2nd February 2023 - 9:47
Thanks Jonathan! I love it so much and it was abit difficult to part with the orginial but we knew that if it was kept in a proper archive it would be cared for and the story told for others. I have taken a photo of it which I have blown up and will frame. I’m also making it into note cards!
By Beth Follini on 3rd February 2023 - 11:55
Wonderful pic, from almost exactly the date of our meeting place in South Edinburgh. Indeed of the development of this whole district. Brings home how similar people were in an era we often consider remote.
May we reproduce it in our local newsletter? (probably I’m asking this for other newsletters too).
Best wishes, Neil.
By neilturn on 5th February 2023 - 11:44
Hi Neil! I’m fine with you reproducing the article and photo in your newsletter as I’d like the story spread far and wide! But I guess you might need to ask the Friend? Feel free to email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and then I guess you should email the editor of The Friend as well.
By Beth Follini on 6th February 2023 - 10:43
Thank you very much!
By neilturn on 12th February 2023 - 11:34
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