ca. 1857-1950; bulk: 1857-1880
Guide to the Photograph Collection
Abstract
This collection contains 158 portrait photos of the Hale family of Rockport, Mass. and the Low family of Cambridge, Mass., as well as various friends and residents of Gloucester and Rockport, Mass.
Biographical Sketch
Stephen Hale was born ca. 1796 in Gloucester, Mass. In 1816, he married Amelia Wheeler (b. 1802). Among their children were Thomas (1822-1896) and Annie Gale Woodbury.
Annie Gale Woodbury Hale married in 1849 George W. Low (b. 1821), a merchant in Cambridge, Mass.. They had eight children: Mary Josephine (b. 1851); Agnes Eugenia (1853-1880); Frank Henry (b. 1856); Sarah Elizabeth (b. 1857); Joseph Herbert (b. 1860); Louis Frederick (b. 1863); Thomas Hale (b. 1869); and George Henry (d. 1878).
Thomas Hale (1822-1896) was a bookkeeper in Rockport, Mass.. In 1847, he married Lucy W. Knowlton (1828-1895), daughter of Charles Knowlton and Mary Tuttle of Rockport. They had six children: Charles Thomas (b. 1849), who married in 1870 Phebe Dorman (b. ca. 1853); Mary Lucy (1853-1882); James Colburn (1857-1936), who married in 1879 Annie Jerusha Smith (1861-1915); Ada Whittredge (1861-1950), who married in 1897 Alonzo Whitney (b. ca. 1856); Martha Amelia (1862-1943), who married in 1882 Herbert A. Story (b. ca. 1858); and Catherine Elizabeth (b. 1865), who married in 1895 Albert Waite (b. ca. 1860).
Mary Lucy Hale (1853-1882) married in 1871 Eben B. Smith (b. ca. 1849) of Rockport, Mass. Among their children were Arthur Knowlton and Ruth Hale.
Collection Description
This collection contains 158 portrait photos in one box and one cased volume. The bulk of the photographs in this collection are portraits of the Hale family of Rockport, Mass. and the Low family of Cambridge, Mass. , as well as various friends and residents of Gloucester and Rockport, Mass. Subjects include Mary Lucy Hale Smith, members of the family of Thomas Hale (1822-1896), and members of the family of George W. Low (b. 1821). Photographers in this collection include William Shaw Warren of Boston, Mass., as well as Elliott Adams and Erastus G. Warren of Gloucester, Mass. This collection contains tintypes, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, and other paper-based photographs.
Acquisition Information
The Hale-Low family photographs were given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Penny Stewart in November 2003.
Arrangement
The photographs in this collection are arranged into two series: I. Loose photographs, ca. 1857-1950; and II. Mary Lucy Hale Smith photograph album, ca. 1860-1880.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Loose photographs, ca. 1857-1950
This series contains loose portrait photographs of Hale and Low family members, as well as family friends and other residents of Gloucester and Rockport, Mass. Some of the photographs appear to have been taken from the Mary Lucy Hale Smith photograph album (see description below). Subjects include Annie Gale Woodbury Hale, the George W. Low family, Eben B. Smith, and Mary Lucy Hale Smith. Photographers include William Shaw Warren of Boston, Mass., as well as Elliott Adams and Erastus G. Rollins of Gloucester, Mass., among many others. Includes cartes de visite, cabinet cards, and tintypes.
II. Mary Lucy Hale Smith photograph album, ca. 1860-1880
This photograph album contains carte de visite and tintype portraits, mostly of various Hale and Low family members. Subjects include Mary Lucy Hale Smith and her siblings; friends and family from Rockport and Gloucester, Mass., Stockton, Calif., and Connecticut; and various members of the Cummings, Knowlton, Smith, and Tuttle families. The photograph album was given to Mary Lucy Hale Smith by her cousin, Frank Henry Low (known as Henry), at Christmas of 1875. It appears that the carte de visite and tintype portraits in the album were collected by both Low and Smith. All of the photographs are identified in an unknown hand; many of the captions were written after the album was given to Mary Lucy Hale Smith. Photographers include John Adams Whipple of Boston, Mass., as well as William A. Elwell, Erastus G. Rollins, and John W. Writer of Gloucester, Mass.
Preferred Citation
Hale-Low family photographs, Photo. Coll. 153, Massachusetts Historical Society Photo Archives.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.