OWEN, Elizabeth Gaillard (Port Jervis, NY)

Elizabeth Owen

IDENTIFIED AS: "Elizabeth Owen"

PHOTO TAKEN: Masterson Studio, Port Jervis NY, either 1890 or 1899

PURCHASED: Feb 2024 Palm Beach County Fairgrounds Antiques Show

The card stock has serrated edges which dates it to the decade of 1890. The sleeves could either be 1890 or 1899, but definitely not mid 1890s as sleeves were much more voluminous then. I think the addition of the horseshoe vignette was an ornamental style that was used in the latter 1890s.

One more thing to consider - Elizabeth was married 9 Oct 1890, so this photo may have been taken on that occasion.

Elizabeth Gaillard-Owen was born in 1868 and died Jan 1942. She lived most of her life in Port Jervis, NY.

Daughter of Claude Gaillard (d. 1911) &  Mary Ross (d. 1905)

1910 Census > NY > Orange Co > Port Jervis > 5 New Street

• GAILLARD, Claude, head, 83 widower, born in France of French parents, no occ.
• OWEN, Thomas, son-in-law, 42, born NJ of NY & NJ parents, laborer at railroad shop
• OWEN, Elizabeth, daughter, 42, born NY of French & German parents, no occ.
• OWEN, Mamie, gr-daughter, 17 single, quilting at mill
• OWEN, Thomas, gr-son, 16 single, twister at mill
• OWEN, Sarah, gr-daughter, 6
• GAILLARD, Mary, daughter, 40 single, waitress at hotel

1915 State Census > NY > Orange Co. > Port Jervis > 17 Union Street

• OWEN, Thomas, 49, engineer
• OWEN, Elizabeth, 48, housework
• OWEN, Mary, dau., 21, silk worker

1920 Census > NY > Orange Co. > Port Jervis > 17 Union Street

• OWEN, Elizabeth, head, 52 widow, born in NY of French & German parents, no occupation
• GAILLARD, Mary, sister, 50 single, born in NY of French & German parents, tinsmith helper at railroad shop
• OWEN, Mary, daughter, 26 single, born in NY of NJ & NY parents, winder at silk mill
• OWEN, Thomas, son, 24 widower, born in NY, air inspector for railroad
• OWEN, Edwin, 3y10m grandson, born in NY of NY and PA parents
• OWEN, Thomas Jr., 2y10m grandson, born in NY of NY and PA parents

1930 Census > NY > Orange Co. > Port Jervis > 3 New Street

• OWEN, Elizabeth, head, 60 widow, no occupation
• GAILLARD, Mary, sister, 58 single, silk inspector at mill
• OWEN, Thomas, son, 34 widower, twister at mill
• OWEN, Edwin, grandson, 12 
• OWEN, Thomas Jr., grandson, 11

1940 Census > NY > Orange Co. > Port Jervis > 3 New Street

• OWEN, Elizabeth, head, 70 widow, homemaker
• OWEN, Edwin, grandson, 23, laborer at silver plating factory

Thomas Owen (1866-1918) son of Jasper T. Owen & Sarah Smith.

  married

Elizabeth Gaillard (1868-1942), d. of Claude Gaillard & Mary Ross.

   - 1895 - Mary "Mamie" Owen

   - 1894 - Thomas II Owen (d. 6 Apr 1933)

                   - 1916 - Edwin John Owen (d. 24 Feb 1978)

                   - 1917 - Thomas Jr. Owen (d. 1983)

                                   - 1942 - Thomas E. Owen (d.2014)

   - 1904 - Sarah Owen

MEINECKE, Roma Adela (Brooklyn, NY)

 IDENTIFICATION ON PHOTO:  Roma Meinecke

PHOTO TAKEN: Unknown Studio, most likely Brooklyn NY, 1909

PHOTO ACQUIRED: Feb 2024 Palm Beach County Fairground Antiques Show

Roma Meinecke, 1909

Roma Meinecke was born in Brooklyn on Jan 14, of either 1903, and thus was around 6 years old in the 1909 photo above. Her parents were Edward A. Meinecke (1873-1902) and Marie Hacker (1874-1931, sister to Louise Hacker in the previous post. ) Roma bears a strong resemblance to her aunt Louise.

She never knew her father as he died of tuberculosis before she was born.

After her father's death, Roma's mother Marie married George H. Greenhalgh, who was born in 1882 in Manchester England. He was a son of Frederick Greenhalgh and Elizabeth Barns.

Roma married Robert John Becker, but that marriage did not last long, and dissolved sometime after  Roma gave birth to Marie "Peggy" Becker in 1928, and Roma moved back into her parent's home.

On March 22 of 1931 Marie died in Montclair New Jersey where the family now resided, leaving widower George living with single-mother/step-daughter Roma and her daughter Peggy.

Between 1935 and 1937, George and his step-daughter Roma were married. I believe this was not entirely uncommon for the time, and still occurs to this day. I am not willing to make any judgments upon the couple because I do not know their situation. I know Roma's first husband was not a compatible spouse, and she may have developed romantic feelings for George, having lived with him for such a long time.

Daughter Peggy later went by the name Peggy Greenhalgh, so she may have been adopted by George when he married Peggy's mother.

On September 1, 1937, George and Roma's son George Edward Greenhalgh was born, but Roma did not live long afterward. She died September 5 of that year.

I found an Ancestry Family Tree which includes this exact photo of Roma which I recently acquired. Not just a copy of the same photo, but the very same photo. The scratches, stains and tears on the image are identical. The family tree was managed by a woman named Peggy who identified Marie Meinecke-Greenhalgh as her grandmother. I also discovered that both Peggy and her half-brother George Jr died in 2016. Peggy had been a longtime resident of Boca Raton FL, where she worked as a nurse.

Because of this, I am convinced that the photos I acquired of Roma and her aunt Louise at the Palm Beach Co. Fairgrounds Antiques Show had been originally sourced from the estate of Peggy.

HACKER-KNEUPER, Louise (Brooklyn NY)

IDENTIFICATION ON PHOTO:  Louise Hacker Kneuper

PHOTO TAKEN: Russoff Studio, Brooklyn NY, 1910

PHOTO ACQUIRED: Feb 2024 Palm Beach County Fairground Antiques Show

Louise HACKER-KNEUPER

There is further inscription on the reverse: "Peg's Great Aunt, My Grandmother Marie's sister."

Inscription on front reads: "Most Lovingly, Sister, Lou"

This is Louise Hacker, born 1877, died 1959. She was one of 6 children of Joseph Carl Hacker (1839-1915) and Marie Forster (1850-1915).

Her father was a well-known businessman in New York City as he ran a leather goods company in Manhattan, although the family lived in Brooklyn.

Her father died in February 1915, and the obit on him gives much detail on the family.

(Click for larger)

The children of Joseph and Marie Hacker are:

1870 - Christina Hacker (she married Carl Mann)

1871 - Josephine Hacker (she married Rudolf Allert)

1874 - Marie Hacker (she married 1] Edward A. Meinecke, then 2] George H. Greenhalgh)

1877 - Louise Hacker (she married a man named KNEUPER, but I cannot find his first name.)

1878 - Herman Hacker (married a woman named Minnie, unknown last name)

1882 - Darwin Hacker (married Florence Toben)