A Closer Look (Part 80)

Southwestern Lithuania, about 1910. A relative (perhaps an uncle) of Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother, Anna, takes things seriously.

Here's the original post.

A Closer Look (Part 63)

Mariampolis, Lithuania, 1910. This is my maternal Grandmother Jadzė. Here's the original post.

A Closer Look (Part 48)

Tambov, Russia, 1910 or 1911. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, was about 14 years old when she sat for this photo.

Here's the original post.

A Closer Look (Part 20)

Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, May 1931. This is my Great-Grandmother, Nina K. She was fifty-seven years old when she sat for this photo. Here's the original post.

A Closer Look (Part 18)

Tambov, Russia, 1910 or 1911. This is my paternal Grandmother Tatjana's younger sister, Elena. She was 12 years old when she sat for this photo. Here's the original post.

Elena's embroidered dress matches the one her sister Natasha wore that day.

A Closer Look (Part 9)

Tambov, Russia, 1910 or 1911. This is my paternal Grandmother Tatjana's younger sister, Natasha. She was eight years old when she sat for this photo. Here's the original post.

Staging the Salon Shot

Šiauliai, Lithuania, about 1905 to 1910. A photographer must have caught this relaxed image before taking the more formal snapshot on the same day. My paternal Grandfather, Vytautas, again appears in the front, staring at the ceiling; this time, he's reclined against a family friend. The family friend chats with Vytautas's sister, Victoria. In the back, on the left, the dashing physician Charles leans into the shot's frame next to his wife, Stanislava.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

In the Salon

Šiauliai, Lithuania, about 1905 to 1910. My Dad's cousin, Henry, sent this photo to my Dad's twin sister, Jonė. Henry did not identify each person in the image, but he did point out the people that matter to us. The boy sitting on the left, and looking off toward the ceiling, is my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas. My Dad looked a lot like him as a child. Standing behind Vytautas is the physician Charles and his wife—Vytautas's paternal aunt—Stanislava. Next to Stanislava is Henry's mother, Bronislava. The little girl standing in the front is Vytautas's sister, Victoria.

Henry added, at the end of his description, "With photos like this one, it's impossible to state a date precisely." Henry wrote "perhaps 1910" on this photo, but based on Vytautas's size, I think it might be closer to 1905.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

More Questions than Answers

By now, I've posted most of the really old photos that we have. Occasionally, I still find a few snapshots that have not appeared on the blog. This is one of them. I didn't post it earlier because I don't have much information about the subjects. My Dad, who rephotographed and restored the original image, simply wrote the name of a Lithuanian city, "Padubysis," on the back of the photo.

Padubysis, Lithuania, about 1910. It's possible that the people riding in the carriage are my Dad's paternal Grandparents.

Related by Marriage: Postcard from the Old Country

Photographers sometimes printed photos on postcard stock rather than on photographic paper. The subjects of the photo then had a covenient way to send the image to family.

Here is a such a postcard photo:

Southwestern Lithuania, about 1910. Members of the family of Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother, Anna, sent this snapshot to their immigrant daughters. The older woman wear babushkas, and there is a priest standing on the far right.

Related by Marriage: Greetings from the Old Country

Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother, Anna, was one of four daughters born to a modest couple who lived in southwestern Lithuania. We don't know the precise location of the homestead, but we believe it was an area on the Lithuanian-Prussian border because the family surname dervied from a German word.

In 1910, Anna and one of her sisters, Petra, emigrated to the United States. We are not sure why they left Lithuania. Anna settled in Philadelphia, where she lived with an upper middle-class family. We assume she worked for the family as a domestic. In 1915, Anna and Petra moved to Chicago, where they settled in Bridgeport, on the South Side. The young women assimilated fluidly into American culture.

Anna married Stanley in 1917, but her sister Petra remained single.

Anna and Petra remained in close touch with their parents and the two sisters, Emily and Marta, who had stayed behind in Lithuania:

Southwestern Lithuania, around 1912. The Parents of Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother, Anna, sit with the two daughters who did not emigrate to the United States. Left to right: Anna's Sister Emily, Anna's Mother Agnes, Anna's Father Jacob, and Anna's Sister Marta.

Another Cadet

Young men living during the Tsarist occupation of Lithuania knew that the only way to avoid the harsh route of a conscript in the Russian Imperial Army was to enroll in a prestigious military college. My maternal Grandfather, Jake, did that, and so did my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas.

Tsarist Russia, about 1910. Vytautas, as a young cadet at the Russian military college.

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Here's how Vytautas looked seven years later, when the Russian Revolution erupted:

Tsarist Russia, 1916. Vytautas, age 23, as an officer in the imperial Army.

Jadzė

Jadzė was my maternal Grandmother. Unlike Tatjana, Jadzė was Lithuanian, and I don't think she ever left the country during her life. She may have visited Poland. Her Mother, Zigmunta, was Polish. How that came about is a story for another post.

Jadzė's life was short. She died of melanosarcoma of the optic disk shortly after her fortieth birthday. She died before her husband, Jake, and my Mom fled Lithuania. As a result, I never met Grandmother Jadzė. Based on what my Mom has said about Jadzė, I know I would have loved her as much as I loved Tatjana.

Now, this blog has a "cancer" tag.

1910, Mariampolis, Lithuania. Jadzė as a young girl. The large hair bow was a customary accessory for young, Eastern European girls. You'll see it frequently in the photos to follow. Tatjana once tied such a bow in my hair in 1967. The bow gave life to accelerated teasing, as if my Lithuanian accent and cat-eye glasses weren't sufficient justifications for adolescent cruelty.

Six Siblings

Tambov, Russia, 1910 or 1911. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana (top row, far left), with her five siblings. These are the children who witnessed the execution of their father, Pavel.