George F. Riel, Chicago Photographer

As part of the Virtual Institute of Genealogical Studies class, Family Photographs: Identifying, Preserving, and Sharing Your Visual Heritage, our instructor, Maureen Taylor gave us an assignment. We were to select a photo from our personal collection and research the photographer. The report below is the report of my findings. It's not an exhaustive search and some derivative sources were used. 

The photograph I selected is of Marie and Andrew Ebling.

Image citation: Andrew and Marie Ebling portrait, circa 1890s; privately held by C. Fuller, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]; copy provided to M. Goodrum ca. 2000. Fuller inherited the original from her parents.

Chicago photographer George F. Riel was born to German immigrants John George Riel and Pauline Elinor Eber, in 1856, in Chicago, Illinois.[1] On 21 August 1888, the 32-year-old George F. Riel married Minnie E. Miller. She was 23.[2] Sometime between 1904 and 1910, George and his family moved to Fairhope, Baldwin County, Alabama. Minnie Elizabeth Miller Riel predeceased her photographer husband. George died in Fairhope, Baldwin County, Alabama on 2 August 1930. His occupation was listed as photographer. His address was Atkinson Lane, Fairhope Alabama.[3]

Below is a listing of the various dates and addresses for photographer George F. Riel.

Name	Year	Address-Business/Occupation	Address-Residence
George F. Riel	1875-76 1876-77	546 Canal Photographer		Listed as “Kiel” in the R section-probably an OCR error.[4]
George F. Riel	1877	546 S. Canal Photographer	139 W. 12th	Residence also includes John G. Riel, foreman[5]
	1877-78 1878-79 1 8 7 9 - " "	546 Canal Photographer [6]
George Riel	1880	Photographer	139 W. 12th Street	Living with parents John J., Paulina, & siblings John & Paulina[7]
George F. Riel	1882	25 W. 12th Inspector	139 W. 12th	Residence includes John G. Riel, laborer[8]
George F. Riel	1891-1900	339 W. Madison Photographer [9]
George F. Riel	1900	Photographer	531 Winchester Ave	Enumerated with wife Minnie E. and children Ferris T. & Minerva M.[10]
George F. Riel	1904	339 W. Madison Photographer[11]
George F. Riel	1910	Farmer	Baldwin County, Alabama	Enumerated with wife Minnie E. and children Ferris T. & Minerva M.[12]

               

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[1] “Alabama Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed February 26 2015), George Frederick Riel. Also, 1880 U.S. census, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 89, p. 2 (penned), dwelling 5, family 9, George Riel; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 February 2015), citing National Archives microfilm publication NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 191.

[2] “Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed February 26 2015), George F. Riel.

[3] “Alabama Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974,” Ancestry.com, George Frederick Riel.

[4] Chicago Photographers, 1847 through 1900: as listed in Chicago city directories (Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1958); digital image; Hathi Trust Digital Library (http://babel.hathitrust.org : accessed 28 February 2015).

[5] Thomas Hutchinson, compiler, The Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago,  (1877-8), p. 833; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 February 2015).

[6] Chicago Photographers, Hathi Trust Digital Library.

[7] 1880 U.S. census, Cook Co., Ill., pop. sched., ED 89, p. 2 (penned), dwell. 5, fam. 9, George Riel.

[8] Thomas Hutchinson, compiler, The Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1882  (1882), p. 1025; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 February 2015).

[9] Chicago Photographers, Hathi Trust Digital Library.

[10] 1900 U.S. census, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago, ED 249, sheet 10-49, dwelling 74, family 209, George F. Riel; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 February 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 254.

[11] Business Directory of Chicago  (1904), p. 734; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 February 2015).

[12] 1910 U.S. census, Baldwin County, Alabama, population schedule, Precinct 10 Fairhope and Zundeli, ED 9, sheet 8B, dwelling 184, family 190, George F. Riel; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 February 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 1.

[13] “Alabama Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974,” Ancestry.com, George Frederick Riel.

To cite this post:
Michelle Goodrum, "George F. Riel, Chicago Photographer," The Turning of Generations, 27 February 2015 (http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2015/02/george-f-riel-chicago-photographer.html : [access date].

 © 2015, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Dating an Old Photo - Part 2

Readers never disappoint! I've received some great feedback on my request for help in Dating an Old Photo. Thank you Wonderful Readers!

I didn't give much information because I didn't want to bias anyone and I still don't. The suspicion is this picture may have been taken in the early-mid 1890s. We are trying to determine when the woman, Lucinda Ballenger, died and dating this picture may help.

Here are some other questions regarding this photo:

• How old do William and Lucinda look to be?
• Is it possible the picture was taken years earlier and reprinted?
• Input on dating their clothing would be appreciated (I'm terrible with that).

Again, thanks for all your input! Hopefully we can get a final answer as to when Lucinda died. I'll present more information in future posts.


URL for this post: http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2012/08/dating-old-photo-part-2.html

© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Dating an Old Photo. Help!

Is anyone up for a photo analysis session? I've written about William H. and Lucinda Ballenger before. Lately, I've been trying to prove Lucinda's date of death (which we'll discuss in another post). The existence of this picture might be crucial in establishing whether Lucinda was alive at a particular point. It's time to analyze it in detail to attempt to put a date to it.

Now I know many of you are way better at dating old pictures than I am. So I put it to you. Here are a few points to consider:

• The card the picture is mounted on measures 4.25 x 6.5 inches.
• The card has a gold border along the edge and is less than 1/16 of an inch.
• The card has rounded corners.
• The paper the photo printed on is fairly thin and has a sheen.
• Coloring of the picture is kind of a grayish greenish or gray yellowish.
• The photographer is Dudley of Boulder, Colorado.

I'll provide more information in another post after getting some feedback. I don't want to bias anyone with commentary.

What do you think? When was this taken? I'll be eternally grateful for your help.

Here's the backside:

Source: Grandpa & Grandma Ballenger Grand Parents of Frances E. Lowe. Photograph. Original, privately held by Michelle Goodrum, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]. 2012.

URL for this post: http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2012/08/dating-old-photo-help.html

© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum