Early photos can be so evocative of a certain era that they stay in a person's mind for months...like this one did. We didn't know what year it was taken or the circumstance that made 'em do it that day, or even WHO was posed together there in the street. I found the picture in the Morrison County Atlas, probably the 1970 edition. It's definitely Buckman, Minnesota and the house on the right is Frank and Anna Mischke's house with the livery stable and 20 regular good customers hanging out on the left.
Larry and I have deduced a whole slew of facts about it, of course, or we wouldn't be posting about it ☺. To begin with, it was summer, 1901, and the dog's name was Shep...lol
How did we arrive at 1901? Well, we know that Frank Mischke's parents Joe and Mary both died in late 1901(#4 is Mary Otremba Mischke) and she's included. Perhaps Joe was inside the open door of the house, hm? We know their son Frank (#1) died in 1913, so the pic had to be within those years. The children are another parameter.
#1 was Frank, of course, and #2 was his wife Anna holding the current youngest kid in their family. By 1901, Frank and Anna's kids were Clara b 1891, Frank Jr b 1896, Marie b 1898, and Emma b 1899, so # 3 is probably Emma.
The two other women holding babies (left) almost had to be related. We figured one was Frank's sister Mary with her son August (probably #7 & 8) and Frank's sister-in-law Theresa, wife of John Mischke, with their current youngest, Mary (#5 & 6). By apparent ages of the kids, we figured #9 was probably Frank Jr and # 14 was most likely his older sister Clara, with #10 being their younger sister Marie. #11, 12 and 13 are probably John and Theresa's kids, but their family in 1901 consisted of Joseph, 7, Ida, 6, Charley, 4, Herminia, 2, and Mary, born in 1900. We have one too many girls here...if you know, email me or leave a comment, ok?
The rest of this story is that the elder Frank was starting a hardware and implement business (located across the road, behind the photographer). You can see plows lined up in front of their house, too. When Frank died in 1913, young Frank had to learn his dad's business quickly, at 17 years old. He probably didn't take over right away because Anna was still listed as owner in the 1920 federal census, but by then he was 24 and much more involved, no doubt.
Ha! we guessed at the name of the dog...
The rest of this story is that the elder Frank was starting a hardware and implement business (located across the road, behind the photographer). You can see plows lined up in front of their house, too. When Frank died in 1913, young Frank had to learn his dad's business quickly, at 17 years old. He probably didn't take over right away because Anna was still listed as owner in the 1920 federal census, but by then he was 24 and much more involved, no doubt.
Ha! we guessed at the name of the dog...
