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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Mystery Little Boy

If anyone can help identify this little boy, or give an age to this photograph, it would be greatly appreciated.  It was found among some papers for my family.  This appears to be a tintype photograph, very small (about 3 inches tall) printed on a thin metal sheet.  The back names a photography studio on Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts. The child appears to be very young, only about three years old.  His rosy cheeks are the only thing colorized on this photograph.

My only clue is that George K. Proctor, the Salem photographer, was murdered by his wife in 1882.  He was born in 1837 in Townsend, Massachusetts. You can read about the crime at this link http://www.houseofproctor.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I35384&tree=hop   G. K. Proctor was a prolific photographer.  If you Google his name, you will find dozens of hits for cartes de visite, stereoscope slides and other interesting and historic images of Salem and Massachusetts.




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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

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3 comments:

  1. Root DiggerOctober 20, 2011 at 10:16 PM

    This is not a little girl??? Adorable!

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  2. Heather Wilkinson RojoOctober 21, 2011 at 6:30 AM

    Yvette, at this time both boys and girls wore dresses (I have a photo of my Dad in a dress in the 1930s!) until about age 4 or 5. Boys usually parted their hair in the middle, or wore a belt. A girl might have a more frilly dress. I think this is a boy, but you never know.

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  3. Heather Wilkinson RojoJanuary 16, 2013 at 5:24 AM

    You can read more about the murder of the photographer, George K. Proctor, at this link to a blog post at "Streets of Salem" by Donna Segar posted on 16 January 2013 http://streetsofsalem.com/2013/01/16/salem-murder-mystery/

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