The first photo on this page is the most recent image. The other two photos appear to have been taken at about the same time.
This photo was likely taken in about 1922 based on the ages of the three children. Beth is the youngest child, she was born in 1919. If she is about three in this photo, Gene would be about 14 and Grant would be about 11. Those ages seem appropriate, or at least close.
Three generations appear in this photo. Heber & Hattie Huband are the parents of Blanche, Gene, and Grant. Blanche’s first child is Beth, the youngest child in the photo.
This is another lovely, three-generation photo. Louise Maria Austin is the mother of Della and Hattie. Hattie & Heber are the parents of Blanche, Lane, and Gene.
This photo was likely taken in about 1910 or 1911. The blur at the bottom right is said to be Gene. Gene was born in November 1908. Heber is not holding her so she must be about two or three and very wiggly. Lane is the next youngest child. He was born in December of 1903. He looks to be about seven or eight.
Heber, Hattie, and their children lived in Gridley, California from the Spring of 1908 until late June of 1911.1
The final photo was likely also taken in Gridley. The woman in the center is Della Maude Cheney, a maternal aunt of Blanche Octavia Huband, the album creator. The young woman on the left appears to be Blanche. Both Della and Blanche appear to be wearing the same outfits and hairstyles as in the second photo implying the photos may have been taken on the same day in Gridley, California.
Adding to this possibility is a statement in Blanche Octavia Huband’s autobiography about their home in Gridley, “. . . and a big screen porch was added . . .” The last photo does appear to have been taken inside of the screened porch.2
This sentence also supports the idea that Della and her mother Louise Maria Austin would have been able to visit the Huband family in Gridley, “We also went over to San Francisco to visit Grandma Cheney, Aunt Dell and Aunt Blanche who had been in California almost all the time since we had been there. They just moved from one place to another and worked in the fruit while they were there.”3
These are such wonderful photos! I hope some of my Ellis, Huband, and Cheney family members can help me identify the two unnamed individuals.
This post is part of a series sharing this wonderful old family photo album. You can learn more about the album here. A digital version of this photo album can be viewed on Flickr here.