Tommy & Ezra Vanderhoof
I love this photo for its setting. After researching Elise and Ricke, I had only found formal portraits of individuals, dressed to the nines, posing in photography studios. Restricted and formal, these portraits, though fantastic historical momentos, leave us feeling little connection to the past. This photo, on the contrary, is different. There is a refreshing air about this photo of Ezra, who has his hands amidst Zed's fur, and Tommy, who pats Zed's back while holding what appears to be his own camera. In Tommy I see a glimpse of my own father as a boy, with a tucked-in plaid shirt and a gleaming smile.
The 1940 census tells us that Ezra Vanderhoof, born in 1891 in Vermont, was a dairy farmer. He lived with his wife Frances and two lodgers in Bridport. In our photo, Ezra would have been about 55 years old. A decade prior, Ezra appears in the 1930 census with son Frank and daughter Flora, yet he is listed as widowed, leading us to assume Frances, his wife who appears in 1940, is not the biological mother of Flora and Frank.
In 1930, Flora was 17 and Frank was 16, meaning in 1946, their ages would have been 32 and 31 respectively. Could Tommy be one of their sons? Since the photo is of "Ezra and Tommy Vanderhoof" maybe we can assume Tommy's surname was also Vanderhoof, meaning he would have been Frank's son.
In 1930, Flora was 17 and Frank was 16, meaning in 1946, their ages would have been 32 and 31 respectively. Could Tommy be one of their sons? Since the photo is of "Ezra and Tommy Vanderhoof" maybe we can assume Tommy's surname was also Vanderhoof, meaning he would have been Frank's son.
If you've read the previous post on how to research old photos, you'll understand why I was skeptical about this photo: because it was taken relatively recently, and census data is limited, so are our available research tools. I turn from FamilySearch to Google, where I search "Vanderhoof Bridport", to which I am returned quite a surprise.
The internment list of Central Cemetery in Bridport is listed in full online, and there are multiple Vanderhoofs listed, including Ezra, who died February 2nd, 1960. He is listed twice, apparently buried in both row 9, column 29, as well as row 23, column 111. I'll chalk this up to a mistake.
Ezra's FindAGrave memorial indicates that Frances' maiden name was Bull, and I'm curious to know who his first wife was - perhaps the Emma (Sampson) Vanderhoof listed on the Central Cemetery's list, who died April 27, 1929.
 |
| Frank Vanderhoof's Obituary |
The internment list of Central Cemetery in Bridport is listed in full online, and there are multiple Vanderhoofs listed, including Ezra, who died February 2nd, 1960. He is listed twice, apparently buried in both row 9, column 29, as well as row 23, column 111. I'll chalk this up to a mistake.
Frank Vanderhoof, who we thought was Tommy's father, is also interred at this cemetery, but he died October 13, 1939 - at the ripe young age of 26. This would still make him old enough to be Tommy's father, as Tommy was probably born around 1934 based on his presumed age in the photo.
But there's one problem: Frank's obituary makes no mention of a son - or even a family of his own, for that matter.
Perhaps Tommy was Flora's son. Flora married Nathan Smith on November 25th, 1935 in Bridport. Based on some Vermont vital records available on FamilySearch, we are able to determine that they had two children: Margaret Ann Smith, born December 27th, 1939, and William Frank Smith, born July 5th, 1942.
No luck. Who was Tommy? A neighbor, perhaps. Or a visiting family member from elsewhere. With the information on Flora's family, we may be able to re-home this photo to a descendant of Ezra, our dog-loving Vermont dairy farmer. But the identity of young Tommy may remain a mystery.
But there's one problem: Frank's obituary makes no mention of a son - or even a family of his own, for that matter.
Perhaps Tommy was Flora's son. Flora married Nathan Smith on November 25th, 1935 in Bridport. Based on some Vermont vital records available on FamilySearch, we are able to determine that they had two children: Margaret Ann Smith, born December 27th, 1939, and William Frank Smith, born July 5th, 1942.No luck. Who was Tommy? A neighbor, perhaps. Or a visiting family member from elsewhere. With the information on Flora's family, we may be able to re-home this photo to a descendant of Ezra, our dog-loving Vermont dairy farmer. But the identity of young Tommy may remain a mystery.
Comments
Post a Comment