The Nissley Family of Lancaster: Alvin and Martin Nissley (Nissly)
In our first installment on the Nissley family of Lancaster - a collection of fantastically preserved and labeled cabinet cards that had been collected during a visit to Joy's Antiques, we dove into the life and times of Barbara Nissley, a mother to seven boys from Rapho Township, Pennsylvania.
In this post, we continue our research into the Nissley Family of Lancaster by examining the subject of two other photographs found alongside of Barbara's: those of young Alvin and Martin Nissley.
Alvin Nissly
Taken at the Fowler Gallery at 12 West King Street in Lancaster, PA, this well-preserved cabinet card is a photograph of a boy of about 12, leaning against an ivy-laden stone wall. This detail caught my eye, as I had never seen a portrait taken outside. Interestingly, the back of the cabinet card flaunts that photographs by the Fowler Gallery were "made as well in Cloudy as in Clear Weather".
The Fowler Gallery operated at 12 West King St., for only a short period of two years: from 1884 to 1886, according to the Lancaster Historical Society. This would place Alvin's year of birth at around 1872-1874.
The Nissley (or Nissly) family in Pennsylvania has a well-documented history, and it wasn't too difficult to find Alvin's parents, although with so many Nissley families living around Lancaster at the time, FamilySearch wasn't returning anything specific enough to be able to narrow down this particular Alvin Nissley.
So I did what every good genealogist should know to do: a Google search. It is my secret weapon, and an extremely overlooked and underestimated research method. Google will return books that may mention the research subject (biographical annals are a treasure trove!) or WikiTree pages that may lead you to a living individual who may have family notes.
Perusing various genealogy sites, I came across a WikiTree page that lists Alvin Nissley as the son of Christian and Catherine Nissley. WikiTree should never be a go-to source, as the information is provided by users and oftentimes has no legitimate references...but it can lead you to clues; in this case, what really caught my eye was that one of Alvin's listed siblings was Martin R. Nissley: the same name on another photograph I had found at Joy's Antiques.
With this clue in hand, I was lead to the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society's Family Bibles page, which includes downloadable scans of the genealogical information found in family bibles from the area. Lo and behold, the family bible of Christian and Catherine was there, and it detailed their children (see below).
According to the bible, Alvin Nissley (or Nissly, as it is apparently spelled) was born on February 7th, 1874. This would make him age 10-12 based on the opening years of the photo gallery, which seems about right.
With this information, we are able to find Alvin in a 1930 census, living with his wife Bertha, two daughters (B Catheryn and Mary L) and, yes: his father Christian.
Alvin married Bertha Forry on December 1, 1897. The most recent available census, 1940, has them living together with Alvin's father Christian, and a servant named Mabel at 558 Broadway, Hanover, PA: in a house that appears to be standing today.
According to the 1940 census, Alvin owned his own real estate business, and with an easy Google search it becomes apparent that his business was constantly being advertised in the Hanover Sun. He sold houses and farms.
Finding Descendants
Alvin's daughter, Mary Louene, married Oliver Powers, a clergyman. Mary died June 29th, 1946 at the young unfortunate age of 37, but based on her and Oliver's FindAGrave profiles it appears they may have had a son named David Forry Powers who also died relatively young in 1990.
Catherine appears to have married a Maurer and died in 1991, at the age of 86. It is unclear who exactly her husband was, and if they had any children. However, if she is buried on her family's plot rather than with her husband, it may be assumed that she never had children of her own.
Martin R. Nissly
Lease Photography, where Martin's portrait was taken, operated on 22 N. Queen St from 1886 to 1900. Based on the gold-beveled edges of the cabinet card, I would date the photo sometime after 1890. Martin appears to be 15 or 16, making his likely year of birth sometime between 1875 and 1885.
Christian and Catherine's Martin, as listed in the family bible, was born 1876; the real clue is that both their Martin and our Martin in the photo both have a middle initial of 'R' which did not clearly appear with any of the other Martin Nissleys that came up on FamilySearch. So, it seems safe to assume that Martin and Alvin in our photos were indeed brothers.
Martin R Nissly married Martha Herr on August 3rd, 1898, but they never had any children. Martin worked a variety of jobs: in 1900 he was a farmer in Mt. Joy; 1910, while living in Mechanicsburg, he worked at a Creamery. In 1930, he worked as a broker in Harrisburg. In 1940, he worked as a merchant in Harrisburg, which apparently stayed his profession until he died a decade later on March 26th, 1951.
Martin and Martha had no children.
In this post, we continue our research into the Nissley Family of Lancaster by examining the subject of two other photographs found alongside of Barbara's: those of young Alvin and Martin Nissley.
 |
| Alvin Nissly |
Alvin Nissly
Taken at the Fowler Gallery at 12 West King Street in Lancaster, PA, this well-preserved cabinet card is a photograph of a boy of about 12, leaning against an ivy-laden stone wall. This detail caught my eye, as I had never seen a portrait taken outside. Interestingly, the back of the cabinet card flaunts that photographs by the Fowler Gallery were "made as well in Cloudy as in Clear Weather".
The Fowler Gallery operated at 12 West King St., for only a short period of two years: from 1884 to 1886, according to the Lancaster Historical Society. This would place Alvin's year of birth at around 1872-1874.
The Nissley (or Nissly) family in Pennsylvania has a well-documented history, and it wasn't too difficult to find Alvin's parents, although with so many Nissley families living around Lancaster at the time, FamilySearch wasn't returning anything specific enough to be able to narrow down this particular Alvin Nissley.
So I did what every good genealogist should know to do: a Google search. It is my secret weapon, and an extremely overlooked and underestimated research method. Google will return books that may mention the research subject (biographical annals are a treasure trove!) or WikiTree pages that may lead you to a living individual who may have family notes.
Perusing various genealogy sites, I came across a WikiTree page that lists Alvin Nissley as the son of Christian and Catherine Nissley. WikiTree should never be a go-to source, as the information is provided by users and oftentimes has no legitimate references...but it can lead you to clues; in this case, what really caught my eye was that one of Alvin's listed siblings was Martin R. Nissley: the same name on another photograph I had found at Joy's Antiques.
With this clue in hand, I was lead to the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society's Family Bibles page, which includes downloadable scans of the genealogical information found in family bibles from the area. Lo and behold, the family bible of Christian and Catherine was there, and it detailed their children (see below).
 |
| Births listed in the family bible of Christian and Catherine Nissly |
With this information, we are able to find Alvin in a 1930 census, living with his wife Bertha, two daughters (B Catheryn and Mary L) and, yes: his father Christian.
Alvin married Bertha Forry on December 1, 1897. The most recent available census, 1940, has them living together with Alvin's father Christian, and a servant named Mabel at 558 Broadway, Hanover, PA: in a house that appears to be standing today.
 |
| Google Street View of Alvin Nissly's 558 Broadway house |
According to the 1940 census, Alvin owned his own real estate business, and with an easy Google search it becomes apparent that his business was constantly being advertised in the Hanover Sun. He sold houses and farms.
Finding Descendants
Alvin's daughter, Mary Louene, married Oliver Powers, a clergyman. Mary died June 29th, 1946 at the young unfortunate age of 37, but based on her and Oliver's FindAGrave profiles it appears they may have had a son named David Forry Powers who also died relatively young in 1990.
Catherine appears to have married a Maurer and died in 1991, at the age of 86. It is unclear who exactly her husband was, and if they had any children. However, if she is buried on her family's plot rather than with her husband, it may be assumed that she never had children of her own.
Martin R. Nissly
 |
| Martin Nissly |
Christian and Catherine's Martin, as listed in the family bible, was born 1876; the real clue is that both their Martin and our Martin in the photo both have a middle initial of 'R' which did not clearly appear with any of the other Martin Nissleys that came up on FamilySearch. So, it seems safe to assume that Martin and Alvin in our photos were indeed brothers.
Martin R Nissly married Martha Herr on August 3rd, 1898, but they never had any children. Martin worked a variety of jobs: in 1900 he was a farmer in Mt. Joy; 1910, while living in Mechanicsburg, he worked at a Creamery. In 1930, he worked as a broker in Harrisburg. In 1940, he worked as a merchant in Harrisburg, which apparently stayed his profession until he died a decade later on March 26th, 1951.Martin and Martha had no children.
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