Chosen Families #10: On A First Name Basis With Christmas Wishes: Edmund Quincy “Ted” Haggart’s Story - RELATIVE FOUND
Welcome to the next blog in the series of the Chosen Families Project. This photograph is part of a photograph lot I recovered recently when I went to visit local antique stores. However, unlike many of the others I recovered, it had somewhat limited information to who the identity of the person was.
The front of the photograph provided by first clue. The photograph was taken by Stockenburg Studio in Salina, Kansas. Upon further research I found that it was the studio of L. A. Stockenberg, a photograph in Salina from 1897-1913.
On the back of the photograph, it gave the first name of the man in the portrait. His name was Ted. It read “Merry X Mas , To Grandma, From Ted, 12/25/01.” This put Ted in Salina atleast in 1901 when the photograph was taken. Because the portrait was addressed to his grandmother, it also gave another clue: that his grandmother, of whoever Ted was, had to be alive atleast by December 25th, 1901. However, other then that, the photograph seemed to be a case of one that might get lost and unidentified. Ted, as seen in the photograph, appears to be in his 20s, and is in a handsome suit and tie.
So that’s where my search started from. I used the first name Ted, and an aprox. birth year of 1880 +/- ten years. Salina also seemed to be unique enough of a town for that time period in order to find some pretty reasonable results given these estimations and limited information.
One of the first men I stubbled on was that of Edmund Quincy Haggart, who had a nickname of Ted, and lived at Salina during that time period. Other Ted’s also lived in that area during that time as well. I explored some family trees for Edmund and it gave one of best things in genealogy for this work specifically that I don’t see too often: it contained a photograph to compare to.
I initially noticed some strong similarities. They had very similar features. Also the aprox. age matched up. Edmund was born in 1879, making him around 22 when the photograph was taken, which matched his appearance. I had to confirm one detail though in order to make sure for certain he was a strong potential candidate for who was in this photograph: if he had a living grandmother in 1901. I checked out his family tree, and he had lost all his grandparents by 1901, except the grandmother on his mother side. His grandmother Mary E (Stone) Quincy (1820-1907), was still alive during the when photograph was taken. She was also his only grandmother alive in his family, the rest having died prior to 1900. With the idea of a common nickname being used within the realm of his family, it would make sense that he would label himself Ted on the photograph. Another additional photograph I found also had the name Ted for him as well, from when Edmund was younger.
Edmund “Ted” Quincy Haggart from when he was younger, in Salina,KS
(Photography Courtesy Curtis Miller)
This is when I made the decision to contact the relative who had the photograph in the family tree itself because of the similarities. The got back to me pretty quickly. After exchanging remarks and the digital copies, they noted that this is likely him.
Let me tell you Edmund’s story. Edmund, or Ted, was born July 28th, 1879, in Salina, Kansas to parents Alexander Haggart (1846-1919) and Lucia E. Quincy (1851-1905). Alexander worked as a farmer and merchant according to census records, and his mother Lucia a homemaker. Curiously, Lucia was listed as widowed in the 1900 census, although her husband was still alive.
I decided to check marriage records to look into this discrepancy. Edmund’s father Alexander got married to Eleanor J. Vincent on 11 Jun 1896. He was 48 and Eleanor was 20 years old (born 1876, 3 years older then Edmund). At the time of the marriage, Edmund was 17 years old. The 1900 census for Alexander and Eleanor shows that he was married for 4 years. In 1910 is listed M2, showing that Eleanor was his second wife. These type of things you have to keep in mind. As genealogy isn’t at cut and dry, clarifying and notices all types of scenarios is key to understanding any type of situation, keeping an open mind to all possibilties.
In the 1900 census, he is a lodger, going by Ted Haggart, as a Goods Salesman. On the 9 Nov, 1904, he married Minnie Caroline Northstein (1881-1948). He would live in Salina his whole life. According to the 1920 and 1930 census, he worked as a merchant for a clothing store. His WWI draft card also lists him as a Clothing Merchant, self employed. Salina City Directories from 1911 state that he owned a clothing store, Haggart-Gawthorp Clothing Co. His partner was Cyrus H Gawthrop. The store is described as selling “clothing,hats,shoes,[and] furnishing goods.” The slogan for the store was “Styles That Please.” I found some advertisements of the store, even after his death from 1948.
His draft card described him as 5 5 1/2inches, stocky build, with grey eyes, and dirty brown hair, which seem to match in comparison to the portrait taken.
Ted would have 5 children, Lucia (1906-1997), Dorothy (1908-1908), Raymond (1910-1982), Marjorie (1994), and Bernice (1916-1974). Edmund would pass away at the age of 64 in Salina on January 20th, 1944.His wife Minnie would pass away at 68 on October 19th, 1948. The family is buried together in a plot in Gypsum Hill Cemetery, located also in Salina. At this moment, I could not locate an obituary for Edmund.
For the grandmother that he likely addressed the photograph too, the only one of Edmund’s alive, was Mary E. (Stone) Quincy. Born in Vermont on the 31 December 1820, she would marry Benjamin Edmund Quincy on 14 September, 1856 in Highgate,Vermont. During the 1860s-1870s they were in Wisconsin, and later lived in Salina towards the end of her life. She would pass away in 3 February, 1907. She was 86 years old,1 month, and 3 days. Mary's name is listed on a tombstone with other family members in Block 7, Lot 25 of Gypsum Hill Cemetery, but her actual burial location, along with her husband Edmund’s, is in the Hillcrest Mausoleum according to FindAGrave.It seems that Edmund took his grandfather’s namesake as well.
Mary E. (Stone) Quincy
(Photography Courtesy Curtis Miller)
As Edmund was a homebody of Selina, it is curious to see how his photograph ended up in New Jersey. A common thought I wonder, especially if the family dosen’t have immediate connections to the area.His father had family from New York, and his mothers side from Vermont. Whatever the case, I am glad to be in touch with a relative in order to possibly return it back to them or a closer relative.
Please reach out to thechosenfamiliesproject@gmail.com if you are related to the family and would be interested in the photograph.
To conclude, I love to see how much I can stretch the bounds of my research, even with such limited information. And working on a first name basis, and context clues, I was able to provide the identity to the man who left a Christmas gift to his grandmother over 120 years ago.
EDIT: I am currently working with a relative to return the photograph to them
