Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: tragedies

Jennie B. Dorsey, left, and her aunt, Mrs. Amanda J. (Dorsey) Watkins, in Clarksburg, West Virginia. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard:

A picture that tells a sad story (either in the photo or written on the back) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. The woman at left on the front of this real photo postcard is Jennie B. Dorsey, who was visiting her aunt (her father's sister), Mrs. Amanda J. (Dorsey) Watkins, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1911 (mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the women). As Amanda wrote on the back of the card, "This is a picture of my niece who has the consumption," which was another term for tuberculosis , an incurable infectious disease at the time. On the front of the card, Amanda added, "She has been failing ever since she returned to her home in Scranton, Pa." Sadly, Jennie did pass away the following year on April 3, 1912. She was only 24 years old, and her death certificate listed the cause of her death as pulmonary tuberculosis. This real photo postcard was postmarked in Columbus, Ohio, on July 13, 1911. It was addressed to Miss Lizzie Seitz, Post Office Box, Muncie, Ind. Message on the front of the postcard: Jennie Dorsey & Mrs. Watkins in Clarksburg, W.Va. She has been failing ever since she returned to her home in Scranton, Pa. Message on the other side: Dear Miss Seitz, This is a picture of my niece who has the consumption and I on our lawn, and this is the house we live in. We are at the camp for 2 days. We are not very well in body. Will write more in a letter soon. We all send love. So sorry about your eyes. Use salt water diluted and get the juice of a grape vine. Be careful, don't use strong medicine. Be careful and rest them all you can. I cured mine with salt water.

Inscription on the monument: "The Lost Children of the Alleghenies were found here, May 8, 1856, by Jacob Dibert and Harrison Whysong." For more information, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

A memorials photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Inscription on the monument: "The Lost Children of the Alleghenies were found here, May 8, 1856, by Jacob Dibert and Harrison Whysong." See also a detail showing the inscription and the full version of the real photo postcard (below). The Lost Children of the Alleghenies monument stands as a memorial to the sad story of George and Joseph Cox, ages 7 and 5, whose bodies were discovered at the site on May 8, 1856. The boys wandered away from their home in the Allegheny Mountains of northern Bedford County , Pennsylvania, on April 24. The boys' parents sought help when they were unable to locate their children, and hundreds of people eventually came to help search through the mountainous terrain during the following days. After two weeks of searching, however, the boys still had not been found, and the freezing cold weather in the higher altitudes was a cause for concern. A man named Jacob Dibert, who lived some distance away and had not participated in the search, dreamed that he was out in the woods looking for the boys. He dreamed for three nights in succession that he saw a dead deer, a little shoe, and a tree that had fallen across a stream. After crossing the stream, he found the boys' bodies. He sought the help of his brother-in-law, Harrison Whysong, who was familiar with the area where the boys had gone missing. After Jacob described what he saw in his dream, the men attempted to locate the site. They noticed a dead deer, found a boy's shoe, and spotted a tree that had fallen over a stream. They crossed over, and discovered George and Jacob's lifeless bodies. The poignant story of the boys "found by a dream" circulated widely in newspapers and books and by word of mouth. The monument was built and dedicated on May 8, 1906, fifty years after the sad event. For more information, see the Wikipedia article about the Lost Children of the Alleghenies . The boys' story was also the subject of Alison Krauss's 2007 song, "Jacob's Dream."

For more information, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

See the full version of this real photo postcard for additional information.

This real photo postcard shows a teacher standing in front of his classroom in what was probably a one-room schoolhouse located in York County, Pennsylvania, sometime in the 1910s. Handwritten on the blackboard is "Elias M. Baugher, Teacher." The calendar in the upper left-hand corner displays the month of March, but the photo isn't clear enough to make out the year. Another interesting detail is the printed sign hanging above the blackboard, which says, "Try, try again." For a close-up of the blackboard, calendar, and sign , mouse over the image above, or select the thumbnail image below. Elias M. Baugher's gravestone appears on the Find A Grave site and reveals that he was born on February 15, 1892, and died September 25, 1918, at the age of 26. He is buried in the Chestnut Grove Brethren Cemetery, located in Jefferson, York County, Pa. The calendar that's visible in the photo tells us that March 1 occurred on a Friday in the year the photo was taken. Since March 1 fell on Fridays in 1907, 1912, and 1918, the photo probably either dates to 1912, when Elias was 20 years old, or to 1918 (the year he died), when he was 26. It's less likely, I would think, that the photo was taken in 1907, when Elias was only 15. A Google Books search turned up the Pennsylvania State Education Association's Report of Proceedings for 1919 , pp. 64-65, which included his name in a list of educators who passed away in 1918 and noted that he "died in camp." The report explained the circumstances: "During the year just closed war and disease exacted from us a heavy toll. Influenza proved a veritable scourge.... It left in its wake sorrow and sadness. More than one hundred teachers of the State were victims of its deadly attack." Another book, York County and the World War (1920), p. 124, relates that Elias was drafted into the army during the last months of World War I (1914-1918) and confirms that he died of flu: "Private Elias M. Baugher. U. S. Infantry, Camp Lee, Va. Private Baugher was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Freeman Baugher of near Jefferson, York County, Pa. He left for Camp Lee, June 24, 1918, with the third County quota of drafted men, where he died of influenza. Prior to entering the service he was engaged in farming in Frederick County, Md. Interment was made at the Chestnut Grove Church of the Brethren. He was 26 years old at the time of his death. He is survived by three brothers and three sisters besides his parents." So it turns out that Elias M. Baugher, a young teacher drafted into the army, fell victim to the 1918 flu pandemic , which, unlike other influenza outbreaks, "killed predominantly previously healthy young adults." As detailed in The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Digital Encyclopedia , Camp Lee, located in Petersburg, Virginia, just 25 miles from Richmond, was home to almost 48,000 soldiers. The camp experienced its first case of the flu on September 13, 1918, and by September 19 there were more than 1,000 cases. Elias died on September 25, and the flu epidemic continued to rage locally in Camp Lee and then in Richmond. Influenza afflicted the country and the world in a global pandemic during the remaining months of 1918 and on into the following year.