Postcard, Picture

Description

This postcard is titled "Group of Shakers in Costume. Mt. Lebanon, N. Y." at the top. It was made from a photograph that taken much earlier. The photographer, James Irving, probably did the original image in the summer of 1871 -- a time at which he was known to have been photographing the North Family Shakers. Brother James Calver pictured here, left the Shakers in 1871 establishing a date after which the photograph could not have been made. Sister Rhoda Offord, also pictured, died in 1873. The photograph was made in front of the west entrance to the North Family's Second or Lower Dwelling (1835). The postcard itself has a divided back -- one side for the address and one for the message. This feature on postcards was allowed by the Postal Service only after 1907. The identification of the people featured in the photograph is from a copy of the image at the Western Reserve Historical Society, presumably supplied by the Shakers. The man seated and barely visible in the back row is identified as Brother Galen Richmond of Watervliet, but very well may be Elder Richard Bushnell who is featured seated in another image created at about the same time, possibly on the same day. Back Row (left to right) Sellick, Emma (1856? - ) Calver, James (1839-left 1871) Offord, Daniel (1843-1911) Shaw, Levi (1819-1908) Soule, Melissa ( -1876) Greaves, John (1830?-1886) Pattison, Margaret ( -1873 at age 40) Lomas, George Albert (1840-1889) Richmond, Galen (1803-1887) Cleveland, Margaret Burger, Martha Ann (1853-1926) Front Row (Left to Right) Offord, Rhoda (1840-1873) Allen, Minnie Catherine (1852-1922) Anderson, Martha Jane (1844-1897) Doolittle, Antoinette (1910-1886) Byrdsall, Lottie Sherman, Louisa Collins, Elva Offord, Ann (1842-1926) White, Anna (1831-1910) Moore, Elizabeth (1859?-left 1876)