100 years ago today: All in the family

100 years ago today, this notice appeared in the newspaper in Springfield, Ohio:

Note that M.C. Stanton, his wife Rosetta, and their youngest daughter Martha were all photographers at the Stanton Studio. But…

… there are even more Stantons in the story today. Allow me to explain…

Married couple M.C. and Rosetta Stanton opened up a studio in Springfield, Ohio circa 1900. They ran this studio in Springfield for many years. In the 1920s, they also established a second studio in Marysville, Ohio.

In 1924, both studios are open. The above clip about the studio closing in August 1924 refers to their Springfield studio, while the ad below, also from 1924, pertains to their Marysville location:

I believe it’s possible that in 1924, daughter Martha Stanton was running one location, and her parents the other.

Now, M.C. had gotten his start in photography back in the 1880s. I’m not sure if he got his start working for his father, the photographer I.B. (Ithra B.) Stanton. but by 1889 M.C. was definitely working with his father running the Stanton & Son studio in Akron, Ohio:

I.B. Stanton was a prolific photographer who ran studios at various times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, all throughout Ohio. Intriguingly, sometimes there are references in the newspaper to Mrs. I.B. Stanton that imply she was also a photographer, although she’s never listed as such in any city directory or census record. So I’m not sure that she really was a photographer (even though, of course, I would have loved to find evidence that she was!).

In any case, the Stanton & Son studio is only briefly in Akron – the last ad I see for it is in 1889. I.B. moves away from Akron shortly thereafter, leaving the studio solely in the hands of his son, M.C. Sadly, in May 1890, M.C.’s studio in Akron burns to the ground, forcing him to move on. A few months later, he marries Rosetta Matthews in Iowa. The couple then move around a bit in Ohio before eventually settling down in Springfield, Ohio (and opening up their photography studio there).

M.C. and Rosetta had 3 daughters. In addition to Martha, there were also Ruby (sometimes spelled Rubye) and Mary. Mary, the middle daughter, did not go into photography as far as I can tell.

But as we have already seen, Martha, the youngest Stanton daughter, was a photographer who worked with her parents. She works for her parents for many years, and eventually runs a studio on her own without them. As I speculated above, in 1924 she may have been running the Stanton Studio in Springfield or the Stanton Studio in Marysville, although her parents still owned both locations.

Switching back to the older Stanton generation for a moment, in the early 1920s, I.B. Stanton and his wife (aka M.C.’s parents and Martha’s grandparents) are living in Urbana, Ohio, where I.B. Stanton has a photo studio. Here’s an ad for that studio in 1924:

Following the newspaper trail in Urbana for that studio, it turns out that at some point in the late 1920s, Martha Stanton moves to Urbana and works for her grandfather, ultimately taking over his Urbana studio in the early 1930s.

Just to recap, then, within the Stanton family we have 3 generations of photographers, and all 3 generations are actively running studios in 1924.

But wait — there’s more.

You see, I haven’t mentioned anything yet about Ruby[e] Stanton, the oldest child of M.C. and Rosetta Stanton.

Ruby[e] does not seem to take up photography initially – at least, she’s never listed in Ohio as working in photography. She marries John Earle McArtor in 1916, and settles into life as a farmer’s wife, moving to a farm outside Springfield. In 1917, she gives birth to her first child, Margaret Rosetta McArtor:

In 1924, Ruby and John McArtor are still living on their farm in Springfield, OH.

But then… in the 1930s Ruby and John Earle McArtor move their family to Somerville, NJ …. and open a photography studio there. Before John McArtor dies in 1946, John and Ruby will ultimately have established studios in multiple towns across northern New Jersey.

So, to revise that recap: both Martha and her sister Ruby were the 3rd generation of the Stanton family of photographers. Across the 3 generations of the Stanton family we have parents, children and spouses, in various combinations, all running photography studios.

So what about the 4th generation? Well, when that McArtor baby, Margaret, grows up, there’s no evidence that she either nor anyone else from her generation continue pursuing the family business, of photography, either in Ohio or New Jersey..

However, when reading Margaret McArtor’s wedding announcement in 1940. I did spot something worthy of note:

That’s Margaret McAror (aka Mrs. William E. Ossard) in that McArtor Studio photo that accompanies the wedding notice- it’s 1940 and baby Margaret is now all grown up!

But what I really want to draw your attention to is the following snippet from the description of her wedding, which mentions that her maid of honor was a Miss Charlotte Ross.

You see, Charlotte Ross was a photographer who worked for Margaret’s parents at the McArtor studio. And then, after John Earle McArtor dies and Ruby steps back from the business in the late 1940s, Charlotte Ross is the woman who takes over the McArtor Studio.

I know, I know, that didn’t really keep the photography business in the Stanton-McArtor family. But still, given the close friendship between Margaret McArtor and Charlotte Ross, the McArtor photography business does at least have a kind of connection to the Stanton family’s 4th generation.

Well, sort of.

Anyway, even without the involvement of a 4th generation from the Stanton-McArtors, today’s saga still earns the title “all in the family”. 😉