See letters, photographs and other ephemera from two of Seattle's early families.
Envelope to Mrs. A. [Sarah] Latimer, December 8, 1891
Empty envelope addressed to Sarah Latimer. Sarah was the wife of Alexander Latimer and mother to five daughters: Narcissa Leonora Latimer Denny (1851-1900), Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler (1856-1934), Harriet Ellen Latimer Stephens (1859-1938), Clara Latimer Bickford (1861-1934), and Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds (1864-1946). The letter was postmarked from Minnesota. The town is difficult to read but is likely Winnebago City where Sarah Latimer was living at the time.
Identifier: spl_lj_010
Date: 1891-12-08
View this itemNarcissa Latimer letter to Alexander and Sarah Latimer, November 17, 1884
Narcissa Leonora (Nora) Latimer Denny was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Latimer. She had four sisters: Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler (1856-1934), Harriet Ellen Latimer Stephens (1859-1938), Clara Latimer Bickford (1861-1934), and Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds (1864-1946). Narcissa married Orion Denny on April 1, 1889. The letter is addressed to Alexander and Sarah Latimer and is written from Seattle. It discusses Seattle's climate, her duties as a teacher, women's suffrage, the recent presidential election and Denny family matters including the birth of Roland Denny's third daughter (Edith Denny). Narcissa writes that one of Roland's daughters' was upset that the baby was a girl and notes that ""Cousin Arthur"" (Arthur Denny) consoled the child by telling her that a girl is worth as much as a boy because ""She can vote."" (Washington Territory women were granted the right to vote in 1883 but the right was repealed in August 1888 when a court ruled that the territorial government did not have the authority to enfranchise women voters. Washington became a state in 1889 but women did not regain the vote in Washington until 1910.)
Identifier: spl_lj_004
Date: 1884-11-17
View this itemUnknown woman in Portland, Oregon, 1881
Photograph taken by Frank G. Abell in Portland, Oregon.
Identifier: spl_lj_051
Date: 1881
View this itemNarcissa Latimer Denny, ca. 1885
Narcissa Latimer Denny was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Latimer. She had four sisters: Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler (1856-1934), Harriet Ellen Latimer Stephens (1859-1938), Clara Latimer Bickford (1861-1934), and Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds (1864-1946). Narcissa married Orion Denny on April 1, 1889.
Identifier: spl_lj_046
Date: 1885?
View this itemUnknown woman in Galesburg, Illinois, ca. 1880
Photograph taken by Thomas Harrison in Galesburg, Illinois.
Identifier: spl_lj_034
Date: 1880?
View this itemEmma Chesney Latimer Reynolds, ca. 1880
Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Latimer and sister to Narcissa Latimer. Emma married Charles Reynolds in 1886 in Minnesota.
Identifier: spl_lj_020
Date: 1880?
View this itemGroup of three Native Americans, ca. 1897
Identity of the men and location of the photograph unknown. Time period provided is estimated.
Identifier: spl_lj_069
Date: 1897?
View this itemUnknown man in Shenandoah, Iowa, ca. 1880
Photograph taken by W.H. Brewer in Shenandoah, Iowa.
Identifier: spl_lj_032
Date: 1880?
View this itemEliza Anderson steamboat, ca. 1897
Transcribed from back of photograph: "The "First Love" of O.O.D. This is the first steamer of which he was chief engineer. O.O. photographed it before she sailed for Alaska last August. He was confident she was too old a boat to stand a trip to the north and would never return. She is now a wreck in Dutch Harbor, Alaska." The steamboat left Seattle in August 1897 was wrecked in March 1898.
Identifier: spl_lj_058
Date: 1898?
View this item