Something That Has Haunted Me For 44 years.

[AUTMAN]

When I was 14 years old we had some friends who lived in a 100 foot beautiful rambler home in a place called Accokeek, Maryland.
They owned about 3 acres of land, and on this land next to there home was a old Victorian farm house.
There daughter was a few years younger then me her name was Linda.
Well Linda and I would play like we were married, and that the old house was ours.

This house really scared me I always thought it was haunted.
It looked haunted and strange noises cam out of it.

Is That A Boy Or A Girl To The Left ?

Do You See Anything In This Picture ?

One day I got brave enough to climb up into the attic, and explore.
I found some old bottles and two ends to a hand organ. the middle had dried up and fell apart.The one other thing I found was this picture album. It had fallen between the rafters.
The album was filled with 30 family pictures of women and men and a few children.

Well it has been 44 years now and I have decided to try and find the family who these pictures belong to. I just love challenges and this one is a big one. the pictures are from the mid 1900s to late 1900s.
I thought I might share them with you since every person in these pictures are probably dead. My hopes is that you may be able to help me figure out how to go about this. I know the road the house was on and the area it was in, and have found the town historical society to contact.
Now the pictures were taken in France because it says so on the back of all of them. there is a phone number except it is only 5digits long.
I can use the language translation web site to help with the words. do any of you have any other suggestions that may help ?.

Thanks autman

[Christy]

Those are wonderful photos! I especially love the little girl (or boy!) with the doll ( I collect antique dolls).
I would start by doing some online research on the photographers. You could find out the years they were in business & narrow down a time frame for the photos being taken, so you'd know not to look in US records before then.
Is there any way you can do a search on the property the house sits on? Even if you've moved far away, a lot of counties have property tax & deed info available online now, so if you know an address or name of a property owner (past or present) or even a street name it can lead you to old deeds, tax records & bills of sale. I used online records to find out about the past owners of my house when I was having ghost problems.

You could also try U.S. Census records for the area. If the family was from France it might be easy to narrow down a name. Cemetary & church records are another place to try.
Good luck & bless you for wanting to return the pics to the family!

[AUTMAN]

Well I found one of the photographer was Louis Arthur The Father of Charles Olsommer.
The lived in Neuchatel Switzerland
Of French origin, it is naturalized in Neuchâtel in 1899, son of Louis photographer, he studied painting at the Art School of La Chaux-de-Fonds 1901 to 1902 with Professor Charles L'Eplattenier. Il fréquente ensuite la Kunstgewerbeschule de Munich (1902-1903) puis l'Ecole des beaux-arts de Genève (1904-1905). He attended the then Kunstgewerbeschule of Munich (1902-1903) and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Geneva (1904-1905). Lors de l'un de ses nombreux voyages en Bulgarie , dans les Balkans , en Italie , en Allemagne et en France , il rencontre une Bulgare, très belle, du nom de Veska qui devient sa femme en 1907 et avec qui il a quatre enfants, Lor, Bojen, Claude et Carlo [ 2 ] Modèle:; [ 3 ] . In one of many trips to Bulgaria in the Balkans, in Italy, in Germany and France, he met a Bulgarian, very beautiful name Veski who became his wife in 1907 and with whom he has four children , Lor, Bojen, Claude and Carlo [2] Model:; [3].

Charles-Clos Olsommer vient s'établir en Valais , d'abord à Ardon puis de manière définitive, à Veyras en 1912, cadre idéal pour accomplir sa vocation artistique. Charles-Clos Olsommer just settle in Valais, first Ardon then finally, to Veyras in 1912, ideal to carry out his artistic vocation. Il y construit sa maison, celle-là même qui aujourd'hui est devenu le musée qui porte son nom. He built his house, the same who today became the museum that bears his name. Le Valais , le peintre le connaît depuis 1899, quand il fait un séjour chez son oncle à Ardon . The Valais, the painter known since 1899, when he stays with his uncle in Ardon. Il est alors saisi intérieurement par la lumière particulière de ce pays [ 4 ] . It is then seized by the inner light of this country [4].

[ modifier ] Musée [Edit] Museum


Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron
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Louis Ducos du Hauron

Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron (8 December 1837–31 August 1920) was a French pioneer of color photography. He was born in Langon, Gironde and died in Agen.

In the years following his unpublished paper of 1862 he set out practical ways of recording color images using both additive (red, green, blue) and subtractive (cyan, magenta, yellow) methods. In 1868 he patented some of his methods and in 1869 he wrote Les Couleurs en Photographie. One of his earliest color photographs is the Landscape of Southern France, taken by the subtractive method in 1877.

[AUTMAN]

Hi Christy

Here is a picture of the photographer Louis Arthur

[AUTMAN]

[Louis Charles, (LC) Publisher]

Wow, what interesting photographs. The photographer seems somewhat famous. Perhaps, some of his work has value, as well.

[AUTMAN]

That could be possible.
I'm still trying to find the other 8 photographers on the other pictures.
They are from Paris France, and Germany but most of them are from Neuchatel Switzerland.
I found a site that list all the lithograph work on the backs of the picture so you can identify the dates.
It is a big project with 30 pictures.
Some one in one of these pictures must have also done something of historical value.
We will see.

[Christy]

Looks like you're doing some good research. I wonder if instead of a family album it could be a portfolio of work?

[AUTMAN]

Could be but there are some pictures of the same person 5 times, so I don't think it would make for a very good portfolio.

[Tkay - Moderator]

Have you researched the city where you found these, meaning the people who lived there. The book looks like at one time it may have been expensive to have back them. You may find the information on the people.

[AUTMAN]

I am still close friends with the second owners of the property,and will get the name of the original owners and the address of the house were I found the book.

I can also contact Maryland public records,Maryland Historical Society,Prince George's County Historical Society,The Maryland State Archives,Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.

The house was pretty fancy for a house of that time.

I found some old pictures of some house similar to it.

[Joe]

Dang Autman! What beautiful treasures you found! I wish you the best on finding any info about this home & it's family. Do you know the address where this house once stood? Always talk to the neighbors. They usual know more about a residence than city/county records.
I'm going to a seminar this Sat. I will ask the instructor on what steps to take in your situation. They will discuss topics such as, "Gain the tools to coax your home into telling its tale" & "Learn research methods to investigate your structure".

I will be taking notes and pass along to you any info that might apply in your case to find the relatives of your photo album.

Again...best of luck with your treasures! It takes a very kind heart to look for the owners the way you are.

[AUTMAN]

My friends who are in there upper 70s who use to own the property have the name and address of the original owners of the house were I found the book.
The area has been all changed with a new community of new houses.
The only house was a farm house across the street from this house but it was home of a very poor family that raised pigs. I'm pretty sure there all gone now.
I will still check into it just in case.
Thanks for the link for These Walls Were Made for Talking it really sounds cool.
Between the location of original owners and the translations of the 3 country's to find the photographer records from a100 years ago.
I can use all the help I can get to put this very big puzzle together.

Thanks again for your help.