Arthur Sperry Prentice - c 1890-1892 - loose photo in the back of Charles Joslin Call and Elizabeth Ann Coe's Photo Album

 

The final photograph associated with the album is of Arthur Sperry Prentice, first cousin of Elizabeth Ann Coe. The photograph was loose in the back of the album, rather than in one of the frames on the album pages. 

Arthur Sperry Prentice was born on 28 November 1867 in Pennsylvania, the son of Horace Prentice (1842-1901) and Jennie Ellen Sperry (1842-1922). Horace  Prentice was a younger brother of Deborah Prentice, Elizabeth Ann Coe's mother, so they were first cousins on her maternal side. Jennie Ellen Sperry was a half-sister of George W Sperry (1853-1933) who married Mary Isadore Coe, Elizabeth Ann Coe's older sister. So Arthur was not only Elizabeth Ann & Mary Isadore's first cousin, he was also Mary Isadore's half-nephew. 

Horace Prentice's family moved frequently when Arthur was young. Arthur regularly stated he was born in Pennsylvania, but an exact location has not been identified. The family has not been found in the 1870 census, but Arthur's sister Almira was born in Mechanicsville, Cedar County Iowa in 1871. The family remained in Mechanicsville through at least 1880. Sometime before 1885, they moved to Skeneateles, Onondaga County, New York. In 1885, the family moved to Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County Michigan from Skeneateles, where they remained. 

Arthur married Nellie Josephine Richardson (1871-1947), the daughter of Milan Richardson (1846-1896) and Elizabeth Jane Hogmire (1848-1901) on 19 October 1892 in Paw Paw, Van Buren County, Michigan. From 1890-1891, Arthur Prentice and Edward L. Goodale operated a furniture business in Paw Paw, where Arthur married in 1892. 

Arthur and Nellie had two daughters, Earnestine (1899-1972) and Virginia (1913-1992). Arthur and his father Horace Prentice operated Prentice & Son, a furniture store in Kalamazoo for many years. 

Arthur Sperry Prentice died on 30 December 1924 in Kalamazoo. Nellie Josephine Richardson died there on 20 May 1947. 

This photograph likely dates from the early 1890s - probably no later than 1892. 

I have not been able to identify any information about the photographer Shaefer in Paw Paw, Michigan to help date the photograph. The wicker carriage is very typical for the 1890s (although seeing a grown man in it is not typical!). The uneven scalloped edges date the card to 1887-1894. The cursive script for the imprint dates from 1883-1900. 

Arthur Sperry Prentice was in business in Paw Paw, where the photograph was taken in 1890 and 1891. After his marriage in October 1892, Arthur lived in Kalamazoo. Given that Kalamazoo was a larger city, and likely had more photographers, he probably would have had any photographs taken there after his marriage. So this photograph dates probably no later than 1892 and probably not before 1890.  

I have no idea with man in the photograph is Arthur Sperry Prentice - nor do I have any clue who the other man in the photograph is. 

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