Susan Abigail Hankins

-

This photograph of Susan Abigail (Hankins) Bush likely dates from the mid-1870s. The photographer, Addison Delavan Harding, opened his studio in Susquehanna in 1873. [1] Susan and her husband David Tyler Bush were living in Susquehanna by 1870, and remained there until at least the 1880s. 

The script words "Cabinet Portrait" indicate that this may be an early cabinet card, where the photographer was trying to distinguish a new format of photography from earlier formats such as carte de vistes. 

The identification of the subject as "Aunt Abbie Bush" suggests that it was labeled by one of her nephews - either Howard Ross Hankins or William Lucas Hankins. While Susan Abigail had other nieces and nephews, this likely belonged to someone in her brother Lucas Wurtz Hankins' family, since it has been passed down through is part of the family.





This next photograph of Susan Abigail Hankins was likely taken about 1894-1896. The photographer was G.E. Priest of Tully, New York. Since George E. Priest was born in December 1872 in Vermont, he is unlikely to have been in business by himself before about 1894 (roughly age 21). [2] He ran a studio in Tully from about November 1894 - April 1896, when he moved to a studio in Geneva. [3] 

The back of photograph identifies her as Mrs. A.H. Bush (Aunt Abbie) in what appears to be the same handwriting as on the previous photograph. 





This third photograph has no information about when or where it was taken. It appears to have peeled off the back of its original card mounting. My mother, Barbara Hankins filed this photograph with the two identified photographs of Susan Abigail Hankins. I don't know if she had additional information indicating this is Susan or if she went by appearance. 



Susan Abigail Hankins, daughter of John Hankins (1803-1847) and Susan Thomas (1811-1885), was born 13 February 1841 at Hankins, Sullivan County, New York. Throughout her life, she was known as Abbie, likely to distinguish her from her mother, Susan Hankins. Abbie married David Tyler Bush (1838-1876), son of Amos Bush (d 1846) and Hester Tyler (b 1815) on 21 October 1868 at Hankins, in a double wedding ceremony with her brother John Ralph Hankins (1843-1905) and Emma A. Buckley (1849-1934). Abbie died on 22 September 1917 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. 

Abbie and David Bush had three children: Jessie Lillian (1869-1885), Edward Wallace (1871-1945) and Charles (1875-1875). 





[1] "Handsome Bearded Man in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania (Cartes de Vistes)," The Cabinet Card Gallery (https://cabinetcardgallery.com/tag/fannie-harding/ : accessed 15 February 2026). 

[2] 1900 U.S. Census, New York, Ontario County, Geneva, enumeration district 62, sheet 12, line 40, George E. Priest; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/records/67142942 : accessed 16 February 2026). 

[3] "G.E. Priest Moves to Geneva", posted to Ancestry on 1 June 2022 by Carolyn Holmes (https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/175352027/person/292365704007/media/43780423-0d25-455c-b866-5d72c914b22a : accessed 16 February 2026); cites Tully Times, 11 April 1896. As of this time, I have not been able to find a copy of the original notice. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Mystery Photo That Uncovered a Family Tragedy

-
Image
  Have you ever found a beautiful photograph in the family collection and wondered, 'Who is this person?' That's exactly what happened to me with this stunning portrait of a young woman.  She looks to be in her early twenties and the portrait looks to have been taken around 1930. And while members of both my Schickler and Christensen families were living in New York City at the time, we haven’t been able to place this young woman in either family. Photograph of Unidentified Woman. Hankins Family papers,  privately held by Patty Hankins of Bethesda, Maryland. On a recent visit to my Aunt Betsey’s, she wondered if the mystery photo could be a portrait of Lester’s fiancée, the opera singer, who died of meningitis the day after my grandparents got married, which is why Uncle Chris couldn’t walk my grandmother down the aisle at her wedding! [1] Apparently my grandmother's parents weren't able to attend the wedding.  This was a family story I’d never heard. The only m...
Read more

Early 1900s Call Album - Page 38

-
Image
Sometime in about 1904, someone in my grandmother Evelyn Clara Call's (1895-1962) family started taking photographs and placing them in an album. My grandmother was nine in 1904, so she could have been the photographer. Or it could have been one of her parents Charles Joslin Call (1859-1939) or Elizabeth Ann (Coe) Call (1861-1956). Most of the early photographs are of family gatherings and places someone visited. I believe by about 1911, my grandmother was taking the photographs. There are photos of her classmates at Batavia High School and groups of teenage girls.  The Call family live in Stafford, Genesee County, New York. They had a cottage at Silver Lake in Wyoming County. So many of the photos were taken in these locations. Photos on this page were taken in 1911 at Horse Shoe Lake, most likely the one in Batavia, Genesee County, New York.  Evelyn Clara Call is on the right  Evelyn Clara Call, daughter of Charles Joslin Call (1859-1939) and Elizabeth Ann (Coe) Call (1...
Read more

Brightening Up A Hard to Read Document in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements

-
Image
Sometimes digital images of documents are just hard to read – the paper is gray, the ink close to the same color, and often with ink bleeding through from the back. Brightening up the document and sharpening up the words can sometimes make it easier to read  and hopefully find the clue that helps you break through a brick wall. Sometimes it just takes a couple of minutes in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to clean it up. The steps are the same – just the commands and menus are in different places. So here are directions for both – I’m using Photoshop 2025 and Photoshop Elements 2023 on a Windows machine. I don’t know the commands on the MAC and don’t have an updated version of Photoshop Elements – so hopefully you can figure it out if my directions don’t match what you see on the screen. Photoshop 2025 1. Open the Document   2.  Use a Levels layer to adjust contrast.     a.  From the layers button on the Layers panel (half black/half white circle – Choo...
Read more