This photo is one of many I acquired when I helped empty out Grandma and Grandpa Montgomery’s house after Aunt Laura moved into her own place in 1998. Luckily a lot of the photos had penciled names on the back and could be identified, but there are still some that remain mysteries.
There are a few clues that can be gleaned from the photo – the most obvious, of course, being the photographer’s studio name and location. George Gamble, photographer, appears in the 1900 census in Champaign, Illinois. Born in March 1845 in Ohio, he appears to have opened his studio in Champaign between 1880 and 1900; in the 1880 census he still appears in Center, Indiana, not having moved yet to Champaign.
There are any number of potential Montgomery candidates for the couple in the photo, as evidenced by the number of genealogical connections for Champaign and Champaign County (and nearby locations) in our family. Perhaps someone will recognize these “faces from the past” yet!