McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)
Lynette Payne (1879-1968) was the daughter of Edward Biron Payne and Nanie Maria (Burnell) Payne. The date this photo was taken is a mystery, but we can try to pin it down in a number of ways.
We know that Lynette graduated from Berkeley High School in California in June of 1897. Her parents may have been separated at that time by choice, or Nanie was living away because she was very ill and needed more care than the family could provide. According to ex-daughter-in-law, Edith (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck, Lynette “… had been sent here [Newton, Iowa] to live with an uncle, Court Bernell [Burnell]. His wife Amy was a mean woman and she must have made it miserable for mother [Lynette]. A beautiful girl just 18 and full of life.” Other family stories include that the family didn’t think Lynette’s father should be raising a daughter alone- she needed a woman’s influence at that age. Also, Berkeley, California, was such a liberal place to live with the University of California there, plus Bohemian artists, writers, etc. that it is to this day called “Bi-zerkeley” (a contraction of ‘Bizarre’ and ‘Berkeley’), and it was felt that a young woman should have a more stable and refined environment. This researcher has a feeling that Lynette reading a paper written by her father to a meeting of Socialists may have set this plan in motion once she graduated high school… if the family knew about it. (More about that in another post.)
So, for a variety of reasons we know that Lynette may have been living in Newton, Iowa, after June 1897. We also know that she married William Elmer McMurray on 6 June 1899, in Marshalltown, Iowa, about 30 miles from Newton. (It’s not that far- some people who live south of Marshalltown now will do that drive and longer just for a Maid-Rite- you know who you are- which is the best loose-meat sandwich ever. Though actually, we think Newton has the best old-fashioned, non-commercialized Maid-Rite, just like it has been for 50+ years on the square.)
More rambling about our heritage… sorry. back to Lynette’s picture.
We are lucky to have the folio with the photograph! It gives us a big clue: it was taken at Sparks Studio in Marshalltown, Iowa. So a search for the photographer and studio in Marshalltown will help us narrow the date of the photo.
Sparks Studio, Marshalltown, Iowa for sale, in Abel’s Photographic Weekly, 1 Aug 1914, Vol. 14, No. 344, Page 198, via GoogleBooks.
These snippets in photography publications suggest that the Marshalltown studio was closed by 1914, so we know that the portrait was taken before that time.
Looking at Lynette’s history, however, we know that her first child was born in 1900 and third/last in 1911. In this portrait, Lynette looks younger than in the image we will post later this week of her with her first child, so the above portrait may have been taken pre-1900.
A wonderful website has been found that lists photographers and their studios, and it states that Sparks was active in Marshalltown from 1901-1902. We have since searched Marshalltown city directories for C. W. Sparks on Ancestry.com, and the earliest we have found was from 1897. So it is possible that this image could have been taken as early as summer, 1897, after Lynette graduated and moved to Iowa.
If we look closely at the image- you can download it or just click to enlarge- we can see the name “Lynette” handwritten across the photo, and above it a word that might be, “Love.” (What do you think?) So here are a few possibilities, suggested by all these clues:
- Lynette may have gone to Marshalltown with friends or family, and decided to have her picture taken to send copies to her father and mother in California.
- Maybe the picture was taken to give to a handsome young beau named Will McMurray?
- Or maybe this was taken when Will and Lynette were married in Marshalltown, perhaps on their honeymoon in June, 1899? I am unaware of any photos from their wedding, though I do hope one will surface from a shoebox under a bed or in the back of a closet somewhere. Lynette does look pretty serious in the photo though! Her dress is very lovely, and seems much dressier than an everyday Iowa dress- could this be the dress she was married in? She did always have nice clothes, especially coming from the sophisticated west coast/San Francisco area.
We hope that family members will help us out with more information on this photo. Maybe they have a copy, and a date might be written on the reverse? Please do let us know.
Notes, Sources, and References:
- Photo and transcription of story about Lynette from Edith Luck from the family treasure chest, and a special ‘thank you’ to 3 of Lynette’s great-granddaughters for sharing.
- Langdon’s List of 19th & Early 20th Century Photographers, https://www.langdonroad.com/
Click to enlarge any image. Please contact us if you would like an image in higher resolution.
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