Ancestral Photo Collection

Submitted by Judi McDowell; Jacob Bingman Family

Submitted by Lorraine Hathaway: Thomas Hall Family

Donated by M. Hunt. ~ My grandfather was Wallace Stanley Christopher (1902-1999). His parents were Emil Carl Christopher (aka Carl Emil) (1866-1906) and Dorothea Von Der Geest (1874-1949). I estimate that the photos in the album were taken between 1910 and 1917. Dorothea married Emil Christopher in 1899. They lived at 1802 14 ½ Street in Moline, IL. They had 2 children - Harvey (1900-1959) and Wallace. Emil Christopher committed suicide in 1906. Included in these pictures are 2 photos of the house where they lived (which still stands today), one with Emil sitting on the bench with the 2 boys and Dorothea on the porch. The second one from after Emil passed with Dorothea in a black dress and the boys standing with her. There's a photo of a big house with a note on the back that indicates Hilda Christopher lived there. Hilda Margareta Andersdotter Christopher (1845-1901) was Emil's mother. She immigrated to the USA after her husband passed away in Sweden. I don't have a street address for the house. Besides Dorothea, Harvey, and Wallace, Emil was survived by his sisters Hilma and Anna (married Dorothea’s brother, Heinrich) and his brother, Axel (married Julia Johnson). Dorothea’s parents were Wilhelm (1846-1917) and Anna Louise Ploog Von Der Geest (1845-1931). Dorothea married Nathan Sten (1866-1935) in 1910. They moved to a farm near Osco, IL. Many of the photos look like they are from a farm. I assume it’s their farm. The photos that start with the word "school" look like pictures that would have been taken at a school outing of some sort and some of them at a school. The words above one of the doors says "Geneseo". My grandfather went to a 1 room school house near the farm, then to John Swaney High School, and then Knox College. I’m not sure where these photos were taken.