Monday, April 30, 2012

Class of 1906 Photograph of Leona Mildred Small of Lowell, Massachusetts


Class of 1906 graduation photograph of Leona M. Small; taken by a studio at Lowell, Massachusetts.  I found a Leona Mildred Small living at Lowell, Massachusetts, so the young woman pictured was most likely a graduate of Lowell High School.



From online research, hopefully correct - corrections requested:

Leona Mildred Small was born 6 March 1889 at Lowell, Massachusetts, daughter of Frederick Small, a Civil War veteran, and second wife Elizabeth M. (Athearn) Small, born in Richmond, Maine, and Hope, Maine, respectively.

Frederick Small's family moved to Lowell, Massachusetts while he was still young.  His first wife, whom he married in 1861, was Nancy Jackson of Lowell, Massachusetts.  They had at least three children.  Nancy died in 1876.  

In 1879 Frederick married Elizabeth M. Athearn of Hope, Maine.  I don't know if he knew Elizabeth M. "Lizzie" Athearn from Maine or if she had moved to the Lowell area for work, as many Maine women did.  They had 4 children between 1880 and 1896, three boys and Leona.

Leona Mildred Small can be found in Lowell, Massachusetts up to the time of the 1930 Census.  I haven't checked the 1940 Census.  She worked as a teacher in the public schools.  Her widowed mother was living with her at the time of the 1920 Census, but died about a year later.  Leona's father died in 1910.

If you have corrections and/or information to share, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.

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3 comments:

  1. It may not be a high school graduation. There was Lowell State College that opened in 1897 to train teachers.

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  2. I was also known as Lowell Normal School

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  3. Thanks for letting me know about Lowell Normal School. Just thinking that if the birth year I found for her online is correct that she would have been young to have finished both high school and teachers college by 1906. But it's possible she was something special. She does look older than a high school senior, though, doesn't she?

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