Rev. Duncan Hyder Selph Sr. From the Harding/Dabbs Collection

©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

For the Selph family, this photograph is the crown jewel of the Harding/Dabb collection. It appears to be a duplicate of a photograph of Rev. Duncan Hyder Selph Sr. that was made when he was younger.

 

The back of the photograph is from Wybrant's Photographic Studio, 418 West Market St., in Louisville, KY. It bears the notation that Wybrant's was a Medal Award winner at the Southern Exposition in 1883, so the image is from 1883 or later. Frank Wybrant's photography studio was located at 418 West Market Street from 1886 to 1889. The hand that wrote on the back of the card is sure, and although D.H. Selph was deceased by 1874, I don't doubt that the identification is correct. It reads "Rev. Duncan Hyder Selph Baptist Minister & President of Union University Murfreesboro, Tenn." It further identifies his wife as "(Lily) Lavinia Bemburg Selph." Lily was a Burton and to my knowledge, Bemberg was not her middle name, which is identified in other documents as Emily. However, her mother was Lavinia Bembury (Murfree) Burton. This leads me to believe that Lily did not write this. It was likely inscribed by one of her children.

This picture of Duncan Hyder-Selph shows a resemblance to a photograph that was made at a later date with his wife, Lavinia:

 

Ophelia and Lilyann Selph From the Harding/Dabbs Collection

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

Ophelia and Lilyann Selph were the daughters of John Williams and Annie Walker (Hardin) Selph. 

The inscription on this photograph dates it to November 18, 1897. In that year Lilyann was three years old and her older sister Ophelia was five. In the photograph, Lilyann is standing. Her baby cheeks reveal her to be younger than her slim faced sister who is seated. On this photograph like many of the others, the penciled inscription has been inked over. It was inscribed to "Big Mamy." Based on other pieces of information in the collection, Big Mamy or Big Mammy was the nickname for Lavinia "Lilly" Emily (Burton) Selph, the girls' grandmother, who was still living in 1897.

Ophelia is clutching a bouquet of flowers.

John Williams Selph From the Harding/Dabbs Collection

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

Among the many items in the Harding/Dabbs collection was this photograph of John Williams Burton, a son of Rev. Duncan Hyder and Lavinia "Lilly" Emily (Burton) Selph. 

This photograph is dated 2/15/88, which would have been February 15, 1888, to Sister from Jack. The same shaky hand that traced over the writing on Iley N. Selph's photograph traced over this one and added the notation that sister was Auntie Mrs. McLean. That auntie would be Sarah (Selph) McClain or McLean, who was a sister to John Williams Selph and Iley Nunn Selph. 

The Doerr photography studio was located at 12th and Market Sts. in Louisville County, Kentucky. Notice that duplicates can be made at any time. 

In 1888, John Williams Selph would have been 23 years old. 

lley N Selph From the Harding/Dabb Collection

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

About two weeks ago, I was contacted by Shelley Ledbetter, who posted a comment on Priscilla Dickinson "Dee" (Selph) Harding, telling me that she had seen a lot of letters and photos that had belonged to Sarah (Harding) Dabbs at an antique shop in West Plains, Missouri.  As a member of the DAR, she was moved to look for anyone connected to the Hardings because of a DAR certificate among the items. She put me in touch with the Old Time Flea Market and Antique Mall, and I was assured that there were many items in the group associated with the Selph family. I am pleased to say that I am now the custodian of the collection. 

This begins a series of posts that will showcase the "new" material found in the collection and that will be tagged "From the Harding/Dabb Collection." 

The first item is a photograph of my husband's grandfather Iley N. Selph as a teenager. 

Several things about this photograph stand out. First, it is inscribed to W. Buton Selph from Peter (Eily N Selph). Along the side, someone with a shaky hand traced over the penciled writing. That reads Eiley N Selph. Then in pencil is I.N. Selph and E.N. Selph. The spelling of Eily and Eiley for Iley is odd given that Iley evidently wrote it. Although I have seen his name spelled several ways in records, this makes me think that he was experimenting with the spelling of his name. Maybe he wanted to distinguish himself from his Uncle Iley N. Selph, for whom he was obviously named. Then there is the indication that Iley's nickname was "Peter." Why Peter? True, his grandfather was Peter Self, and he had an uncle named Peter Selph, but I am under the impression that the elder Selphs were not necessarily on good terms, so it seems odd that he would have been nicknamed Peter. Was there something about him that reminded his older family members of either his grandfather or his uncle? 

Peter Self Sr. died in about 1858, six years after his son Rev. Duncan Hyder Selph married Lavinia "Lilly" Emily Burton. Duncan Hyder Selph died in 1874 when his son Iley was just a toddler. The elder Selph children would have been too young to remember Peter Self Sr. and were probably not well acquainted with Peter Selph Jr. Was "Peter" a nickname that Duncan Hyder Selph gave his little son? And why? Was there something about his appearance or his temperament that reminded him of his father or brother?

Then there is the question of which brother Iley gave this photograph to. Was it John Williams Burton Selph or Washington B. Selph? Washington B. Selph died in 1888, so it is possible that he was the recipient. If John Williams Burton Selph was the recipient, I would expect the inscription to be for J.W. Burton Selph rather than just W. Burton Selph. Plus, there are the initials WBS written several times on the front of the photograph in pencil. 

Dating this photograph is not as straightforward as I hoped it would be. Clearly, Iley was a teen at this time. The photography studio of Louis Bergman was located at 204 to 208 West Market Street in Louisville, Kentucky between 1882 and 1883. It continued at simply 204 West Market Street until 1885. In this photograph, Iley appears to be older than eleven, which would have been his age in 1883. To me, he looks like he is at least fourteen, maybe fifteen. I think it is likely that Bergman would have used all of his available cardstock as long as he was still at 204 W. Market, so this may be older cardstock used at a later date.