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.