This photograph of my granddaddy James Paul Stalls, Jr was taken in 1918 by the photographer Milloy. I researched the name and came up with Paul Neil Milloy from Michigan.
Both Paul and his wife Lottie/Lotta (Cornell), also from Michigan, are listed as photographers on the 1920 census, though only he is listed as such on the 1900 census and the 1910 census. There are two marriage records for Paul and Lottie (one I assume is a bond, the other the solemnization), one for December 31, 1895 and the other for January 1, 1896 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. They then somehow ended up in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee by 1900 and can be found through the enumeration of the 1920 census (still in Memphis). It doesn’t appear that they had any children, unless a birth occurred between the 1920 census enumeration and Paul’s death. A death certificate for Paul was issued April 23, 1921 in Memphis. His cause of death was percussion anemia.
What’s interesting about this photograph is that it is hand signed by the photographer. Now, whether it was Paul or Lottie, I’m not sure. I had thought that descendants of theirs, or family in general, would find it interesting to see the signature, but I have quickly realized that no one is researching either of them. At all. And it’s sad. I hate to think that they may have been forgotten. Hopefully someone out there has been searching and just hasn’t found anything yet. And if that’s the case then I hope this can help lead them in the right direction.
I have a photograph of my grandmother also hand signed and the signatures appear identical dated 1915, it is in a binder that has Milloy/Memphis printed by hand on the upper left.
Posted by: Chris Barron | 08/20/2013 at 04:06 AM