The documentation that I've come across indicates that these two people are
William Thornton Snyder (1800-1872) and
his wife Sarah S. Jenkins Snyder (1797-1859),
parents of Ann Lucretia Snyder (born in Virginia, lived 1822-1890).

Ann Lucretia Snyder married Charles Oliver Alden (born in Vermont, lived 1813-1876) in 1839.
Ann and Charles Alden were the parents of
Elihu Alden (born near Petersburg, Kentucky, lived 1851-1935), who named one of his daughters Lucretia.

This is a copy of a tintype, or ferrotype, a "photograph made by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal, colloquially called 'tin' (though not actually tin-coated), coated with a dark lacquer or enamel and used as the support for the photographic emulsion" (per Wikipedia). The original is an 8x10 inch sheet of metal which was framed behind glass. When I removed it from the oval frame, some of the emulsion stuck to the glass, notably around William Snyder's left chin. In an attempt to repair the damage, I have cloned in the area around William's left chin. I also cloned in part of Sarah's right arm near the edge of the image, and I removed a small spot on William's forehead. You can see a faint outline of the oval frame on the tintype.

The tintype (not to be confused with the more well-known daguerreotype) was introduced in 1853 and Sarah Jenkins Snyder died in 1859, so if this really is Sarah (I'm not totally certain), this image must have been created sometime between those years. It probably was taken somewhere in Virginia, possibly near the town of Orange, though I think they would need to go to a larger town to find a photographer able to create this.

A photo from that time would have required a long exposure time, which can make eyes look odd because people blink during the exposure. It appears that the eyes in this tintype were retouched to make them look more realistic, though William's left pupil resembles that of a cat.

This photo is in the public domain because it was created more than 95 years ago.

Tags:   vintage photographs ancestry

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William O. Alden Sr. (1884-1963) and
his mother Cora E. Caldwell Alden (1860-1934)
She was the daughter of William and Elizabeth (nee Trester) Caldwell and the wife of Elihu Alden (1851-1935) of Petersburg, Kentucky.
Notice her curly hair, which has been passed on to later generations.
William is wearing the same jacket as in a different portrait.

circa 1890

Scanned from a cabinet card (6 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches)
by James N. Walton's photographic studio in Aurora, Indiana.
(Aurora was right across the Ohio River from Petersburg, Kentucky, where the Aldens lived.)
The photo was crudely retouched to make the pupils of Cora's eyes appear darker.

The cabinet card was first introduced in the 1860s, and by the 1880s, it had largely replaced the smaller carte de visite (2 1/2 by 4 inches) as the most popular form of portraiture.
With the introduction of the Kodak Brownie camera in 1900, people began taking their own portraits, and the cabinet card declined in popularity.

The gold beveled edges of this card date it to the period between 1885 and 1892.

Printed below the photograph on the front of the card:
"Walton, Aurora, Ind."

Printed on back of the card (along with ornate designs):
"Jas. N. Walton Artistic Photography
No. 90 Second St.
Aurora, Ind.
Instantaneous process used exclusively
Duplicates can be had at any time"

This photo is in the public domain because it was created more than 95 years ago.

Tags:   vintage photographs ancestry

© All Rights Reserved

William O. Alden Sr. (1884-1963)
circa 1890

He was the son of Elihu Alden (1851-1935) and Cora E. Caldwell Alden (1860-1934) and the sister of Pauline Snyder Alden Walton (born 1893 or 1894, lived until at least 1967).

scanned from a cabinet card (6 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches)
by James N. Walton's photographic studio in Aurora, Indiana.
(Aurora was right across the Ohio River from Petersburg, Kentucky, where the Aldens lived.)

The cabinet card was first introduced in the 1860s, and by the 1880s, it had largely replaced the smaller "carte de visite" (2 1/2 by 4 inches) as the most popular form of portraiture.
With the introduction of the Kodak Brownie camera in 1900, people began taking their own portraits, and the cabinet card declined in popularity.

The gold beveled edges of this card date it to the period between 1885 and 1892.

Printed below the photograph on the front of the card:
"Walton, Aurora, Ind."

Printed on back of the card (along with ornate designs):
"Jas. N. Walton Artistic Photography
No. 90 Second St.
Aurora, Ind.
Instantaneous process used exclusively
Duplicates can be had at any time"

This photo is in the public domain because it was created more than 95 years ago.

Tags:   vintage photographs ancestry

© All Rights Reserved

William O. Alden Sr. (1884-1963)
circa 1888

scanned from a cabinet card (6 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches)
by James N. Walton's photographic studio in Aurora, Indiana.
(Aurora was right across the Ohio River from Petersburg, Kentucky, where the Aldens lived.)

The cabinet card was first introduced in the 1860s, and by the 1880s, it had largely replaced the smaller "carte de visite" (2 1/2 by 4 inches) as the most popular form of portraiture.
With the introduction of the Kodak Brownie camera in 1900, people began taking their own portraits, and the cabinet card declined in popularity.

The gold beveled edges of this card date it to the period between 1885 and 1892.

Printed below the photograph on the front of the card:
"Walton, Aurora, Ind."

Printed on back of the card:
"From Jas. N. Walton's Photographic Studio,
Second Street Between Main and Mechanic, Aurora, Ind.
Negatives preserved for future orders.
The instantaneous process used exclusively.
Cloudy weather preferred for making photographs.
Pictures copied and enlarged."

This photo is in the public domain because it was created more than 95 years ago.

Tags:   vintage photographs ancestry

© All Rights Reserved

Back of portrait of William O. Alden Sr. (1884-1963)
circa 1890

scanned from a cabinet card (6 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches)
by James N. Walton's photographic studio in Aurora, Indiana.
(Aurora was right across the Ohio River from Petersburg, Kentucky, where the Aldens lived.)

The cabinet card was first introduced in the 1860s, and by the 1880s, it had largely replaced the smaller "carte de visite" (2 1/2 by 4 inches) as the most popular form of portraiture.
With the introduction of the Kodak Brownie camera in 1900, people began taking their own portraits, and the cabinet card declined in popularity.

The gold beveled edges of this card date it to the period between 1885 and 1892.

Printed below the photograph on the front of the card:
"Walton, Aurora, Ind."

Printed on back of the card (along with ornate designs):
"Jas. N. Walton Artistic Photography
No. 90 Second St.
Aurora, Ind.
Instantaneous process used exclusively
Duplicates can be had at any time"

This image is in the public domain because it was created more than 95 years ago.

Tags:   vintage photographs ancestry

© All Rights Reserved