Figure 1.--This is a portrait of four American boys from Urbanna, Illinois. The boys are Robert, Linus, Ralph, and Harley, I think from left to right. The portrait is undated, but the U.S. Census suggests that it was taken about 1913. The census taker visited the family on May 10, 1910. The boys' dad (Fred C. Hubbard) was listed as a fruit farmer, the 1920 Census added dairy farmer. Fred was born about 1877. His wife Marth C. was born in 1880 in Germany. Robert K. Hubbard was born about 1906. Linus O. Hubbard was born about 1907. Ralph was born in 1909. Cousin Harley visiting from California was born in 1903.

This is a portrait of four American boys from Urbanna, Illinois. The boys are Robert, Linus, Ralph, and Harley. Mother has written the boys' names on a large format card. This is often does from left to right, but mother has done it by age. The portrait is undated, but the U.S. Census suggests that it was taken about 1914. The census taker visited the family on May 10, 1910. The boys' dad (Fred C. Hubbard) was listed as a fruit farmer. The 1920 Census added dairy farmer. Fred was born about 1877. His wife Marth C. was born about 1880 in Germany. Robert K. Hubbard was born about 1906-07 and thus was about 10-11 years old here. Linus O. Hubbard was born about 1908 and was about 8-9 years old. Ralph was born in 1910 and would be about 6 years old. David F. Hubbard was born about 1915, he looks about 3 yeats old here.

The Parents

The boys' dad (Fred Clark Hubbard) was listed as a fruit farmer the 1920 Census added dairy farmer. Fred was born about 1877. His wife Martha Caroline was born in Flatow, West Prussia (July 2, 1880). Her parents were Otto Koehn (1830- ) and Jestina Louisa Eschner (1843- ). Her maiden name was thus Koehn. I am not sure when she immigrated. We suspect it was as a child with her family. She graduated from the University of Illinois, receiving a BA in L&A (1904). The alumni record reads, "Prepared in Menominee, Mich. Watcheka League; Y.W.C.A.; Der Deutsche Verein." I'm not sure what that means. She taught Math and German at Marion High School which was presumably near or in Urbana. Fred and Martha married August 7, 1905, in Chicago.

The Portrait

Mother has written the boys' names on a large format card. These card portraits were going out of style. Actula cabinent cards largely disappeared after the turn of the century. They were replaced with cards that had large grey or darl green frames. Often the photographs were s,all with large frames. This portrait is large with a ldeger grenish frame. The actual photograph is bordered with scroll work. The photographer is B.C. Stephens in Urbana. Names are often written from left to right, but mother has done it here by age. The portrait is undated, but the U.S. Census suggests that it was taken about 1914.

The Census

The census taker visited the family on May 10, 1910. The family is also listed in the 1920 and 1930 census.

The Boys

This is a portrait of four American boys from Urbanna, Illinois. The boys are Robert, Linus, Ralph, and their cousin Harley. Robert Koehn Hubbard was born December 6, 1906 and thus was about 7 years old here. Linus Otto Hubbard was born January 20, 1907 and was about 6 years old. Ralph was born December 28, 1909 and would be about 4 years old. Cousin Harley was born in 1903 and would be about 10 years old here. Apparently he was visiting from California. Curiously on the mount someone in fifferent handwriting has crossed out David and written in Harley, but the Census does not list Harley at all. Even so, we think that he is the older boy in the portrait here. There were two other brothers on the way. David Fred Hubbard was born about March 1917. The boys also had a little sister, Beth Helen Hubbard, who was born in December 1914 and died one month later in January 1915.

Harley

We found a fairly detailed family tree for the Hubbard family. These boys had a cousin named Harley Corwin Hubbard. He was the son of their dad's brother, Charles Linus Hubbard. This means that one of the boys in the picture could well be Harley. Harley was born in 1903 in Los Angeles, California. If he is the oldest boy in this picture, then the blond one in the front would be Robert, the boy on the right would then be Linus, and the youngest one on the left would be Ralph. This picture may have been taken prior to either David or Joseph being born. This may also explain why the boy in the back is dressed differently from the others. He may have been visiting from California and been dressed for a visit. Of course, all of this depends on whether the tall boy in the back is actually Harley. This would affect the dating of the photograph. If Harley is, as we believe to be the case, the older boy, than the portrait would have been taken about 1913.

Clothing

All three younger boys wore sailor outfits. They are different styles, but all worn with bloomer knickers and long stockings. I am not sure what color the stockings were. They do not look black which was the most common color for long stockings at the time. Two of the boys wear double-strap sandals, but not the youngest boy. Harley, the older boy, wears a more mature-looking striped shirt and necktie. The fact that he has different parents and is a little older probably explains the different clothes.

Hair Styles

1930s Developments The 1930 Census says that Robert had become a bookkeeper for his dad's dairy and fruit farm, and that Ralph and David drove dairy delivery trucks for their dad. Young Joseph, despite being only 13 in 1930, seems to have been a "Load Carrier" for a "Building Contractor" according to the census. Interestingly, in the 1930 census Linus is listed as not having a job. I'm not sure what to make of that. I have tried to find death records for the boys, expecting them to be in the mid to late 20th Century. There seem to have been several people of the same names as these boys, many from Illinois, so it's not easy to say for certain which, if any, record corresponds to any of these guys.

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HBC

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Created: 8:54 AM 12/10/2007
Last updated: 4:19 PM 12/11/2007