Mabel and Julia Fritz of Dexter, Michigan

The photo above is of Julia A. Fritz of Dexter, Michigan.  Whoever wrote the name on the back of this photo also added '6 years old'.  I just love the long hair and the dress.  I'm not very good at dating photographs, so I started searching for her in the 1900 census.  Dexter, Michigan is in Washtenaw County and it didn't take long to find Julia.  I clipped the census record below for the household of Christian and Maragrite Fritz.  Julia and Mabel are listed as children.  Julia is 21 years old in 1900 and is listed as a dressmaker.  She is listed as being born in 1878, so her photo must have been taken in 1884.

I also have the photograph for Mabel B. M. Fritz (of Dexter, Michigan) and Bertha Aprill (?, Michigan).  I am not sure of who is who.  They almost look like twins!  Mabel's birth occurred in March of 1888, so I guess this photo could have been taken sometime in 1894 or 1895.  I'll let you figure out which one is Mabel and which one is Bertha.

Don't the photos just make the census images come alive?  I think this must be the correct census record for Bertha.  This family is listed in Scio Township in Washtenaw County (the same township Dexter is in).  She too, is born in 1888 so I wonder if they are cousins? school friends? or maybe neighbors?

One last photo which finishes off the Fritz family quite nicely.  The photo is simply identified as Mr. and Mrs. Fritz.  The cabinet card is from E. E. Shaver's Art Gallery of Chelsea, Mich.  I love the flower coming out of an urn.  The spider web is pretty neat, too.  I wonder if this has some kind of symbolism?

 

Maybe I'm just seeing things, but don't the girls look like Mrs. Fritz?  That includes Bertha Aprill!  I found this biographical sketch for Christian Fritz in the History of Washtenaw County, Michigan.  This book was published 1881 so Mabel isn't listed.  

I just love putting faces to these names...