Daughters of Alexander and Francis (Henry) Wilson, 1880s-1890s

A formal photograph of the daughters of Alexander and Frances (Henry) Wilson. The six young women sit in a triangle formation, arms and hands resting on each other. All are dressed in dark, long sleeved, full length dresses with their hair done up. A painted backdrop of a living room scene sits behind them, and a carpet is laid out beneath them.

Alexander and Frances (Henry) Wilson lived north of Coralville and had eleven children, six of which were daughters: Lydia (1860-1948), Emma, Mary Ellen (1865-1945), Sarah Margaret (1868-1942), Elizabeth (1870-1959), and Jennie (1877-1892).

Of the six daughters, only Lydia remained in the area long term, working as a seamstress for the University of Iowa's Children Hospital. She never married. Emma moved to Montana with her husband, Jay Pinney. Both Mary Ellen's husband, Thomas Justice, and Elizabeth's husband, Michael T. Coleman, worked at the Iowa State Teacher's College in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Sarah Margaret (known as "Doll") married Tudor Reese, but after being widowed in 1903 and working for many years in Iowa City business firms and the University of Iowa's Women Gymnasium, also moved to Cedar Falls (Lovetinsky et al., p. 129).

Coralville Public Library. Coralville Digital History Library.

Late 1880s-early 1890s

Educational use only, no other permissions given.

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Johnson County, Iowa