One of the surnames we keep seeing as we scan the Bloomer glass plate negatives is Yarter. Luckily, Mr. Bloomer included a first name on some of the negative sleeves. Such is the case with this photograph—Miss Mae Yarter.
What's unusual about this particular portrait is that it is not against the painted backdrop so common in the Bloomer photographs. Mae is seated on a bench in front of a leaded glass window. The trim on the curtains is a bit tattered. The paint on the window sill is chipped. The darkness of the room is played against the light shinning through the window.
Mae clutches an open book on her lap. Her skirt is pleated and faintly striped. Her shirtwaist is plaid with a sheer embroidered garment over the top. She wears a necklace, small broach, bracelet, ring and wrist watch.
Her wavy, probably brown hair is pulled pack in a bun we cannot see, leaving wispy soft hair surrounding her face that catches the light shining through the glass. She has thick eyebrows and a round youthful face. She is not looking at the camera, her face not in profile, but slightly turned.
Mae R. Yarter was born in 1900 to Marguerite Molleur and Emmett Yarter, the fifth of their seven children. Mae worked at O.R. Howe Company, a dry goods store at 144 Main Street in Hudson Falls. On October 31, 1926 she married Charles H. Churchill of Rouses Point in Clinton County, NY. In late December, she contracted typhoid pneumonia and died on January 9, 1927 at the age of 26. She is buried in the Moss Street Cemetery in Kingsbury, NY. Her husband lived another 25 years.
The Post-Star (Glens Falls, NY) 10 January, 1927
The death of Mrs. Charles Churchill 26, which occurred yesterday morning at The Carlton came as a shock to her large circle of friends. Mrs. Churchill died following a twelve days' illness with typhoid pneumonia.
The deceased, who was Mae Yarter, daughter to Mrs. Marguerite Yarter and the late Emmett Yarter, was a bride of less than three months.
For a number of years Mrs. Churchill was employed at the O. R. Howe store.
The surviving relatives are her husband; her mother, Mrs. Marguerite Yarter; three brithers, Clifford Yarter of North Argyle, Charles Yarter of Hudson Falls, Percy Yarter of Fort Edward; three sisters, Mrs. Martin [Dora] Sheaof Hudson Falls, Miss Gladys Yarter of this place and Mrs. Preston [Maud] Taylor of North Argyle.
The remains were removed yesterday afternoon to the Yarter home at Main street and Martindale avenue. The funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at 3 at the home.
To see previous posts about the Bloomer collection, click the links below.
Tisha Dolton is Librarian/Historian at The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls, NY. Her areas of interest are suffrage music, suffragists of Warren and Washington Counties, local women and minority populations, and embroidery.