Lou and Harriet Hill


​I went to an antique mall this week and found a beautiful mother and daughter portrait from the turn of the 20th century. Written in blue ink on the reverse side of the textured matting are the names:

Lou Mayer Hill and Harriet Hill

The original photo shows a beautiful studio moment likely taken between 1903 and 1906.

​The mother, Lou, is a perfect example of the Gibson Girl style. Her hair is in a soft pompadour and she wears a white blouse featuring a high lace collar, a brooch at her throat, and heavily pleated sleeves.

​Seated beside her is her daughter, Harriet. She wears a white dress with an oversized collar. The crowning detail of her outfit is a giant white hair bow which was the absolute height of fashion for young girls of the early 1900s.

​Tracing Lou and Harriet through historical records reveals a journey that began in Texas and eventually led to Tennessee.

  • ​Lou Ella Mayer was born in TX in February 1877 to F.W. Mayer, a German immigrant, and his wife, Texana.
  • ​On January 19, 1898, Lou married John W. Hill in Colorado County, TX. John worked as a bookkeeper for a lumber company.
  • ​The couple welcomed their daughter, Harriet Hill, in October 1899.

​By the summer of 1900, census records find the family living in a home on Front Street in Weimar, TX, with seven month old baby Harriet. When Harriet was a young school aged girl of about four to six years old, they stepped into a photo studio to have this portrait taken. 

Eventually, the family relocated to Dyersburg, TN, where John continued his career managing a lumber company. It was here that Harriet grew up, completed her education, and eventually married a man named Robert S. Moore.

​Harriet and Robert built a life right there in Dyersburg, welcoming two children of their own: Robert Moore Jr. and a daughter named Harriet. 

​What makes the Hill-Moore family story so touching is how close they remained. By the 1940s, census records show that Harriet, her husband, and her children were all living on Troy Avenue in Dyersburg in the exact same household as her parents, John and Lou. 

​Lou passed away in 1964 at the age of 87 and was laid to rest alongside her husband at Fairview Cemetery in Dyersburg. Harriet spent the rest of her days in the very same community. 

​It is a beautiful reminder that every antique photo in a dusty, store bin represents a life fully lived, waiting for someone to discover their name and tell their story.


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