The Packwood Family


This week, I added an 1896 cabinet card to my collection, and the notes on both sides let me piece together a story of a late 19th century farming family.

The portrait itself, dated April 1896 in pencil on the front, features a young couple surrounded by their four children. The children's heavy velvet and plaid dresses and the white lace collars are all classic styles of the decade.

​But it’s the back of the photo that truly brings it to life. Written in elegant cursive, it says:

Jesse Packwood

Family.

They was Friends of Mr & Mrs E.H. Powell.

With a location, a surname, and an exact date, the pieces of the puzzle quickly fell into place. This is the family of Jesse W. Packwood and his wife, Amanda, who operated a farm just west of Exeter in Barry County, Missouri.

​By looking at historical records from the spring of 1896, we can actually name every single child in this portrait:

  • ​Cordelia & Della: The two older daughters standing on the right, born in the late 1880s.
  • ​Homer: The toddler in the plaid dress sitting on his father's knee.
  • ​Minnie: The tiny baby, under a year old, resting in her mother's lap in a white gown.

​The note on the back also reveals a social connection. The Powell family were also farmers in Barry County. This photo wasn't kept by the Packwoods, it was a token of friendship given to the Powells, who carefully wrote down the names of their neighbors so they wouldn't be forgotten.

While the photo captures a moment of growth and prosperity, Jesse and Amanda would go on to have several more sons, historical records reveal a family tragedy. The little boy on the left, Homer, would sadly pass away from illness in April 1911 at just 18 years old.

​He was buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Exeter, where his parents would eventually join him decades later. Knowing this transforms the photograph from a simple antique find into a record of a young boy's life, preserved forever by the neighbors who loved them.


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