Augusta Bredlau


For a long time, this cabinet card from my collection was a mystery but thanks to a little bit of detective work, this face finally has a name. Meet Augusta Wilhelmina Bredlau.

The front of the card immediately anchors us to a specific place. At the bottom runs the imprint of McKecknie & Oswald, a prominent photography studio. 

​Augusta stands before the camera wearing a prime example of late Victorian and early Edwardian youth fashion (circa 1898–1905). 

​Turning the card over, her name is preserved in cursive: Augusta Bredlau.

​Because the surname Bredlau was heavily concentrated among 19th century German immigrant families in the Upper Midwest, tracing her exact path took a bit of digging. The breakthrough came when looking just up the rail line from Toledo.

​Born around 1881, Augusta grew up in a rapidly changing world. In her late teens or early twenties, she was captured in time at that Toledo photographers studio. Not long after, her journey took her to Michigan.

​On June 8, 1907, at around the age of 26, Augusta married Ralph Tennyson Peters in Detroit, Michigan. The geography fits perfectly. Ralph was born and raised in Monroe, Michigan, which sits directly on the rail lines between Toledo and Detroit. It's incredibly easy to see their paths crossing in this interconnected region.

​After their wedding, Augusta and Ralph settled down to raise a large family, welcoming two sons and three daughters. 

Unfortunately, I can find no information about her later years or information about when she passed away. Digging through multiple archives yields no results. 

​Every time we store a fragile piece of history, we keep these memories alive. Augusta Bredlau is no longer just a nameless face on a shelf. She is a beautifully preserved window into the past.


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