MILLER TOWNSHIP — Adam Gibbons of Geneva, Illinois, sells old photographs and ephemera on eBay as gibtel1.
But unlike many such sellers, Adam delves into the history of the items he sells, researching his items to identify subjects as much as possible before putting the item up for bid.
Knox Time’s Jim Linkous recently alerted me to a fine cabinet card photo that Adam had already sold on the internet auction site. So, I contacted Adam and asked if I could feature the image for historical research purposes on History Knox, to which he graciously agreed.
The photograph was taken at Miller Photography, on the Union Block in Mount Vernon, apparently in October of 1902, shortly after Louis Hays Higgins and Mary Arrington got married, or possibly even on their wedding day. According to Adam’s research, it was a second marriage for both.
Louis Higgins was born in 1865 near Martinsburg to Philo Higgins and his wife Elizabeth, and was given his mother’s maiden surname for a middle name. Census reports show him living with his parents in his youth.
In young adulthood, he married, but, tragically, Louis is listed as “widowed” in the 1900 census and again living with his parents, with one of his two sons from the first marriage.
Mary Arrington was 16 years younger than Louis, and had been married before, but her first marriage ended in divorce after only a year.
One can perhaps hear something of a frank personality when one notes that the clerk filling out Louis and Mary’s marriage license must have written down her answer literally when he asked the woman her occupation: “none special.”
The second marriage began in 1902 and lasted until Louis’ death in 1938. According to the 1910 census, they rented a farm near Brandon in Miller Township, which is where Louis’ parents lived, so perhaps it was family property.
In 1920, they are still there, now with two children, Martha and Hazel. Also listed is one John Clorise, first listed on the census report as a “lodger,” which was then crossed out and replaced with “helper.”
According Louis’ 1938 obituary, the family, which by then included a third daughter named Jean, had moved to just a mile outside Mount Liberty, which is further west in Liberty Township, in 1936. Higgins attended the Disciple Church, and died after several weeks of ill health.
Mary considerably outlived Louis, and remarried after his death to William Rinehart. She passed away 1965. Louis and Mary’s daughter Hazel passed away as recently as 2005, and Jean just a few years ago.
This cabinet card captures a moment when two people united to take a second crack at married life, and for them, the second time was a charm.
