Would my 19^th-century ancestor Sophie Bruneau Huntley be posting pictures on social media, taking selfies and showing off her new purchases if she were alive today? I think the answer is, maybe yes!

Sophie was born in 1847, so all her early pictures were taken in photographic studios. These were not spontaneous pictures but rather specific setups with long exposures. There are several pictures of Sophie in the family photo albums. Many were taken in New York. My favourite is Sophie in a bathing costume displaying her very long hair and bare feet. There were no mischievous smiles but rather hard stares. Still, it appears she had fun during her photo shoots.

My great-great grandparents Barnabe Bruneau and Sophie Marie Prudhomme had 13 children and Sophie was number eight. She lived with her parents on their farm in St. Constant, Quebec until after the 1871 census. Pictures from New York studios came soon after. I assume Sophie worked in New York as a teacher or a French governess like her sisters, Virginia and Elmire, when she arrived in the United States in 1875 at 27 years old.

Sophie and her sister Elmire, married two Huntleys, Washington and Wallace? (Walworth). I assumed that they were brothers who married sisters. On family trees and photos he was called Wallace but it seems he was George Walforth Huntley (1854-1933), Washington’s younger brother and seven years younger than Sophie.  Andrew Washington Huntley Elmire Bruneau’s husband was born in Mooers NY to Andrew Huntley and Calista Blodgett and there was a George Walworth Huntley in the family. If this is Sophie’s husband, they could also have met because her sister Aglae was living in Mooers Forks, New York with her husband.

Sophie, Elmire, and their husbands lived in several places in the United States but ended up in Los Angeles.

Sophie and Walworth lived in Elkhart, Indiana as Sophie is mentioned in the Personal and Society column of the Indianapolis Journal, “Mrs. George W. Huntley is spending a month in Montreal.” The beginning of the column discussed women’s dress which probably interested Sophie. 
“What with shirtwaist blazers, neckties and caps the women, middle-aged and young are fast becoming what Light facetiously denominated “self-made men.” George was a railroad conductor and owned his own house according to the 1900 census. 

They later lived in Toledo, Ohio where George was a customs collector and finally moved to Los Angeles, California. Sophie became a naturalized American because her husband was a US citizen.

They never had any children.

Her age was fluid in all the documents. Her husband was seven years younger but sometimes she was younger and sometimes the age difference was much smaller. Her death record in December 1921 said she was 68; in the 1920 census, she was only 63 while actually being 74.

A death notice in a Los Angeles paper, “Sophie B. Huntley died December 28, 1921, beloved wife of George W. Huntley, funeral from residence La Veta Terraces.” Her death notice was also in Elkhart, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio newspapers. George continued to live in Los Angeles with his housekeeper Mary Dietrick until his death in 1933.

Notes:

“Canada Census, 1871”, , FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4KT-F5V : Sun Mar 10 23:41:04 UTC 2024), Entry for Barnabe Bruneau and Sophie Bruneau, 1871. Sophie 23 at home no occupation.

“United States Census, 1900”, , FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMBY-BMK : Thu Apr 11 19:55:49 UTC 2024), Entry for George W Huntly and Sophie B Huntly, 1900 Dubois Indiana.

United States Census, 1910″, , FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLFZ-MKV : Thu Mar 07 18:33:20 UTC 2024), Entry for George W Huntley and Sophie B Huntley, 1910.Toledo, Ohio. 

United States Census, 1920″, , FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHQD-HJK : Fri Mar 08 21:37:57 UTC 2024), Entry for George W Huntley and Sophie B Huntley, 1920.

California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994″, , FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG49-NZN3 : Sat Mar 09 23:29:28 UTC 2024), Entry for Sophie B Huntley and Barnabee Barneau, 28 December 1921.

Sophie was said to be 68 in Norwalk Los Angeles.

“United States Census, 1930”, , FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC8Z-8NW : Sun Mar 10 08:02:55 UTC 2024), Entry for George W Huntley and Mary Dietrick, 1930.

“California Death Index, 1905-1939”, , FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKS9-QWHL : Sun Mar 10 22:34:41 UTC 2024), Entry for George W Huntley, 7 1933.

“United States Census, 1850”, , FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCT1-9GL : Sat Mar 09 13:02:44 UTC 2024), Entry for Andrew Huntley and Calista Huntley, 1850.

Indiianapolis Journal Sunday Aug 31, 1890 page 3 in Personal and Society for Elkhart, Indiana Newspapers.com April 22, 2024.

First Deguerreotype in 1837

William Henry Talbot patents the Calotype process, the first negative-positive process making possible the first multiple copies in 1841. 

When the first mass-produced cameras were available in 1900 people started taking snapshots.