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Subject: [NJHUNTER] Re: Bellis and Hummer Family Pictures
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 12:25:25 EST
Hi Lea,
I just joined the mailing list and saw your entry on the Hummer and Bellis
family pictures.
I don't know if these are the same Bellis folk that you have pictures of but
there's a family I found in the 1850 and 1860 U. S. census living in Raritan
Township, Hunterdon County.
The family head in the 1850 census is Peter Bellis; age is 47, occupation
farmer
Believed to be wife is Mary M. age 35
Others in household Theodore R. Bellis age 8
George D. Bellis age 6
Mary A. Bellis age 4
Peter Bellis age 1
These are probably the children of Peter and Mary M.
Also in the house but designated a separate family is William W. Bellis age
75 and Margaret 76 (probably Peter's parents). William gives value of real
estate owned at $12,067
Everyone has New Jersey as his or her birthplace.
On the 1860 census Peter's age is 57 still a farmer with $6,000 real estate
and $500 personal estate
Mary M. is not listed, she may have died between census periods; there is a
"Mary M. Bellis wife of Peter died Jun 20, 1851 (36-11-3)" age given in years-
months- days at time of death. She is found on a list of gravestone
inscriptions for Larison's Corner (Amwell Ridge) Cemetery in Hunterdon County.
<ftp://ftprootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/nj/hunterdon/cemeteries/larisoncem.txt>;
Theodore R. is age 18 also a farmer
George V. or D. (initial had to discern) is age 16 a farmer also
Mary A. is age 14
Peter, now designated Junior is age 12
Catharine Mott age 50, a domestic is also living in the household.
The Larison's Corner Cemetery inscriptions also have a "Theodore Bellis died
Apr 29, 1870 (28-2-7)" and "Peter Bellis died Jan 8, 1868 (64-9-22)"
The ages for both Theodore and Peter would match the ages for same named
individuals in both census reports. I'd guess the census and cemetery individuals
are one and the same.
Can you determine an approximate age of Theodore Bellis in the picture? If
the picture is a of a young man it could be the individual I cited. If the
picture is of an old man it couldn't be the one from the census.
By the way I believe these pictures you describe as being on metal sheeting
are called "Tintypes". They get their name from the thin metal plate used to
produce the photographic image; a negative was not needed because the emulsion
was directly exposed inside the camera. They were first used in the later 1850s
and were widely used up to 1900. Frequently in the 1860s and 1870s small
tintypes were put in CDV (Carte-de-Visite) sized cardboard mounts, typically 2.5 x
4 inches.
Note: Family Chronicle Magazine published a book several years ago titled
"Dating Old photographs 1840-1929" which can be very useful in determining when
an old picture without any identification, might have been taken.
I don't have any Hummer families in my New Jersey Bellesfelt/Bellis/Belles
data file except for an Alse Hummer (1749-1780) who m. Philip Bellis (1749-1823)
of the Barnet Bellis family of Alexandria Township, Hunterdon County.
Hope there is a connection between the pictures and the census family. It
would be great to know there are identified pictures of some of these Hunterdon
County Bellis "kinfolk".
All the best,
Chris in Bucks County, PA
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