Leslie Shaw

Found in an antique store in Belton, Texas. This is a somewhat damaged photo of a group of office workers posing for a photo. The calendar in the center of the photo appears to read 1911. There are a pair of pennants near it reading "Taft" and "Welcome Our President" (William Howard Taft was 27th President of the U.S. from 1909 to 1913). There is a large map of the Santa Fe Railroad on the wall on the left side of the photo and a large but faded map of the Western Newspaper Union on the right side of the photo. The man and woman on the right have a small sign above them reading "Notary Public, Public Stenographer".

A photo of Albert A. Shaw, my fathe,r in his Boy Scout uniform.
People in photo include: Albert A. Shaw

A photo of (left to right:) Paul Hileman, Orville Metz, Percy Hileman, Walter Metz
People in photo include: Orville Metz and Walter Metz

A photo of Maude Mae DeWitt. Maudie was the daughter of Joseph W. DeWitt. She was born December 22, 1888 in Christian Co, Missouri and died January 3, 1979 in Denver, Colorado. Maudie is wearing a pendant with a photo of Paris "Toad" Hargis, in it. At the time of this photo she had just become, Mrs. Paris Hargis. They married August 14th, 1905 at - Ozark, Christian County, Missouri. As far as I am aware, they only had one child, Joseph "Joe" DeWitt Hargis (1907 - 1939). Isn't she a pretty one?

If anyone is aware of other children in this family, or if Joe possible fathered a child, I would be grateful for information or how to contact them, thank you.

A photo of women Christmas shopping in New York City in 1945.

This is a postcard of an annual pow wow of Blackfoot Indians, taken at a Blackfoot Reservation in Montana. It was never mailed and there is no date on it, but probably in 1910's or 1920's.

Joseph Jefferson, aka 'Joe Jefferson', was a famous comedian and actor. Jefferson began his career on stage at a VERY young age, often filling roles when plays called for 'a babe in arms' thanks to his mother and father who were both stage actors. Joe Jefferson spent his entire life as an actor, and appeared in various acts across the United States and Europe. Mr. Jefferson gained world wide recognition for his roles in Dion Boucicault's 1866 version of 'Rip Van Winkle', and as Asa Trenchard in Tom Taylor's 'Our American Cousin'.

Joseph Jefferson was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on February 20th, 1829 and died of pneumonia on April 23rd, 1905 in Palm Beach, Florida.

A photo of Tom Sawyer, San Francisco firefighter, in the 1860's.

In 1863, Tom Sawyer was a customs inspector, volunteer firefighter, and special policeman in San Francisco. One night, he was playing poker with a young writer at a steam bath in the city. As they played and talked, Tom told the writer the following story:

In 1853, Tom was a fire engineer on a steamboat, The Independence. While the steamboat was heading towards San Francisco (from Mexico), it hit a reef off of Baja. As a result, the engines caught fire and the ship started to founder. There were 359 passengers on board . . . and only one usable lifeboat.


At this point, 2 of the crewmen jumped overboard and started to sink. Tom jumped into the sea, recovered the men, and swam with them on his back. He swam 100 yards to shore, left the men, and returned to the ship, returning to the shore several times with passengers on his back.

Finally, the one usable lifeboat and two lifeboats that were patched up were lowered in the water. They were loaded with passengers and when the lifeboats made shore, Tom took one and headed back to the ship. He tossed life preservers to the remaining passengers, lined them up in the water (holding each other) and towed them back to shore. He now had burned forearms but he kept towing passengers to the shore for the next hour until the ship was a sheet of flame. By the end, he was credited with saving 90 passengers.

The writer was riveted by the story and they became fast friends. Tom said of the writer: "“He could drink more and talk more than any feller I ever seen. He’d set down and take a drink and then he’d begin to tell us some joke or another. And then when somebody’d buy him another drink, he’d keep her up all day. Once he got started he’d set there till morning telling yarns.” He also said that the writer always seemed to be broke.

One day the writer came up to Tom. "Tom,’ he says, ‘I’m going to write a book about a boy and the kind I have in mind was just about the toughest boy in the world. Tom, he was just such a boy as you must have been....How many copies will you take, Tom, half cash?"

In 1866, the writer left San Francisco and Tom never saw him again. But in 1876, the writer published a book - yes, the writer was Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) and his book was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

My mother's first visit with Santa all wrapped up for warmth along with her fur muff

A photo of George Habley mugging it up with US Army buddies ca 1917. George served in France during WW1 and died as a result of exposure to poison gas.
People in photo include: George Habley