52 Ancestors #45: Wally, John, Teddy, Ed, and the 1917 Ford

When my late father-in-law Edgar J. Wood (1903-1986) got his first camera in 1917, he immediately began photographing his brothers (hubby's uncles) and the rest of the family.

1917 Ford owned by James E. Wood

The brothers were Wallis "Wally" Walter Wood (1905-1957), John Andrew Wood (1908-1980), and Theodore "Teddy" W. Wood (1910-1968). Ed was the oldest, Teddy the youngest.

Their father (James Edgar Wood, 1871-1939) had just gotten a brand-new Ford in 1917, when Ed (then 14 years old) began his lifelong hobby of photography.

At top of this page is an excerpt from Ed's first photo album. The inscription reads: "A few 'bum' photos of our big picnic at Salida Beach. July 4th, 1917. Excuse the mistakes. Some of my first attempts." In the "three Musketeers" photo, Ed is holding the shutter release, John is in the middle (I believe), and Wally is at right. Teddy seems to be camera shy for that one photo.

Ed's father, James, and his mother, Mary Slatter (1869-1925), are shown in the couples photo at top, she in a white hat for motoring to Salida Beach and he in a dark jacket.

Salida Beach is at Mentor-on-the-Lake, today an easy half-hour ride from Cleveland, where the Wood family lived. But in the 1917 Ford, which was getting its first photo session courtesy of Ed, the trip by car surely took a lot longer in those pre-highway days.

Later in the summer of 1917, the family drove from Cleveland to Chicago in their new Ford--and the boys pitched in to keep the car going, as shown in the photo just above. "All help when we have trouble," writes Ed in the album. "Wally pumping up a tire. John feeling casing. Near Waterloo, Indiana, on Chicago trip, 1917."


Photographer Ed liked to caption most of his photos, luckily for his descendants, often adding his own humorous comments. At right, his brother John Andrew Wood in some kind of uniform. "The cop! J.A.W.," writes Ed. Brother Teddy was "The tough egg," according to Ed.

The album is a treasure trove for our genealogical investigations, complete with some new faces and names and places. Thank you, Ed!

 

This post is part of the Genealogy Blog Party "Road Trip" for July of 2022.