Collection Spotlight: The Roberts-Hastings Family Collection
An Incredible Window into Bethel and Hanover Life in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century
Goose Eye No. 1 (2021)
Collection Spotlight
MBHS COLL 143
The Roberts-Hastings Family Collection of Glass Plate Negatives
An Incredible Window into Bethel and Hanover Life in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century
Consisting of more than 440 images, the Roberts-Hastings Family Collection is one of the largest collections of glass plate negatives in the collections of the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society. Originally acquired from family of Beulah and Stella Bartlett by Dover, N.H., photographer and collector Thom Hindle, it was purchased by the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society in 2018 through the financial generosity of Michael S. Stowell.
Born in Montana in 1888 and 1891, Beulah and Stella were the daughters of George Forrest Bartlett, of Bethel, and Sarah J. Roberts, the daughter of James Gardner Roberts and Beulah Foster Bartlett of Hanover. George and his bride had gone out West after their marriage in February of 1885 so that George might seek his fortune in mining. Sadly, Sarah died in Butte, Montana, in 1892, at the age of just 43, and it appears the sisters, along with their older brother George R. Bartlett (b. 1887), were sent back to Maine to live with family. In 1900, they resided with Sarah’s sister, their aunt Sophia K. Roberts, at a house on Park Street in Bethel. George F. was eventually married to Sophia on January 9, 1901. Later in life, Beulah and Stella moved to 22 Lyndhurst Street in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, where they operated a portrait photography studio under the name of “Bartlett Sisters.” Their father and step-mother/aunt also resided with them on Lyndhurst Street for many years after George retired from the mining business.
At the time these negatives were purchased it was believed they were taken by the sisters during the period they worked as professional photographers. Inspection of the box labels and their contents quickly dispelled this notion, however, as many buildings and other clues date the photographs to an earlier period. In fact, Stella and Beulah, along with their brother, George R. Bartlett, appear in them as children.
It now appears that the negatives were taken in the 1890s and early 1900s by various members of the Roberts and Hastings families. One box was labeled “Helen’s negatives,” probably a reference to the Bartlett siblings’ slightly older cousin Helen S. Roberts. A photograph of Mabel Hastings Skinner and her husband, the celebrated organ builder Ernest Skinner is labeled, “Picture of Ernest & myself,” suggesting she may have taken or at least later had possession of some of the negatives. According to Ernest Skinner’s obituary, which was published in the Boston Globe on November 28, 1960, Ernest lived with his cousin Stella at Lyndhurst Street during the last years of his life. This may explain some of how the collection came together.
Whatever the exact authorship, this collection provides an outstanding opportunity to view life in Bethel and Hanover at the turn of the twentieth century through the eyes of those who lived it. Among the negatives are extraordinarily high-quality views of rare scenes, including maple sugaring operations, log drives, river ferries on the Androscoggin, and recreation on Hanover’s Howard Pond.
Amazing photographs! thanks for this - brings history so alive!