A 4"x6" glass plate negative, portrait photograph of William H. and Wesley McGaffin, Bellwood, Nebraska. William is wearing a mustache, dark double-breasted suit, white shirt and knotted tie, a gold band on his little finger, sitting in a large wooden chair with Wesley standing in the chair beside him. Wesley is wearing a long cotton gown with rows of horizontal tucks on the gathered skirt and lace-edged fabric ruffle at the hemline, long gathered sleeves with ruffled cuff and two rows of fabric ruffles around the bodice and round neck.
Thorpe Opera House Foundation/Boston Studio Project
Local Accession Number
00C02970000
Source
Original format: 4"x6" glass plate negative from the Boston Studio Project collection.
Historical Notes
William Henry McGaffin was born in County Down Ireland, April 22, 1845. He married Margery Martin in 1868 in Newry, Ireland. They were parents of fourteen children. They immigrated to Butler County, Nebraska, and Mr. McGaffin purchased the material for the Bellwood Gazette on December 1, 1885. The first paper was published January 9, 1886, and he continued publishing the paper, with the help of various family members, until his death in 1927. His first wife, Margery, died in 1901. He married Claude Hagenbuch in 1906 and they had one son, Wesley, pictured here with his father. The Bellwood Gazette was later purchased by the Butler County Press which became The Banner Press.
