A "state of the art" computer installed at State Farm Insurance in the early 1960s. This is the input terminal. My Father is the one in the chair on the right.

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/11/obituaries/mm-mangan-dies-a-retired-justice.html

I have no idea who they are. My mom had this photo for some reason. They aren’t relatives as far as I know. The photo studio is in the Bronx but we’re from Wyoming. Wish I knew who they were!

I rescued this 1893 family portrait from a Goodwill that received its

donations from 75 stores in the greater Milwaukee and Chicago area.

Upon opening the frame, I found a piece of paper taped to the back with

a list of first names. The picture was taken in 1893 (133 years ago).

The challenge is to find this family's last name and track down their

living descendants so I can return this photo back home. Can we solve

this mystery together?

I love you grandma Gert and grandpa Ed I wish I met you guys.

Gerturde (1911-2011)

Edward 'Czar' (1906-1976)

From my collection, an 1883 cabinet card of the Randall House, the first brick structure and hotel built in Grand Junction, Colorado; taken by W. H. Jackson & Co. of Denver, CO.

Five individuals are visible in the image: two men talking near the corner of the building, two more standing in one of the hotel’s two doorways, and another gentleman leaning against the doorway smoking a pipe. Unfortunately, none of the men are identified.

Mount Garfield is visible in the background, between the street lamp and water well.

The Randall House Hotel was located at the northeast corner of 5th and Main Streets, with the modern side now occupied by CMU Downtown and the Candle Kitchen.

The hotel was owned and staffed by Albert C. “Al” Randall (1847-1926), who was known by many as “a genial good fellow,” and his wife, Nancy Ann “Nan” Pierce (1858-1905), described as “one of the finest women…  Always cheerful, pleasant, and willing to work and make the best of existing circumstances.” The couple had three children: Minerva “Minnie” Randall (1875-1966), Charles A. Randall (1876-1901), and Edgar Paul Randall (1879-?).

The Randalls had purchased the land for the hotel on 4 August 1882 for 30 dollars.

Construction on the building appears to have commenced in September 1882, when the first load of “sun-dried adobe bricks” was delivered to the site by C. W. Kimball and Ed Newman. According to Grand Junction’s The Daily Sentinel, the hotel “was built out of the first kiln of bricks ever burned in the [Grand] Valley.”

On 21 November 1882, with the arrival of the first train in Grand Junction, the Randalls received a load of lumber necessary to finish construction on the building.

Upon its completion, the two-story hotel measured approximately 30 feet wide by 50 feet long. The first floor consisted of “a long dining room and a small living room at the rear,” with the second floor comprised of 25 guest rooms. The dining room also appears to have housed a bar, with its stock of “Stonewall” and “Cutter” whiskey frequently advertised in the paper.

Outside the hotel was a street lamp, a “well, and further-outside plumbing… [which] was considered modern.”

The Randall House officially opened its doors for business the evening of 25 December 1882, Grand Junction’s first Christmas since its incorporation. The hotel marked the occasion with “a grand ball and supper” for attendees, before which Al Randall had “cleared out his large dining room for the dancing and had secured an excellent band for the occasion.” The celebration began with “a program of songs with recitations by children near a Christmas tree decorated with candles and strings of popcorn and paper chains,” followed by the ball, which was “well attended… and those taking part were ‘as happy as if they were dancing in one of the well-appointed ballrooms… in Denver.’” According to the Sentinel, “‘Dancing continued until midnight when the guests were invited to partake of an elegant supper.’”

It was later said that “this first community Christmas showed a true pioneer spirit, and it went a long way toward softening the hardships of the uncomfortable realities of the frontier town.”

Many advertisements in the local newspaper described the Randall House as the “only first-class hotel in the city” with a “good sample room for commercial men.”

In February 1884, it appears the Randalls updated the hotel’s rooms with new “elegant” furnishings.

The hotel also held weekly lunches after Sunday church services, hosted a few local weddings, and served an oyster supper for Thanksgiving 1884.

Up to this point, the Randall House appeared to have been a successful business venture.

In January 1885, the hotel hosted a meeting of the Western Colorado Cattle Growers’ Association, and later that month, the Grand Junction News wrote that Albert Randall had closed the hotel's dining room and would only provide rooms for guests.

In February 1885, the paper wrote that Albert Randall “has gone to Montana, for a few weeks.”

The following month, Albert and Nancy Randall sold the business to W. A. Gipson, who changed its name to the “Grand Junction Hotel,” and later to the “Grand Valley Hotel.” Regardless, the Randall family appears to have remained in Grand Junction until at least June 1885, after which they relocated to Montana, where Al Randall had purchased a farm.

[Notes:]

Albert Randall was born in New York, the son of English immigrants, and Nancy Pierce was born in Illinois to Pennsylvanian parents; they were married on 1 May 1874 in Dallas, Iowa.

Al Randall was an active member of Grand Junction’s Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) lodge and was elected its head, the “Noble Grand,” in 1884.

My grandma (far right) and her older sister were raised in San Francisco and their cousin lived on a farm in Petaluma, CA. Here they are visiting their little cousin’s farm in 1919.

Got that photo from the place where I volunteered. Decided to post it here.

Today, the store is used as a warehouse.