Edna Vaughn Clark, part 1

Because so much of what I inherited came to me through my great-aunt Corinne, the collection skews a little heavily toward her mother, Edna Vaughn Clark. Edna was the middle Vaughn sister, born Nov. 7, 1877, on the farm in Spring Prairie. She was seven years older than Ora, my great-grandmother, and four years younger than the oldest sister Hattie. By modern standards, she was the most classically "pretty" sister, but it's hard to know if that was the case at the time as well. She certainly appears to have had a dramatic streak, appearing in a lot of local theater productions and posing for portraits in over-the-top, dramatic outfits with enormous sleeves or intricate hats.

So let's start this introduction to Edna with a few photos:

Edna at 19, in 1896

From the same shoot

Date unknown. Late 1880s, perhaps?

Another undated one, but this was before Hatch struck out on his own as a photographer, early 1890s?

This one is interesting for being taken by a photographer from Oshkosh, 120 miles away from Spring Prairie

Edna playing a bride in a school play (front row)

Edna playing a man with a moustache and a boater hat (center front). Other people in the photo: Belle Ryce Moore, Mabel Moore Wilson, Stella Leach, Lucile Perkins Caldwell, Rebie Fraser, Edna Perkins McCarthy, Nonie Meinhardt, Ada Lewis, Belle Bradshaw Mutter, Hattie Wheeler Rhoads, Jesse Moore Miller, Mabel Norton, Maye Hoyt Patterson, Grace Aldrich Bennetts, Pearl Owen, Alice Sheldon Jennison, Cornelia Petibone Dudley, Emily Berry Moe, Helen Smithers.

Edna as a villain with a gun (back row)

Edna (right) with Rae Dodge, Grace Aldich and an unidentified friend. The note on the back says, "At Herb and Pearl's wedding." (Herb Vaughn was Edna's grandfather's brother's grandson (more on that later) who lived in town as well. Pearl Allison was his first wife.)