Unidentified people · Original photograph
Who were these two people?
The Library of Congress preserves this wedding portrait, cataloged around 1894. The photograph shows a couple. Their names are absent from the record.
What the record establishes
A date and a credit, but no names.
The catalog dates this photograph c. 1894 and notes a copyright credit to W. J. Hazenstab of St. Louis, Missouri. It does not identify the couple or document their wedding location. The catalog also cautions that its old caption-card data is unverified.
Look at the evidence before the story
A woman stands with flowers beside a seated man. The clothing and studio chair are visible in the photograph. Those details make the people vivid, but they cannot tell us their names, relationship beyond the catalog’s wedding description, or what happened on the day itself.
“St. Louis, Mo.” appears in the photographer’s copyright note. It is a useful lead for researching the studio, but the catalog does not say the couple lived there or married there. We would need another source before making either claim.
Catalog date: circa 1894. Medium: photographic print. Copyright note: W. J. Hazenstab, St. Louis.
The couple’s names, the ceremony location, and any family story connecting this portrait to an original album.
What could identify them?
A second copy with names written on its mount or back would be a strong lead. So would a family album, studio ledger, marriage notice, or another photograph that matches the people and credits the studio. A resemblance alone is a starting question, not an identification.
Inspect the original
Source and image credit
- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog: [Wedding picture, man seated and woman holding flowers and standing]. Date: c. 1894. Reproduction no. LC-USZ62-65696. The catalog’s rights advisory says “No known restrictions on publication.”