A lovely couple poses for their portrait in Richmond, Virginia. She is wearing a fancy hat and he is wearing a Bowler and a fancy mustache (click on the category “Mustaches (Only the Best) to view additional extraordinary facial hair). The high collared woman in this image has a pin on her collar, and she is wearing earrings and a thin long necklace. The couple appears to be dressed in their best clothing. The reverse of this photograph identifies this man and woman as being Percy and Loula Clarke. At the time that this picture was taken, this young couple was just starting off their life together. They must have wondered what was ahead for them. Research was able to uncover some of what actually did lie ahead for this young and attractive couple. The 1920 US census found Thomas Percy Clark (1873-1968) and his wife Loula Robertson Clarke (1876-1963) living on their family farm in Namozine, Virginia. Thomas and Loula lived with their five children aged 6 through 19. The nineteen year-old, Lurleen, was a public school teacher. Thomas must have been proud of his educated oldest daughter because he had dropped out of school after completing the seventh grade. By the time that the 1930 census was completed, the Clarke’s had only two children living at home with them in Namozine. The 1940 US census found the couple still living in Namozine. Thomas lived a very long life (96 years). It’s amazing to think that he was born four years after the civil war and died the same year that Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. He experienced a major portion of US history. Both Thomas and Loula are buried in the Mizpah cemetery in Dimwiddie County, Virginia. The New York Art Gallery, located in Richmond Virginia, produced this excellent cabinet card portrait.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 