In 1903, not many people had their own camera, but Portia and Henry did. We are lucky to have this many family pictures from so long ago.
This is Henry and Portia Gosting’s photo album from their honeymoon to the Big Piney River in Missouri in 1903. They were married in St Louis on August 31, 1903. Surprisingly, I have their marriage license even though I no longer have my own marriage license. The pictures are not labeled but in the front of the album, Portia wrote:
“At Clementine, 10 miles from Arlington, September 1903, on the Big Piney”
Arlington, Missouri was at that time a railroad stop 107 miles by train from St Louis. Both Arlington and Clementine Missouri are ghost towns and no longer have any inhabitants.
Below is a picture taken in the abandoned railroad town of Arlington, Missouri.
Since there are no captions to go with the pictures, I have added captions. These will be fictionalized captions, but hopefully they will not be too far from the truth.
The day after their August 31,1903 wedding, they set out by train from St Louis, Missouri to Arlington to the west. It was 107 miles but took about 4 hours with all the stops along the way. In those days, people would dress up for train rides so they arrived in the country a little overdressed for what was to come. These were city folks, and they had decided on a honeymoon in the country. They had made all the arrangements before leaving St Louis. They were met at the train station with a wagon to transport them the 10 miles to the farm on the Big Piney River near Clementine where they would be staying. Their accommodations and food would be included in the price they paid. Henry is stepping up into the back seat of the wagon to sit next to Portia. The driver, who took the picture, would be sitting in the front seat. It was a 1 ½ hour ride in the wagon to get to get to the farm on the Big Piney River.
This is a picture of the farm where they stayed.
Their friendly host family had four children and a large dog.
Henry and Portia’s new friend showed them his young horse, which was sort of a family pet.
This is Henry entertaining the mules that the farmer had.
Their host showed them a trick where he could get his young horse to lie down on the ground. Henry is on the right.
Their host offered them a ride on the horses. Henry, who helped take care of his family’s horses in Iowa as a child, was comfortable riding a horse and took him up on the offer without hesitation. Portia with her long dress decided against it. This is Henry on the right.
Out in the country, people of course drank water from a well. This is Portia, age 31. This picture was not in the photo album but came from Portia’s granddaughter, Pam Gosting Trucco. However, it is suspected that this was taken on their honeymoon. On the copy of the picture that Pam sent, there was a crease on the left side that I have edited out, which suggests that this picture was folded to fit in a frame and displayed separately from the photo album. It is one of the best pictures in the group.
There was a lot of time for relaxing while they were there. This is our ancestor, Henry Guerin Gosting, age 30.
This is the Big Piney River in 1903.
Their farm family hosts set up a tent on the bank of the Big Piney for them to sleep in while they were there. Their meals were served back at the house, where they ate with the family.
It was late summer, so the water is still warm. This is Portia enjoying the water.
You can’t see it very well, but this is Henry out in the wooden flat bottom boat that the farmer owned.
Portia took this picture of Henry at the oars of the boat.
Here is Portia in her 1903 bathing suit and hat.
Henry is carrying the oars back to the house. Are those fish he is carrying in his other hand?
Portia and Henry are shown here back in St Louis after their honeymoon. They were very pleased with their adventure and excited about the future.
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