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PHOTO ALBUMS OF SAM & INEZ WAGNER Wesleyville, Pennsylvania

This Web page contains a real family treasure. On these pages, you will find over eight hundred photos of your Bliley and Wagner ancestors from Erie, Pennsylvania, the people in their lives and the places they frequented. Several photos date from the Civil War Period—circa 1862—of the Charles A. and Mary Jane Mead Bliley’s family who were living on Station Road in Harbor Creek Township (Wesleyville), Pennsylvania. These are our great grandparents. And, do not overlook the photo of great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Mead on Page 5 of the Fourth Album.

The site is principally photos, but you will also find some family genealogy information in text files and in maps. Some photos are repeated as the collection represents many photo albums assembled over decades for the use of more than one person.The data files have long file names as used in the original Windows OS version and is a mirror image of what was on Wallace Venable's hard drive. It does contain a few misidentifications, but on the whole is good to use. Where ever possible, I have made corrections to these identifications.

A majority of the photos on this Web site were taken by Sam C. Wagner and reflect his life-long love affair with the camera that began in his teens and his deep love of the Bliley family. Sam at the age of five, along with his mother Mary Agnes, and siblings, moved in with the retired Bliley grandparents shortly after his father's death from "consumption". He and his siblings spent their formative years in the Bliley household. As a result, you will see many photos of the Bliley family at home, at play and occasionally at work.

A special note: The contents of Albums 1 through 8 (451 pages) were scanned by Wallace "Wally" Venable in 2003. I am indebted to Wally for this major contribution to this site. Wally put in hundreds of hours doing the scans of these albums and many other family history resources not on this site. He is the husband of my cousin, Norma Jean Kennedy Venable.

About Sam and Inez  

Introduction

Sam appears to have taken an keen interest in photography at an early age, perhaps in his middle teens. By the age of 19, he was highly accomplish doing not only indoor and scenic photography, but also "trick" photography built from multiple exposure. Sam would cary this interest in photography throughout his life, but choose a career in sales.

Inez, his older sister, developed an interest in art, drawing and painting from her teens into adulthood. She simultaneously pursued a career as an architectural illustrator. Inez was a real tomboy and appears to have traveled with Sam on his adventures on a regular basis. Inez also supported Sam's work by taking his prints and putting them into the traditional black paper photo alums of the period and penned captions for most photos in white ink. She often included dates and names in the captions, a real blessing for those of us looking at them a hundred years later.

This wonderful collaboration is what you will see in this Web page's contents.

Biographies

An in-depth personal history of Sam and Inez's live, and their families, s is available online. Please click here to read about their lives.

Use of These Images  

These photos are copyrighted 2009 and restricted to personal use and research. You are free to reproduce any photo that is exclusively of Bliley or Wagner family members that are deceased. If you need higher-resolution versions of these files, I will consider providing them on a case-by-case basis for not-for-profit use.

What Can You Do?  

Enjoy the view of the past of the Bliley and Wagner families of Erie, Pennsylvania. But, a warning is necessary! Set aside an hour or two for your first viewing. This collection is captivating.

I consider it a blessing to the Bliley family to have these photos available to us. I hope you find the joy in looking at them as I have since I received them.

Best regards,
Chuck Bliley

NOTE: Names, locations and subjects follow the album name. This is a crude index of sorts, but better than nothing. Hopefully someday, there will be a real index.

Primary Albums  

• Album 01 (28 pages)
  • Wesleyville, PA streets, family get-togethers in summer, Four-Mile Creek, Mile Creek, Wesleyville and Erie Rapid Transit & Northeast Trolley Systems in 1904.
• Album 02 (30 pages)
  • Mrs. Geo. B. Moser, Four-Mile Creek, Mile Creek, Wesleyville and Erie Rapid Transit & Northeast Trolley Systems, Christmas scenes in 1900, Dench's automobile, Curtis, Riblet, Sawtelle. Old post office, Eliza Chambers House, Hubbard, Catherine Eich Bliley, Vern Schluraff, Lake Shore Freight engine, Panther Run Caves near Oil City, Allegheny Park near Rockwood, McConnell house in Oil City 1906, Erie Window Glass Company truck, Soldiers Home, Wayne Block House, Waterworks Park & Erie Yacht Club, Wilbur Lambing, and Erie (water) Reservoir.
• Album 03 (32 Pages)
  • Erie Rapid Transit System 1906, Wesleyville School 1898,
• Album 03 - Inez Wagner's Version (32 Pages)
  • 190/06/07, Bliley retirement house, Frank Anderson Bliley's first child, Inez Wagner painting and drawing, Sam Wagner as trolley motorman & chauffeur, Chas & Mary Jane Bliley in retirement working in garden, Christmas 1900, Market Street, Buffalo Road & Water Street, Eliza McCure 1903, "Pedro Club" members 1905, Life Saving Station at Presque Isle, Block House at Old Soldier's Home 1907, Wilbur Lambing 1906, Ox Team on Buffalo Road 1907, Schooner on Presque Isle Bay 1906, and Looking North from Gospel Hill 1907.
• Album 04 (17 Pages)
  • Wagner and Bliley Families
• Album 04 - Ancestors - Inez Wagner Version (20 Pages)
  • Wagners, Lelands, Scott, Lorenzo, Coover, Bonnell, Mead, Eich, Deer, Rosetter, Blila, Wesleyville School 1896, and Monroeville (Pennsylvania), Dr. Allen's House, Buffalo Road Winter 1898, Bliley Farm 1901, Burton School (Millcreek Twp.) 1901, Sam & Inez Wagner 1906, Cassius Bliley 1900/1906 Five-Mile Curve train tracks, Erie Rapid Transit tunnel construction 1900, Automobile Accident 1900, Jehu & Eliza Mead's 50th Wedding Aniv. table, Senior League Wesleyville M.E. Church, and Chaffee's Hall group 1906.
• Album 05 (52 Pages)
  • Inez Wagner & Friends in art class, Majestic Theater at night 1906, night time lightning storm 1906, North East Trolley crews in Erie, Seeley's Restaurant in North East 1907, train at Cambridge Springs at night in winter, bridge on North East Train line, 2--Mile Gulch train tracks 1907, train tracks at Mill's Woods 1907, East Avenue before constructions of bridge in 1907, after East Avenue bridge contestation in 1908, Station Road near Wesleyville, Bliley Farm on Station Road, Wade Park (Cleveland, OH), Market & Fremont Streets in Wesleyville 1907, Britton & Oaks Store 1907, Andrew Blila on boat 1907, Inez Wagner at work in Downing Building Erie, David C. Bliley Family in Wesleyville, grain towers in Erie Harbor 1907, camping in Rockwood, PA 1908.
• Album 06 (86 Pages)
  • Rockwood in PA (near Johnston), Orchard Beach Hotel, State Street in Erie, Scott block in Erie, Penn & Downing Buildings in Erie, 11th and State Streets, Balloon launch at Orchard Beach 1908, Trolleys near Ripley in NY, clearing snow from tracks and roads in North East, Chautauqua Lake 1908, L.S. & M.S. Gravel Pit in North East, grape picking with Winfred Bliley, Sigma Mu fraternity house in Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Central Park(?) in New York City, Many photos taken by others from Sam Wagner's college days.
• Album 07 (64 Pages)
  • Many photos appear to have been taken by Inez Wagner on a trip to southern Pennsylvania. Others most likely taken by Sam Wagner.
• Hubbard House, Bent Road, Wyncote, PA; Miscellaneous views of Wyncote, PA; Cree Swisher, Clementon, PA 1907, Four Mile Creek at Lake Erie shore 1907, Sawdey Farm, Ingle Nook at the Boston Store Erie, Erie Academy Studios 1908, Bliley family reunion 1908 for wedding anniversary of Chas and Mary Jane Bliley, Jehu Mead, Isabelle Bonnell, Lambing, Curtis, Geo. Wagner, Hattie Wagner Cook, School House, Bliley Children 1917, David Bliley family & home in Akron, Ohio.
• Album 07 - Inez Wagner Version (28 Pages)
  • Charles Hubbard house in Wyncote, Pennsylvania 1907 (interior and exterior views), Hubbard family, York Road (Wyncote(?). Germantown PA residences, Elkins Estate, Widener Estate Wyncote, Harrison Estate ("Grey Towers"), the "Manse" house.
• Album 08 (26 Pages)
  • Boardwalk at Waldameer Park, Presque Isle Park, Lambing (Corry), Knapp, Cornell (Oil City), Andrew Blila, Dawson Bliley, Wade Park in Cleveland, Cripple Creek picnic, Inez Wagner at work at C. Parton Cody architect, Winifred Sussex, Wesleyville school, Sawdey Farm in Albion, PA, Knight Templar Convention (Exterior) in Erie,1908,and Chautauqua Lake 1908.
• Wilfred Bliley's Personal Album (34 Pages) -- A gift from Sam & Inez Wagner. David C. Bliley family.

This page is of photo albums created by Sam later in life Scanning where the original "black" albums end, and a new set of "spiral" bound albums begin. These spiral albums cover the later part of his life up to the late 1940s. Click here to view online.

Sam's Trick Photography Examples (5 Photos)

Apparently, In his early days of experimenting with photography, Sam experimented with "trick photography" using double-exposure techniques. It would appear he pretty well mastered the technique. Five photos in the collection are examples of this work. The subjects are not identified in all cases but they still are fun to view.

• Sam's Trick Photography Examples
• Trick Photography in the 1800s and early 1900s on the The American Museum of Photography

Sam's Glass Plate Collection Preview

I have begun work on the large glass plate collection of photos taken, by or copied by, Sam Wagner. This small sample of eight photos provides some insight to Sam's photographic duplication techniques and an apparent experiment with Ambrotype positive imaging. (Caution: These are large images.)

Sam's Trolleys and Trains Group

Gallery of photos with the subject of trolleys and trains from Sam and Inez's galleries. Same content as found in the numbered galleries. Focus on trolleys in the Erie County, Pennsylvania and a couple from Ripley, New York.

OTHER BLILEY.NET PHOTO GALLERIES & RESOURCES

Bliley Photo Albums of the Boulder Family Archives -- Here are 10 family photo albums of the Bliley, Wagner and Dawson families found in the Bliley family archives in Boulder, Colorado in October 2010. There are many "new" photos by Sam and Inez in the Number 2 album. The image quality range from hand-held camera versions that simulate "reading" the albums on your lap, to full-page and detailed photos of each album. There are almost 2,000 unique images in this collection from the 1960s to 1939.

This site and associated images are Copyright 2009, by Charles A. Bliley, Webster, NY, U.S.A.

Permission granted for use in personal genealogy work and non-profit distribution with copyright and source credit.

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