Edward Geer Photographs of Como, N.C., AV.5202

Abstract

This collection consists of 52 black and white 8x10" photographic prints taken by Edward French Geer around the turn of the 20th century. The images depict the Geer family as well as both Black and white members of the community of Como in Hertford County, North Carolina, largely at work on their farms or preparing to go hunting. In addition to examples of agricultural and domestic implements, the images also show different forms of vernacular architecture and agricultural methods, as well as the people who employed them.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Edward Geer Photographs of Como, N.C.
Call Number: AV.5202
Creator: Geer, Edward
Date: circa 1897-1905
Extent: 0.010 cubic feet
Language: English
Repository: Outer Banks History Center

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Collection Contents

Restrictions on Access & Use

Access Restrictions

Available for research.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by the United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying these materials.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], AV.5202, Edward Geer Photographs of Como, N.C., Outer Banks History Center, Manteo, NC, U.S.A.

Collection Overview

This collection consists of 52 black and white 8x10" photographic prints taken by Edward French Geer around the turn of the 20th century and reproduced from the collection of his great-grandson in 1999. The photographs primarily depict members of the Geer family and both Black and white residents of the community of Como in Hertford County, N.C., at work on their farms or preparing to go hunting. In addition to examples of agricultural and domestic implements, the images also show different forms of vernacular architecture and agricultural methods, as well as the people who employed them.

Biographical/Historical

The photographs in this collection were taken by Edward French Geer. Edward was born in 1872 in Brooklyn, New York, to Eliza Rogers Raymond Geer (1834-1901) and Oliver Joseph Geer (1834-1903). He was educated at Adelphi College and became a prominent businessman in New York City, working for the Underwood Typewriter Company. In 1894, he married Blanche Rosalie Bryant (1872-1954). The couple maintained a home in the city, but in order to fulfill their need for open space, they purchased a farm on Long Island. Geer died 13 July 1929 at the age of 57.

Blanche Bryant's mother, nee Lucie Spiers (1842-1921), was born in Como, Hertford County, North Carolina. Spiers moved to New York City at a young age, where she lived in a boarding house that catered to Southerners. Edward and Blanche Bryant Geer often visited Como, travelling via boat to Norfolk, followed by a train ride west - perhaps on the Seaboard and Roanoke line to Boykins - and finally on to Como by horse-drawn cart.

Como is a rural settlement in Hertford County, just below the Virginia State line. It was originally known as Buckhorn but was later named for Italy's Lake Como. A post office was established there in 1883. The surrounding region is chiefly agricultural, with cotton, peanuts, and soybeans as leading crops.

Contents of the Collection

Photograph of a white man, approximately age 30, wearing hunting gaiters and a coat, tie, and hat. He is pointing off camera to hi right. A barn and farmyard are in the background., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.01

Photograph of a white woman, approximately age 30, standing on the porch of a house dressed in hunting attire and holding a rifle. There are two dogs on the porch with her., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.02

Photograph of a middle-aged woman, possibly Black, doing laundry in a farmyard next to a small outbuilding. Several washing tubs and clothes suround her. A farmhouse and a bell on a post are in the background., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.03

Photograph of two middle-aged white men in hunting attire and holding rifles. They are kneeling by the porch of a farmhouse. Two dogs are sitting beside them., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.04

Photograph of a white man, woman, teenage boy, and dog posing with hunting rifles and freshly killed game after a hunting trip. They are in a clearing in the woods., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.05

Photograph of a white man, approximately age 30, sitting on the steps of a farmhouse holding a hunting rifle and a freshly killed duck. Two dogs are beside him and a barrel is in the background., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.06

Photograph of Captain Charles Dwight Sigsbee aboard the U.S.S. Maine, compliments of Merritt & Chapman Derrick & Wrecking Co. Sigsbee is wearing a black suit, tie, and hat and sitting in a wicker chair on the deck of the ship., circa 1897

AV.5202.07

Photograph of two Black women, approximately age 30, and a young girl sitting underneath a tree. The woman on the left is wearing a white blouse and black skirt. The woman on the right is wearing a plaid blouse and black skirt. The girl is wearing a white dress., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.08

Photograph of a middle-aged Black man holding a hat and wearing work pants, a white shirt with flannel trim, and striped suspenders. He is sitting in front of a wood shed or barn., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.09

Photograph of seven Black men and boys, approximately ages six to middle age, gathered on a farmyard near a horse and cart. They are all wearing wide-brim hats, and several of them are bearfoot. One teenage boy is on a horse. A woodshed or barn is in the background., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.10

Photograph of two Black women, approximately age 30, sitting on a hay bale covered in fabric. The woman on the left is wearing a white blouse and black skirt. The woman on the right is wearing a plaid blouse and black skirt. Both women are looking off camera to their right., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.11

Photograph of a bell on a post, possibly a dinner bell. A barn, fence, and farmyard are in the background., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.12

Photograph of an elderly Black man leaning against a tree stump. He is holding a pail and a cane. He is wearing black pants and a black jacket, both heavily tatterred, as well as a white shirt and worn leather shoes. A black hat sits beside him on a fence rail., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.13

AV.5202.14

Photograph of two Black boys on a mule-drawn cart and a Black man on a horse. The boys are approximately age 8 and 13. The man is approximately age 40. They are all wearing work clothes and wide brimmed hats, and they are on a dirt path with a fence and forest in the background., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.15

Photograph of a large two-story farmhouse with two chimneys and several porches., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.16

Photograph of a white man, approximately age 30, with a teenage boy and young girl. The man and boy are in dress suits and hats. The girl is in a white dress, black stockings, and black shoes. She is wearing a black hat and her hair is in pigtails. They are standing on a lawn., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.17

Photograph of a hammock between two trees on a farmyard. A fence is in the background surrounded by trees. A small dirt path runs through the yard., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.18

Photograph of a white teenage boy wearing a black coat, tie, and cutoff pants with black stockings and leather shoes. He is holding a hunting rifle and has a dog with him., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.19

Photograph of four young Black children wearing white in front of a log cabin with a decaying roof and chimney., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.20

Photograph of two Black children, approximately age one and three, sitting under a tree on a farmyard., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.21

Photograph of a white child, approximately age 7, straddling a fencepost on a farmyard. The child is wearing blavk pants and a white shirt with a wide-brim straw hat., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.22

Photograph of a Black woman holding a white girl, approximately age six, who is sitting on a fence. Both are in white dresses., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.23

Photograph of two white women, approximately age 30, sitting on a fence outside a farmhouse. One is wearing a white dress and the other is wearing a plaid shirt and gray skirt., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.24

Photograph of a white girl, approximately age 6, playin gwith chickens in the front yard of a house., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.25

Photograph of a white teenage boy milking a cow with a calf standing nearby., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.26

Photograph of a white teenage boy milking a cow with a calf standing nearby., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.27

Photograph of a Black family of five (one man, four children) sitting in front of a log cabin with a dog., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.28

Photograph of a Black man operating a horse-driven plow in a barren field while a black woman hoes nearby., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.29

Photograph of a Black family in front of a log cabin in a clearing in the woods., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.30

Photograph of a Black family in front of a log cabin in a clearing in the woods., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.31

Photograph of a Black boy, approximately age 3, straddling an axe and smiling in front of a wooden fence., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.32

Photograph of a young Black man on a horse in a field, with five Black women hoeing the field behind him., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.33

Photograph of two white girls, approximately age 6 and 8, in white dresses with a dog in a field of wildflowers., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.34

Photograph of two white girls, approximately age 6 and 8, in white dresses with a dog in a field of wildflowers., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.35

Photograph of a white teenage boy feeding grass to a cow in a barnyard. He is holding the hand of a white girl, approximately age 6., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.36

Photograph of a white teenage boy feeding grass to a cow in a barnyard. He is holding the hand of a white girl, approximately age 6., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.37

Photograph of a large two-story farmhouse with two chimneys and several porches., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.38

Photograph of a small log cabin with a wooden slatted roof., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.39

Photograph of a gravel road and yard with several young trees in the foreground. In the background are several buildings. The largest, a white building with two front doors and several windows, is identified as Buck Horn Baptist Church., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.40

Photograph of two farmhouses surrounded by trees and a white fence., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.41

Photograph of a plowed field in the foreground with a white fence and large farmhouse behind a row of trees in the background, circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.42

Photograph of a small white house with two chimneys and a small front porch, Picot Homestead., 1905

AV.5202.43

Photograph of a small white house with two chimneys and a small front porch, Picot Homestead., 1905

AV.5202.44

Photograph of a white house with a large front porch and white picket fence, Savage Homestead., 1905

AV.5202.45

Photograph of a two-story white building, apparently a house or store, identified as Mr. Guy's., 1905

AV.5202.46

Photograph of a white house with a large front porch and white picket fence behind a plowed field, Savage Homestead., 1905

AV.5202.47

Photograph of a white boy in a coat, hat, and hunting gaiters, sitting on a tree stump holding a hunting rifle. Three dogs surround him., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.48

Photograph of two white boys, approximately age 8, and a white girl, approximately age 5, beneath a tree. One of the boys is holding a cat., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.49

Photograph of a white boy, approximately age 10, on a horse in a farmyard., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.50

Photograph of a farmyard with a two-wheeled cart hitched to a cow. One white boy, approximately age 4, sits on the cow, while another, approximately age 10, stands in the cart holding the reins. A third boy, approximately age 12, stands behind the cart near a cat., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.51

Photograph of a white woman, approximately age 30, two white boys, approximately age 8, and a white girl, approximately age 6, seated together on a bench outside a house., circa 1897-1905

AV.5202.52

Subject Headings

African Americans--North Carolina--Hertford County--History

Farms--North Carolina--Hertford County

Hunting--North Carolina--Hertford County

Como (N.C.)--History

Hertford County (N.C.)--History--19th century

Hertford County (N.C.)--Social life and customs

Acquisitions Information

Gift, Donated by Bill Parker, October 1999.

Processing Information

Processed by Samantha Crisp, November 2021.