Soule Family Photograph Collection
Collection
Identifier: Photo 476
Scope and Content
The Soule Family Photograph Collection contains sSix images: Union officer taken in Washington D.C. This is possibly Ambrose Soule but the person and date of the photograph are unknown. There is a photograph of seven people gathered in front of a car. Someone has written on the back “Grand Forks 192?.” No other information is known. There is a picture of a young man in a sailor’s uniform. The picture was taken in Puerto Rico but the date of the photo and the person in the picture are unknown. There is a picture of a woman with two children. Someone has written on the back “Katie Soule and daughters Ada and Ruth.” Though no date is given, the age of the girls in the picture would date the picture about 1900. There is a portrait of a little girl, identified on the back as “Ruth”, taken in Sauk Center, Minnesota. There is no date but Ruth appears to be about ten years old in the picture and that would place the picture at about 1905. There is a picture of a group of men in military uniforms gathered between two cannon. They appear to be Union soldiers from the Civil War period. This is possibly Ambrose Soule’s Civil War unit. There is also a copy of this picture in the collection. The sepia toned original photograph is clearer than the copy.
Dates
- 1860s-1920s
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSU Archives.
Copyrights
Copyrights to this collection remain with the creator or is in public domain.
Biography
The history of the Soule family, as reflected in this collection, begins with Nathan Soule who was born in August of 1790 in Duchess County, New York. His Father was Clement Soule and Nathan was one of twelve children. Nathan Soule was a judge and a U.S. Congressman from Clay, New York. He died on 9 January 1860 at 70 years of age. The only one of Nathan’s siblings that is mentioned in the collection is Benjamin Soule who died in Spring Lake, Michigan on January 27, 1900. Nathan Soule’s sons Ambrose L., Charles E., and J. M. Soule are mentioned in the collection. Ambrose Soule, born in New York, served in the Civil War and letters in this collection place him in Lexington and Somerset, Kentucky in 1864. Ambrose’s wife was named Maggie, also born in New York, and they lived in Spring Lake, Michigan. Maggie’s maiden name is not mentioned but we do know that they had a son named George A. Soule. George was born in Michigan in May 1863. About 1886 he married Katie Reilly and they had two girls, Ada, born August 1889 in Michigan, and Ruth, born October 1894 in North Dakota. Katie was born in Minnesota in January 1865. George Soule worked for the railroad. During his time working for the railroad George Soule lived in Russia, Crookston, and Sauk Center, Minnesota; and in 1900 the family was living at Harvey, North Dakota. In November of 1900 George Soule abandoned his family and fled to Mexico. He had embezzled funds from the railroad and fled to escape prosecution. The family then moved to Grand Forks, N.D. His daughter Ruth kept a diary during that year. George Soule continued to write to his family from Mexico through 1910. While we know nothing of what happened to Ada, a letter in the collection from a friend to Ruth’s describes her as a University student in 1914. Nothing further is known of what happened to George or his wife Katie.
Extent
7 Photographic Prints (7 photographic prints)
Language of Materials
English
Overview
Family orginially from New York. Ambrose served in the Civil War. George Soule lived for a time in Harvey, North Dakota. He fled to Mexico due to embezzling funds from the railroad.
Provenance
Donated by Robert Lowe, 2000, (Acc. 2613).
Separated Materials
Letters, ledgers, a diary, an obituary, and a map organized into the George Soule Family Papers (Mss 234)
Property rights
The NDSU Archives owns the property rights to this collection.
- Title
- Finding Aid to the Soule Family Photograph Collection
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository
Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu