Family Notes

Mercedes Glass Ballam

I believe she was an interior  decorator and also did design work....I'm not sure, but Doris could tell you more about her.  The last time I had seen her was at grandpa and grandma's 50th wedding anniversary.  I was talking with the minister, my father, grandpa and Horace Ballam and having a glass of punch when grandpa stated:  "The first 20 years were the hardest, then I got used to her."   Pat Phillips

Photos #11 & 12

I copied these from large charcoal portraits of the two that were in the two boxes of stuff that I got from Niellsville.  These two boxes included the genealogy research that my grandmother, Frances Glass Fehr's cousin, Polly Thompson had collected.   She was the daughter of  Robert Thompson and Laura Glass.  From all the pictures that I found, I hope to include more pix of the entire Glass family of Niellsville.   The portrait of Louis was beginning to deteriorate around the edges due to water damage and the paper and matte were getting brittle.  His mother-in-law's portrait (Frances Josephine ''Buck'' Trumbull ) was in much better shape in that it was done on heavy paper that had a cloth backing and was rolled up.  The Staples store had a large scanner that could copy most of the images, though it wasn't large enough to get the complete portrait.   The only thing I wish there was, was a signature of the artist.  There was some initials on the back of Frances Trumbull's portrait.  There was a photograph in the collection that showed Louis's portrait hanging on the wall of the house.  I don't know if the portrait was done before or after he died.   Pat Phillips