ID'ing Location - Cabinet Card Puppies

Hello,

Purchased this photo the other day for my personal collection!

A very interesting shot indeed!

Photographer: J. W. Mosser
Location: Meade Center, Kansas

There is a Billboard in the background that says something to the effect of

"L. Worm Woodad Hide House" Though the last two letters of the "Wood--" are hard to make out. Can anyone help me ID this building or company?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Warm Regards,
Scantic

 

I found this site with some old photos of the area:
http://www.oldmeadecounty.com/meade.htm

Here is a page with contact information of the site owner. Apparently she is avid about the history of that county: http://www.oldmeadecounty.com/about.htm

There's also a historical museum: http://oldmeadecounty.com/museum.htm

I'm pretty sure that Meade Center and Meade, Kansas are the same place.

 

It might also be Wood & Co

 

That could be it as well. I found an 1889 Directory of stores in Meade, but can't find a Wood or Worm named store at that date. On the hunt!

 

Thank you for the links! I've emailed them! Hopefully they will have some info for us!

 

Is that white thing around that one fellows collar a bib for shaving?

Barber style?

 

I was amazed to find that "Woodad" is an actual surname. Didn't find an L. Worm Woodad (what the heck kind of name is WORM??) though, much less any Woodads living in the right part of Kansas. Meade County is right on the border with Oklahoma, so that's another option.

 

I think it might be "L. Wormwood & Co."

I found a Lewis Wormwood who was born in 1853 and died in Kansas in 1937...
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=89102651&ref=acom

I also saw references to him that spelled his first name "Louis."

 

That makes much more sense, Pat!

 

In the 1900 Census, Lewis P. Wormwood was living in Larned Township, KS, and was a grain dealer. Apologies that I can't post a link that everyone can use... the image below is from ancestry.com.



For members who have a Ancestry subscription, here's the link.

 

I'm assuming "Hide House" is a pelt or skin house?

 

Interesting! Thank you so much for the help! Seems to fit well! I'm wondering if he was part of a particular building that had multiple uses.

 

I found him too. That's Pawnee County. Sort of the general vicinity of Meade County, but not contiguous. You'd have to go through at least 2 more counties to get there. And I'm wondering what a grain dealer would be doing owning a "hide house" (which I assume is something related to tanning leather.)

On the other hand, there isn't another Wormwood family any closer. Plus I tried Oklahoma - nada.

 

Maybe he was a dealer in a number of product areas?

In the 1910 Census, he was in the same town and was listed as a manager, but I can't make out the industry, on the right...

 

Also, Random Opinion Question. The one fellow is off to the left with the Mother Dog. Do you think he sold the 5 guys on the right the puppies? 5 Puppies, 5 Guys.

 

It says "Granary Operator."

 

I like that the Mother Dog Distracted the one guy and he looked down. lol

 

I thought the same thing.