This is little Martha Sharples - a bit larger normal Cabinet Photo with 3 views of the little girl.
I know this is Martha Sharples because it says so on the back - and it also gives her married name (Hess), and her parents names - David T. & Adeline Sharples. With that information you can find out a lot about this little girl.
She was born Nov 22, 1892 in Elgin (Kane County) Illinois, which means this photo was taken in 1897-98, give or take. She married a Henry Lawrence Hess in on April 26, 1916 in West Chester, Pennsylvania - their 96th anniversary is coming up. I have no idea of the events surrounding a move from Illinois to Pennsylvania, but apparently it happened. She had two children in the next couple of years, and then a daughter on May 28th, 1926. She died about a week later, June 2, 1926, at the age of 33 at Media (Delaware County) Pennsylvania. Although I can't say with 100% certainty, it seems pretty obvious she died from some complication arising from giving birth, probably excessive bleeding or infection. Both of her parents, David & Adeline Shaples, outlived her. I believe she was their only child.
I suspect there is no one alive now who ever met or knew Martha Sharples.
Martha's daughter, the one born in 1926, died in 2010, at the age of 84.
I look at these old pictures, and sometimes I find myself mourning for these people, who are for the most part long gone. I actually feel sad for them. In this photo, Martha is a little girl. She seems happy and well cared for, and I'm fairly certain no one expected her to die as a result of child birth. Everybody expected her to get married, have children, become a grandmother and so on. But fate had something else in store for Martha Sharples Hess. She never saw her children grow up.
Update: SOLD!
