It's always a delight when old photos and memorabilia turn up as a result of contacting a distant relative. These photos are related to Ernest Cerf, who is the brother of Moise Cerf and the cousin of Aaron Cerf. Thank you to cousin Caleb for the old photos being posted here.
The following family photo was taken about 1895-1897 in San Luis Obispo, CA.
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| Ernest Cerf and family |
The back of the photo is here:
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| Back of Ernest Cerf family photo |
There are some interesting things about the back of the photo. There are several nicknames revealed: Booma for Ernest's wife, Reby for Rebecca, Lotta for Charlotte, and possible Bill for Emile (this is difficult to read and I wrote the "nickname Bill?" notation. The other interesting thing is that someone in the family named Betty had a hoard of photos. I believe she is a granddaughter of Ernest Cerf and daughter of Marcel Cerf. I will try to track down what happened to her family memorabilia.
The photo was taken at the second home Ernest Cerf and his family lived in while in San Luis Obispo. An earlier blog post showed a photo of a house in San Luis Obispo, CA, where Ernest Cerf and his family had lived (See
Ernest Cerf's SLO House). That house was sold to Andrew Sauer in the mid-1880's. The family then moved to a new home in San Luis Obispo. They lived there until 1898 when they moved back to San Francisco. Here is a family photo of that home taken in 1895-1897.
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| Ernest Cerf home, San Luis Obispo, CA |
When I received the above photo, there was no street address indicated. I took the photo to the SLO History Library and asked if they knew where the house had been located. They were unable to identify the house, but someone there thought the house was still standing. I drove around the neighborhood where the house might be located and was overjoyed to find it. The address is 644 Islay Street on the corner of Nipomo Street. Here are present-day photos:
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| 644 Islay Street at the corner of Nipomo, San Luis Obispo, CA |
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| 644 Islay Street, San Luis Obispo, CA |
The next photo is of Bobbette "Boomer" Hirsch Cerf, Ernest's wife.
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| Bobbette "Boomer" Hirsch Cerf, wife of Ernest Cerf |
Finally, but equally fantastic, are three photos of the Cerf house in Phalsbourg, Moselle, France, where Ernest and his brother, Moise, were born.
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| Cerf house in Phalsbourg, Moselle, France |
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| Cerf house in Phalsbourg, Moselle, France |
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| Cerf house in Phalsbourg, Moselle, France |
