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Who took the photographs?

We really don't know.  Originally we had thought the photographs were taken by "Phil Shader", and that he was standing in front of the tent in the park.  A lot of of the cards are signed "Phil" and written to "Miss Blanche Shader".  Some referred to her as "aunt".  Then Steve McFarland's set of photographs provided us with a new name: Philip Jordan Noel.  We are now sure that he is the "Phil" who wrote on the back of most of the cards and that the photographs were most likely taken by Richard Shader and/or Charles Shader.   We now know, conclusively that  the "kid" standing in front of the tent is Henry Shader.

During a Google search, we discovered Laura J. Stewart, the Shader Family archivist.  She graciously replied to our email, correcting some of our errors in the Shader ancestry along with her belief that the photos were taken by Philip Jordan Noel.  After quite a few back and forth emails, opinions have been verified and/or revised.  She now believes the photos were more likely taken by Richard Shader and assisted by his nephew, apprentice Elva Shader.  And after a definite confirmation that Henry Shader was the subject in one photo, she now also believes that Henry and his father Charles Shader were also present, along with Philip J. Noel.  We are in agreement ... with minor exceptions.

Richard Shader was a professional photographer and his apprentice was his nephew 17 year old Elva Shader.  They both lived in Nashville at this time although they may have known Philip Noel through their Kentucky connections.  Henry Shader was also 17 at the time and his father Charles Shader was apparently an amateur photographer who used photography as a means to document his family's history.  He and his family were experienced campers and their many trips were documented in many photographs.  Charles and Richard were 1st cousins.  Youngsters Elva and Henry were 2nd cousins. 

Richard Shader

Charles Shader

Charles Shader's occupation was railroad engineer.  Therefore he could have "provided" all railroad fares ... and the transportation for all that camping equipment to Memphis.   Philip J. Noel would have known Memphis very well.  He had lived there for several years working as an insurance agent before moving back to Bowling Green, Ky.  In addition, Charles brother James Shader lived in Memphis boarding house at the time and was a dentist.

In 1912, Philip Jordan Noel married Banche Shader.  Their son Phil Jr and his wife lived in Nashville for many years.  After the death of Jr, and his wife, their son David Noel continued living in the Nashville area

In the photo it appears that the "Noel-Shader tent" is set up for the "the long haul", with an amazing amount of equipment including a surprising record player.  Music was apparently important to Philip Noel because on 10 of the cards, he refers to the lyrics of the most popular song of the day, "I love my wife, but oh you kid"

Record Player

"Oh you kid" evrywhere...

Sheet Music

Click on the white arrow to listen to a bit of the song   >   

Col Philip J. Noel married the former Blanche Shader in 1912.  She's the "Miss Blanche" and "Aunt Blanche" that Phil sent cards to and is referred to on the back of several other cards.  >

On another card Phil wrote to Blanche, "...your brother Jim's Dental Parlor".  There is a "Painless Dentist" sign on this card, taken on 2nd Street (Verified by Lyceum Theatre building).  The dentist at this location in 1909 was  James M. Shader,  (Memphis Directories).  Blanche's brother was named James Marshel Shader. >

Col Noel Obit

"Your brother Jim's..."

On Several cards (Left and Below), Philip makes references to "L. J .. Liza Jane ... L. J. of Ky ... L. J. Commander in Chief ... and Lisa Jane of Glasgow, KY".  According to Laura J. Stewart, this refers to Eliza Jane Church Church, Blanche Shader's 1st cousin. (Eliza Jane married her 2nd Cousin, Jim Church).

And that one card written in pencil by Clara Shader, niece of Blanche Shader?  It was written over a month after the Reunion, which probably verifies that she was not at the reunion in Memphis.  She could have gotten the postcard from Philip,  after he returned and mailed it to her Aunt Blanche who was visiting her sister Mrs. J. E. Greathouse, in Hartsville, TN.   Clara would have been 14 years old.

Four stools, three hats, 2 skillets outside this tent?  And who took this photo of Henry?  That was always a mystery.  Now we have 3 or 4 people - one of them trained in photography, and one an amateur photographer, camping here.  So we're relatively sure that the photo was taken by Richard Shader, an accomplished photographer or by Charles Shader, the amateur photographer.  That's why the quality is so good.  And when some of the photos are not so sharp and clear?  Well maybe the assistant Elva was having a lesson or else Henry or Philip gave it a shot?

We briefly thought there might be a third set of the UCV photos.  Laura Stewart found a copy of Henry in front of the tent in the "Charles H. Shader Photo Collection".  On the back is marked "Henry Shader".  Charles is Henry's father  and cousin of photographer Richard Shader.  It's marked "1908" on the front and we think that might have been added later and was simply mis-dated.  After checking with the McFarland Collection, we verified that this photo is not in their set - so apparently it was pulled by the photographer/s for Charles Shader to add to his family photo collection.  We no longer think there is a 3rd set of these photos "out there".

For the time being, there are only two sets of photo cards.  We believe that Philip originally had both sets -  the set he wrote notes on (acquired by Carey Lasseter Cook)  and the blank set (acquired earlier by the McFarland Collection).  Philip's son, Philip Jr. was a military man and would have been very interested in his father's photos.  When Jr. married and moved to Nashville, he probably took the more personal set his father had written notes on with him.  Or after his mother's death he took the personal set and left the other set to be sold in the Noel estate sale.  Philip Jr. died in 1993 and his wife died in 2012 - and Carey Lasseter Cook found her set of photos at that Tennessee  estate sale  in 2012.  (Unfortunately she can't identify the estate the photos came from, because the sale was a general sale combining several estates)

<   Memorabilia collected from the 1901, 1909, 1924 UCV Reunions held in Memphis   >

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Credits

The Historic-Memphis website does not intentionally post copyrighted photos and material without permission or credit.  On occasion a "non-credited" photo might possibly be posted because we were unable to find a name to give credit.  Because of the nature of our non-commercial, non-profit, educational website, we strongly believe that these photos would be considered "Fair Use.  We have certainly made no monetary gain, although those using this website for historic or Genealogy research have certainly profited.  If by chance, we have posted your copyrighted photo, please contact us, and we'll remove it immediately, or we'll add your credit if that's your choice.  In the past, we have found that many photographers volunteer to have their works included on these pages and we'll  also do that if you contact us with a photo that fits a particular page. 

The "Historic-Memphis" website would like to acknowledge and thank the following for their contributions which helped make this website possible:  Memphis Public Library, Memphis University Library, Memphis Law Library, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Memphis Press Scimitar, Shelby County Register of Deeds, Memphis City Schools, Memphis Business Men's Club, Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Memphis City Park Commission, Memphis Film Commission, Carnival Memphis, Memphis Historical Railroad Page, Memphis Heritage Inc, Beale Street Historic District, Cobblestone Historic District, Memphis Historic Districts, Vance Lauderdale Family Archives, Tennessee State Archives, Library of Congress, Kemmons Wilson Family, Richard S. Brashier, Lee Askew, George Whitworth, Woody Savage and many individuals whose assistance is acknowledged on the pages of their contributions.  Special thanks to Memphis Realtor, Joe Spake, for giving us carte blanche access to his outstanding collection of contemporary Memphis photos.

We do not have high definition  copies of the photos on these pages.  If anyone wishes to secure high definition photos,  you'll have to contact the photographer  or the collector.  (To avoid any possibility of contributing to SPAM, we do not maintain a file of email addresses for anyone who contacts us).