Woodbury woman among the best postal card photographers

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This postal card produced about 1904-1908 shows s Harriet Louise Ford photograph of “Lover’s Rock” at Lake Quassapaug. The rock is now mostly submerged at the beach. The postal card is part of a Middlebury Historical Society collection. (Middlebury Historical Society scan)By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

In the early 20th century, women were just beginning to prove themselves in occupations usually held by men. The postal card industry was beginning to explode in popularity since they were first approved in 1873, partly because picture postal cards had just become all the rage. Harriet Louise Ford of Woodbury would prove to be among the best in the industry.

Harriet Louise Ford was born October 8, 1871, in Woodbury, to Franklin R. (1844-1921) and Adeline (Blackman) Ford (1852-1930). Franklin was, along with his brother-in-law, Edward Blackman, a “dealer in fresh and salt meats” in Woodbury, and a farmer. Harriet attended local schools and graduated from New Haven’s Hillhouse High School in 1885. She was close to her grandparents, Russell and Jane (Saxton) Ford, who lived in South Britain and visited them often.

Harriet became a leader in the Epworth League of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was founded in 1889 and was designed for young people ages 18 to 35. She advanced to become its secretary and an officer. She was a talented vocalist in church and performed there for many years in solos, duets and quartets, sometimes with her sister, Genevieve Ford. Genevieve later married the Rev. John Lee Brooks, a Methodist minister.

Harriet became a writer and poet, and, in 1890, she visited London and was awarded the prize for best poem from the London edition of the New York Herald for a poem about African explorer Henry M. Stanley. She wrote monologues such as “At the Photographer’s,” performed in 1894 by a recitalist at the newly constructed Warner Hall in New Haven. The subject of this composition would prove to be prophetic.

In March 1905, The Newtown Bee newspaper reported that Harriet and her sister Genevieve had sung three songs at the Sunday service. At the close of the service, Mr. William Aiken of Holyoke, Massachusetts, read a poem, “The Sailor Boy.” Aiken (b. 1862) was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the son of Irish immigrants. He was a letter carrier who recently had been widowed. “The Sailor Boy,” a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, tells the tale of a boy who confidently sets out on an adventurous seagoing journey. While he is enjoying his odyssey, he turns a deaf ear to a warning from a mermaiden foretelling an early death. The poem encourages passion and determination despite the dangers and fragility of life.

In May, Harriet and William Aiken sang a duet of “Room for Jesus.” In June 1905, they were married in the Methodist Church in Woodbury, and the couple removed to Holyoke, Massachusetts. It is perhaps coincidental that William was a letter carrier, for Harriet had become a prodigious producer of postal cards. She had become a talented photographer, artistically snapping scenes in the beautiful towns of Woodbury, Roxbury, Southbury, and Middlebury. Her lovely photographs were then made into picture postal cards which look more like engravings than photographs. She signed all her postal cards, first with “H. L. Ford” before her marriage, and afterward, “H. Ford Aiken.” Her depictions of Middlebury are very attractive and the whole collection of her cards numbers perhaps about 80, of which the Middlebury Historical Society has over 60.

Alas, the irony of the poem, “The Sailor Boy,” proved to be prophetic. After seven years of marriage, Harriet succumbed to tuberculosis in August 1912 at the Northampton State Hospital, in Massachusetts, at the age of 40. Harriet lived her life with passion, leading, singing and writing, leaving us today with scores of beautiful images of the towns she loved.

Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or contact him at president@middleburyhistoricalsociety.org. Your membership and support is welcome.