The Identity of the Mystery Man Remains.. #21
Who is Somerville, NJ’s Mystery Man?
Pause a moment to study the photo. Can you see it? Isn’t there a kind look about Mr. Mystery? The discovery of this vintage cabinet card photograph, launched a year’s quest to know the mystery man’s identity. His distinguished and introspective gaze are intriguing. And his attire-Is it everyday wear or a church suit? What year and where was the photograph taken? What about his family ties? My curiosity sent me on a mission to know his name, life story, and his Somerville connections. The quest took me to the 1880s and the intertwining histories of Somerville’s first African American families, Main Street businesses, and the era of innovation in photography.
African-American Somerville Residents
The mystery gentleman likely sat for the photo between 1876–1895; the years Apgar Photography Studio operated in downtown Somerville. His fashionable high buttoned jacket and neck scarf point to the late 1880s. As a Somerville resident, aged around 45, it is likely his family’s presence dated back to the 1850s. His family may have been one of the sixty four African American families living in town in 1880. The African American residents with Somerville ties dating back to the 1850s include: the Annin, Bergen, Guombo, Hall, and Rodgers families. Their Somerville stories are worth knowing. New Jersey, 1880 federal census : soundex and population schedules
1840
In 1840, Robert Guombo and wife Elsie resided in Somerville. The family, also spelled Gombo, Gomber, and Gornber lived on Cliff Street. As a blacksmith, the family owned a residence valued at $1000. By 1855 the family included the couple, three sons, and three daughters. In 1860 only daughters Susan and Theresa remained at home. By then, their family residence had increased in value to $ 1500 and their personal property was valued at $1000.
1850
In 1850, Ida and John (Joseph) Hall, daughters Rebecca and Henrietta, and son Robert G. resided in the Lottery Field section of Somerville. By 1860, Ida was widowed and hosted boarders at her Cliff Street home. Julia and Charles Annin, a future Civil War Veteran, were once her tenants. In 1862 son Robert married Margaret H. Field. By 1880 the couple and Ida relocated to South Somerville. Robert and Margaret’s daughter, Mabel Hall married Abram Hoffman and would make their home at 84 Second Street. The home is one of the oldest African American residences in the South Somerville neighborhood. It remained in the Hoffman family for over 110 years.
**Robert G. Hall’s middle name, Gumber, is unique. It may signal a familial connection between the Hall and Gumbo families. Unfortunately, no overlapping records were found in my research.
1860
Catherine (Kittie) and Henry Bergen were boarders in 1850, at the home of Robert Guombo (Gornber). By 1860 the couple and son John had relocated to Second Street in South Somerville. As a railroad flagman, Henry was able to own a home valued at $500. In 1880 the extended Bergen (Bergan) family included oldest son John, youngest son Alfred and relative Catherine Williams. Middle son Albert, his wife Caroline, sons Albert, Jr. and John H., along with relative Sidney Williams resided in the Lottery Field section on Cliff Street. By 1885, the entire extended family made Second Street their home. In 1886, Albert Bergen’s internment in the whites-only New Cemetery created a controversy.
1870–1880s
The Lottery Field and the South Somerville neighborhoods were home to Somerville’s earliest African American residents. The Lottery Field neighborhood developed on a swath of vacant land in the north end. The South Somerville neighborhood was established when the redevelopment of Lottery Field displaced African American residents. The unspoken, yet socially understood practice of segregation, restricted the majority African American residents to those areas. It is likely that our Mystery Man resided in either Lottery Field or in South Somerville. Perhaps he is one of the residents listed who called Somerville home during the 1870s and 1880s.
And so I ask you… Do his eyes, nose or introspective gaze remind you of someone? Who? An uncle, grandfather, a brother?
