The Tullis-Smith Photo Album
of Danville, Illinois
by Thomas S. Tullis, with additional information and
photographs provided by Ann Tullis Nolan
Editors Note: Some months ago I ran across a
reference (through PERSI) to an article in the October, 1981, issue
of the Jacksonville, Illinois, Genealogical Journal about
a photo album from Illinois containing photos of a number of Tullises.
Since Im always interested in old Tullis photos, I wrote to the
Jacksonville Historical Society
to get a copy of that issue. The article included information about
an old photo album that had been inscribed to Miss Jennie Tullis
of Danville, IL, in 1865. The article included a list of some of the
people pictured, but the photos were not included. Then I learned from
the Historical Society that the album had been in the possession of
Mrs. E. R. Secrest of Springdale, Arkansas, when she provided the information
in 1981. Luckily, I found through an online phone directory that Mrs.
Secrest still lives in Springdale. After a very enjoyable phone conversation
with her, she agreed to send me the album so that I could share the
photos and information in this newsletter. After quite a bit of research,
I finally figured out who most of the Tullises in the album were, and
some of their descendants. Thats when I got in touch with Ann
Tullis Nolan, who is a great-grand-daughter of Samuel B. Tullis pictured
in the album. Ann was able to fill in many holes for me and provide
some additional photos for this article. Many thanks both to Mrs. Nolan
and to Mrs. Secrest for their help.

The album itself is not in the greatest condition. It
measures about 5 1/2 x 71/2 and is about 3 thick.
The binding has broken and some of the pages are separated. But each
page is made of very heavy card stock, so the photos were well protected.
In addition to the photos mounted on the pages, six photos were loose
in the album. Many, but not all, of the photos are identified with inscriptions.
All of the photos are either tintypes or carte-de-visites
(CDVs).

Though a bit difficult to read, the inscription
inside the cover of the album says To Miss Jennie Tullis,
From Her Friend, Danville, Ill., Janry 1st, 1865. In a different
hand is also noted got acquainted, Fall 1864. Although the
friend is not named, I subsequently came to the conclusion that it was
probably Martin L. Smith. Martin and Jennie subsequently married. The
album contains photos of both of them, most of Jennies siblings
and their spouses, some of Martins relatives, and some of their
friends.

This is an example of what most of the facing pages in
the album look like. These are the first two facing pages, showing M.
L. Smith (full-size image)
and Jennie Tullis (full-size
image). In the rest of this article, the photos will be shown by
themselves for clarity.
All of the photos can be seen in their original
context on the Tullis Trees website.