I have a hobby of looking up stuff. It’s a gift, really. One small detail about someone and I can find out everything there is to know about them. Well, almost everything. It all depends on what records I can find, and if I know what I’m looking for and where.
My main focus of research is family history. Mainly my own, but I do tend to delve into the histories of my friends as well. I’ve made some pretty amazing discoveries, which I hope to write about in future posts. I also love digging into the history of houses and places as well.
Today, I wanted to share the story of Ellsworth.
Before I start, I have to say that I still don’t fully know who Ellsworth is. And I don’t even know if it’s his last name or first name. All I have to go on is some writing on the back of a collection of black and white photographs.
I found the photographs one summer Sunday morning at the flea market. I think they came from Maine, but I don’t really know. The man selling them didn’t know either. As I was looking through the photographs, I turned them over to spot writing on the backs of them. There were 13 small photos like this, so I bought them. There was a story here that I needed to unfold.
A young man is in five of the photos, and I only assume that this is Ellsworth. I know his name because at the end of the notes written on their backs is this: “Love, Ellsworth.” He’s a very fit man, on the beach, happy. In one photo he is in a military outfit, on the deck of a boat. This photo starts out “To Ruth.”
My theory at this point is that Ellsworth took these photos, and sent them to Ruth, the woman he loves who lives far away. I tend to think that Ellsworth is his first name, because if he’s writing to the girl he loves why would he use his last name?
It took me a while to figure out where the photos were taken. One photo helped me place him in the universe. It was the photo of the hotel, and the sign that said “Sheraton Plaza Hotel.” I scoured the internet, looking up this hotel, and I found one. It was in Daytona Beach. It was originally called the Clarendon Hotel. But it was only known as the Sheraton Plaza during a specific amount of time. This hotel still exists, but it’s called the Daytona Beach Plaza now.
It was in 1944 that it was known as the Sheraton Plaza. I was able to match up the photo of the hotel that Ellsworth took to one found in an old postcard. So now I knew that Ellsworth lived in Daytona Beach, during the 1940s.
I also believe that he may have been in the Navy or Coast Guard, since he’s pictured on the deck of a military boat, outside the Gun Room. This helps me tremendously in figuring out what age he might be in the photos, and why he might be in Daytona.
Daytona Beach at that time was the home of the Navy, who took control of the beach’s airport during World War II. All this information helps me figure out who Ellsworth might be. He is a young soldier, going off to fight in the war. He’s in love with a girl named Ruth, who has visited Daytona but is no longer there. And in one photo, he’s pictured with two people, a tall man and a woman wearing a shirt with the name “Alice” embroidered on it. I think he also might have worked as a lifeguard too.
All these things are clues to help me find Ellsworth. But I still haven’t found him. I’m not looking in the right place. I’ve looked in census records, newspaper articles, obituaries…all without finding anything. To be honest, I stopped searching for a long time. But I think it’s time I started searching again.
I search for Ellsworth because I want to know his story. The words and phrases he wrote on the back of the photos are so interesting to me. And I want to know if he ended up with Ruth. Was there a happy ending, or did she pine away for her long lost love, who never made it back from the war?
It is this one question that keeps me going. Perhaps I’m really trying to find Ruth in all my searching. She’s this invisible person that you can’t see, but she’s the one who eventually got these photos. She held them at one point. And now, I hold them.
Why did someone get rid of these photos? Why didn’t someone save them, in memory of their grandmother or grandfather, to tell the story of Ruth and Ellsworth? Perhaps they didn’t know that there was a story. Ruth may have gotten the photos, but then moved on with her life. Ellsworth might have been a fleeting memory for her, and she never told anyone about him. She might never have married at all, and these photos were found in a box after she died.
It’s sad to think that the story of Ruth and Ellsworth lies only in these photos. This is why I search for them, to bring their story back to life, and to share it with the world. If any of my readers have information about someone named Ellsworth who was in Daytona Beach in the 1940s, please contact me. I would love to finally tell the whole story of this young man, who has somehow captivated my interest.
I did visit Daytona Beach a while back, on the way home from a trip to Disney World. And I found the hotel that Ellsworth photographed. It’s changed a bit, but I recognized it. It’s a beautiful beach, by the way. Probably the second most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen. The most beautiful beach is one in Ireland, called Inch Beach, on the road back to Kilkenny on the Ring of Kerry. But Daytona is pretty, in a crowded, Florida sort of way.
If I ever find out who Ellsworth is, I will write more. But for now, this is all I know.