The above photo was believed to have been taken in Mound Valley, Kansas sometime after 1891. During this period in the midwest, building a new home on your land claim was something to be proud of. After paying a small fee to claim a homestead settlers were given five years to build a home and farm the land in order to keep their claim. It was not unusual for families to feature their homes in photos during this time, but I can only guess that the family’s social distancing pose was the photographer’s artistic license.
Frederick J Stierwalt was born in Morgan County, Indiana in 1835. His son, Hezekiah K Stierwalt, was born in 1862 to wife Mary Ground. After she died in 1869, Frederick married Sarilda Ellis who passed on in 1884. Frederick died at his home at the age of 74.
Sources
“F.J. Stierwalt Dead,” The Mound Valley [Kansas] Journal, 13 Dec 1907, p.1, col. 2; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38085189/obituary-for-f-j-stierwalt/?xid=865 : accessed 19 Jul 2020).
1880 U.S. census, Neosho County, Kansas, population schedule, enumeration district 167, page 208 (stamped, 1 penned), dwelling 114, family 115, Hezekiah, line 29; NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 391.
