Directory: Harry Mote Stillwell and Family
Harry was born 9 May 1880 near Schell City, Vernon County, Missouri, the third surviving child of William Henry and Phebe (Hiller) Stillwell. Harry and Lucinda "Lou" Smith were married 4 Mar 1900 in Cushing, Payne County, Oklahoma Territory. They had ten children, including one who died in infancy. Since Harry is the father of our Stillwell families, we have more pictures of him and his descendants than any other Stillwell included in this album. In addition, although Harry's family lived on very modest incomes, they took a lot of pictures, and they kept them.
We are indebted to his youngest daughter, Louella, who collected and kept and protected many of the family's treasured photographic memories. She lived at home and cared for Harry during the latter years of his life, so she had access to all the pictures he had. In addition, she obtained as many pictures from other family members as she could. Moreover, she was fiercely protective of her collection, refusing to share them with others when she thought they might not bring them back. It was only after she was in a nursing home and knew little of what was happening outside her own limited daily routine that her sister Bernice, who functioned as Louella's guardian during that time, made the collection available to me. I, and all who enjoy these albums, owe a debt of gratitude to Bernice for allowing them to be scanned, and to Louella for collecting and keeping them over many years.
In addition to the separate albums for the families of each of his children, there are four albums devoted to Harry himself, his children, the Stillwell families, and his grandchildren.
Back to Stillwell DirectoryThe nine children of Harry and Lou (Smith) Stillwell