Musing About Two Pictures

Written on Back: Uncle Ralph Baker, Charles Baker, Curtis?

Awhile ago, I received a mailer in the mail containing these two pictures with the noted writing on the back of them in blue ink. They sat on my desk for a few months before I picked them up again and started looking at them more carefully. 

My 2nd great grandfather was John Henry Baker and he had four sons and three daughters though his first marriage. His eldest son Charles Baker, middle guy in the photo above was my great grandfather. His youngest brother Ralph was 14 years younger and the man on the left in both of the above pictures.

My 2nd great grandfather's first wife Blanche would die shortly after the birth of son Ralph due to birthing complications and with seven children from age 18 to newborn in the house, I suspect my 2nd great grandfather was keen to get another woman back in the house. That is why he went to the courthouse not long after to get a marriage license to marry second wife Katie Stevens only to find out she was still legally married. He asked how much a divorce cost, paid the fee for that and marriage license and left to get married the following day. I know all of this because it made the local news written in quite scandalizing terms.

Second wife Katie would give birth to one daughter and two sons, the youngest being Curtis Baker in the coming years, most likely the young man on the right in both pictures. The only other picture I have of Curtis is a family picture when he was maybe 6 or 7 years old and is kind of hard to determine for sure if they are one and the same. But I know from stories they were all quite close so I'm not surprised if they got a picture together more than once.

Doug is a bit more of a mystery. Curtis's older brother Dallas had several children, one named Doug that was 28 years younger than Curtis. I suppose that could be him in the center of the photograph below. Given that these were obtained through my grandmother, daughter of Charles and niece to Ralph, I can understand the question marks after the names of Curtis and Doug as she was still a young girl at the time of these photos.

Eventually my mind turned to the building in the background. It is the same in both pictures and with the same clothes being worn by "Uncle Ralph" and "Curtis?", the photos were taken on the same day. I have searched the internet for older buildings with columns around the Cedar Falls, Iowa area where they lived but can't find any that match. Where might there be another large building with such ornate columns?

Written on Back: Uncle Ralph Baker, Curtis?, Doug?

I turned my sights to the capital building in Des Moines and was quickly rewarded with a positive identification, see below. So now it makes me wonder why they were at the capital building? What was the occasion to dress up? Both Ralph and Charles have buttons on the left lapel of their suit jackets. Perhaps it was a campaign for some cause? I'll probably never know at this point unless time travel is invented and I can go back to that particular day and hang out in the background.