The man and woman seated in the above photograph are Benjamin Franklin Fraker (1870-1955) and his wife, Sarah Rebecca Mowery (1870-1934). They lived in the vicinity of Carlisle, PA and had two children. Both Benjamin and Sarah are buried in Letort Cemetery, formerly Kutz’s Church Cemetery, located at the site of the Letort United Methodist Church in Carlisle [See findagrave.com memorials 38796055 and 38796064.]

Benjamin, also known as B. Frank and B. F., was the son of Andrew Fraker and Martha Warren. (I had no luck finding out more about them.) His obituary states, “A retired farmer, he lived for many years in the Middlesex township and was also a former employee of the Carlisle Frog, Switch and Manufacturing company.” Benjamin probably had a brother named William Arthur Fraker (1870-1944), but the record is unclear and genealogists differ.

An attentive reader of these pages will recognize Sarah’s headgear and identify her as a Dunker or Dunkard. Her obituary identified her as “a member of the Carlisle Church of the Brethren, president of the Women’s Missionary Society of the Letort Evangelical Church, and a teacher in the Sunday School.” Her parents were Benjamin Mowery (1838-1901) and Mary Magdalene Plough (1839-1913) and they are buried with the Plough family in the Huntsdale Church of the Brethren Cemetery.

Their daughter Mary Ellen Fraker (1899-1969) is standing behind her father. Her first husband, Arthur Raymond Troup (1896-1946), is to her left (and conspicuously in the center of the photograph). Mary Ellen and Art were married on 6 June 1918 in New Kingston, PA. They had four sons, the youngest of which was Reverend Kenneth L. Troup, a prominent United Methodist Church pastor whose obituary you can read here. Art died early of complications associated with a duodenal ulcer. Mary later married a man named West but I could find nothing more about that union that I could confirm.

Seated on the arm of his mother’s chair is Andy, Andrew William Fraker (1903-1980). He is frequently identified as William Andrew Fraker, or W. Andrew Fraker, adding to the confusion of the Fraker family genealogy. The inscription on the back of the photograph was written by one of Andy’s children. Andy married Mary Ellen Clouser (1909-1992) in 1925 and they had six sons and five daughters.

Here is another photograph of Art Troup: