Rodd, Mary Jane Blackburn Faith(1858-1940)(5 of 8)
/Skelton Stanford noble’s Portrait Photograph of Mary Jane BlackBurn Faith Rodd
THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
Photographer: Skelton Sanford Noble
Active in Petaluma: 1874 as Noble & Fells, sometime thereafter until 1876 simply as S. S. Noble
Biographical Note: Noble traveled throughout California staying in numerous communities for various amounts of time. It appears that he worked with A. W. Fell in the Noble & Fell partnership in 1874 and sometime after operated the studio by himself as the imprint of his cartes de visit replace “Noble & Fell’s” with simply “S. S. Noble, Sunbeam Gallery, Main Street, Petaluma, Cal. Next door to Wickersham’s & Co’s Bank.”
Bibliography: Palmquist, pgs. 420-421; Mautz, pg.99 and 128
THE SITTER:
Name: Mary Jane Blackburn Faith Rodd
Description: Description: In this head-and-shoulders portrait, Mary Jane Blackburn Faith Rodd looks over her left shoulder and gazes into the distance. Her hair is drawn to the back of her head where it is gathered in shoulder-length sausage curls several of which cascade down her left shoulder. A bow appears above her right ear from which hangs a small pendant earring. She wears a light-colored form-fitting bodice with large dark center buttons. A white ruff and a striped fringed scarf surround her neck. A second portrait of Rodd that is most probably from the same sitting is in this archive.
Biographical Note: Mary Jane Blackburn Faith Rodd was born in Petaluma on Third and D Streets. She was educated in Petaluma and studied the piano under Sarah Lucinda Lewis Lippitt (1832-1919). Later in life, she resided at 229 Keokuk. She was affiliated with the Petaluma Druidic Circle, No. 6 and the Neighbors of Woodcraft. She was buried in Petaluma Cypress Hill Memorial Park.
Family Affiliation: Mary Jane Blackburn Faith Rodd was the daughter of early prominent Petaluma pioneers, Charles Blackburn (1821-1897) and Jemima Jane Richardson Blackburn (1825-1905) who made the overland journey to Petaluma by ox team in 1852 from Oskaloosa, Iowa. Mary Jane was the sister of Martha Blackburn (1849-1856), John Selvay Blackburn (1851-1903), Hester C. Blackburn Elphick (1869-1944), Lillian M. Blackburn (1865-1949) and Franklin L. Blackburn (1869-1931). Mary Jane’s first husband was George Faith (1851-1880). Together they had one son, George Blackburn Rodd (1880-1924) who took the name of Mary Jane’s second husband, Samuel Rodd (1849-1929). Samuel and Mary Jane were married in 1883, and they had one daughter, Dorothy Clark Rodd Barber Wallace (1884-1963). https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106979435/mary_jane_rodd.
Bibliography: Petaluma Argus-Courier, July 26, 1937, p.2.; July 27, 1939, p. 4. April 26, 1940, p.8. Santa Rosa Republican, April 26, 1940, p.2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106979435/mary-jane-rodd.
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: carte de visite
Medium: albumen photographic print mounted on cardstock
Description, front: This portrait is framed within a vertical oval.
Description, back: Handwritten in pencil in cursive along the top edge is “Mary Jane Blackburn (Rodd)”.
Date:
Condition: Both sides of this carte de visite are heavily soiled.
Owner: The Carol Cook Collection, digital copy by permission.
Reproduction rights: The Petaluma Museum Association makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to the digitized images here reproduced. These images are intended for personal or research use only. Any other kind of use, including, but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the Association. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.