Wesley Clayton Waite

Here are several photos of Wesley. The first photo looks like it was cropped out of another photo that included Wesley, Arnold, Bertha, Ardella, Charles Crocker, & the lady with the crazy hat. I guess this was the first version of Photoshop.

The photo of Wesley on the donkey is one of my favorites. I'm assuming that the owner of the donkey would walk up & down the block offering rides for money, or maybe it was a birthday party or a block party.

The photo of Wesley at the beach is cool. It says that it was taken in 1931, so he was around 23 years old. I'm assuming that this was at Coney Island. His bathing suit has bands of white on each side, but they disappear in the photo, making him look like he has an hour-glass waist-line.

Then there is this photo of Wesley sitting in his tie & dress shirt. Once he grew that mustache, it remained for the rest of his life. I never knew him without it.

Wesley & Arnold Waite

Here's a few photos of Wesley & Arnold Waite. The first is at Idlewild (maybe near the current JFK Airport), then another photo of them in their 30's (at what appears to be the yard of a brownstone on Lincoln Road, in Brooklyn, NY), and another shot of them as children with their dog Dotts.

Van Dorn / Bassett House in Spencer, NY

This is the only known photo of the house in Spencer, NY that Bertha Van Dorn & her older brother John Earl Van Dorn grew up in. It is also the only known photo of Lorenzo Dow Van Dorn, who is standing in front of the house on the right. Bertha is the infant in the carriage, & her brother John is around 5 years old, standing in front of the porch. One of the 2 women on the porch is likely Ardella, & possibly the other woman is either Ardella or Lorenzo's mother.

Van Dorn Tavern

This is the Van Dorn Tavern, in Enfield, NY, around 20 miles north of Spencer, NY (outside of Ithaca, NY). It was built by Peter Van Dorn, & it looks as if Henry Waite & Bertha Van Dorn Waite visited the site marker & tavern on Route 79, sometime in the early 1900's. The tavern was torn down in the 1930s, but supposedly the historic site marker is still there. I have not been able to figure out the connection of Bertha to this tavern. Bertha's father Lorenzo Dow Van Dorn may have been related...

Bertha, Judy & Henry Waite

This is a great photo of Bertha with little Judy, & Henry Waite. I had received this photo from Diana Waite, sister of Judy & daughter of Violet & Arnold Waite (Arnold was grandpa Wesley's older brother).

John Van Doren (Van Dorn) & his wife

John Van Dorn & his wife. I had contacted the Linden Police Department, & John apparently died while he was still an active police officer, in 1925. He had children, & I am now the process of trying to get in contact with them. So far, my research reveals that there were many Van Dorn's in Linden & Somerset, NJ.

John Van Doren (Van Dorn)

I believe that this is Bertha's older brother, John Van Doren (spelling seems to deviate). John was a police officer in Linden, NJ.

Charles Crocker & Ardella Bassett Van Dorn Crocker

Here's a photo of grandpa Wesley's grandfather-in-law Charles Crocker & grandmother Ardella Bassett Van Dorn Crocker. It's hard to tell the year or the location, but you have to love that tremendous mustache on Charles. This is Ardella's second husband. Her first husband was Bertha's father, Lorenzo Dow Van Dorn. Lorenzo died when they all still lived in Spencer, NY.

Bertha Van Dorn Waite in chair

This photo of Bertha in a club chair is full of interesting stuff. The tall tasseled lamp shade, the model of an old sailing ship above her head, multiple draperies, & what looks like a Moorish inspired side table carved from wood with a stone top & plant on it. It looks like she was either reading or writing some letters in her favorite chair by the window.

Bertha Van Dorn Waite

Not sure when this photo was taken, or where, but Bertha looks like she's all dressed up for the opera. Hair done, fur around the neck, and jewelry. Maybe she dressed like this every day. Hard to tell her age in this photo.

Lincoln Road cyclists

Here's another photo of Lincoln Road, possibly taken on the same day as the photo of Henry Waite in front of 220.

220 Lincoln Road

This photo is taken from either the front door or window of 220 Lincoln Road, with Henry Waite out in front, looking down at something. Looks like he was either on his way to work, or just returning home. Look how young the tree sapling is. Those trees now tower over the street.

Henry Waite at the gas station

This is a great photo of Henry Waite & who I had thought was his brother William A. Waite, but it's been confirmed that it's not. It's most likely the gas station attendant, but why Henry took a photo with him, I don't know? Check out the 3-piece suit on Henry, & the classic car behind them. Even the old art deco lettering on the gas station is cool.

Bertha, Henry & Winifred Waite

This photo was so bleached & faded it took me a while to adjust it to the present quality. Well, at least you can now see their faces.

Wesley & Arnold in the bar

I don't have much info on this photo other than Arnold & Wesley are either playing dress-up in a saloon for the photo, or it was just another day out & this was just some random soda-fountain bar in the neighborhood. Or maybe one of Henry & Bertha's friend's owned a bar. Not sure who the 3rd boy is in the photo on the left.

Bertha, Arnold & Wesley

This image must be from around 1915. Bertha Van Dorn Waite taking her sons Arnold & Wesley out on a boat called either the Skoorum or the Skookum. Skoorum sounds better. Not sure where the boat is, but it might have been Henry Waite's brother William A. Waite's boat, who lived in a house on stilts over the Atlantic Ocean in Broad Channel, Queens. From what I was told by Diana Waite, William might have been a rum-runner during the prohibition era. With his house in a prime location, he would have had a boat & access to the ocean, where he may have made late night off-shore rum pick-ups from boats coming up from the Caribbean or from down south.

Waite - Bassett - Van Dorn - Crocker

This amazing photo includes the following people (from left to right): Wesley Waite, Ardella (Della) Bassett Van Dorn Crocker, ? (crazy hat lady), Charles Crocker, Bertha Van Dorn Waite, & Arnold Waite. It looks like the photo was taken in someone's backyard in Brooklyn, but I could be wrong. Love the high-water pants on Charles Crocker. Wesley's just chillin out.

The Waite Family (previous generation)

Here's a photo of several Waite family members: Wesley & Arnold's father (my great-grandfather) Henry Waite (3rd from back left), Wesley & Arnold's mother (my great-grandmother) Bertha Van Dorn Waite (with her hand on a man's shoulder, holding an urn?), Wesley's wife (my grandmother) Winifred Reilly Waite (3rd from back right), Arnold Waite's wife (my great aunt) Violet Mackesy Waite (lower middle) with children Judy & Diana Waite, and Wesley's older brother (my great uncle) Arnold Waite (far lower left). I think the woman to the left of Winifred might be Ardella Bassett Van Dorn Crocker (Bertha's mother, my great-great grandmother), & I think Wesley Waite was the one who took the photo. I'm not sure where this photo was taken. I'm also not sure who the other people in the photo are. Everyone's dressed up, so it must have been a special occasion.

Grandpa Wesley and all of his grandchildren

Here's the same photo without the foreign exchange student.

Wesley Waite & his grand children

I first saw this photo at my aunt Lorraine's 60th birthday party a few years ago. The photo was taken in November 1981. Clockwise from top left: Bobby, Dominick, Larry, Paul, Ricky, Donna, the foreign exchange student, Lorri, grandpa Wesley, Brian, Mike, Cheryl (crying), Joey, and me in my sweater vest.