1914

We had some discussion about this and other Florida "Casement" photos over here - Streetview via Rory Sherlock - goo.gl/maps/wBGtAHZ2jMAN184eA The trees have grown. (I used to have a spooky old aunt who said this each time she visited!)

Btw it is in Hartford, Connecticut.

I respectfully suggest that this is not one of the Irving Streets in Florida, but Irving Street in Norfolk, Virginia, where Sir Roger Casement spoke to the Ancient Order of Hibernians in July 1914. [Edit] The houses in Irving ST, Norfolk, Virginia look similar to the ones in today's photo, but the Hartford ones look even more similar.

Yes, as beachcomber australia has said, we figured this image was from Hartford, Connecticut and it is possible that Casement lived here. Whether he ever went to Florida remains doubtful...

For convenience, here's a section of the conversation on the Florida photo which mentions this photo: "I think it refers to Irving Street in Hartford, Connecticut. Note the street sign [...] - it matches 'Homestead Ave.' which crosses Irving St in Hartford and the houses match up too. Here's 'Irving Street' from the Casement Collection: catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000748204 And here's the matching Streetview: www.google.ie/maps/@41.7758713,-72.6878395,3a,51.2y,41.8h... Also in the Casement Collection is '6 and 8 Irving Street': catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000748201 And here's the matching Streetview: www.google.ie/maps/@41.7761028,-72.6875837,3a,48.6y,91.84...

“Reported missing on April 6, 1915, he is the author of Letters from a Soldier, a work considered one of the great testimonies about this war.
"Our losses are dreadful; those of the enemy, even worse. You cannot know, my beloved mother, what man can do to man. For five days my shoes have been greasy with human brains, I have crushed chests, I have encountered entrails. The men eat what little they have snatched from the corpses. The regiment has been heroic; we have no officers left. All have died bravely. [...] Finally, after five days of horror that cost us twelve hundred victims, we have been withdrawn from this place of abomination."

Readable free at Gutenberg:

www.gutenberg.org

"A French painter and soldier, Eugène Lemercier was the grandson of Irish portrait painter Harriet Osborne O’Hagan. Aged fifteen, he began his training as a painter at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1906, his studies were interrupted by a years' compulsory military service. A painter of some renown, Lemercier won several prizes for his work that includes ‘La Contemplation’. With the outbreak of war in August 1914, Lemercier was drafted in to the French Army. He is best known for the correspondence to his mother between August 1914 and his disappearance during the Battle of Les Éparges in April 1915."

His grandmother's DIB entry mentions a daughter, Marguerite Lemercier O'Hagan

O'Hagan, Harriet (née Osborne) www.dib.ie

Marguerite drew both her mother and son:

artvee.com

The Newark Evening Star and Newark Advertiser. December 10, 1914, STATE EDITION, Page 4 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn91064011/1914-12-10/ed-... reported on the fire. The New York Times report of December 10, 1914 on the front page timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/12/10/10012129... includes the much quoted declaration by Edison, "Although I am over 67 years old I'll start all over again tomorrow." For recent reflections, see "Thomas Edison's Reaction To His Factory Burning Down Shows Why He Was So Successful" by Richard Feloni, May 9, 2014, www.businessinsider.com/thomas-edison-in-the-obstacle-is-... and for news "In New Jersey, an inventive way to save Thomas Edison's battery factory" by Charles Coxe, for CNN • Updated 28th March 2017 www.cnn.com/travel/article/thomas-edison-battery-factory-...

Thanks for the links swanq. We'll add some info about the fire to our catalog records.