Woman seeks relatives of family depicted in antique photos from Richland County

Four decades after she found a pile of antique portraits in an abandoned house, Brenda Drake wants the rightful family to have them.

"This belongs to somebody," she said. "Somebody's grandchild is out there going to wonder what their family looked like."

Who those descendants are — or if they're even still in Richland County — is a mystery.

All Drake knows for certain is that, in 1947, someone named Floyd H. Schwan was still getting mail delivered to a home off Gimbel Drive east of Mansfield near Charles Mill Lake.

She hopes anyone who thinks they are related to Schwan will contact her to claim the photos.

'The woods were calling my name'

Drake's involvement in the mystery began about 1980 while her grandmother was a cook at Oak Park Tavern off Ohio 430 in Mifflin Township.

She waitressed at the restaurant after high school and occasionally cleaned house for a man named Tony who managed the tavern.

"I'm probably 19 at this time," Drake said.

She can't remember Tony's last name, exactly, but is pretty certain his wife's name was Mabel.

What's important was that Tony lived on Gimbel Drive, just down the street from Oak Park Tavern.

"I cleaned his house one day," Drake explained. "And I'm an avid hiker, didn't know it then, but the woods were calling my name."

When she was through cleaning, the teenager decided to venture into the forest behind the man's home.

"Deep into the woods, I came across this old abandoned house," Drake said.

'Why would anybody leave this behind?'

It has been more than 40 years since the adventure, but she can still recall many details of the old home.

The windows had been knocked out. The front door was ajar.

"There's plants growing on the inside," Drake said. "It was so cool. I had to go inside."

The teenager found newspapers and mail scattered throughout the home.

"Chairs were knocked over all over the place," Drake said.

The items had been addressed to "Floyd H. Schwan, RD#4, Mansfield, Ohio."

The young woman decided to collect a few of the items that seemed they might have sentimental value.

Part of her collection is a ledger from 1947. Entries include "welding labor: $1.00" and "oil: $0.51."

"Total expenses for the month were $115 dollars," Drake said. "They made $147 that month."

Then the teenager found a box.

"I'm thinking that whoever this family was, they just didn't see this," Drake said. "Why would anybody leave this behind?"

'This family belongs to somebody'

Inside the box were dozens of black-and-white portraits. Some of the images were prints, but most were negatives.

"There’s a box of 5-by-7 glass negatives," Drake said. "I found out that's what they call them."

Everyone in the photos was well-dressed. There were individual portraits, as well as family photos.

"When I found this, my heart just went out for this family," Drake said.

The only problem was that it was the early 1980s, and the teenager had few resources then to find the family. So, she packed the photos away and moved on with her life.

Four decades later, she renewed her resolve to find their rightful owners. She had several of the negatives developed, then contacted the News Journal.

"I've had these with my family photos," Drake said. "So, for 40-some years, this family has been a part of mine."

She hopes the internet will help the story spread to wherever the remaining family might live. She herself has moved to North Carolina since 1980, so she knows Floyd H. Schwan's descendants could be nearly anywhere.

Still, she's hopeful, and looking at the old photos makes her even more determined to help them find their way to wherever home is supposed to be.

"I look in this woman's eyes and hold this and I just start crying," Drake said. "There she is. Isn't she gorgeous? I'm sure she had kids. Those kids had kids. This family belongs to somebody. I hope to find them."

For more information about the photos, contact Drake through email at brendadrake983@gmail.com or by phone at 864-569-1340.

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Woman seeks to return antique photos to family from Richland County