The Howell family photograph album (13cm x 10cm) contains 34 photographs of the relatives of Clarissa Cutler Howell, who lived in Waltz Township, Indiana, in the mid- to late 19th century. Included are 26 tintypes, seven cartes-de-visite, and one silver gelatin print, which shows Clarissa Cutler Howell at an advanced age. A lithograph entitled "Love at the Gate" is tucked into a sleeve behind this print. With the exception of the later print, the photographs are formal studio portraits of Clarissa Cutler Howell and her parents, siblings, children, and other family members. The album's blue leather cover has a geometric relief design.
Clarissa Cutler (March 8, 1830-March 7, 1920) was the daughter of Abner Cutler and Mary Wotton. Her siblings were Jane, Jonas, Sophia, Samuel, Mary, Abner, Jonathan, Allen, and Elizabeth. She and her first husband, William Howell (d. 1863) lived in Waltz Township, Indiana, with their seven children: Thomas, John, James, William, Gilbert, Allen, and Daniel. She and her second husband, Henry Bechtol, had one daughter, Ida. Clarissa continued to use the surname Howell after her second husband's death. Elizabeth Cutler married John V. Cox, and their children included Mary, John, Elmer, Oliver, Eli, Joseph, Franklin, Estella, Gordon, and Bessie.
