There are four members of the Struthers family represented in Hannah's album: Stephen, shown here; Agnes Struthers at the beginning of this set of four; Mary Rich Struthers; and Mary Struthers, who later became Mrs. Robinson.

Stephen is undoubtedly Stephen Rich Struthers, born in New York (though the city is unclear) on 26 June 1838. FamilySearch, the online genealogy resource of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints gives Stephen’s parents as Mary Rich and James Struthers. Patti Davidson-Peters theorizes that Stephen is the son of Mary Rich, Hannah Rich’s much older half-sister, which would make Stephen Hannah Rich’s half nephew, though almost exactly her age.

Stephen's wife was Sarah Ingraham Penfield (b. 1848, d. 1940 ), also of New York; they were married in New York City on 09 April 1874. Stephen died 08 May 1913 in New Jersey.

Struthers is not a common name in the United States - it originated in Scotland - and scouring New York State's online county records in 2005 yields only a short list of people surnamed Struthers or its variants Struther, Strothers, and Strother. A few more Struthers can be found in New Jersey, although New Jersey’s records are not as complete as New York’s. The greatest number of Struthers references is concentrated in Brooklyn County - originally known as Kings County - and it is there, on the Brooklyn genealogy site that the marriage of Stephen Struthers and Sarah I. Penfield is recorded, along with the marriages of Henry, Jessie, Joseph, Joseph again, and Robert Struthers.

How is it that Stephen Rich Struthers, whose Rich Family relatives lived in Delaware County, NY, appears in New York City records? It turns out that from the late 1700s on, many Riches began life in New York City and never left, while others moved west. A Rich was among the first settlers of Kortright township, Delaware County, where there are a Rich Hill and a Rich Road. Stephen’s in-laws, the Penfields, followed this same pattern: most of the Penfields remained in New York City, but a Lewis Penfield is listed as one of the earliest settlers of Harpersfield township in Delaware County. The Delaware Woolen Factory Company was run in the mid-1860s by a Penfield.

It does not appear from available records that Stephen Rich Struthers and Sarah Struthers ever lived in Delaware County. Ten years before they were married, Stephen R. Struthers, an insurance agent with an office on the dock, appears in an 1864 Yonkers (Westchester County, NY) Business Directory, now posted on the Connors Genealogy site. At some unknown time the pair migrated from New York City to New Jersey where (according to FamilySearch) Stephen was enumerated in the 1880 US census as married, a bank clerk, and residing in District 2, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey. There is no evidence they had any children.

But these are later chapters in the life of Stephen Rich Struthers. The picture you see here is Stephen at the time of Hannah Rich’s wedding in July 1861, long before he himself was married.

About the photographer: the raised stamp at the bottom of this picture is J Brill: Julius Brill. According to John S. Craig’s excellent online Daguerreian Registry, Julius Brill was listed as a daguerreian at 204 Chatham Street, New York City, N.Y., from 1852 to 1860, which would have been about the time this photograph was taken.