William Daniel Kuhns, 1891
Anonymous, Lehighton, Pennsylvania
silver print

A silver print showing a small boy with black lips in an open coffin propped up in the corner of a room.

Based on an inscription on the back of another copy of the same photograph, the dealer from whom this was acquired identified the boy as Walter Alvin Kuhns, supposedly born 7 September 1901 in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. I can find no trace of any child with that name born on that day or on any other day. However, a child named William Daniel Kuhns, aged 6 months, died in Philadelphia on 28 January 1891. His parents Frank and Kate appear on the 1900 census living in East Texas, Pennsylvania, which is only a few miles from Lehighton. Frank was a farmer. Born in 1843, his full name was Franklin Reuben Kuhns and he died in 1919. Kate's full name was Cathalina Rebecca Kuhns and she died in 1923. 

The print measures 6.1" by 4.6" (16.9 cm by 11.5 cm) on a mount measuring 9" by 6.8" (22.7 cm by 17.4 cm).