Selby, Coombs and Bettinger Family Photographs, 1860-1935

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Summary

Title:
Selby, Coombs and Bettinger Family Photographs
Dates:
1860-1935
Creators:
Bettinger, Bessie L., 1898-1979 Bettinger, Ruth
Abstract:
Extent:
.5 linear feet (71 photographs)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Selby, Coombs and Bettinger Family Photographs. History San Jose Research Library

Background

Scope and content:

Collection of 71 family photographs related to the William E. and Lizzie Selby Coombs families, and their daughter Bessie Laverne Coombs and her husband Ellsworth S. Bettinger. The majority of the photographs are portraits, all of them identified, many of them cabinet photographs, with several cartes de visite and tintypes.

Biographical / historical:

Lizzie Coombs (1864-1939), nee Selby, one of the central figures in the collection, was the daughter of early Santa Clara County pioneer and orchardist John S. Selby (b. 1834), who settled outside of San Jose in late 1853. With his wife, Sarah Brelsford, he had five children: Mary (married William E. Trimble), Emma (married Edwin Abel), William H. (married Alice Meads), Lizzie L., and G. Wray (married Carrie Woolsey). Lizzie married William Edward Coombs, son of William L. Coombs and Emma E. Griswold. Lizzie and Edward had two children, Bessie Laverne and Leroy Selby. Bessie married Ellsworth S. Bettinger.

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated to the San Jose Historical Museum in 1988.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by History San Jose Research Library staff.
Date Prepared:
1860-1935
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open to the public for research by appointment. Records are also viewable in History San Jose's online catalog.

Terms of access:

Contact History San Jose Research Library for information on publication and reproduction.

Preferred citation:

Selby, Coombs and Bettinger Family Photographs. History San Jose Research Library

Location of this collection:
1661 Senter Road
San Jose, CA 95112, US
Contact:
(408) 287-2290
research@historysanjose.org
Website