The photographs of the Laws and Hastings collection portrays an extensive family lineage of the Laws, Hastings, and Holland families of Parsonsburg and Ocean City, Maryland from 1850s and 1970s. Photographs include family portraits, individual portraits, group photos, and the family business enterprises, such as Hastings Hatchery and the family farm. These photographs were acquired over the course of several decades by granddaughters Sandra Anderson and Marlene Mumford.

The Laws and Hastings families of the Eastern Shore were prominent entrepreneurs and business owners. The collection of photographs center around Agnes Laws Hastings, and her immediate and distant family. Agnes Belle Laws was born in 1886 and died 1961, she married Elmer Francis Hastings (1888-1982), who was the son of Caroline Vica Holloway (1843-1935) and Levin Watson Hastings (1844-1935). In 1896, Brethren Levin Watson Hastings became Committee Chairman of building operations for the Forest Grove Old School Baptist Church. Brother Elmer F. Hastings, in 1964, was appointed the Deacon of Forest Grove Baptist Church. Agnes Belle Laws was born to Mary Edna Bethards (1863-1912) and William Richie Laws (1859-1946). Agnes had multiple siblings including; Edna, Virgil, George, Albert, and Grace. Agnes and her husband, Elmer co-founded and ran Hastings Hatchery of Parsonsburg, Maryland, which at one point in time was one of the largest hatcheries in the country with locations in Maryland and Georgia. Agnes and Elmer had a daughter Mary Belle Hastings (1918-2016) who later married Robley Holland (1916-1978). They had three daughters; Sandra Anderson, Marlene Mumford, and Janet Cherrix (1939-2016). Mary Belle and her husband Robley owned many businesses in Maryland and even one in Florida. They own and ran the Sandpiper Restaurant, Miami Court Hotel and the Swan Club, a nightclub, in Ocean City, as well as the Samoa Restaurant in Palm Beach, Florida. Hastings Hatchery was also passed down to Mary Belle and Robley.  Mary Belle was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Samuel Chase Chapter in Salisbury, Maryland as her great, great, great, great-grandfather had served in the American Revolution. The Laws and Hastings families were active members of the Delmarva community, leaving behind deep histories and memories of the late 1800s to early 1900s prominent Eastern Shore businesses.

This collection of Photographs, Tin Types, and Negatives that document the comprehensive family lineage of the Laws and Hastings family, of Parsonsburg, Maryland as well as gives a glimpse into the time period between the 1850s to 1970s.

Series I: Family Photographs and Tin Types, contains extensive photographic family history pertaining to the lineage of Agnes Belle Laws and Elmer Francis Hastings. Parents, siblings, and children all are included, as well as a calling card for Agnes Laws Hastings.  

Series II: Laws/Hastings Family Business Enterprises Photographs, contains multiple photographs of the Laws and Hastings Hatchery businesses as well as what can be presumed as the family farm. This series also included a partial poultry advertisement from the mid-1900s.

Series III: Unidentified Photographs, Tintypes, and Negatives contains many unknown female portraits, male portraits, group photographs, and various geographic locations including an unknown building and automobile

The photographs of the Laws and Hasting family have been arranged into three series, FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS AND TIN TYPES, LAWS/HASTINGS BUSINESS ENTERPRISES PHOTOGRAPHS, and UNIDENTIFED PHOTOGRAPHS, TIN TYPES AND NEGATIVES. This arrangement reflects the associated family histories.

Folders are listed by their location in each box; any given subject may be dispersed throughout the entirety of the collection.