1000 Words . . .and More

-


From the Stowe/Williams Family Collection


As the weather warms up and Covid restrictions ease, people are traveling more and seeing friends and family members they have missed for too long.  Some are even meeting distant relatives they may never have met before.

One of the joys of meeting after a long period of time is sharing photographs.  Hopefully everyone in the photos is identified and the date and place are well documented.  The photo is telling you a story and all the details are evident.

But, unfortunately, that is rarely the case.  Some photos may have been identified such as the ones my Aunt Bea did--a man fishing from the shore of a body of water was identified as, "Dad at the lake".  Great!  Whose Dad?  at what lake?  at what occasion?  At least she tried.  That isn't always the case.


Don't be steered wrong

Sometimes the information given is not correct.  This photo had been identified as a three generation group and as 2nd great-, great- and grandmother of Cousin Larry.  But his grandmother was born in 1872 and this photo, from information on the reverse, was taken in 1898.

The women in this photo were actually Larry's paternal and maternal greatgrandmothers.  The girl was his aunt.


From the Strobel Family Collection


There are particular clues you can use to help identify people in older photographs, especially those from professional photographers from the 19th century.

    Photo type:  daguerreotype, tintype, cabinet card among others

    Clothing and hair styles:  each decade has distinctive details

    Mat styles and colors, photographer's name and studio address

    Photo style:  rectangular, oval, vignette; each can be a clue

    Subject matter:  is it a family group or parent and child?


Join in the fun!

From the Williams/Hoskins Family Collection


This photo in my family collection is one of my favorites.  I can only identify the dapper gentleman in the center because he was a recent immigrant from England.  It is that fact that helps date the photo; he married one of the Hoskins girls in Shoshone County, Idaho, about 1892.  The Hoskins family had a bunch of sons, sons-in-law and nephews; all involved with mining in the Wardner, Idaho area.

I call this photo, "The Bachelor Party".  Other than the groom, I can't identify any of the other men.  They all look alike but can't you imagine the fun?  They're all cleaned up, in new shirts and with cigars and maybe a drink or two. 



A New Challenge

I was recently given another photo to try to date.  I'm still working on it but there are a couple of clues that might help.  The image is printed on photo paper but not matted so there is no photographer information.  The photo also fades out around the edges leaving a vignette in a roughly oval shape in the center.  I've got more research to do.


Good luck this summer as you find new photos and information about your families.  And how about sharing your photos and your experiences?


MaryLynn Strickland



Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 24, 2022 at 10:14 AM

    Thanks for the help with the "new challenge!" I and my uncle really appreciate it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a
Read more

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it
Read more

Help Save This Abused and Neglected Cemetery

-
Image
Screen capture from Google Maps History In an exchange of emails this past week in both the main SKCGS group, and in the Washington-State-Genealogy group, many facts were revealed about the history of the I.O.O.F. Comet Lodge Cemetery, also known as the Old Burying Ground, the Georgetown Cemetery, the Graham Street Burying Ground and maybe more.  FindAGrave sums it up this way: "Since it was established in 1881, the Comet Lodge cemetery site has been whittled away to less than half its original 5 acres. Records are sketchy but it's safe to say that some 500 pioneers were buried here, atop unknown numbers of native Duwamish people. New burials ended in the 1930s. Since then, homes and streets were built on top of many of the plots as the neighborhood around the cemetery grew.  "Upkeep and ownership of the cemetery bounced between the city, civic groups, relatives of Comet Lodge residents, and nearby neighbors. For years, much of the property was allowed to deteriorate int
Read more