Photo Detective with Maureen A. Taylor

Part 2 of an Italian Photo Mystery
Posted by Diane

Last week I introduced Eileen Poulin's mysterious photos on tin and showed you one of the two images of her Italian relatives.

Frank LoRusso with a Martinelliedit.jpg

Poulin's mother left her the pair with a note regarding the identity of the individuals in the photos—but the details are confusing: On the paper with the above image, a confirmation photo, Eileen's mother wrote: "Frank (my grandfather) with a Martinelli boy." The Martinellis are related to Eileen through her great grandmother on her grandmother's side of the family.

The note stored with the second image, below, read, "brother of above."

The family is confused. Is the man in uniform Frank's brother, or the brother of the boy?

I emailed Eileen for more information about when the family immigrated to the United States and how the Martinelli family was related to them. She called a relative, who identified the boy as her brother Frank Martinelli.

Eileen's grandfather immigrated in 1916. You can view Francesco Antonio LoRusso's passenger details (or search for your own ancestor) on the Ellis Island website or click this link.

The boy's suit and the style of the confirmation photo suggest it was taken around the year of immigration. One relative thinks it was in Italy, but Martinelli's sister thinks her brother was born in the United States.

The final factors about where the image was taken are the answers to two questions: Where was the Martinelli boy born? When did that family immigrate?

The military photo was definitely taken in Italy. It depicts a man in an Italian military uniform from the WWI period. I love that his headgear resembles women's hats of the early 20th century.

Military images are full of head-to-toe clues. The headgear, uniform style, insignia and even the leg wraps are evidence. The man may be a Bersaglieri, a corporal in the Italian army. For more information on Italian military uniforms see Italian Armies of World War I by David Nicolle and Raffaele Ruggeri in the Men in Arms series (Osprey, 2003).

Now that Eileen has a time period and additional family information, it's possible another relative can identify the soldier.

Only a few days left to enter Family Tree Magazine's National Photo Month giveaway. The deadline is May 20th.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Family Photo Detective: Learn How to Find Genealogy Clues in Old Photos and Solve Family Photo Mysteries

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1910s photos | hats | men | Military photos

Monday, May 13, 2013 3:46:29 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Sunday, April 07, 2013

Mind-Bending Photo Mystery: Part 2
Posted by Maureen

Last week I wrote about Pam and Art Crawford's family photo dilemma. With both the Crawford and Jones families claiming this couple as their relatives, it's a pixel puzzle.

This week I'm tackling the costume clues in the image.

Men's ties and collars can help pinpoint a date. This man wears an all-over patterned tie. The design has a slight diagonal pattern, which suggests it's from about 1930. The points in the collar look longer than a middle-pointed shape, which suggests it might be a 1930s style called the "California Collar." Clark Gable popularized it.

Lace collars were very popular in the 1930s. Around the woman's neck are pearls. Simulated pearls could be bought from the Sears catalog for approximately 95 cents. It's very difficult to see due to the shadows in this picture, but her dress has a soft flouncy sleeve.

Both husband and wife wear round glasses. Round shapes were common in the 1920s, but thin metal frames were also still available in the 1930s. Since they probably didn't change glasses very often, it's likely these are from the late 1920s.

The circa-1930s date eliminates Thomas Jefferson Jones and Mary Jane Williams from consideration. Mary Jane died in 1916.

When comparing their faces, I noticed that the husband looks older and more frail than his wife.

This couple could be Art's grandparent's Nathaniel Crawford and Lois Viola Henley. Nathaniel died in 1937.

The big questions remain: How did Pam's grandmother come to own a copy of this image, and why did she identify the couple as Thomas and Mary Jones?

Extensive family research by the Crawfords has yet to reveal an answer.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Family Photo Detective: Learn How to Find Genealogy Clues in Old Photos and Solve Family Photo Mysteries

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1930s photos | men | women

Sunday, April 07, 2013 5:19:59 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, April 01, 2013

Mind-Bending Photo Mystery
Posted by Maureen

Isn't this a nice picture? It seems so innocuous. Yet this picture is BIG photo mystery that has a couple puzzled: I met Pam and Art Crawford at last month's RootsTech conference. Using my iPad as a voice recorder, I interviewed them about this picture. You can listen to the recording here.

Pam's grandmother gave her the image in 1975, in the family photo album. She was told it was Grandma and Grandpa Jones. Pam's grandmother was alive at the same time as the couple depicted, so she would have known them.

Thomas Jefferson Jones was born Nov. 8, 1843, in Christy Twp., Laurence Co., Ill. He married Mary Jane Williams in Lawrence Co. in 1865. Mary Jane was born May 4, 1850, in Covington, Kenton Co., Ky., and moved to Lawrence Co., Illinois as a child.

Thomas died March 1, 1934, and Mary Jane died Dec. 24, 1916. Both died in Bonpas Twp., Richland Co., Ill.

Here's the mystery:
A few months ago, Art's cousin started a Facebook group, "Descendants of David Crawford." Art joined the group and saw this photo, identified as Nathaniel Alpheus Crawford. When he showed it to Pam, she said, "I know that photo!"

Nathaniel Crawford was born Oct. 21, 1861, in Summerville, Chattooga Co., Ga. He married Lois Viola Henley in 1891. She was born May 27, 1871, in Georgia. They both died in Chattooga Co., Nathaniel on Sept. 13, 1937, and Lois on Aug. 4, 1956.

Obviously there are multiple mysteries:

Who's really in the photo?
How did it end up in both families?
Is there a relationship between Pam and Art's family?

It's a real stumper. Let's start with the picture: It's a 20th-century photo—after World War I, based the design of the woman's collar.

I'm off to the library to figure out the rest of the clues and double-check a few things. I'll be back next week with more details.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Family Photo Detective: Learn How to Find Genealogy Clues in Old Photos and Solve Family Photo Mysteries

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1910s photos | 1920s photos | men | women

Monday, April 01, 2013 3:47:30 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, January 21, 2013

Lincoln's Inauguration and Your Family
Posted by Maureen

From movies to today's inauguration, all things Lincoln are in the spotlight. On March 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln participated in his second inauguration. Thousands of individuals came to Washington, DC, to witness it. The news media of the time were present, reporting on the events of the day.

Photographs of inaugurals usually focus on the President, but in 1865, at least one photographer captured the crowds. This rainy inaugural photo is from the Library of Congress collection and captures Washington, DC, at a key moment. The Civil War was drawing to a close, and Lincoln spoke to that in his address:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all ... let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds ..."

A reporter for the Sunday Mercury published in Philadelphia on March 5, 1865, wrote about the weather:

"Rain had been falling all yesterday and last night, making the proverbially filthy streets of the political metropolis filthier and more unpleasant than ever. (page 3)"

If you look closely at this photo you'll see people dressed for inclement weather, wearing heavy overcoats and hats, standing in deep puddles. There are a few children in the foreground. Somewhere in this group are African-American troops who marched in the Inaugural Parade.

A crowd scene like this allows a peek into the past. There is a wide variety of clothing, from wool coats to hoop skirts, worn by these individuals. Take a close look at the hats worn by the men in the crowd. Only one man is wearing a stovepipe hat; the rest are in smaller hats and caps. The man in the tall hat is dressed formally for the occasion. Men of means or who had significant jobs usually dressed the part. In the 1860s, the hat a man wore could tell you a lot about their occupation or fashion habits. For more information on men's hats, see Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats, 1840-1900.

Do you know about the political leanings of your ancestors?

There may be images of women bearing suffragette banners or men wearing political memorabilia such as pins.
Even if your ancestor wasn't politically active, study the history of your ancestors' lives to see how political decisions influenced their everyday experiences.
Take a close look at the pictures in your family, set them in a time frame and investigate the history in your genealogy. There may be images relating to immigration, military service and even social events—all a result of the political situation of the country in which they lived.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1860s photos | Civil War | group photos | hats | men

Monday, January 21, 2013 3:26:59 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, January 14, 2013

Turn-of-the-Century Family Photos
Posted by Maureen

Terry Graham's mother showed him a few unidentified photographs and now he's using the power of the web to try to identify them. He's posted them on his Ancestry.com family tree so that family members can comment on them. He thinks the mother's maiden name could be Turgeon.

It's the little girl in this picture that captures our attention. The photographer posed her with head turned and eyes on the lens. It's a lovely picture of a turn-of-the-century family.

Women's Clothing
Women's fashion began to change circa 1900.

More women were employed, and clothing in washable fabrics became a necessity. This woman wears her "Sunday best" dress for this formal family portrait.
Wide high-necked lace collars were very popular before 1905. Skirts were worn approximately 2 inches off the floor.
Hairstyles puffed out from the face. Extreme hairstyles were often caricatured in magazines, but this woman has chosen wisely. Her hair frames her face. A large wide-brimmed hat would accessorize the outfit.

Men's Clothing
Styles varied from casual dress worn by laborers to suits. The man in the family portrait wears his best suit. Collars worn standing up with a variety of silk ties were fashionable in the period. Men's mustaches were trimmed and waxed in the 1890s; in this turn-of-the-century portrait, he's retained his full mustache.

Children's Clothing
Play clothes for children were introduced in the early 20th century, but this little girl wears a light-colored dress that mimics some of the design elements of her mother's dress, i.e. the wide collar.

Photo Details
Watch for the spontaneous moments in a family picture. The little girl looks like Mom has just brushed her hair for the portrait, but both parents have little wisps of hair sticking out from their heads: Look at the left side of Dad's head and the hair above the neckline of the mother's dress.

About the Photographer
Alfred Adt of Waterbury, Connecticut, took this photo. According to city directories of Waterbury found on Ancestry.com and details in census records, Adt was born in approximately 1863 and was a photographer in Waterbury from at least 1894 to 1909.

Use the comment field below to tell me how you came to own your family photos. Which relative gave them to you?

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1900-1910 photos | children | men | women

Monday, January 14, 2013 4:15:39 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, December 17, 2012

More on Backyard Snapshots
Posted by Maureen

Last week I focused on the details in the background of this backyard snapshot of Francis (Frank) Q. Donnelly. It's a great picture of a man taken in the first half of the 20th century. His relative, Dennis Rodgers, has a lot of information about him.

Frank Donnelly (1879-1940) was born and died in Washington, DC. He was second generation on his father's side. His mother was born in Ireland. Census records and his WW I draft registration pinpoint where he lived. He worked as a tinner and later as a steamfitter.

Known addresses and time frames include:

1900—486 E. Street SW
1910—1008 F Street SE
1918—1116 B Street NE (This is now Constitution Avenue)
1920—721 3rd Street NE
1930—721 3rd Street NE

A quick search of Google Maps for the last address shows a lovely brick townhouse. Wonder if this image was taken in the rear of the building?

His clothing suggests a time frame circa 1920:

a soft collar shirt with a small collar
a medium-width tie
a jacket with narrow lapels
trousers that narrow toward the ankle. (In the 1930s, pants legs were wider.)

In 1920, a good worsted suit cost approximately $60 from the Sears Roebuck Catalog while a tie cost less than a dollar. For a fun look at men's neckwear, see Roseann Ettinger's 20th Century Neckties Pre-1955 (Schiffer, 1998).

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1920s photos | men

Monday, December 17, 2012 6:32:48 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Sunday, December 09, 2012

Backyard Snapshots
Posted by Maureen

Studio portraits are lovely and very formal, but to find signs of everyday life, there's nothing like a snapshot. Ever since George Eastman introduced the amateur camera in the late 1880s, our ancestors have taken informal pictures.

Dennis Rodgers sent in this picture of a known relative—his great-uncle Francis Q. Donnelly who lived in Washington, D.C.

When I see photographs like this, I ask, "Where's the rest of the pictures from the roll of film?" This is just one of the pictures that the unknown photographer would have taken. Perhaps they were given to other family members or even tossed.

This backyard snapshot shows us details of Donnelly's life (providing this is where he lived).

It's a brick row house with high wooden fences separating the yards.
There are well-worn paving stones instead of a grass yard.
Wooden steps provide an entry through the back door.
Laundry or blankets being aired outside hang out the second-story window.
The family dog is off to the right.

To the left is a shelf with large cans. A shovel placed near a basement door looks like a small coal shovel.

These items provide details about Connelly's life in the first half of the 20th century.

I'll be back next week to discuss his clothes. In the meantime, what's the oddest thing you've ever seen in a family snapshot?

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

men | occupational | photo backgrounds | props in photos | unusual photos

Sunday, December 09, 2012 7:32:33 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, November 26, 2012

Multi-Generation Portraits, Redux
Posted by Maureen

Last week, I featured a multi-generation picture submitted by Mary Lutz. We've been communicating about this photo via email, and I have a few more details to share.

The original post mentioned that the baby is Mary Ruth Talbott Godwin. There is one problem with that identification. She was born in 1892. The clues in this picture (hairstyles and bodice styles) don't add up to that timeline. Instead, it's an early 20th century picture.

Thank goodness Mary also recognized the discrepancy. She provided an alternative identification for these women, one that makes sense based on the photo clues.

The baby is Ruth Waterstradt (born 1909). The mother is Pearl Godwin Waterstradt (born 1885). The grandmother in the center is Jennie Witten Godwin (born 1864) and on the left is great-grandmother Mary Brown Witten (born 1834). The baby is likely less than a year old which dates this image to circa 1910.

In addition to the four-generation picture, Mary sent in another group portrait. The two individuals in the center are Mary Brown Witten and her husband Samuel. The picture was taken in Grundy County, Mo.

The woman in the center is the same woman who appears on the left in the four-generation image.

This photo also dates from the early 20th century. Since Mary knows the identity of the two people in the center, the rest of the pieces should fall into place.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1900-1910 photos | children | men | women

Monday, November 26, 2012 4:04:45 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0]

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Historical Fact or Fiction?
Posted by Maureen

Last week I wrote about ways to spot manipulated photos in your family collection. My inspiration was an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

Mathew Brady is the most well-known photographer of the Civil War. His studio documented well-known figures of the period as well as ordinary soldiers. When he died in 1896, his nephew Levin Corbin Handy inherited the collection. Handy was a photographer as well, and at times he tinkered with his uncle's images. In the exhibit is one of those composites. It depicts Ulysses S. Grant on horseback at City Point, Va. Or does it? Take a good look at the composite—it's actually made from three pictures.

First the composite.

The three images are as follows.

Handy used a Brady image of Grant at Cold Harbor, Va. (1864) and removed his head. He then placed it on the body of General Alexander McDowell McCook on horseback taken in 1864. I don't have the image of McCook, but here's the Cold Harbor one.

Handy placed the composite of Grant over a Brady image of Confederate prisoners after the Battle of Fisher's Hill, Va., taken in 1864.

Here's that scene.
Fishers Hilledit2.jpg

Handy created the composite in 1902. Because Americans were still clamoring for images depicting the Civil War, Handy found new ways to market his uncle's images.

The full story of this picture appears in the book Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop. Thank you to the curators who put this exhibit together. The exhibit will also be at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., from February-May 2013 and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in Houston, Tex., from June-August 2013.

If you'd like to see more pictures taken by the Brady Studio, go to the Library of Congress website, and search the Prints and Photographs collection for "Mathew Brady."

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

Sunday, November 04, 2012 6:32:11 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Monday, October 08, 2012

Giant Grasshopper Mystery Photo—Solved!
Posted by Maureen

My Photo Detective magazine column appears in Family Tree Magazine. The October/November 2012 column is titled "Hoppin Fun" because the photo features a giant grasshopper sculpture.

Larae Schraeder showed me the photo at the 2012 National Genealogical Society Conference in Cincinnati. The photo was in her collection of family pictures, and she thought the men might be relatives. In the magazine, I added up the clues but couldn't make the family connection for her.

Well, it turns out the men aren't relatives. The real story is a fascinating tale of one man's hobby.

Thomas Talcott Hersey of Mitchell, SD, made this grasshopper. He's holding it down in the photo. Assisting him are his nephew Harry (Bart) Hersey and David John Hersey.

Several of his descendants emailed me this weekend to tell me about this hopper and the other bugs that Hersey crafted. His inspiration came from a grasshopper swarm that killed his crops during the Dust Bowl era, and he called the metal creation Galloping Gertie.

When he displayed his invention at Corn Palace Week in Mitchell and charged a nickel to view it, he earned enough to support his family for a winter. Hersey ended up with a commission from a man who hired him to make a housefly, a flea, a black widow spider and a monarch butterfly to show at county fairs.

Hersey's hobby of fashioning giant bugs out of wood, paper, cellophane, wire, string and oil cloth made him famous. In 1943, Hersey was a guest on Dave Elman's "Hobby Lobby" radio show on CBS. He spoke at length about how he made the insects; the grasshopper shown here even had a device to make its feelers move. Life Magazine and Popular Mechanics featured articles on his work.

Hersey's relatives sent me several other pictures of his bugs and his relatives posing with them. They emailed me a postcard view of the scene above that had a printed caption: "Capturing Whopper Hopper near Mitchell, S.D. The largest grasshopper in existence 54 inches weighs 73 pounds." It was taken and marketed by the Hersey Photo Service:

Mystery solved!

Not all of the photos in a family collection depict relatives. Family members may have collected pictures of friends, neighbors and famous folks. In this case, we don't know if Larae's family actually saw Gertie or if they just bought the image for fun.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1940s photos | men | props in photos | unusual photos

Monday, October 08, 2012 5:47:08 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, October 01, 2012

Photo Restoration of Which Man is It
Posted by Maureen

Last week I discussed the details in Lois O'Malley's photo of a crayon portrait and asked if someone could try to digitally restore it. I love the genealogy community! A woman named Shirley volunteered to see if she could restore the picture.

Here's version three of the process. You can see the before and after in this photo. On the right is the damaged side of the picture and on the left is the restored side.
left collar tieedit3 Simmons (2).jpg

This poor photo is covered in mold and has visible water-damage and abrasive damage. A project like this requires time and patience.

Shirley and I have discussed the clothing details. In a photo as badly damaged as this one, it's easy to interpret certain details incorrectly. Shirley is being very careful.

She asked whether or not this man's shirt has a collar. I replied that his shirt has a collar and that the tie is wrapped around the neck under it.

There is a lot of shading around his mouth. It doesn't look like a mustache or does it? I think it's either shading or some sort of paper deterioration. We'll know more as the restoration proceeds.

A big thank you to Shirley for tackling this picture!

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1880s photos | 1890s photos | Drawings | men | preserving photos

Monday, October 01, 2012 12:56:34 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, September 24, 2012

Family Resemblances in Old Photos: Who Is This Man?
Posted by Maureen

Last week I discussed how to care for a badly damaged photograph, and showed an image Lois O'Malley photographed back in 2005. Lois wrote: "As soon as I saw the man in the photo he minded me of my grandfather, William Alexander Simmons (1873-1934)." He's seen here:

Wm Alex Simmons edit.jpg

Her Dad's family all had blue eyes like the unknown man in the damaged picture:

unknown Simmons edit.jpg

Now Lois is wondering if this mystery man is her great-grandfather, Hiram Simmons (1833-1911).

Facial comparison relies on looking at approximately 80 different points in a face, including eyes, noses, mouths, ears and the spacing between them.

Photo identification is about adding up all the facts and coming up with a hypothesis. Here's what I'm looking at in this case:

Provenance: Though this man looks like Louis' grandfather, she thinks it might be her great-grandfather because the photo is owned by her dad's eldest sister's son. The process of inheriting photos is complicated. Lois thinks that this cousin ended up with the photo because their grandmother lived with her eldest daughter. However, it is also possible that the image depicts Lois's grandfather.

Format: This is a crayon portrait. It's a photo outlined and colored in with artist materials. This type of picture was very popular in the late 19th century. The problem with crayon portraits is that an artist/photographer's assistant drew in the details. There could be a little artistic embellishment here.

Clothing: Due to the condition of this picture, it's difficult to see all the clothing details, but it appears the man wears a wide tie and a jacket with a narrow collar and a wide notch in the lapel. His hair is very short.

Men wore a variety of ties in the late 19th century. There were wide ties in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. In the 1890s, men's neckware usually had a pattern. In the 1880s, lapels were narrow and short.

In the 1870s, men wore their hair longer and not as neatly combed as this fellow.

Facial clues: The man in the portrait has a wider jaw than Lois' grandfather, but they have similar ears, eyes and even the same wide forehead.

Does anyone want to try cleaning up the deteriorated picture in a photo editing software? You can email me the results or post them on the Family Tree Magazine Facebook page. Please include details about the program you used and what tools you used in the software.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

Monday, September 24, 2012 2:02:34 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, September 17, 2012

What to Do When You Find a Damaged Family Photo
Posted by Maureen

In 2005 Lois O'Malley visited an elderly cousin in South Carolina to talk about family history. On the visit, she discovered he owned a large photo. As soon as she saw its condition, she took photos of it to make sure she had a copy.

unknown Simmons edit.jpg

Storage in fluctuating temperature and humidity had taken a toll on this crayon portrait. This type of image is a photograph enhanced with charcoal pencil.

The thin paper was worn away in places and there's evidence of mold and insect damage. O'Malley did the right thing. Her camera documented the exact day she took the image.

So what do you do with a picture in this condition?

Photograph or scan it immediately. This type of deterioration will continue to progress if it isn't moved to a stable environment.
Try to convince your relative of the importance of the image.
Find a good storage spot. Ideally, a windowless interior closet in a living area of the home (not an attic, garage or basement).
Place the item in an acid- and lignin-free folder and a reinforced-corner box. Here are some online suppliers where you can get these storage materials.
Obtain an estimate from a photo conservation expert for stabilizing the picture. You can find a conservator in your area on the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works website.
Separate moldy photos from other items. Mold spreads quite easily and you don't want to end up with more than one problem.

It's a good thing that Lois photographed the picture. When she went back to visit her cousin a few years later, he couldn't find it.

There are more photo preservation tips in my book, Preserving Your Family Photographs.

Lois is wondering if the man in the picture is her great-grandfather. I'll look at the photo evidence next week.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

men | preserving photos

Monday, September 17, 2012 2:55:54 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, July 30, 2012

Athletic Ancestors
Posted by Maureen

With the world's focus on the Olympics, it's time to think about the athletes in your family. There's a family story related to my husband's grandfather: It's said he was asked to play baseball with the Boston Red Sox, but his father forbade it. His father had other plans for the boy.

Do you have relative who excelled at a sport? You can post your pictures to Family Tree Magazine's Facebook page or email them to me. (See our photo submission guidelines.) Don't forget to send me their stories.

The first London Olympics was held in 1908. You can view the athletes in black and white photos on the Library of Congress website; use "1908 Olympics" as a search term.

1908 olympicsTR.jpg

On Sept. 5, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt hosted members of the US Olympic team at his Sagamore Hill home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. On his left is sportswriter P.J. Conway and on his right is James Sullivan, secretary of the 1908 Olympic Committee. This is just one of the images available at the Library of Congress.

Movies and newsreels were just becoming popular at the time. Thanks to the Internet Archive, you can watch an interview with a rower who competed at the 1908 Olympics.

Here are some fun facts about that first London event:

It was supposed to be held in Rome, but when Mount Vesuvius erupted, plans were changed to London. City officials completed the "White City" for the games in under two years.
1,971 men competed versus 37 women
The opening ceremony was held April 27 and the games didn't close until October 31.
The current length of the marathon was set at these games. Supposedly the race began under the windows of the royal nursery and ended in front of King Edward VII.

There were political overtones at this event too. American shotputter and flag carrier Ralph Rose refused to dip the American flag in front of the King. Officials didn't display the Swedish flag, so those team members refused to participate. You'll find more information on Wikipedia and on the HistoryToday website.

And if your genealogy research includes ancestors who played sports on a school, hobby, amateur or professional team, see our October 2006 Family Tree Magazine guide to researching athletes in your family tree.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1900-1910 photos | men

Monday, July 30, 2012 4:18:42 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [14]

Monday, July 23, 2012

Scenes of Moving Day
Posted by Maureen

I've been packing boxes for weeks getting ready to move houses. So how did our ancestors move their belongings in the past? They employed wagons and later, vans similar to the ones companies use today.

Piketruck moving2.jpg

Sharon Pike sent in this picture of her father-in-law's Greyhound Van Lines Truck that he drove. It was taken in the 1940s. When he was on the road, Gene sent his wife Marion postcards nearly every day.

Check out my Moving Day board on Pinterest. If you haven't used this site yet, it's like an online scrapbook of images found on the web. You can organize your Pinterest images in "boards" and see what others have "pinned" on their boards. When you scroll over one of the images you can post a comment. Can't wait to see what you have to say!

Enjoy!

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1940s photos | men | occupational | Photo fun | Photo-sharing sites

Monday, July 23, 2012 6:35:44 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, July 16, 2012

Which War is It?
Posted by Maureen

Mike Empting found this photo in a box with other cabinet cards. Only two men in his family served in the military:

Unknown Soldieredit.jpg

his great-grandfather, who at age 35 enlisted for the Mexican American War. He was a bugler. The time frame for this war, 1846 to 1848, coincides with the daguerreotype era. The photos of this war are amazing to look at. Here's a website with several Mexican-American War images.
his great-grandfather's wife's brother enlisted in the Civil War in an artillery unit for two tours.

The problem with this photo is that Empting isn't sure which man is depicted. Adding to the confusion are details on the photographer. According to the Minnesota Historical Society, J.J. Fritz aka the Fritz Studio operated in Saint Cloud from 1892 to 1909. Those work dates don't align with either war.

The style of this cabinet card suggests the 1890s. At some point during that decade, someone likely had an earlier photograph copied. This was a common practice when multiple family members wanted a copy of a photo. The original photo was a carte de visite, a small card photograph popular during the Civil War.

In the 1860s, the standard studio pose often included a pedestal on which the subject could lean.

Since there weren't standard military uniforms during the Civil War, the details in this man's attire may help identify him.

Mike's not sure this man is an Empting. The woman who gave Mike the images is deceased, but at the time of the gift, she didn't know the name of the soldier.

National Public Radio recently broadcast a program about identifying a Civil War picture. You can listen to it here. There's a bit of controversy about whether or not the photo in that story was reversed. It's possible. Reversal lens were available to correct the mirror image inherent in photo technology of the day, but not all photographers used them.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1860s photos | Civil War | men | Military photos

Monday, July 16, 2012 1:21:47 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [10]

Monday, July 02, 2012

Your Farmer Ancestors: Threshing in South Dakota
Posted by Maureen

There are a lot of comments on my posting on the threshing photos I saw last month at Jamboree. I learned a lot about the threshing process. Thank you!

Sharon Pike sent in another picture of threshing wheat. It's of her family in South Dakota.

Pike farming SDedit.jpg

Being from the East Coast, I'm not used to seeing such a vast expanse of land. It's so beautiful. The large haystack at the horizon draws your eye from the workers in the foreground to where the sky meets the field.

On the back of Sharon's photo is a note that states that Will Pike is in back of the "header." She's not sure which part of the machinery is the header. Can someone help out and comment below?

Will's full name was James William Pike (1887-1931), son of James S. Pike and his wife Hattie Weed. Will traveled around with a crew that harvested wheat. He lived in Brookings, SD, and later settled in Wisconsin.

Happy Fourth of July this week! I've created a couple of short films on my Vimeo channel to honor the occasion: One is a colorized engraving depicting a veteran in uniform and the other showcases flags in photographs. I hope you enjoy them!

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1900-1910 photos | holiday | men | occupational

Monday, July 02, 2012 3:44:49 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [3]

Monday, June 11, 2012

Jean-ealogy: Ancestors in Blue Jeans
Posted by Diane

When I was working on my book Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album, I spent a lot of time looking for all sorts of clothing examples.

As one of the photo shows, I found this picture of a man wearing what looks like blue jeans. Today jeans are an American export, possibly our most popular clothing style overseas.

The ancestor of the jeans we wear today dates back to 1873. Levi Strauss, an 1840s German immigrant, immigrant is responsible for our blue jean obsession. He sold canvas pants reinforced with copper rivets, which were strong enough to withstand the rigors of mining. You can learn more about the history of these pants online.

During the Civil War, there was a cotton twill called jean cloth. The man in this late-1860s image wears an overcoat and trousers that look like they are the predecessors of the canvas jeans.

In his right hand, the man holds what I think is a divining rod for looking for water.

Got a picture of an ancestral family member in blue jeans? I'll feature it here in a timeline of the pants in family photos. Email me your picture with a brief description.

Monday, June 11, 2012 6:23:32 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Westward Bound! Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree
Posted by Maureen

This week I'm off to the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree and a meeting of the California Genealogical Society. I hope to see you there! Please stop by my booth at the Jamboree to say hello.

All this California travel makes me think about western American style clothing worn in family photos—in particular Stetson hats, jeans and frontier bonnets. Do you have a photo of someone dressed for the West? I'd love to see it. You can email me.

I love the story of the Stetson hat. It's an example of American ingenuity. John B. Stetson, son of a Philadelphia hat manufacturer, took a trip West to recover from consumption. He showed his companions how to make felted fabric and created a hat from that material.

In 1865, Stetson founded his hat company. He called his hat the "Boss of the Plains." It wasn't a new design: Similar style hats were worn by Army units, and wide-brimmed hats were also popular on plantations because they offered shade.

It was Stetson's marketing efforts that made his hat a success. He wore his hat everywhere and each hat bore a gold leaf Stetson on the inside to mark it as authentic.

Wearers could use them to retrieve water for washing or drinking, earning them the nickname, "10 gallon hat."

You'll find more information on Stetsons and other types of western hats in my book Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1880s photos | men | unusual clothing

Sunday, June 03, 2012 5:39:02 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, April 16, 2012

Sorting Out Children's Clothing
Posted by Maureen

It's been awhile since I've put out a call for photos from your collections. If you have a photo of a child wearing interesting clothing, please send it to me. I'd love to run a series on what kinds of clothing children wore, and when.

This week's photo came from Loretta Gillespie. She asks, "With men's clothing being more difficult to date and [this girl's] clothing being a little unconventional, how do I narrow down the time frame?" Great question.

Studying clothing clues is all about the details—collars, cuffs, sleeves, trim and accessories.

In this case, the clothing suggests that this tintype was taken in the mid-to-late 1880s.

The horizontal bands with prominent buttons combined with horizontal contrasting fabric was a key feature of girl's clothing during the mid-1880s. Her dress was likely made at home. It's a printed cotton fabric.

The high collar with the slight ruffle and the cuffs also help date the photo.

Joan Severa's Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans & Fashion (Kent State University Press, 1995) is wonderful resource for clothing styles.

I'll be back next week with another installment of this photo mystery.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1880s photos | children | men

Monday, April 16, 2012 1:27:20 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [4]

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Graduation Caps
Posted by Diane

It's the last week for hats. It's also your last chance this month to save 10% on Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900. Use HAT10 as the coupon code when ordering from ShopFamilyTree.com.

I've blogged about a lady in a fancy hat, a young man in a felt hat and two men wearing work hats. You're probably wondering what's next.

A graduation cap!

graduation caps.jpg

This image, from the collection of the Library of Congress, is from about 1860. I love the young man's blue bow tie and red tassel. He's smiling for the camera with a toothy grin. That's something you don't usually see in a 19th century picture.

Notice the stripe down his pant's leg? He wears military style trousers. It's possible he's a cadet.

ehow credits the contemporary mortarboard to 15th-century France and Italy. The term "mortarboard" comes from its shape—it looks like a piece of equipment that a bricklayer uses for mortar. Today's graduates wear tassels that reflect their school colors. Some students personalize their caps, too.

I hope you've enjoyed this month's worth of hats. I'll be back with other caps, hats and bonnets this year.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1850s photos | 1860s photos | hats | men | unusual clothing

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 12:59:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, March 19, 2012

Hats Off to the Men
Posted by Maureen

First it was work hats, then fancy hats for ladies, but what about everyday hats for men?

Go ahead. Take a guess: When do you think this young man posed for this image?

My mother has an expression, "what's old is new." It's all about how fashion repeats itself. This little tintype is a perfect example.

Go into any hat shop and you'll find hats for men that resemble this soft felt one with the wide ribbon band. He's a young man wearing a jaunty everyday hat.

This image is likely from the late 1870s. There were all sorts of hats for men in the 1860s and 70s, but the paper mat for this tintype helps date the image.

Don't forget the promotion for Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900 is only good through the end of March. Enter HAT10 as a coupon code to receive 10% off that title.

The book is part of another deal, too: Spend $30 on these products and receive a free book download of the Family Tree Problem Solver.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1870s photos | hats | men

Monday, March 19, 2012 2:23:01 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0]

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

British vs. American: Readers Weigh In
Posted by Maureen

Last week I posted two photos. One was an American and the other a British one.

Photo 1

Photo 2

I asked all of you to vote on which one was which. There is no stumping this audience. The majority voted for photo 1 being the American man and photo 2 being the English gent. You're right!

I looked at hundreds of photos in London last week. All this picture analysis confirmed by belief that while women's clothing in America vs. Britain are very similar, the same is not necessarily true for men's clothing. In England you're more likely to see men wearing specific work clothes.

In photo 2, several folks mentioned the walking stick (also adapted by upper-class Americans), the cut of his pants and the fabric of his suit. Looks like a tweed to me too. The background is also key. You're unlikely to see a backdrop like this in an American photo.

The American in photo 1 wears untidy clothes, stands on an oilcloth floor covering and stands in front of a plain wall, with drapery and a post. Notice the wooden photo prop at his feet. This would be clasped around him to hold the man still.

Great job!! Thank you for adding your comments. March is all about hats. See you next week.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1870s photos | hats | men | photo backgrounds | props in photos

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 1:34:31 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [5]

Monday, February 20, 2012

Foreign vs. American Fashion
Posted by Maureen

My mind is focused on packing for Who Do You Think You Are? Live! in London. I'll be at this dynamic trade show for three days and I'll be presenting two lectures—one about online picture research and the other on writing your family memoir. Can't wait!!

While I'm in London looking at pictures I thought it would be a good time for a quiz. I've been to WDYTYA three years in a row looking at pictures. It's been a learning experience. The number one question folks ask me when I'm there is "what's the difference between American and English fashion?"

No, not all Americans dressed in Western style hats.

Photographic methods vary just a bit. Daguerreotypes weren't as common in England as America, but early paper photographs were available from 1839 on. The American invention, the tintype, also wasn't as popular in England.

Clothing is a little more difficult. The differences can be subtle or dramatic. Everyday dress is about the same, but occupational dress has several distinctions.

So...here are two pictures. Vote in the comment section below and tell me which is a British man and which is American. I'll weigh in when I return.

Photo one

Photo two

(If you like these hats you should see the ones in my new Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900. It's available in the ShopFamilyTree store. Click the link below.)

If you happen to be in London, stop by the Who Do You Think You Are? Live! photo gallery and say hello.

Thank you for participating in my Silly Old Photo contest on my website. It's not too late to vote. I've extended the deadline until the day I return.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

Immigrant Photos | men | unusual clothing

Monday, February 20, 2012 2:03:04 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [32]

Monday, December 19, 2011

Holiday Photos from Your Family Albums
Posted by Maureen

Thank you to Kim Dawson, Carol Norwood and Fran Jensen for sending in holiday photos from their family albums.

Kim Dawson sent me this lovely photo of a family with their Christmas tree. The child is Elsie Marion Quakenbush (born 1908). She's posed with her mother Ella Baird Quakenbush and her father, Alfred Garfield Quakenbush. On the back it says "To Grandma with love from us all don't fail to see Elsie's baby doll it looks just like a baby." I enlarged the picture to look at the doll.

It is pretty life-like. It looks like Elsie also received a book "Sing a Song of Sixpence" and a tea set. Her parent's are proudly posed with a new Victrola so perhaps that was their Christmas present. Elsie looks about 6 or 7.

Kim thinks that Alfred's brother George Willis Quackenbush took the photo. He was a photographer in Oxford, New York.

Carol Norwood submitted an image of her parent's Bill and Cita Jacobs. They are sitting under the tree at Cita's parents home in Hartford, Connecticut. The Jacobs were still newlyweds. They were married three months prior to Christmas.

Fran Jensen emailed me this charming studio shot of four children. Her grandfather, John Roy Tolve Johansen is on the right. His sister Alma sits next to him. She's hugging a china faced doll. The other boy and girl are the Bough's who were the photographer's children. It was taken in Ringsted, Iowa.

Here's one more picture. This is one from my non-family collection.

I don't know the identify of these two boys, but on the back it says "Christmas 1898." Don't you just love their modified Little Lord Fauntleroy suits.

Happy Holidays! If you want to see more Christmas trees, I have a short video on my Vimeo channel.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

Monday, December 19, 2011 2:32:18 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, August 29, 2011

Hurricane of 1938: Before and After
Posted by Maureen

I grew up on the Rhode Island shore and spent summers on the beach. In Rhode Island (and New England), we measure storms like this weekend's hurricane/tropical storm against the grandaddy of all New England hurricanes: the Hurricane of 1938.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the shores of Narragansett Bay were dotted with resorts and beach houses. In this circa-1930s photo of Watch Hill, RI, groups of bathers and sun worshipers cluster under umbrellas in all modes of beach attire. It was a typical summer scene until Sept. 21, 1938.

Watch Hill was famous for its beaches, which stretched seven miles to the west to a lovely place known as Napatree Point. The 1938 hurricane changed the Rhode Island shoreline and washed away many of those summertime places.

On Napatree Point, 39 cottages, their owners' cars and the road all disappeared and 15 people died, swept out to sea or into Watch Hill Harbor. Today, Napatree Point is a nature conservation area.

Here's a view of part of the Watch Hill shoreline after the storm.

You can see other scenes of the 1938 damage to Rhode Island on the Rhode Island State Archives Virtual Archives. You can use the search box on the home screen to search for hurricane or place names. If you want to read about that storm, I suggest, R.A. Scotti's Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 (Back Bay Books, 2004).

The Rhode Island State Archives has one of my favorite picture collections, so don't stop with hurricane pictures. There is a lot more to look at in their virtual exhibits.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1930s photos | candid photos | men | women

Monday, August 29, 2011 3:22:32 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, July 18, 2011

Wacky Hair or Fashionable Foible?
Posted by Maureen

I can't help it. I love the hairstyles and facial hair in photographs so much I'm actually thinking about a second volume of my Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900 book. The curls and whorls of nineteenth century styles definitely provide insights into your ancestor's fashion sense and their personality. This week I'm sharing three images from my growing collection of purchased images of women's tresses and men in beards.

In this 1860s carte de visite, a middle aged woman wears her hair in the style of her youth. Women wore their hair looped over their ears in the 1840s and early 1850s. Both her attire and her hair are conservative.

Look closely at her hair.

There is a lack of gray hair. One of my colleagues who's also a Civil War reenactor is looking for pictures of Civil War era women with gray hair. Did they color their hair or is our prevalent gray hair a result of modern living? Hair dye was available, but a fashion historian told me that women who ate a lot of seafood didn't go gray. Hmmm.

Here's a very fashionable woman from the 1880s with her oiled curls and large bow. Her hair is neatly coiffed.

Let's not leave the men out of it. <smile>

It's the 1870s look with a bit of the past mixed in. In a beard style chart from the nineteenth century, his is called the "Burnside, short." The full Burnside look featured much longer sideburns. My favorite part of this man's hair is the wave on the top of his head.

Hope you're having a nice summer!

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

hairstyles | men | women | beards

Monday, July 18, 2011 2:34:24 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [3]

Friday, July 01, 2011

Identifying an Old Crayon Portrait
Posted by Diane

This crayon portrait passed from Geri Diehl’s grandmother to her mother, and ultimately came to be in her own collection. She asks, "Could this be the wedding picture of Elizabeth Goza and William Harrington who married in 1846?"

On FamilyTreeMagazine.com, Photo Detective Maureen A. Taylor adds up the clues in the image and gives some cautions for dating hand-drawn portraits based on photos.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1850s photos | men | women | Drawings

Friday, July 01, 2011 6:51:54 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, June 20, 2011

Men's Neckwear in Old Photos (From My Mailbag)
Posted by Maureen

In this era of digital imaging, it seems like everyone has a scanner. That's not entirely true, which is why the submission guidelines for this column, "How to Submit Your Photo" includes a mailing address. You can send me a letter and a copy of a photograph (NO originals, please) and possibly see your photo featured in this space.

Barbie Clements sent in this picture.

She found it in her great-grandmother's photos. There's no caption on the back. Her question: "Can you tell me the approximate time period and if he is wearing a preacher's collar?"

In the 1880s, men wore their ties under their shirt collars. Tight fitting jackets were the style for men in that decade. While this man's neckwear has the appearance of a clerical collar, you can see part of his tie right above the top button of his jacket.

Next week, I'll be back with another photo from my mailbag.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1880s photos | men

Monday, June 20, 2011 6:54:17 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Contest Winner Revisited
Posted by Maureen

Last week I wrote about Juliann Hansen's photo of men dressed like Native Americans. It's definitely a mystery. No real breakthroughs this week.

Genealogy Insider Diane Haddad found another collection of Cincinnati Butcher Supply Company material at the University of California at Davis. A small group of material was donated by the Schmidt family in 2001. Alas...the photos in the collection date from the 1920s to 1950s, too late to be related to the men in the original image.

contest winneredit.jpg

Juliann's cousin Peggy is also curious about this photo. She owns a copy of an 1890 portrait of the men who worked at the Cincinnati Butcher Supply.

cbs01 002.jpg

I studied the two photos and didn't see any faces that jumped out at me as being the same men. A Nov. 17, 1939, article in the Cincinnati Times contained this image with a caption identifying a few of the men. The problem is, the caption was wrong. The middle boy is definitely Oscar Schmidt, Juliann's grandfather.

So right now there are no answers. I'm back to considering fraternal organizations. The degree of undress in the first image suggests that women weren't present. Too scandalous for their delicate temperaments <smile>.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1900-1910 photos | men | organizations | props in photos

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 8:46:37 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, June 06, 2011

Contest Winner Mystery
Posted by Maureen

contest winneredit.jpg

This is quite the photo problem. Contest winner Juliann Hansen and her family have tried for years to figure out the details in this photo.

This week I'm going to outline what we know.

It was found covered in dust at the Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Co. (CBS) at Elmwood Place in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hansen's great grandfather, Carl/Charles G. Schmidt (1851-1930) established the company in 1886. CBS moved to Elmwood Place in the 1940s. It was a new building, so the image didn't belong to the previous owners of the structure.
There were generations of both family- and company-related material stored at the site.
Hansen's cousin contacted the Cincinnati Historical Society for help deciphering the picture clues.
Last week I mentioned that the card stock dated from the late 1890s to early 20th century, circa 1900.
I asked Hansen if anyone in her family was once a member of a fraternal organization. She told me that her father and uncle were Masons, but didn't know about her grandfather or his father.

The big question is why is a group of late-19th-century men posing bare-chested and in some cases dressed only in loin cloth?

An article in Queen City Heritage, a now-defunct publication of the Cincinnati Historical Society, by Susan Labry Meyn, " Mutual Infatuation: Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians," (Queen City Heritage, Spring/Summer 1994 issue, 30-48, available online through the Cincinnati Historical Society) sheds some light on the matter.

In 1895, the Cincinnati Zoo brought a Cree village to the area complete with actual members of the tribe. They also had a section of the zoo devoted to Arabian, Kurdish, Egyptian and Armenian families. These living displays were very popular.
Buffalo Bill's frontier show visited Cincinnati in the Spring of 1895.
In the summer of 1896, the Cincinnati Zoological Society transported 89 Sicangu Sioux for a display and had them offer western reenactments of famous battles and stagecoach attacks.
Also the summer of 1896, Mayor Gordon Lilly, known as "Pawnee Bill," planned a frontier show with a program called "Cincinnati One Hundred Years Ago" that competed with the Zoo's "Historical Cincinnati" show.

Look at this close-up of the photo. The men have painted their faces. You can see some light-colored lids in the crowd. Some of their accessories look like the duplicates you could purchase in dime stores at the time.

Perhaps this group is just one of the performances held in Cincinnati in the late 1890s. Photos of the Cree village and the Sioux display are available in Meyn's article, but these men aren't wearing the same tribal clothing.

It's also possible that this is just a group of Cincinnati men dressed in imitation of the "Indian" craze that swept through the area.

The final answer has yet to be determined.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1890s photos | group photos | men | unusual photos

Monday, June 06, 2011 2:48:41 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Clothing Clues in Photos of Male Ancestors
Posted by Diane

Women's fashion changes seem dramatic when compared to the subtle differences in men's clothing over time. That's one of the challenges when assigning a date to a man's portrait.

In this FamilyTreeMagazine.com article, Maureen A. Taylor points out costume clues to look for in photographs of your male ancestors.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1880s photos | men

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 7:56:21 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Friday, May 13, 2011

Aging Well
Posted by Diane

Dating a photograph of an older person presents a unique dilemma: Is the subject wearing contemporary fashion, or an older style that he or she was hanging on to?

On FamilyTreeMagazine.com, Photo Detective Maureen A. Taylor addresses this question as she analyzes these two photos that might show the same woman at different ages.

Click here to see what clues Taylor finds.

Got a photo mystery of your own? Enter it into our Photo Mysteries Contest.

And remember to sign up for the free Photo Detective Live! webinar taking place May 18.

1890s photos | 1910s photos | group photos | men | women

Friday, May 13, 2011 5:01:49 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, May 02, 2011

Civil War Era Mystery
Posted by Maureen

Did you know that you can mail us a copy (no originals please) of your family photos for this column? To find out more about submitting photo click on the How to Submit Your Photo link in the left-hand column. This week's photo mystery was mailed to the editors of Family Tree Magazine, who in turn forwarded it to me.

Betty Nance's great-grandmother knew the identity of the man in this photo. Sarah Jane Elizabeth (Jennie) Renfro told her daughter (Betty's mother) his name.

Unfortunately, by the time Betty asked about this photo, her great- grandmother was deceased and all her mother could remember was his first name "Thomas" and that he was a cousin to Sarah Jane.

There are big questions about this photo. First, which branch of Sarah Jane's family does he represent?

Sarah Jane was born in 1866, and since this is a Civil War photo of a Confederate soldier posing with a revolver, it's possible that she knew him. Well ... that could be the case if he didn't die during the war.

So who is he? I've poked around a bit looking for men with that first name in both the Renfro and Fowler family lines—but no direct hits.

I've also searched Ancestry.com family trees and found one for the Renfro family. Based on the information that Betty sent me, it appears to be the right one, but no Thomas.

The 1860 US census might hold a clue. I used the census on HeritageQuest Online (available through many public libraries). There are 93 Thomas Fowlers in the census, but only a few in Illinois and Tennessee, where the family lived, and no Thomas Renfros in those states. Of course, he could have a different last name if his mother's maiden name was Renfro or Fowler.

This is an involved family history project, but one that is solvable. I'd start by looking for Civil War enlistment lists for the states in which the family lived, and hope for a direct match. If not, then Betty would have to find all the collateral lines for her ancestor, Sarah Jane Renfro. With any bit of genealogical luck, she'll find her Thomas.

One of the problems is that Betty doesn't know what degree of cousin Thomas was. If he's not a first cousin, then even more research is needed.

Untangling this mess could take a bit of time. I did a general Ancestry.com search for Thomas Fowler, and found a Thomas Jefferson Fowler who died in 1862 during the war. Other research is needed to determine whether that's the connection.

The young man in this photo isn't very old—I think late teens or early 20s. That will narrow down the number of possible candidates in Betty's family tree.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

1860s photos | Civil War | men | Military photos

Monday, May 02, 2011 2:56:59 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, March 14, 2011

Mom, Dad and Baby
Posted by Maureen

Marla Hathhorn sent in this picture with a simple question. On the back someone wrote, "Ann Hicks." Is Ann Hicks the baby or the mother?

Ann Hicks2.jpg

Marla knows that her ancestor Anna Foley Hicks was born in Canada in 1844 and died in Oklahoma in 1914.

A lot of people ask me, "What do I look at first in a photo?" The answer depends on the image. In this case, I read Marla's e-mail and quickly glanced at the photographer's imprint at the bottom of the card to see where the picture was taken. Then I examined their clothing.

The woman's dress is from the circa 1880 period. The bodice extends over the hips, extra fabric drapes over her upper legs and there are two layers of pleats. Her choice of jewelry is also typical for the time -- a thick chain with a charm was very popular. In the early 1880s, women wore their hair pulled back with short bangs. This young mother is very stylish in an understated way. Dad's clothing agrees with this time frame.

The baby is very cute in it's long dress, thick tights and buttoned boots. Around it's neck is a lovely bib.

Could the mother be Anna? In 1880 she'd be 36 years of age, a likely fit.

T.R. Colpitts took this photo. The Rock Lake Herald of 1881 featured a short bit of news about him. It stated that he was taking a trip into southern Manitoba to take scenic views for resale. It appears from this photograph that he also found employment with the Hudsons Bay Parlors, a photographic establishment possibly connected with the Hudson Bay Company. I'm looking for that link.

1880s photos | men | women

Monday, March 14, 2011 2:08:38 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Monday, January 17, 2011

In Honor of Martin Luther King Day
Posted by Maureen

I realized today that I don't spend enough time on Flickr. If you're not familiar with it, try it today. It's a wonderful free resource. You can upload picture files, invite comments and share your pictorial heritage. If you want unlimited uploads and storage, user statistics and more then upload to a Pro account. It's only $24.95 a year.

So who's on Flickr? Lots of folks including the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian. Smaller public libraries and archives also use Flickr to showcase the images in their collection.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Day, I searched for image collections appropriate to the occasion.

Black History Album
A lovely group of images including one of Martin Luther King and his wife.

Black History Group
Members of this group share photos and videos and join in discussions

African American Baseball Team courtesy of the Library of Congress
Here's one of the images in the Library of Congress.

Medal of Honor Staff Sgt. Edward A. Carter, Jr. courtesy of the U.S. Army
Even the U.S. Army has a Flickr page!

Next week: Preservation Pointers.

Get ideas for taking, preserving, sharing and analyzing family photos from our Family Photo Essentials CD (now on sale at ShopFamilyTree.com).

1900-1910 photos | african american | men | Military photos | Photo-sharing sites

Monday, January 17, 2011 4:04:10 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Monday, January 10, 2011

Time Flies
Posted by Maureen

I couldn't help but use this as the title. It sums up the clues in this week's picture.

Nance Family Pictureedit.jpg

Look carefully. The man in the photo holds an open pocket watch in his right hand and has a rooster on his lap. It appears he's trying to convey something about time. It's a triple-mystery.

Sarah Swanner and her mother spent some time over the holidays scanning pictures and stumbled across this mystery image. They have no idea who the man is, where his picture was taken, or what the story is.

(An aside on scanning, I recommend setting the resolution at 600 dpi and saving as a tiff, but a 300-dpi tiff file will provide a good quality reproduction. More on scanning next week.)

All Sarah and her mother know is that this image once belonged Walter Nance, who was married to Sarah's great-grand-aunt Evelyn Dantzler. That's a start!

The white card style was extremely popular in the last years of the 1880s and throughout the 1890s. There is room at beneath the image for the photographer to include his studio name, but instead of personalizing the cards, he left it blank. It's an odd photo for a studio or an itinerant photographer.

There were folks who owned their own photo equipment, so I wonder if this isn't an amateur picture—one friend clowning for the other who's taking the picture.

The rocks in the background are covered in lichen and there is a type of plant growing on the left. Any geologists out there? Please weigh in on the type of rock. That might help solve the mystery of where this was taken.

I think the image was taken circa 1890. That's based on the type of suit he's wearing and the pin in his tie. Those types of pins were very popular in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Plus men tied their neckties with this particular style knot during that period.

The pin is interesting. Is it just a decorative pin or is it a clue that this man belonged to a fraternal organization? I'll be looking for something in this shape. Hope to be able to report back next week. I think it's a fraternal symbol and have some ideas.

The next step is for Sarah to figure out which relatives and family friends were living in the 1890s period. It's important to remember that this man could be a friend rather than a relative.

You can preserve your family's photo stories and share them with future generations in the book Family Tree Legacies: Preserving Memories Throughout Time.

1890s photos | men | unusual photos

Monday, January 10, 2011 9:14:04 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Monday, November 29, 2010

Shipboard Clues
Posted by Maureen

Last week in A Photo Mystery, A Clue at a Time, I introduced you to a wonderful group picture of folks on a ship.

Joseph Jacoby2.jpg

The Ship
What I didn't show you is the caption that runs along the bottom edge of the picture. Unfortunately, part of the cardboard is broken off, leaving us to guess at the rest of the information. I can't make out the first word, but there is a "....noon" or "roon" followed by "on board German Ship Baltimore." According to the owner of the photo, below the caption and cut off in the scan of the photo is "Capt. Hillr..." The rest of his last name is missing. So far, no luck in finding a man with a last name starting with those letters.

When you're faced with incomplete caption information, it's best to start with what you know. In this instance, I Googled Ship Baltimore. On theshipslist.com, I found a description. There was a German ship, Baltimore. It was built in 1868 for the North German Lloyd of Bremen and traveled from Bremen to Baltimore until 1872. In 1881, she was then used for the Bremen to South America service. The big problem with this ship being the one in the photo is the final date of service. This particular Baltimore was scrapped in 1894.

In the first column I dated the photo from 1896 to 1899.

There was another ship, the City of Baltimore that operated as part of the Baltimore Mail Line, but its dates of service are too late. It traveled from Baltimore to Hamburg in the 1930s. Not all information is online and I'm still looking for a good off-line resource.

There must be another ship with the same name that operated in the late 1890s. Just haven't found it yet.

The Location
Jake Jacoby's grandfather lived his whole life in either Mobile, Ala., or Pensacola, Fla. There is a BIG question about where this photo was taken. Mobile was a busy port and many immigrants arrived there, but right now we lack proof.

If you had an ancestor arrive at Mobile, the National Archives has an Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Ports in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, 1890-1924 (T517).

There is another possibility. The Sept. 1, 1904, Canebrake Herald (Uniontown, Ala.) mentioned Joseph Jacoby. He was a traveling salesman for his brother's business, Jacoby Grocery Co.. Since in the 1900 federal census, Jacoby lists his occupation as a salesman, perhaps he traveled, and this photo might have been taken on a trip during the last years of the 1890s.

While I've been able to date the photo and work with the owner to sort through clues, the final answer is elusive. Jake Jacoby thinks the photo was taken in Mobile rather than Pensacola. It's a good assumption. His grandfather had business and family connections in Mobile.

A single name of an immigrant depicted in this photo would help solve the mystery, but unfortunately no one's name appears on the photo.

Got a mystery photo? Demystify it with help from Maureen A. Taylor's book Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs.

hats | Immigrant Photos | men | unusual photos | women

Monday, November 29, 2010 9:52:32 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, November 15, 2010

Lookalikes in the Family Album
Posted by Maureen

I'll blame it on the holiday season. I'm feeling a little silly today. I laughed out loud when I saw Karen Thornhill's picture submission. Thank you Karen!

It's not the subject matter of the photo that made be chuckle, it's how she started the e-mail. First, though...who do you think the woman on the left looks like? Karen wrote me with the following opening line "Glenn Close, Abraham Lincoln and a baby."

It started me thinking: Do you have any celebrity lookalikes in your family album? Go ahead. Send them in to me in an email.

Just for comparison purposes, here's a picture of a young Abraham Lincoln from the Library of Congress. It was taken Oct. 1, 1858.

And here's a Wikipedia link to images of Glenn Close.

The actual subjects depicted in this family photo are Karen's grandparents and her aunt—Rosetta (Seeley) Eldred and Emmet Ernest Eldred with baby Emma (Eldred) Johnson.

Share your family photo stories with future generations in the book Family Tree Legacies: Preserving Memories Throughout Time.

1900-1910 photos | men

Monday, November 15, 2010 2:42:41 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [4]

Monday, November 08, 2010

Family Across the Border
Posted by Maureen

Like so many French-Canadians and Acadians, some of Marie-Josee Binette's family left Quebec in the 1890s to seek jobs in the United States. She owns a lovely photo album that documents this move in pictures, but she has no idea who the people are.

Marie-Josee knows that her great-grandmother Elina (Aline) Beaudoin spent several years in Lowell, Mass. with her husband Onesime Deblois. Both worked in area factories. After several years, some relatives stayed in the United States while others returned to Quebec. It's a familiar story to those of us with French-Canadian ancestry.

From the imprint on this photo, it also appears that someone either lived in or visited the nearby city of Lawrence, Mass. Its nickname is the Immigrant City.

In the album is this beautiful image of a young couple. The style of her sleeves and dress date the photo to the last years of the 1890s. The photographer, Amos Morrill Bean, appears in Chris Steele and Ron Polito's A Directory of Massachusetts Photographers 1839-1900 (Picton Press, 1993). He was in business from 1868-1900.

It's a great picture and I've seen poses like this before. While the couple's hands aren't touching, it suggestive of a wedding picture. Both the man and the woman wear very nice clothing. On their hands are brand new rings. The light glints off them. The woman wears her ring on the traditional left hand while her "husband" wears his on the right. It's interesting.

My favorite part of this picture is the props. Both the man and the woman hold photographs on the table between them. Could this symbolize family that couldn't be there for the wedding? It's possible. There are any number of reasons to include photographs as props.

Marie-Josee might find she still has cousins living in this country. Two organizations worth contacting are the American Canadian Genealogical Society and the American-French Genealogical Society. Both organizations have extensive resources on families that moved here, as well as those in Quebec.

Got a mystery photo? Demystify it with help from Maureen A. Taylor's book Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs.

1890s photos | Immigrant Photos | men | wedding | women

Monday, November 08, 2010 4:44:17 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Monday, October 18, 2010

Civil War Roll Call, Part 2
Posted by Diane

I hope you enjoyed last week's gallery of Civil War soldiers. I have several more to share with you this week.

Merle Ladd's ancestor Lemuel Ladd (below) lost his life at Blackburn's Ford, near Manassas, Va. on July 18, 1861. He served with the 12th New York.

Lemuel Ladd1838-18612.jpg

Roxanne Munns sent in this photograph of George Allen (below). This photo was stored with her Young family pictures. She doesn't know who George is, but she thinks he might be George Allen of Co. G of the 7th Wisconsin. If anyone is related to this man, email me and I'll forward your message to Roxanne.

Bruce A. Brown's great-great-grandfather John McNown (below) enlisted Oct. 6, 1861, into Company F, 16th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment from Lemonweir Township, Juneau County, Wis. He lost his life on April 6, 1862.

John McNown immigrated from the Isle of Man to Canada about 1825, and then to the United States in 1849.

This picture of John is a copy of the original photo. From its appearance, the original is a tintype or an ambrotype. There are distinctive marks that suggest it was once in a case with a mat framing the image.

Four children of Oliver and Lucinda (Boodey) Leathers of Maine served in the Civil War. John served with the Maine cavalry, Alphonso served with a New Hampshire regiment while the other two brothers enlisted with a Minnesota unit. Lynn Kent submitted the photo below and thinks it depicts Charles Leather from the 1st Minnesota regiment.

Leathers CW perhaps Charles2.jpg

Look closely at Emvira Smith Fuller's dress (below). She was the wife of Calvin Fuller of Barnard, Maine. She wears his picture in a piece of photographic jewelry.

Thank you for all the photos!

For a guide to researching your Civil War ancestors, see the July 2007 Family Tree Magazine (available as a digital download from ShopFamilyTree.com).

1860s photos | Civil War | men | Military photos | women

Monday, October 18, 2010 7:44:58 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Civil War Roll Call
Posted by Maureen

Last week I posted a call for Civil War images...so many folks answered that request that I have enough material for two columns. I also mentioned some tips on how readers could find images of their Civil War ancestors. In William C. Darrah's Cartes de visite in the Nineteenth Century (out of print), he claims that virtually every soldier posed for at least one image of themselves in uniform. In fact, many sat for multiple images.

Rachel Peirce sent in this photograph of Charles C. Baker of North Kingstown, RI. This young man was the first Civil War casualty for the town. He was only 17. He'd served with the 4th Rhode Island Co. H.

It's possible this image was printed as a memorial piece. Two months ago, Rachel saw this ambrotype on eBay and bought it. It appears to be a similar but slightly different image of Baker.

Donna G. Pilcher sent an image of her great-grandfather George W. Morrison, who fought for the Union as a private in Co. G 54th Indiana Volunteer Infantry from June 9, 1862 to Sept. 13, 1862. He injured his left eye and remained partial deaf in the left ear after his service.

The original was a reversed image (common in tintypes) and his belt buckle used to say S.U., but someone fixed that.

Deb Wilson has a bit of a mystery in her photo. On the right is John Thomas Boofter, who served with Company B., 97th Infantry Regiment of Pennsylvania, but the soldier on the left is unidentified. She thinks it might be Boofter's brother Edward, who also served in the war for Maryland. Given the affectionate pose, it's quite possible.

Kim Dolce's ancestor, Isaac Sharp Heisler posed in uniform for the 23rd New Jersey Volunteers. He died of typhoid in Virginia on Feb. 15, 1863.

Heisler civil war.jpg

Nora Patton Taylor e-mailed me a photo of her great-uncle Marinus King McDowell, who enlisted three times and was wounded at Antietam. This is a copy print of an earlier image. According the Nora, he was supposed to be at the theater on the night Lincoln was shot. He didn't go because his leg bothered him.

See more Civil War photos in the Family Tree Magazine 2011 Civil War Desk Calendar. For a guide to researching your Civil War ancestors, see the July 2007 Family Tree Magazine (available as a digital download from ShopFamilyTree.com).

Civil War | men | Military photos

Monday, October 11, 2010 4:19:57 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, September 20, 2010

Wearing Family
Posted by Maureen

Pikecrop1 (2).jpg

This is a fantastic family photo owned by Sharon Pike. It's actually a photo within a photo. In this card portrait, a stunning portrait of a well-dressed middle aged woman, Jane Rivers Meriwether (1829-1897) gazes directly into the camera. Let's look at some of the details.

Hair
It appears she has naturally curly hair, but in this period the Marcel Wave was a popular hairstyle. It was invented by Francois Marcel in 1872, created using heated curling irons to form small waves. The style remained popular into the 1930s. You can read more about Marcel here.

Collar and Dress
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, wide collars were commonplace. However, they were usually white and made from fabric. This woman's collar looks like small threads woven and knotted, like macrame. She's used the collar to accent her dress, which is a lovely fitted bodice with small buttons and some fullness to the sleeve.

Jewelry
All right, I admit it: I left the best detail for the end. Jane wears gorgeous drop earrings in what appears to be a floral pattern. Around her neck is a braided necklace made of either hair (yes, hair!) or silk. Both materials were common and popular. In the 19th century, women often wore jewelry made from the hair of their family and friends. Hair jewelry is a fascinating topic and the pieces are quite lovely. You can learn more about it and see examples in an online article from Victorian Magazine. These long braided ropes were often used as watch chains.

The most prominent feature of this card photo is the piece of portrait jewelry at Jane's neckline. It's a large pin setting with a paper photograph of a middle-aged man. Photo jewelry came in all shapes and sizes. I'm particularly fond of it (although it often costs more than my pocketbook can bear <smile> ). The top experts on photographic jewelry are Larry J. West and Patricia Abbott. Their book, Tokens of Affection and Regard (published by the authors, out of print) took years to research and write. It's a stunning volume filled with color plates of actual jewelry. You can view examples on the Smithsonian web exhibit based on their collection.

Pike Pin.jpg

The big question is "Who's the man on the pin?" Sharon wondered if it was Jane's father, who died in 1840, or could it be her husband, Ethelred Westcott, who died sometime between 1870 and 1895. He's a bit of a mystery man; Sharon doesn't have a specific death date.

The dark color of her collar could mean the man in the photo deceased. Jane could have had this pin made from a small card photograph. The man's photo is difficult to see, but it could date from the early 1870s. His suit and tie are from that period. He has a full beard with lots of gray in it. I don't have a birth date for Westcott, but it could be him. Women often wore pins depicting children or a spouse.

This photo of Jane Meriwether dates from the late 1870s or early 1880s. The light pink tone to the card and its gold trim makes me lean toward the late 1870s.

You'll find advice for creating, sharing and saving your family's photographs in the Family Photo Essentials CD, from the editors of Family Tree Magazine and Memory Makers magazine.

1870s photos | men | photo jewelry | women

Monday, September 20, 2010 6:34:10 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, August 09, 2010

Favorite Photo Mysteries
Posted by Maureen

I’m taking a short vacation, so instead of a new column I’m taking a look back at some of my favorite mysteries.

Back in January I published a photo of the Hobo 8, a group of young people (above) smiling for the camera. It’s a great photo that captures the fun they were having. The sign and the 80 after it remain a mystery. Any ideas?

The problem of the Texas Twosome continues to be a challenge. I’ve taken these photos on the road with me and shown them in locales from coast to coast in the hopes of a new clue. I’ve outlined researchers’ ideas in a series of blog posts, linked below. Please let me know if you have any new thoughts on the matter.

Two Texas Mysteries

Texas Mystery Puzzle—No News

Texas Trouble: Readers Respond

Texas Twosome Revisited

A fun picture of another group of friends was the image from Clues from Hats and Backgrounds. I love the fact that photos are in the background. Those images could help solve the identity of the people in the photo, if only they were clearer.

men | photo backgrounds | unusual clothing | women

Monday, August 09, 2010 2:33:29 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [5]

Monday, July 05, 2010

Uncovering Your Revolutionary War Ancestor
Posted by Diane

This carte de visite of Daniel Frederick Bakeman commemorates his status as the last living Revolutionary War soldier in 1868. Bakeman died the following year. This image was widely available in the 19th century and Bakeman is generally accepted as the last living Revolutionary War soldier, but there is one problem: Other lesser-known men outlived him and were photographed. One such man was John Kitts of Baltimore, who died in September 1870.

Photographs of other members of the Revolutionary War generation exist in public, private and family collections. While I've collected 70 images of men, women and children who lived during the war, I know that additional images are still undiscovered. I'm hoping that by studying your family photograph collections that you'll find images that meet the following criteria:

Men who lived during the war and who were alive after 1839 when photography was introduced in the United States would be at least 80 years of age. These individuals could be patriots, soldiers, loyalists or non-participants in the war.

Women may be wives or widows. Locating pictures of these women means looking at pictures taken anywhere from the advent of photography to the early 1900s. The last Revolutionary War widow died in 1906, according to this New York Times article.

Please contact me if you think you've located a picture of a Revolutionary War ancestor.

If you're interested in seeing my first collection of images, they appear in my new book, The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation (Kent State University Press, $45)

Revolutionary War research resources from Family Tree Magazine and ShopFamilyTree.com:

Online Military Records: Document Your Family's Service webinar recording
Family Tree University Military Records class (next session starts July 19)
November 2008 Family Tree Magazine with online military records article

1840s photos | 1850s photos | 1860s photos | cased images | men

Monday, July 05, 2010 8:46:08 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Jamboree Mystery Photo
Posted by Maureen

I'm back from the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree. Over 1,700 folks attended the three-day event. I met many readers of this column. Thank you for stopping by and saying hello!

As usual, I held individual photo consultations. This is one of my favorite part of going to conferences because I get to look at photos and chat face-to-face with their owners. I hear a lot of interesting family stories and see some amazing photos. This week, I'm sharing one of them with you:

Young Bob (2).jpg

Kris Robinson and her sister visited me at Jamboree to try to answer a question. They know the man in the middle of this picture is their father, Robert Robinson (born in 1917), but they wonder if one of the women could be his mother, whom the Robinson ladies never knew. This casual snapshot of three smiling people has a bit of a dark side.

Lola Cloos Robinson was born in 1894 in Illinois. Her father abandoned the family when she was young. By 16, she was on her own working as a domestic in Unity, Ill. Kris isn't sure how her grandparents met, but they appear with their two boys in the 1920 Mason City, Iowa, census. One died at 4 years of age. In 1927, the family moved to California; they lived in Los Angeles and Huntington Park from 1928 to 1932, when they disappear from the city directories.

Robert Robinson never discussed his family history or mentioned any other relatives. He had an unhappy childhood. However, Kris' mother told her that her father Robert had come home from school one day to find his mother gone. Lola had been institutionalized at a local hospital for unknown reasons. Kris is trying to gain access to those records.

Kris and her sister have spent a lot of time discovering the details of this woman's life. Just recently, they learned that Lola had two aunts and two cousins living in Los Angeles in 1931 and that those individuals had children.

Could one of the women that linked arms with Robert be his mother? The clothing styles reflect the styles of the early 1930s especially the sailor collared shirt worn by the woman on the left; the women's calf length skirts; Robert's suit with the bold tie; and the sweater worn by the woman on the left. You can find similar outfits in Sears Catalogs of the period. This dates the photo to the early 1930s, when Robert was in his mid-teens.

This photo raises so many questions.

It's an amateur snapshot, probably part of a series of images. Who's the photographer?

Where's the rest of the roll and who owns it?
If Robert's mother was institutionalized when he was young, when was she released? This information would help determine if onf of the women in the picture could be her.

If one of the women is her, I vote for this woman. She's older than the teen on Robert's other arm. She's also wearing lipstick, which young teens in the period generally didn't wear.

I hope Kris and her sister can solve the information riddle surrounding this woman's life. Perhaps someone will see this column and recognize Robert and the women in the photo. Anyone have the rest of the roll?

Go to ShopFamilyTree.com for the how-to books and CDs you need to research, preserve and display your family photos.

1930s photos | men | women

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 8:33:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [4]

Monday, May 17, 2010

Research Rewards
Posted by Maureen

When June Thomazin submitted this photo of an elderly couple she also sent me an extensive account of her research. I'm so impressed by her efforts that I thought it would make a good topic for this column.

June's dedicated months to her search for data. Here's a summary:
In the fall of 2009 June received the above photo from a cousin. It was labeled W.C. Dunaway's parents. According to her research this would mean that the subjects are James William Harvey Dunaway (1829-1880) and his wife Treacy Humphress Bateman (1820-1901).

She's not sure this is correct, and actually thinks this photo depicts William Calvin Dunaway's in-laws, Wesley (1821-1899) and Elizabeth Close Newman (1826-1919). Her goal was to determine a date for this photo. Since James Dunaway died in 1880 she's hoping to prove it dates from later than that.

On Nov.18, 2009, June began researching the photographer. She contacted the Kansas State Historical Society, Fort Scott Public Library, the State Library of Kansas, and the Old Fort Genealogical Society. No luck. No one has any information on a photographer named Letton.

A John F. Letton appeared in the Masonic Directories for 1881, 1884, 1885 and 1898. He doesn't appear in any of the Fort Scott City Directories in the collection of the Old Fort Scott Genealogical Society. No listing in 1865-66, 1871-72, 1875, 1879, 1883, 1888, 1889-90, 1891-92, 1893, 1896, and 1898.

In those city directories is a record of Wesley and Elizabeth. They lived in Fort Scott; James lived a few miles away. His widow, Treacy, moved to Fort Scott after his death in 1880.

On the same day, June learns of another picture (below) in another relative's collection. It was taken circa 1888 and depicts William Calvin Dunaway and his family. It has the same background!

June also included notes in her timeline about sources she still needed to check.

In addition to contacting the facilities named above, June spent time researching the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) ribbon worn by the husband in the first photo (we'll take a closer look at this next week). The ribbon, dating from after 1876, identifies him as a member of the GAR, a veterans group. Wesley served during the Civil War.

Sanborn fire insurance maps for Fort Scott for 1884, 1888, 1893 and 1899 didn't show any evidence of photo studio. Fire insurance maps often reveal details about the occupants of buildings in addition to construction materials.

Nor does Letton appear in Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers (Carl Mautz Publishing).

In January 2010, June spends more time trying to determine if any of the Lettons mentioned in census records for surrounding states could be the photographer who ends up in Fort Scott. There's a Caleb Letton in the 1870 and 1880 federal census for Jacksonville, Ill.

Additional research on the style of the image, black cardstock with gold trim, suggests it dates from the late 1880s to early 1890s.

In early 2010 June sends the photo to me. She's right about the cardstock. Black was one of the popular colors for cardstock in the mid-1880s.

The clothing worn by the wife also suggests that the picture dates from the mid-1880s. Her long bodice extends way past her hips and features an opening in the front. A lace color at the neckline was worn by women from the late 1870s into the mid 1880s.

It appears this couple was misidentified by whoever wrote the caption: "W.C. Dunaway's parents—my great grandparents." Photo labels are often incorrect, especially when written by someone who didn't actually know the individuals in the image.

June feels this older woman looks like Catherine Newman Dunaway, the daughter of Wesley and Elizabeth.

One more detail clinches the identification. You'll see two tintypes in the September issue of Family Tree Magazine. I'll blog about the facial feature that is an identification clue.

June's research paid off. She spent at least two long days following up on clues, consulted her family history and then contacted experts to help her.

Excellent job!!

men | Military photos

Monday, May 17, 2010 7:52:59 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, April 19, 2010

Birth and Death in the Family Album: Readers Respond
Posted by Maureen

Joy and sadness often go hand in hand in family photo collections. This week I'll show off some photos that readers sent me. Be warned....the last two pictures depict disturbing images.

Susan Roose thinks the photo above depicts William (died November 22, 1877) and Daniel Hunt (died November 30, 1877). They were both just a few months older than one year. Notice the woman under the cloth. She's holding them still. These two babies look very healthy here.

twinsC07 Alston girls (3).jpg

Elizabeth Handler emailed this ambrotype of Marion Helen Alston (1850-1885) and her twin sister Christina. The back of the image states that it was framed by J.J. Gillespie Co. Fine Arts. Gillespie was a famous frame shop in Pittsburgh.

Violet Olive Victoria Victor Clements (2).jpg

Violet Olive Victoria Victor Clements (2).jpg

Bonnie Bileski of Winnipeg, Manitoba sent this snapshot of Violet Clements, her grandmother Olive Clements (back, right) and the twins, Victor and Victoria (born July 1, 1899).

Last week I told you I had some sad pictures from Judy Linnebach's family collection. Since so many folks e-mailed me to see them, I'll share them here.

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Judy thinks that this picture depicts Freida Kohler (Nov. 7, 1907 -July 6, 1924). The cause of death was congenital hydrocephalus.

dead guy (3).jpg

Judi has no idea who this man is. All that's certain is that he's deceased and that he was photographed in St. Louis. Jay Ruby's book, Secure the Shadow: Death and Photography in America (out of print, but available used) is the best guide to this topic.

Jackie McGuire sent in this picture with a heartbreaking story. A family story relates the tragedy of Elsietta Burns: "She was a much-beloved little girl, they say, but one day she was outside playing under the cherry tree and eating lots of cherries. She didn't know to spit out the pits and they killed her before the family could do anything for her."

1900-1910 photos | 1910s photos | children | men | unusual photos

Monday, April 19, 2010 3:55:59 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, January 11, 2010

Photo Identification in the News
Posted by Maureen

Readers of this column will be as fascinated as I was with these two articles on photo identification.

In the January 2010 issue of Smithsonian Magazine is the story of an unidentified daguerreotype owned by Jack and Beverly Wilgus. In it a handsome young man stands facing the camera holding a long metal rod. One of his eyes is closed shut. The collectors thought he held a harpoon until they posted their image on the social networking image site Flickr. It wasn't long before they heard from someone who said it wasn't a harpoon and was possibly Phineas Gage. Gage's life could have been featured on a reality TV trauma show. In 1848, when 25, Gage's life changed. An accident on the job sent a 43 inch tamping iron through his skull. He lived to talk about it and was conscious when the doctor arrived on the scene. You can read about Gage's life and the story of this daguerreotype online. In the photo he's holding the rod that's engraved as a souvenir of the event.

Spring training is weeks away but for readers that are baseball fans, you'll get a jump start on the fun. A colleague sent me his 2004 issue of The Baseball Research Journal because it featured an article on identifying baseball images. I'm no sports fan, but I loved author George Michael's descriptions of how he sees the clues in photos of players sliding into base. You can order copies of the Journal through the Society of American Baseball Research.

Both of these articles will end up in my files.

1840s photos | men | props in photos | unusual clothing

Monday, January 11, 2010 3:41:29 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Texas Twosome Revisited
Posted by Maureen

Last week's tease mentioned that I'd solved a persistent mystery. Ah ... I really thought I had the answer to the Texas mystery. Late last year I ran a three-installment story about these two men in their embroidered shirts. In the first piece, I showed you the pictures and mentioned some possible solutions. The following week I raised a couple of other issues. The third installment focused on readers' suggestions.

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A couple of weeks ago I was browsing through a book, Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War by T. J. Stiles. One of the illustrations is a photo of the outlaw "Bloody Bill" Anderson, and he's wearing an embroidered guerrilla shirt from the Civil War. I immediately jumped up and thought, "Oh, gosh, that's it!" The two men in their shirts could be guerrillas fighting for the Confederacy.

It seemed logical. The tintypes date from the Civil War, and Dr. Francis Montgomery was a Confederate officer for a short time before he was sent home ill with diabetes.

But was this new theory true? I picked up the phone and called the Museum of the Confederacy. Curator Robert Hancock was able to explain a few things about embroidered guerrilla shirts. He'd never seen anything like these two shirts before and really doubted that these two were Confederate guerrillas. Oh, DRAT!

He told me that guerrillas wore whatever they wanted to. Since they weren't sanctioned by the Confederacy, they weren't issued any uniforms. They worked outside the Confederate military establishment.

While he wasn't familiar with these two shirts, he was able to tell me a fascinating fact: During the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s, some young men wore embroidered shirts. Hancock told me that this fashion statement was akin to the shirts of the 1960s. In the 19th century, young men rebelling against the white shirts and black frock coats their fathers wore would wear embellished shirts. There were even outlandish printed shirts in England. Some of these featured skulls and crossbones, snakes and other outrageous designs. I'd love to see one of these 19th-century shirts!

There were other similar shirts to the one's worn here. Battle shirts for men and those worn by firemen could feature some designs. Hancock was quick to say that these two men are wearing very unusual floral pattern motifs that don't fit either category.

The big problem with these shirts is that while the shirts and the pictures are identical in many ways, the embroidery is not. So who are these guys and why the shirts? Perhaps we'll never know.

1860s photos | men | unusual clothing

Tuesday, January 05, 2010 2:15:49 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, October 19, 2009

Which Generation is it?
Posted by Maureen

There are photos that just drive you CRAZY. Ronald E. Wade is a very dedicated genealogist, but this image has him confused. His relative Mary Beulah Petty gave him all her pictures and that's great. Ronald has a fantastic picture history of his family thanks to her, but there's one problem—this picture:

StinsonsSmaller (2).JPG

It's a lovely picture of a couple in their later years posed with canes in hand. He's rumpled but she's neat and tidy. It's just a gorgeous photo. The question is, who is it??

Let's start with the provenance, ie., the history of ownership of the pictures. This is actually where it gets confusing:

Mary Beulah Petty inherited her photographs from her mother, Texie Ann Busby (1861-1918).
Texie received the photos from her mother, Matilda Stinson Busby (1831-1903).
Matilda got them from her mother, Mary Polly Robertson Stinson (1789-1833), or so the story goes.

Do you see the problem?

First, photography isn't available until 1839, years after Mary Polly dies, and paper photographs aren't widely available until at least 1859.

Here's the other issue: This photograph dates from circa 1900. This estimate is based on the style of the picture, the photographer's imprint and the clothing. Yet, family members dated this picture to the 1850s.

If these folks were in their 70s in this photo, then they were born about 1830. Seems like a neat solution—it's Matilda Stinson Busby and her second husband, John Busby (1822-1907), right? Possibly wrong. Ronald Wade has pictures of Matilda and John, and these folks don't resemble them.

While Mary Beulah called these folks Grandma and Grandpa Stinson, she claimed that they were Mary Polly Stinson and her husband, Alexander, the couple who died years before photographs were available. Mary claimed her mother, Texie, also thought this image depicted Mary Polly and Alexander. Ronald can't imagine Texie's mom misidentifying her own parents.

On the back, someone wrote Matilda Stinson—why not Busby? It's a real tangled mess of family history, family folklore and photographic facts.

Ronald knows that only a few of the Stinsons moved to Arkansas, which should narrow the field of possibilities. He's been collecting family pictures for decades and even wrote a genealogy. I told him I'd present his case here and see what turns up. Now's he's considering that maybe this photo comes from the Robertson side of the family.

The facts are clear:

The picture was taken about 1900
It's not Mary Polly and Alexander
The couple is at least 70, which suggest birth dates in the 1830s period.

I love their expressions. It's a family history treasure!

1900-1910 photos | men | women

Monday, October 19, 2009 6:40:46 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [5]

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Two Texas Mysteries
Posted by Maureen

092109img041 (5).jpg

Take a good look at these photos from Peggy Batchelor Hamlett. I can date them, but I'm still working on identifying the symbolism on the men's shirts shirts.

Pictorial Evidence:

The design of the mat for the above image suggests it was taken in the 1860s.
The image is a tintype, which isn't unusual for the time period.
The man's beard in the photo above is a style called a Greeley, after newspaper publisher Horace Greeley. In the image below, the man wears an imperial-style beard.
Both men's shirts are in the style of a collarless work shirt with a double-buttoned small band around the neck.
The eight pointed stars on shirt of the man above and the design down the button placket are very interesting. The eight-pointed star is called the Star of Redemption, and is associated with baptisms.

Peggy and I are trying to determine if this image represents her ancestor Dr. Francis Marion Montgomery, of Tyler, Texas, who was born c. 1830. He was a devout Methodist and became a circuit minister.

Montgomery could be the man in the image above, but there's one problem—the second image, below. Who is this man, and do the shirts signify that the two pictures are related somehow?

092109img038 (3).jpg

This image made me start from scratch. I've seen work shirts like these from the 1860s, but frankly, I haven't seen this design before. In the second photo, the design looks like either a tree of life or the flame of life.

Are these fraternal society photos? I don't think so. I consulted with Rhonda McClure of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and we agreed the markings are unusual, but couldn't find a fraternal match. David Lintz of the Improved Order of Red Men is taking a look at the images to see if he recognizes their significance.

A couple of folks at the Smith County Historical Society in Tyler, Texas, are working on this problem, too. They have a large photo archive, so my hope is that someone there will have an "aha!" moment. They're considering Civil War Uniforms or volunteer firemen.

Could the shirts be traditional attire from another country? Peggy's family had been in the country for a while when these images were taken.

Could the pictures show Montgomery and a colleague who traveled with him on the circuit? I contacted the United Methodist Archives at Drew University, but they couldn't identify the star or the other design as part of their symbolism.

Could these be people who aren't in Peggy's family? Anything is possible.

At this point I'm waiting to hear back from a few folks ... I'll keep you posted. If you have any ideas, contact me.

1860s photos | men

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 7:24:46 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, September 07, 2009

An Album of Funny Pictures
Posted by Maureen

Last week I asked readers to submit funny pictures. Thank you to everyone who sent images. I've been laughing all week. So here they are...fun images that leave you wondering, "What were they thinking?"

EdminsterWill Samels Robt Shane and others.jpg

EdminsterWill Samels Robt Shane and others.jpg

Sue Edminster sent in this photo (above) of men with numbers on the soles of their shoes. Why? Who knows! The men are, bottom to top, Will Samels, Bob Shane (Edminster's grandfather) and Will Young. The photo was taken circa 1890.

mcclenahan2kirk brothers.jpg

Here's a card-playing group courtesy of Merna McClenathen. With her grandfather, Milton "Tom" Kirk (2nd from right), are his brothers, William McCready "Crede" Kirk (3rd from right) and Alfred "Alf" Kirk (far right). The man holding all the cards on the far left is unknown. McClenathen thinks this photo was taken circa 1890 in the Black Hills of South Dakota near Lead, SD,when the Kirk brothers were working as carpenters at the Homestake Mine.

McClenathenGeo Alford.jpg

Merna sent in two images. Above, you can see what a double exposure looked like taken with either the real Freako-Shutter mentioned last week, or a similar device. Your eyes aren't playing tricks. It's the same man, George P. Alford.

The earliest funny picture I received came from Rachel Peirce. This one (sbove) dates between Aug. 1, 1864 and Aug. 1, 1866. I know this because on the back is a tax revenue stamp. One can only wonder why this man posed feeding a doll. The doll probably has a china head and cloth body, and could be an imported model. The man is "feeding" it from the dish on the table. The photographer hand-colored the doll's dress a light pink.

PikePoker girls.jpg

Sharon Pike sent the most recent image in this set. It dates from c. 1900. I've seen other images from this time frame of women dressed like men in funny pictures. Here, it's Belle and Fanny Curtis. Belle was born in 1882. Their father, Asaph Curtis, owned the Hotel Rockford on Long Lake in Washburn Co., Wis.

Come back next week, when I reveal an unusual coincidence in a reader's picture.

Monday, September 07, 2009 8:59:22 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, August 31, 2009

Funny Ancestral Pictures
Posted by Maureen

Roxanne Turpin sent me a photo that made me think about the transition in photo poses. In most of the images from the 1840s, 1850s and even 1860s technology and our ancestors' discomfort with being photographed combine to make folks look like they're in pain. Then suddenly, people started to relax in front of the camera. They had fun with photography. Photo studio props and poses caught sitters in action.

I own a picture of a man with a curious expression on his face. It's a little odd:

Turning over the image gave me the answer. The photographer's imprint says the following: "Caricatures, (patented) Ask to see those Funny Pictures taken only at... Theo. F. Chase, Photographer." The pose was intentional! It was taken about 1880.

Now let's look at Turpin's image taken around 1900 (I'm still refining the date) in Fergus Falls, Minn.

It depicts five men playing poker. Their cards and money are on the table. It's a friendly group of men all smoking cigars. The man in the middle moved a bit and blurred—I wish he hadn't moved so I could see his odd hat.

In the July 1909 issue of Photographic Topics (published by the Obrig Camera Company) is a brief news item about how amateur photographers could take funny images of their friends:

Freako-Shutter for Funny Photographs. Fits any camera. The Freako-Shutter is a simple, amusing attachment, and everyone who used a camera should have one. It can be fitted to any camera in a few seconds, after the first adjustment. It will cause no end of amusement in making funny pictures of friends, etc. ...

Basically, the Freako-Shutter allowed the user to shoot two exposures on the same negative. It first became available in 1903. Users could also shoot stereo images with the attachment.

Taking "funny pictures" is still going strong today. Think about the times you put rabbit ears behind someone's head. <grin> If you have a funny ancestral photo in your family album, send it to me. I'll feature in an upcoming post.

1880s photos | 1900-1910 photos | men | Photo fun

Monday, August 31, 2009 5:16:32 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, July 27, 2009

Adding Up Photo Clues
Posted by Maureen

I had trouble deciding the angle for this story. Would I discuss the problem of trying to figure out the photographic method or mention a family brick wall? Then I re-read all the emails from Randy Majors and decided to cover those topics as well as how he identified his picture.

What is it?
Electronic files are wonderful for sharing pictures, but nothing compares with looking at the original, especially when you're trying to determine the photographic method. One of the first questions I asked Randy was, "Can you describe the picture?"

There were two types of metal images in the first 20 years of photography. Daguerreotypes are shiny, highly reflective images that are reversed, but tintypes are on a thin sheet of iron and usually varnished. They aren't really shiny. He said that the image was somewhat shiny, but not mirror-like.

So what is it? Without seeing the original, I'd guess a tintype. If you look very closely at the left of the picture you can see a crackled pattern in the photographic emulsion. I've never seen that in a daguerreotype, which is created by chemical salts on a silver plate.

Williamcrop 1.jpg

The other detail that makes me think this is a tintype is the hole in the upper-left corner. I've seen scads of tintypes with this, but never a daguerreotype.

This lovely picture was once covered by an oval mat, appropriate for either a daguerreotype or a tintype.

When was it taken?
Let's look at the subjects' attire from left to right. The boy wears a jacket several sizes too large. The stiff wave of hair atop of his head was particularly popular in the 1850s. His father wears a collarless shirt, a vest and a jacket. His hair is long and combed back. A full under-the chin beard completes his appearance.

It wasn't unusual for little girls in the 1850s and in the early 1860s to wear dresses with shoulder-bearing necklines and short epaulette sleeves, with strings of beads around their neck. Their attire could be from the late 1850s or even the early 1860s.

The girl's doll could date the picture. I'm no doll expert, but determining whether this is a rag-style doll or a china doll could help place this image in a time frame. I think it's a china-headed doll. The problem is that the detail is missing from the face. For help with dating dolls in images, consult Dawn Herlocher's 200 Years of Dolls, 3rd edition (KP Books, $29.95).

Who is it?
One of the best ways to identify a picture is by swapping with relatives to see if they have similar images. The unidentified picture Randy sent was his great-aunt's. In Rady's collection was an identified picture of William Riley Majors, (1821-1881).

William Riley Majors (2).jpg

Notice anything familiar? You guessed it. It's not only the same man—it's the same picture, only a copy.

So who's in the first picture with William? His son William Andrew Majors and his daughter Martha Etta Majors. Based on the children's ages, Randy thinks this picture was taken about 1865 in the Madison County, Ill. or St. Louis, Mo., area. He could be right. This late a date also would suggest that the image is indeed a tintype.

Randy's biggest problem is that no one has been able to find out the lineage of William Riley Majors. He was born in either Alabama or Kentucky, and died in Cowley County, Kan. "He remains my biggest brick wall," Randy wrote.

Anyone have any research suggestions for Randy?
1850s photos | 1860s photos | children | men | Tintypes

Monday, July 27, 2009 8:55:27 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, June 15, 2009

The Trouble With Captions on Old Photos
Posted by Maureen

Barbara DeCrease found a photo in her grandmother's belongings with a one-word caption on the back: Grandfather. The trouble with captions like this is the lack of other identifying information. She doesn't know who wrote it, so she's puzzled.

Her grandmother's grandfather was William James Elmore Jr., born circa 1860 in Panola County, Miss. The family has no record of him after 1910. This Elmore's father was also William James Elmore, born circa 1842 in South Carolina. No record of this man exists after 1880.

This is a wonderful picture of a hard-working man. Note the dusty work-boots. So which man is he? Barbara is fairly certain it's Elmore Jr., but does the proof add up?

Let's look at the caption again.

This is a postcard. The first photographic postcards were introduced in 1900, so it's clear this image dates from after that year.

The "when" is also simple: The stamp box in the upper right corner is an AZO design with triangles in the corners. This particular design was first introduced in 1910 and remained common until 1930. If you have a photo postcard in your collection, try matching up the stamp boxes with the one's on the Playle Web site.

On the front of the image, someone wrote William Elmore and then erased it. It's barely visible even when I enlarge the photo on my computer, so I'm not going to zoom in here. The erased writing didn't indicate which Elmore this is.

In the 1890s and the early part of the20th century, photographers often used wicker chairs as props. This is another detail that helps firmly set this image in the 20th century.

I agree with Barbara that this is likely William Elmore Jr. in his middle years, about 1910. Elmore Sr. would have to be older than 70 to be in this picture.

Labeling images is tricky business. Identifying this photo would've been a cinch, if the person who wrote grandfather had added a bit more information. I'm beginning to believe that when you caption your photos with the name, date, etc., you should include your name as the person who added the information.

If you're looking for tips on how to label digital images for the Web to maximize their search potential, the Footnote Maven's Search Engines Can't Read Your Mind or Your Images is mandatory reading.

1910s photos | men

Monday, June 15, 2009 4:08:24 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, April 06, 2009

Why the Long Faces in Old Photos?
Posted by Maureen

Every so often I bump into a 19th century photo in which the subjects are grinning. It's a rare event. Occasionally, you see a Mona Lisa smile, but it's difficult to locate an image from the 19th century where folks actually showed teeth the way we do today. So, you're probably wondering—why the long face in most pictures?

In the beginning, I imagine that sitters were nervous in front of the camera. It was new, and having your picture taken was an uncomfortable procedure.

Look closely at your early photographs and see if you can spot a posing device such as a wooden stand behind the subjects' feet. This device sometimes extended as far up as the head and had clamps around a person's waist or head to keep him still for the long exposure time. Would you feel like smiling?

In this 1870s tintype, you can see a chair with the adjustable back. This man holds the the chair back, but if you look closely at his feet, you can see a wooden brace stand.

You can learn more about photographic patents and these tools in Janice G. Schimmelman's American Photographic Patents 1840-1880: The Daguerreotype & Wet Plate Era (Carl Mautz, $25.00). Unfortunately, I don't own a picture of a full clamping device. Anyone got one to share?

I have a small collection of women and babies I call "hidden mothers." Women hid under blankets and rugs to keep their babies still for the camera. In this photo, a mother or a photographer's assistant braces the toddler for the picture.

There were also devices to hold babies that look like medieval instruments of torture.

Let's not forget another reason individuals didn't smile for the photographer: dental care. Forget cosmetic dentistry—few folks had a full set of pearly whites. In fact, dentistry was a new profession in the mid-19th century. The online Encyclopedia Britannica has a short article on the history of dental care.

If you have a picture of a "hidden mother," a smiling ancestor, or a photo that includes a posing device, email it to me and I'll post it in this space. Both of the images above are from my research picture collection.

1870s photos | children | men | photo backgrounds | women

Monday, April 06, 2009 5:26:27 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [7]

Monday, March 23, 2009

Hand-Colored Photographs
Posted by Maureen

Do you own any photographs that are hand-colored?

These tinted enhancements range from delicately shaded pink lips and gold jewelry to elaborate coloring that obscures the image and transforms a photograph into a painting.

Powders, paints, crayons and pastels were all used to make photographs look more lifelike. Some photographers hired artists to apply the color, while others attempted to do the job themselves. The final results were mixed based on the skill of the person laying down the color.

The history of photography is full of examples of hand-colored images from the early daguerreotype period to the digitally colored images of today.

Here's an example from the Library of Congress. It's three men from the Phoenix Fire Company and Mechanic Fire Company of Charleston, SC. Isn't it beautiful? The photographer tinted their jackets, but the red color most attracts the eye.

It was taken c. 1855 by Tyler & Co. Additional information on Tyler can be found in Craig's Daguerreian Registry.

In John Comstock's A System of Natural Philosphy (1852), there are details about how this tint might've been added and a bit of background on coloring in general:

Coloring daguerreotype pictures is an American invention, and has been considered a secret, though at the present time it is done with more or less success by most artists.

The color consists of the oxyds of several metals, ground to an impalpable powder. They are laid on in a dry state, with soft camel-hair pencils, after the process of gilding. The plate is then heated by which they are fixed. This is a very delicate part of the art, and should not be undertaken by those who have not a good eye, and a light hand.

Comstock received these details from a Mr. N.G. Burgess of 192 Broadway, NY, and claimed that "he was an experienced and expert artist in this line." Nathan Burgess also is in Craig's Daguerreian Registry. It appears he was one of the earliest daguerreotypists in this country.

Note: If you were looking at the original of this image, you'd have to view the image at an angle. This is a key characteristic of a daguerreotype. They were also reversed.

If you have a hand-colored image you'd like to share, see the photo submission guidelines.

1850s photos | enhanced images | men

Monday, March 23, 2009 2:07:20 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, February 23, 2009

Two-Sided Mystery: On the Flip Side
Posted by Maureen

I love a good mystery. Last week I analyzed a group portrait and provided a time frame of the early 20th century. It was on one side of a sheet of pink paper. Before I divulge the family information behind this image, let's look at the other side. It's a two-sided mystery.

Over the years, I've seen photographs used for doing math homework, writing grocery lists and even sketching embroidery patterns. In this instance, the two photographs and the pink sheet of paper form a single scrapbook page.

In the upper left hand corner of the flip side of the page is a picture of a young man dressed for work on a ranch--cowboy hat, tall boots, heavy gloves and riding pants that are wide at the upper legs and hips and narrow at the lower leg.

To the right of this image is a valentine.
cohen 2.jpg

The lower half of the sheet is a child's drawing of a flower with one of the petals ripped off.

It's the final piece of evidence of this collage that so's interesting. It's a bit of a printed page.

It turned out to be a piece of a music catalog for Conqueror Records. Carson J. Robison and his trio recorded Moonlight on the Colorado and Oklahoma Charley in 1930. You can view an online catalog for Conqueror. Just below that listing is another song, My Blue Ridge Mountain Home, a tune that Robison wrote in 1927. If you're interested you can still purchase the sheet music from eCrater.

Wikipedia has a short biography of Robison with links to sites for more information. He was very well known as "the granddaddy of the Hillbillies." In the early 1930s he formed his own band and travelled around the U.S. and the British Isles playing country music. He was posthumously named to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He died in 1957.

I have to admit that I couldn't do all this research without listening to his music. You can a recording of Going to the Barn Dance Tonight on YouTube and find a picture of him and a clip of I Don't Wanta Be Rich on Hillbilly-Music.com. It's foot-tapping music.

The pieces add up to suggest that sometime in the early 1930s, a person (perhaps a little girl) decided to piece together a few of her favorite things--a couple of pictures, a valentine, and a drawing. Maybe she was a country music fan.

Next week I'll be back with the family details.

1910s photos | 1930s photos | men

Monday, February 23, 2009 3:36:15 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Pets in the Family on YouTube
Posted by Maureen

It's not hard to believe that the three installments of this blog on ancestors' adorable pets were among the most read. After all, it's family history from a different perspective—pets in the family. Since this week is the Westminster Dog Show, I thought I'd try a different presentation method for the photos.

I've received a few more pictures for this album, but instead of posting them individually, I incorporated them into a video.

I'm going to tweak it some more and see if I can boost the quality. I produced it in high definition but uploading it to YouTube compressed the files resulting in some blurring.

Just in case you missed the series:

Pets in Pictures

An Album of Ancestors' Family Pets

Pet Photos: Our Ancestors Loved Their Dogs, Too!

I'd like to thank everyone who sent in pictures!

(For more genealogy videos, see the Family Tree Magazine YouTube channel.)

BTW—I have a new e-newsletter that lists my speaking schedule,and contains a link to the Photo Detective video podcast. It's absolutely free. Sign up is on my Web site.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 2:13:17 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Monday, January 26, 2009

Pets in Pictures
Posted by Maureen

For weeks the media have been focused on which breed of dog our new First Family would pick for their family pet. Turns out only two presidents have never had pets in the White House.

You can read all about famous presidential pets in this article on the Mental Floss blog, from Calvin Coolidge's pygmy hippo (no joke!) to Franklin Roosevelt's adorable terrier named Fala.

I'm bringing this series of pet photos to an end with these final three pictures. The two previous installments can be viewed on this blog: An Album of Ancestor's Pets and Pet Photos: Our Ancestor's Loved Their Dogs Too.

Carol Norwood sent in one of her favorite family pictures. It was taken in Gottingen, Germany in 1892 and shows the Agricola family. Agnes Agricola and Hermann Simon (Carol's great-grandparents) are seated in the center of the front row.

pet1892Agricolas01 (2).jpg

Claudia submitted a picture of her mother tending geese. She told me that her mother always said they would chase and bite her. She estimates this picture was taken circa 1933-1935.

petpicturesbyclaudia 301.jpg

One other reader sent an image for posting here. It depicts her grandfather's older sister Margaretha Petersen, known to the family as Maggie, with their pet dog. The dog's name wasn't recorded. Maggie was born in 1888. According to the submission, Maggie was the family "pet" herself, the only daughter until her sister was born in 1899.

The red discoloration is due to dye transferring from a paper sleeve to the image.

Anyone have a clue about the breed of this last dog?

Thank you for sharing all these pictures.

1890s photos | 1930s photos | children | men | Pets

Monday, January 26, 2009 7:07:59 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, January 19, 2009

An Album of Ancestors' Family Pets
Posted by Maureen

Thank you to everyone who sent a photo of a pet in the family! This week, I'd like to share what was e-mailed to me. I'm so glad that each picture came with a story, too. This was a lot of fun!

Jim Musso wrote "First, this is my mom with her family's pet pig, Spud. Mom grew up on a farm in Sheboygan, Wis.; she was born in 1925, so this photo must be from the early 1930s."

He continued, "according to Mom, Spud would only eat from the hands of family members, and preferred standing on a chair with his front hooves while being fed. She recalls Spud walking under the kitchen table and carrying the table on his back as he walked away. My grandparents, Vincent and Hattie Fee, obviously liked animals.

In the foreground is the family's dog, Jigs, no doubt waiting for a morsel to fall his way. Jigs preferred travelling in a wheelbarrow, as can be seen in the second photo."

Bethany Klus wrote that the photo below is "a cabinet card-style photo from an album of photos taken in Alpena, Michigan from the late 1800s. Most of the photos are unlabeled, including the one I'm sending to you. The dog in my photo could be siblings with the one in the blog photo, they look that similar."

I have to agree that it definitely is a Terrier, possibly a Cairn Terrier although they tend to have darker fur (I'm a veterinarian when I'm not a genealogist!).

"The second photo," she added, "is my great-grandfather Royal Frederick Flock who was born in 1892 in Edenville, Mich. It was probably taken in the early 1920s when he lived in Detroit. With him is the pet cat."

Not all the pet pictures submitted show a real, live pet. Kathy Amoroso wrote that the photo below is, "my grandmother and her family. She's the one on the fake pig. They are in Germany in 1913 and this is from one of those postcard photos."

I'll be back next column with a couple more!

children | group photos | men | Pets

Monday, January 19, 2009 4:46:12 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, November 10, 2008

A Reunion for the One-Gloved Mystery
Posted by Maureen

Here's a bit of proof that you should not only read the comments for each blog column but add one yourself. Imagine my surprise when Denise Damm commented on the one-glove mystery. (This makes the fourth post on this one photo!)

Denise wrote "I am quite sure that the two men in the back are Samuel Wingfield (born in 1895) and his brother William Garretsmoke Wingfield (born in 1897)." She's speaking of the two men standing in the back of this photo:

According to Denise, the two men were cousins to the Melson boys Joel and Elmore. The Melsons' grandmother was the sister of Sam and Garret's grandfather. I'm so happy to have a reunion to feature in this spot!

Denise sent pictures of Sam and Garrett for me to share with you. Take a look and see what you think. Here's a picture of William taken in 1921: Sam Wingfield 1921 001.jpg

And here's a picture of Sam:
Wingfield 001edit.jpg

There is some confusion in the labeling of the first image. It says "Sam and William." Diane thinks it's William.

Both men were born in Arkansas and later moved to California. I'm going to facilitate a reunion between the women. Denise really wants to talk with her long lost cousin Sue Stevenson. Wish I could be present when they start exchanging pictures and stories.

1920s photos | men

Monday, November 10, 2008 6:49:24 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, October 27, 2008

Final Installment: One-Glove Mystery Solved!
Posted by Maureen

I'm doing the happy dance right now! I finally contacted Sue Anderson, the owner of the photo of the four men—two wearing one glove each—featured in two blog posts. Turns out she was on vacation and hadn't imagined the fuss being made over this photo. All she wanted to know was the date of the image and why the one glove.

In the first post, I dated the image using the postcard back to a time frame of 1904 to 1918. That was the only sure information in the picture.

In the second installment, I reported readers' theories and focused on the gloves. Well, the pieces have finally fallen into place. You're not going to believe it!

While Sue's older relatives were sure two of the men were Lance and Elmore Melson, she wasn't positive because these elderly relatives have been wrong before. They said the two men in the front were Melsons and the men in the back were Wingfields.

Those two in the front are definitely Melsons. Sue sent me several other family photographs that confirm the resemblance. The ears are a giveaway.

Elmore Melson (b. 1896) had two other brothers: Joel (b.1894) and Bertram (b. 1892). I think Sue's family was partially right. Lance Melson would be too young to be in the group photo, but Joel is old enough. It's actually his presence (right front in the group image and below) and age that specifically date the image and solve the one glove detail!

Joel Melson.jpg

Notice the rolled up pants <smile>.

So here goes...

Joel dies in 1918 in Oklahoma of pneumonia. The group portrait is likely the last image taken of the 24-year-old. It fits the 1918 period. His brother Elmore would be 22 in that image.

Melson and his brothers worked as farmers and weren't very well-off. In Joel's spare time, he also worked as a bronco rider. In the first blog post on this mystery, I suggested the glove was work-related. Since bronco riding isn't something I'm pfamiliar with, I contacted a colleague, Kathy Hinckley (known as the Family Detective), who grew up on a ranch in South Dakota and participated in riding events. She confirmed my theory that bronco riders wear one glove on the dominant hand! Mystery solved.

The men's ties are very Western in style. Kathy made one other comment about something I pondered: Why dress in suits and wear the riding glove? She thought this picture probably commemorated a special event, such as winning at the rodeo. I have no proof of this detail, but the explanation makes sense.

There's one more detail Sue helped with—the rolled pants. In the group picture those rolls look like cuffs, but it turns out Joel wasn't very tall, and instead of having his pants hemmed, just rolled them up.

Sue is amazed at the number of comments and emails about her photo. Thank you to everyone who posted remarks or sent comments. I'm glad we can put the artifical hand theory to rest; Joel had both of his hands at the time of his death.

1910s photos | group photos | men | props in photos

Monday, October 27, 2008 3:28:18 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, October 20, 2008

Gloved Mystery
Posted by Maureen

Last week I wrote about a photo in which two of the men depicted each wore only one glove. I wondered about the significance of this oddity. A couple of people sent me e-mails about their thoughts.

Let's take a closer look at the gloves:

Lance and Elmore Melsonedit.jpg

Candy Rypczyk wrote, "My husband had a relative who lost both hands in a coal mining accident in Pennsylvania, and wore heavy gloves like this to hide the hooks he had in place of hands. The young man looks pretty young to have worked in the coal mines, but could also have been born with a hand deformity. Just a thought. (Perhaps the other young man is wearing a glove 'in sympathy.')"

I agree with you, Candy. There's definitely something different about the hands of the man on right. If you compare the dimensions of his hand, the gloved one is significantly larger. That's not the case with the man on the left—both his hands are the same size. I'll delve deeper into this mystery by contacting the owner of the photo to see if she has an additional family information.

Thank you also to the reader who suggested the man on the right might have an artificial limb, and to the person who observed the way the men in the front posed their legs for the picture. Another reader thought it might be a golfing glove.

I wonder if the type of glove provides any clues. It's a heavy leather glove. It's a little fancy for a work glove and their attire doesn't suggest they've come from their day's labor to pose for this picture.

So the questions remain:

What type of glove is this?
Do their gloved hands correspond with their dominant hands?
Did they have injured/artificial hands? Perhaps they are missing partial fingers on those hands?
What did these men do for work?

Isn't it fun the way a single photo can generate so many questions!

men

Monday, October 20, 2008 2:19:33 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [4]

Monday, October 13, 2008

Postal Clues and a One-Glove Mystery
Posted by Maureen

In honor of an upcoming article in the print Family Tree Magazine, this week's photo mystery is a postcard.

In the January 2009 issue, I wrote a piece called Getting the Message on the ways our ancestors communicated and the types of records they left behind. One of the methods highlighted was postcards. (The issue mails to subscribers near the end of October and goes on sale Nov. 11.)

Sue Stevenson sent me this postcard of four men:

Lance and Elmore Melson.jpg

In the front row are supposedly (left to right) Lance Melson (1907-1988) and Elmore Melson (1896-1938). It's a real-photo postcard—a photograph with a postcard back.

Sue's big question doesn't concern the men's identities, but the mysterious single glove on each man in the front row. Before looking at that puzzle, let's backtrack and look at the other clues.

Let's start with the postcard back. One of my favorite postcard sites is Playle's Auction Site. It has an online directory that details the stamp box designs.

According to this site, the AZO box with upright triangles in the corners appeared from 1904 to 1918. Uh oh—if Lance Melson was born in 1908, he'd have to be 10 in this photo. That doesn't add up.

The men's clothing is a bit odd. Are their pants legs rolled up, or do they just have very wide cuffs? Cuffed pants were common on casual clothes in the early 20th century, but the cuffs on these pants are a bit extreme.

Neckties are the other interesting clothing detail. The man on the right in the front row wears a soft polka dot tie, a pattern that first appeared in the late 19th century. This style may be unique to his area, since it's not the type of tie you'd see in most of the country in the early 20th century.

Based on a working date for this image between 1904 and 1918, it may depict Lance's and Elmore's fathers, rather than the boys. More family history information would be necessary to verify that conclusion.

As to the one glove? It's curious that one man wears a glove on his right hand and the other on his left. This could indicate their dominant hands. I haven't found other images like this, but I suspect these heavy leather gloves were worn for work. Or perhaps the men were just clowning for the camera.

Sue's right about their ears, though. This facial similarity indicates the men are likely related.

If anyone else has a photo of men wearing one glove—decades before Michael Jackson made it fashionable—send it along to me.

1910s photos | group photos | men | photo postcards

Monday, October 13, 2008 4:44:33 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [6]

Friday, August 01, 2008

Medical Conditions and Family History
Posted by Maureen

Two weeks ago I put out a call for photos showing medical conditions. There are three images and one blog link in this post so be sure to read all the way to the end.

The inspiration for that request was a photo that Elizabeth Vollrath emailed me in May.

It's a lovely 1880s photograph showing an unusual feature in her right ear. While not a medical condition, it made me think about details in photos.

Vollrath's dad inherited the split in the earlobe, showing a relationship to this unknown woman. I wondered whether she was his grandmother. I was close. A cousin later positively identified this woman as Ida Sophia Hass (b. 1866). Ida's sister Pauline Hass was Vollrath's great-great-grandmother, and her dad's great grandmother.

Diedra March sent me this photo of her great-grandfather's family.

Norberg oval photo copied to cd.jpg

She thinks her dad has inherited macular degeneration from this man, his mother's father. Anders Norberg appears to have something wrong with his eyes. According to March, Macular Degeneration causes blindness in your center vision, and people with the condition often look out of the corners of their eyes.

Rachel McPherson shared a photo of a school group that shows her grandmother in a leg brace (front row, fourth from right) due to polio.

Patricia School Picture.jpg

She was born in 1933, before a vaccine was available.

Bloggers like to share through their online postings. The Footnote Maven posted a medically related photo on her blog, Shades of the Departed, on "Health Issues and Women Wearing Glasses."

Thank you to everyone who sent images in response to my request!

1880s photos | group photos | men | photo-research tips | women

Friday, August 01, 2008 4:23:52 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [3]

Monday, July 21, 2008

Spotlight on Family Health History--The Photo Side
Posted by Maureen

There was a very interesting story about Pio Pico, California's last governor under Mexico, in the July 19 Los Angeles Times. "What made Pio Pico so, well, ugly?" focuses not on the political happenings of his administration, but on how a daguerreotype of him helped identify a medical condition. It's fascinating!

A neurologist compared a daguerreotype of Pico taken in 1852 with a painting of him from 1847 and another photograph from 1858. This doctor believes Pico had a condition called acromegaly, a pituitary tumor that caused his face to become mishapen. The pictorial evidence showed when he first became afflicted and when the pituitary tumor stopped growing. It's a great family photo tale.

I've received several photographs from readers of individuals with obvious medical conditions or dental problems. I'm busy tracking down the clues in those images—he evidence in those photos may be pertinent to the owners' own health history.

If you have a medically related photograph, e-mail it to me. I'd love to see it.

The Mütter Museum was founded by the College of Physicans of Philadelphia to help educate physicians. While their digital database currently contains images only of doctors, according to their Web site, the picture collection "contains images from the history of medicine, including portraits, buildings, groups, and historical subjects." A photo book, Mutter Museum Historic Medical Photographs (Blast Books, $50) is available. Be prepared: Some of the images are disturbing.

men | organizations

Monday, July 21, 2008 4:59:42 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, June 02, 2008

Unknown Soldiers
Posted by Maureen

I owe a big thank-you to readers who sent pictures of the military men in their family. My in box has quite of few images of men in mystery uniforms, so I thought focusing on military pictures for another week was warranted.

editUnknow soldiers WW1.jpg

Pay attention to the details such as these in a uniform, to help identify when it was worn.

During the Civil War, belt buckles often bore state abbreviations or CSA for the Confederate States of America.

Hats are key. The shape and design of the hat can specify a time frame while insignia can help you identify the unit in which the soldier served.

Cloth chevrons on the sleeves and shoulders of a uniform and insignia on the collar or headgear signified rank.

Not all uniforms are military in origin. Fraternal groups costumes and occupational attire is often confused with military uniforms.

Unfortunately, there's no single source that shows all the uniforms worn by soldiers or sailors. In the 19th century, there was quite a diversity of uniforms, with each unit having its own. Colorful attire such as the Turkish pants worn by the Zouaves were just one recognizable variation.

If you don't know who's depicted in photograph of a soldier or a sailor, try finding evidence of military service in documents—pension records, enlistment papers and other genealogical materials.

Keep in mind that not all the military photos in your photo collection depict relatives—they could be friends of the family. One of the emails I received was from Connie L. Huntling. Her grandmother worked at a Veterans Administration hospital in Plattsburg, NY, during World War I. In her papers were many photographs of men who were patients at the hospital. Connie sent me the two in this post two with the hope that someone will recognize these men.

Please take a look at and click Comment below to tell me if you have any ideas about who the men might be. I'm going to ask Huntling to post the pictures to the photo-reunion site DeadFred as well.

men | Military photos | photo-research tips

Monday, June 02, 2008 8:14:07 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [3]

Monday, May 19, 2008

Fraternal Insignia
Posted by Maureen

Linda Matthews was just one of the people who answered my call for pictures of ancestors in fraternal uniforms. She inherited this wonderful photo of her cousin Carl Lager.

Carl was born April 23, 1854, in Sweden, and died Feb. 15, 1935, in Henry County, Ill. According to a short biography of him in the three-volume History of Swedes in Illinois (published in 1908 and available on Google Book Search), he was a Mason, a Knight Templar, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a Mystic Shriner.

He also was a Major in the Patriarchs Miiltant, the uniformed branch of the Odd Fellows. Matthews wondered about his uniform in this photo and suggested it's Patriarchs Militant attire.

She's right. The three interlocking rings is the symbol for the Odd Fellows while the symbol on his hat identifies the specific group within the organization.

You'll find photos of the insignia on his hat online .

men | organizations

Monday, May 19, 2008 4:56:14 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Friday, May 09, 2008

Fraternal Membership Clue
Posted by Maureen

David Farmer wrote asking about a photo of his paternal grandfather. It's on metal and depicts Charles Birchfield Farmer in his work clothes.

Charlie Birchfield Farmer was a farmer. He stands in front of a barn and an old wheel. Tucked into his overalls is a pistol, and slung across his chest is a canteen for when he got thirsty working in the fields.

Farmer was born in 1885 in northeast Tennessee and lived in southwest Virginia. This image depicts him in the early part of the 20th century. as a young man, so I'd estimate this was taken before 1910. Any gun experts out there want to take a look at his pistol? That could narrow the time frame even further.

Photographs could appear on any type of surface that could be coated with light-sensitive chemicals, such as metal, leather, fabric and porcelain. In this case, it's a metal frame.

The most unusual part of the image wasn't its setting, but the letters and symbols surrounding Farmer's portrait. David wants to know what the letters FLT mean.

The interlocking three rings at the top of the frame indicate Farmer was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the FLT—that stands for the group's slogan, "Friendship, Love, Truth."

If you have an image of an ancestor in a fraternal costume, send it in. I'll feature it in an upcoming column.

1900-1910 photos | men | unusual surfaces

Friday, May 09, 2008 3:30:57 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, February 25, 2008

Italian Military Picture Part 2
Posted by Maureen

Two weeks ago, I promised a second installment of the blog on the Italian soldier photo. Thank you for commenting on the first column. While I puzzled over the v. Fabio Massimo.83, two of you reminded me that v. stands for via, Italian for the road on which the photographer had his studio.

I'm amazed at the additional material in that postcard and where it led me this week. Gosh! Let's continue reading the evidence.

Next to SPQR is an image. Taking a chance, I researched Roman tourist sites. Turns out that columned structure is a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of unified Italy. It wasn't inaugurated until 1911, providing another beginning date for this picture.

Above the monument is a plume with an interwined EV, which represents the king—either Vittorio Emanuele II or his grandson Vittorio Emanuele III.

At the top of the card are portraits of Vittorio Emanuele III (1869-1947) and his wife, Elena (1873-1953), Princess Petrovich of Montenegro. He becamse king July 29, 1900, following the assassination of his father, Umberto. He reigned until he abdicated May 9, 1946. Next to the portraits is the flag of his House of Savoy—red with a white cross.

A quick search for secoli fedele made me shout, "I got it!" The phrase "Nei Secoli Fedele" means "always faithful." That phrase on the photo mat identifies the man pictured as a member of the Carabinieri. These men policed both military and civil matters. Follow the link to read more about them and see another picture.

Remember the owner of the picture, Justin Piccirillo, thought this man was his relative, Costabile Piccirillo ( 1891-1974). This could be him. Judging by the other clues in the image this picture dates to about 1911, when he'd be 20.

Case solved!

PS: I asked a military specialist to take a look at the uniform. I'll report back soon on what he had to say.

1910s photos | men | Military photos | Photos from abroad

Monday, February 25, 2008 10:58:10 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Overseas Military Uniforms
Posted by Maureen

Justin Piccirilli is an extremely patient genealogist. He first contacted me back in 2005 about these images, which he thinks depict his great uncle Costabile Piccirillo in a military uniform.

This is part one of a two-part photo identification problem that covers both military history and foreign family photos.

As you probably know from reading past columns, deciphering clues in a military image is a challenge. There were no standard uniforms in the 19th and early 20th century.

This gorgeous portrait shows a young man in a dress uniform. I know it’s a dress uniform because of the white gloves and shiny epaulets at the shoulders. Each metal piece of his uniform is freshly polished for this important portrait.

This full-body picture shows this man at attention with some simple props—a vase of flowers and a doily on a table.

Here, just the man’s head is visible in a picture postcard, framed with illustrated symbols of his native land. The photographer hand-colored the plume red and blue. The photo format gives a beginning time frame for the postcard—photo postcards first became available in 1900.

It’s an interesting card. Each symbol is there for a reason. Here’s part one of the breakdown:

Underneath the oval portrait are the letters SPQR, which stand for the Latin motto of Rome, Senātus Populusque Rōmānus ("The Senate and the People of Rome").

Beneath the motto, the words Ricordo di Roma translate to “Souvenir of Rome.” You also can see the sons of Rome, Romulus and Remus, nursing from their wolf mother.

At the bottom is the photographer’s name, G. Tibaldi, with the words fotografia artistica. Under his name is V. Fabio Massimo.83. I think the 83 refers to 1883, perhaps the year he opened his studio, but I’m not familiar with this term. Anyone seen this before?
Along the bottom edge are the words fotografo dei RR.CC and Vietata la Riproduzione. The latter is essentially a copyright statement.
Four vignettes around the oval depict famous Roman battles and scenes.

This identification is a work in progress. I’ll fill you in on more details next time.

men | Military photos | Photos from abroad

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 6:55:06 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [5]

Monday, January 14, 2008

Photo Mystery Solved!
Posted by Maureen

Two weeks ago I wrote about Russell
Chowning's search for an identity to go with a photo (right) in his collection. I added up the fashion details and estimated the picture was taken about 1919.

That's all it took for Russell to locate two snapshots of the same man and put a name with the face: Edward Haskins Brockman (born 1894).

He lived well into the mid-20th century. Before submitting his portrait to this column, Russell had shown the image to all the older members of his family, but none of them claimed to know the young man's identity.

It's a mystery why no one recognized someone who lived that recently. Although the young man had a full head of hair, later in life he lost much of it. Perhaps this detail distracted family who may have known him before he died.

Take a look at the 1919 picture (top). Compare it to these pictures of him in the 1940s (above left) and 1955 (above right), both already identified in Chowning's family collection. This man's distinctive ears and nose are a clear indication all three pictures show the same person.

It's important to look for the facial details that stay the same as people age: noses (without plastic surgery or injury), ears, and the shape of your ancestor's eyes. Keep this in mind when you're trying to match photographs in your family album.

Several people sent me interesting background shots. I'll show them off in next week's column. Thank you!

1910s photos | men

Monday, January 14, 2008 3:35:44 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0]

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

20th-Century Men's Clothing
Posted by Maureen

I'm trying something different this week and my fingers are crossed that it's going to work. I've tagged this week's photo so that you can spot the details I'm talking about. If you want to do this to your digitized photographs, you can download a bit of free software from Fototagger.com.

Russell Chowning submitted this picture, a perfect example of how it takes many clues to determine a date. Let's add up the head-to-toe details:

This man wears a wide brimmed hat set rakishly back on his head. He's relaxed for this portrait.
His suit has padded shoulders. That detail alone could date the picture to the 1940s, but additional features of his suit rule out that date.
Notice the large pocket on the left side of his suit and the button trim on the sleeves. This suggests this portrait dates from earlier in the 20th century. The sleeve trim is similar to details on suits from the late 1910s.
This man has paired his suit with a light-colored, soft-collared shirt and a silk tie, also in a light color.
He wears embroidered, light-colored socks. You could buy these through catalogs in the WWI period. In the 1920s, this simple pattern was replaced by brightly colored argyle socks.
His shoes are a bit of a mystery. The opening (known as the cuff) comes to the ankle like shoes worn in the period from 1914 to 1920, but I can't find similar shoes in catalogs from that time frame.

All these facts point to this picture being taken around 1919. The final detail helps determine that date. Notice the narrow pants leg at the ankle. Around 1920, men's pants narrowed at the ankle. In the 1920s, pants got wider.

(Click on this image to open a bigger version in your Web browser, then click on the bigger version image to magnify it.)

A couple of weeks ago I asked readers for photos with interesting backgrounds. Here, you see a simple backdrop with few architectural details (stairs, doors and curtains) and no scenery. It was decades old when the portrait was taken—the paint is so old it's crackled. Either this photographer had been in business for a long time, or he purchased the canvas used.

1910s photos | men

Wednesday, January 02, 2008 4:39:06 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1]

Monday, November 05, 2007

The Plane Truth Revisited
Posted by Maureen

Last year I wrote about Jacqui Marcella's photo of two couples standing in front of an airplane in The Plane Truth. I'm revisiting a few of my older columns to see if I can discover anything new about those pictures. When I looked at this 1920s image I thought, "Why not?" Imagine my surprise when a closer look at some of the details revealed that this simple family picture was a historically significant photo!

The couple on the left are Jacqui Marcella's grandparents, Arthur and Theresa Henschel, but the couple on the right are a mystery. I initially assigned a timeframe of 1926 to 1930, but this "fresh look" narrowed that even further. Take a close look at the T to the right of the second couple. It holds the key to this image.

I searched some of the links I recommended in the original article, and found an exact match! The T is part of the name of the plane, the Smiling Thru. If you look closely, you can see part of a G behind the man on the right. Compare this photo to the photo I found on the Wichita Photo Archives site—the plane's name in that picture is the same font as the T in Jacqui's picture.

The Smiling Thru was the first corporate aircraft in America, owned by the Automatic Washer Company. The name came from the company slogan, "Buy an automatic washer on Monday and you will be smiling through the rest of the week."

For company president H.L. Ogg, it was a corporate office in the sky with dictaphone, telephone and lavatory. His secretary typed letters while they flew around the country. Strip out the office equipment and the company could use it to deliver washing machines.

The Automatic Washer Company bought this plane from Travel Air in 1929, then sold it in 1934. Based on the clothing here and the aircraft's history, Jacqui's grandparents probably posed for this portrait in about 1929. The history of the plane also suggests the other couple might be associated with the Automatic Washer Company. I know the man isn't Ogg, but perhaps its another representative.

Jacqui thought of this portrait as a family picture, but its actually a piece of American history, since very few pictures of the Smiling Thru still exist. You can read more about it in an article in the Newton (Iowa) Daily News.

By the way, Jacqui, please send me your new email address. I was unable to contact you to provide this update on your photo.

1920s photos | group photos | men | photo backgrounds | women

Monday, November 05, 2007 2:51:49 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0]

Friday, October 26, 2007

Hunting for Clues Part Two
Posted by Maureen

For genealogists, it's easy to underestimate the power we yield. If you need proof, think about this: The recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article on The Photo Detective was the number one article read online at the WSJ for a week!

This means thousands if not millions of people are interested in their family photographs. That's great news!

A couple of folks who read that piece commented on the type of gun depicted in the cover photo. Last year I wrote a column, Hunting for Clues, about this picture of a hunter. Now new evidence has surfaced.

There's a lot of discussion about what type of gun appears in the picture and the date for the image. Faced with the new facts, I could've been off by a few years. The man wears his old clothes for a soujourn into the wilds of New Jersey. Instead of just saying his photo is from the late 1860s, I'm stretching the time frame to include the early 1870s. It doesn't change my analysis, but the additional details add depth to this image. Here's what turned up:

I spoke with LeRoy Merz of Merz Antique Firearms about the gun in the photo. While my original expert was right about it not being a Civil War piece, it's not a Winchester 66, either. Merz set me straight. It appears to be a double-barrel shotgun, and the shells around the man's waist are 10-gauge.

Merz thinks this man holds a European model probably imported from England in the early 1870s. It was first introduced there in the late 1860s. In England, these shotguns were used for market hunting of water fowl. (Notice the game bag at the man's side.) It appears Majorie Osterhout's relative liked to go bird-hunting, probably for duck or geese, with his trusty four-legged friend. Though the dog (hard to see here) isn't a traditional breed for retrieving game, it could've been trained for the task.

Merz's opinion is just one of several. All are in agreement the gun isn't a Winchester 66, but there's still lots of talk about the actual model and the gauge of the shells.

Next week, I'll take a look at another earlier column and tell you more of the fascinating story behind a reader's family photo.

1860s photos | 1870s photos | men | props in photos

Friday, October 26, 2007 7:16:03 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [5]

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Could this happen to your family history treasures?
Posted by Maureen

Before diving into this week’s identification, I have a question for you: Have you specified in your will who’ll receive your heritage photos after you’re no longer here? If not, your relatives could find themselves in a battle.

Carolanne, the owner of this week’s photo, has spent 17 years trying to gain ownership of her great-aunt’s pictures and family history materials. When Addie Mattilda Weed died in 1990 at age 106, the tenants in her house gave her manuscripts to a university and kept her photos.

Carolanne, Addie’s closest living relative, finally got the photos, but she’s still battling the university—which currently expects her to pay even to copy the papers. So, make sure you’ve planned for the future of your genealogy collection.

On to Carolanne’s question: Who are these people?
She hopes they’re Addie’s mother, Laura Gilman (1844-1926), and father, James Wyatt Weed (1839-1888).

I think Carolanne’s right. Addie lived her whole life in one house—birth to death. Since these photos were in that house among her belongings, they’re likely her close relatives. Also, this couple is the right age to be her parents.

That’s easy, but as usual, there are other questions: When were these images created, and what format are they?

Both are photographs enhanced with charcoal. Photographers generally took pictures first, then enlarged and enhanced them—turning an ordinary cabinet-style picture into a piece of art. I happen own a similar-style image in a large gilt frame. The frames for these images are missing, and if there were smaller photos, those are unfortunately lost as well.

From about 1869 to 1875 women wore high, ruffled collars, long curls and ties at the neckline just as in this portrait. Notice her neck ribbon. Since Gilman and Weed married in 1873, it’s possible this is an engagement or wedding portrait.

It’s much more difficult to date the picture of her husband, due to the sparse costume details in his picture. If his picture was done at the same time as Addie’s, he’d be 34 years old. His beard resembles the untrimmed facial hair men wore in the mid-1870s. Unlike his wife’s unwrinkled face, he has lines around his eyes, suggesting hard work that required he squint into the sun. According to the 1880 US census, James Weed worked in a mill, but I imagine he also spent time outdoors in his native Maine.

Caroleann sent a third family photo. I’ll tackle that next week, with a few more things to say about the three images. ‘Til then…

1860s photos | 1870s photos | enhanced images | men | women

Wednesday, October 10, 2007 7:50:43 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Clues from Hats and Backgrounds
Posted by Maureen

These four are dressed for an evening out. Everyday male attire in this period didn’t include silk top hats and shawl-collared vests, unless you were quite affluent.

Sandra Guynn believes the man in the center of this photo is Charles Anthony Doyle (born 1867), and the women, his daughters (born in 1891 and 1892). She can’t identify the man on the left.

Let’s answer the simple question first—when was it taken?

The women’s hats provide a time frame of 1904 to 1908. Large hats and pouched front bodices gave women a then-fashionable S-shaped figure. (Read more about women’s headgear history in Jonathan Walford’s online article on Vintage Fashion Guild.)

However, this date somewhat disagrees with Guynn’s tentative date. Doyle’s daughters would be young children at the beginning of that time frame and teens by 1908. So let’s look at other evidence:

Hindering this investigation is the lack of a photographer’s imprint. Guyunn’s photo is a copy and doesn’t know where the original is. Since a house’s clapboards and window sash are visible, likely this is an amateur snapshot rather than a professional studio photo. Guynn could examine her own and relatives' pictures for a house with similar construction.

Also in the background are two screens. One is a fabric divider commonly found in houses of the era, while on the right is a large divider with attached photographs. They’re blurry, but Guynn should enlarge this photo and try to see if any of the images match other family pictures.

One man stares directly into the camera while the women look to our left (probably at another person), and the other man looks in the opposite direction. The man with the top hat is the significant figure based on how they’re posed.

That man is Charles Anthony Doyle, according to Guynn’s tentative identification. He’d be about 40, the right age for this photo. The pose and attire indicate he’s a man of authority.

The questions remain about the women. Further research using census records could help sort it out.

I’ll be back soon, hopefully with more information and an ID.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 9:35:24 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, July 02, 2007

Tracking Down a Famous Relative
Posted by Maureen

Attached to the inside velvet of this cased photo is a cryptic note, “may be great-grandfather Swale author of Geometric Amusements.” It’s a mystery to the photo's owner, Susan Wellington, who can’t imagine how Swale might be related to her. Is this a family photo or a 19th-century collectible?

I looked for Swale and his book in all the usual places, such as Google and public library databases (including the Boston Public Library’s), but couldn’t find a trace of either. Since every good genealogist knows not everything is online or online and publicly available, I contacted the BPL’s general reference department. Within a few minutes the librarian obtained Swale’s first name and the correct title.

The caption contained an error: John Henry Swale (1775-1837) wrote Geometrical Amusements in the early 19th century. By searching his name in Google Books, I found his book and several brief biographies, including an introduction to a volume written by T.T. Wilkinson, An Account of the Life and Writing of John Henry Swale (1858).

Wellington’s photo is a copy of an early 1800s sketch of Swale placed in a daguerreotype case from the 1850s or early 1860s—long after Swale’s death. It’s a curious mystery. Obviously someone in the family thought highly enough of Swale to have the copy made and placed in a case.

The only ways for Wellington to figure out if Swale is related to her is to either trace her own ancestry or look for his descendants. I’d start by trying to find Swale’s family information in Wilkinson’s book and by searching databases such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.

In the 1825 Directory of Lancaster (available on Ancestry.com), Swale appears as a professor of mathematics living at 12 Epworth St., Liverpool. These details give Wellington a few facts to start her search.

cased images | men

Monday, July 02, 2007 9:31:41 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Thursday, May 24, 2007

Church Clues
Posted by Maureen

Jan Oliver thinks this picture of an older man and a younger woman shows her great-grandfather John Henry Smith (born 1861) and his daughter Alice (life dates 1888 to 1962). Oliver knows Smith was alive in 1921, but she can’t find mention of him after that year. Will this photo tell her he lived longer?

The stone archway behind them, the people around them and the formal clothing with a boutonnière for him indicates this snapshot was taken at a wedding outside a church; perhaps one in which the elder Smith was a participant.

Alice’s floral print dress, hat, net gloves and small clutch purse are perfect for a summer wedding. In the mid-1930s, women wore wide-brimmed hats tilted to the side with a single band of trim. No well-dressed woman was seen with a bare head. Social events also called for gloves—leather in the cooler months and net or crocheted styles in spring and summer. Through her choice of accessories, Alice is the epitome of fashion.

Both individuals look the right ages to be father and daughter. If this photo was taken in 1935, Alice would be 47, and her father, 74. But the wedding image raises other issues:

Since Oliver can’t find Smith after 1921, she has to figure out where’s he’s been for 14 years and why he’s dressed as a member of a wedding party. His common first and last name presents a research challenge.

Whose wedding is it? Listing who in the family was married in the mid-1930s may give Oliver a date for the photo and help her track down Smith in the intervening years.

I bet the photographer who snapped this spontaneous shot took others. Oliver can start by circulating this photo to family members who remember Alice and her father. Likely, a relative has a photo of the wedding party with Smith included.

1930s photos | men | women

Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:20:14 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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