Archives for Maureen A. Taylor
Boyish Charm in an Old, Unidentified Family Photo
Can a photograph help connect two families? Erin Garcia received this picture from a distant cousin. She thinks they're related through her great-great-grandmother Martha Ann (Robertson) Potterfield Murphy (born about 1835). Garcia hopes that these three boys are the children from Martha's second marriage to Nicholas...
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Mind-Bending Mystery Photo Revisted
Over a year ago I wrote about this headache-causing mystery photo owned by a husband and wife, Art and Pam Crawford, who claimed the couple pictured as relatives. The problem was that Art and Pam each identified this couple as different people. Are they members of the Jones family or...
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One More Photo of Ancestors Goofing Around
A big thank you to Carol Jacobs Norwood! She sent me this 1937 photo of her father at age 16, clowning for the camera in a playpen, wearing a baby bonnet and holding a baby bottle. Carol thinks this picture was taken at her father's home in Gardenville, Bucks County...
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Photos of Our Ancestors Goofing Around
Amateur cameras made it possible for our ancestors to relax in front of the lens. Goofy pictures abound in photo albums after 1900. Take this one, for instance: Laura Kettner sent in this picture of two women with their backs to the camera. They've put their coats on backward for...
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World War II Victory Corps
When I was looking for images of students for this space, I stumbled across a World War II program called the Victory Corps. Have you heard of it?My Dad and several of my uncles were WWII veterans, but no one ever mentioned this school-based program. This image from the...
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Sisters in Photos
Two weeks ago I wrote about Suzanne Wood's photo possibly identified as Eleanor South. It's well-worn tintype. In the article I suggested that comparing this picture to those of Eleanor's sisters might help narrow down the identification. The family has a later photo of Eleanor South Fleming and...
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North of the Border Old-Photo Mystery
Jane Smith owns this lovely photo of a young girl and an older man. She hopes it depicts her great-grandfather Patrick Hughes, born in 1836 in County Down, Ireland. He died in 1899 in Toronto, Canada, after a successful career as a merchant. The picture was found in a...
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An Identification True or False
Since I'm packing for the FGS conference in San Antonio, I thought I'd select a image from Texas for this week's old photo mystery. Suzanne Wood owns two mystery photos. An elderly uncle identified this pictures as Elenor South (1839-1924), but Suzanne isn't sure if she trusts his memory. Could...
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The Well-Dressed Couple Again and Solving a Group Photo Mystery
Last week I showed you a picture of an unknown well-dressed couple circa 1905. Where there's one unidentified photo there are usually more. That's true for Amir Evenchik's collection of images. He owns several other pictures of the same couple taken a few years later. Unfortunately, no one can identify...
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A Well-Dressed Couple
Old pictures have a tendency to turn up unexpectedly. For Amir Evenchik, this photo was recently found at his parent's house. It's the usual story: No one knows the identity of the couple or where they posed for this lovely formal portrait. Dating this photo is the easy part...
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