Archives for Maureen A. Taylor
Cousin Connections Through Old Pictures
Never underestimate the power of a picture. A single photo can connect you with a missing piece of evidence, point you in a new direction or help you meet "new" relatives. Last week's picture brought two women closer together and solved a more than 60-year-old mystery...
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Mothers in Old Photos
Who doesn't own an image of an ancestral mother with her children? It seems like everyone has at least one. This week's photo doesn't show a mother. Instead, she's referenced in a note on the back. Maureen Petrilli's grandmother Mary Ellen Gillespie arrived at Ellis Island with her cousin Alice...
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Texas Photo Mysteries
This past weekend I was the featured speaker for the Austin Genealogical Society. There were a lot of folks in the audience who weren't familiar with this Photo Detective blog. The big question was: Have I written about any Texas photo mysteries? The answer is yes...
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Sleeves Tell the Story
Family history mixups happen all the time, especially with photo captions. Vicki Beegle wrote a name on this image awhile ago, but now she's not sure if it's a woman on her mother's side or her father's. It's going to take a little time to sort...
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Foreign Photo Mystery
This damaged image depicts one family line of Julie Townsend Gontarek's husband. Julie knows the image shows relatives in Poland, but not their identities. There are three possibilities: The Gontareks, Klamsky and Otrasek families all lived there. Before she can delve deeper, Julie wants to know when the picture was...
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Donating a Piece of History
Now that Yvette LaGonterie knows that the mystery photo discovered in her grandparents' house doesn't show her family members, she asked me for advice on donating the image. The man in the family portrait LaGonterie found is Rev. George Frazier Miller, one of the founding members of the Niagara Movement...
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Photo Detective: Dating and Identifying People in Old Family Photos Premium
Uncovering clues in historical photos. This issue: Billiards players outside an Oklahoma pool hall.
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Next Steps After Solving a Photo Mystery
What do you do after solving an old-photo mystery? I'm hoping you label the picture on the back using a soft graphite pencil. I'm also hoping you let that photograph take you to a new level of genealogy research. While the group portrait featured in last week's blog didn't end...
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Photo Success Story: Reverend George Miller
Last week I wrote about Yvette LaGonterie's mystery photo and the possible link to the Underground Railroad. The clues dated this photo to circa 1900. I wondered if the man's collar was actually a clue to his profession. Could that be a clerical collar? That one little question led to...
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A Photographic Link to the Underground Railroad?
The condition of this photo isn't unusual. The heavy acidic cardboard mount is very fragile. It's rare to find a photo of this type in perfect condition. Store a photo like this in an acid- and lignin-free folder made of heavyweight cardstock, so it's supported. If you've ever found a...
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