A Mysterious Wedding Photo Tucked in a Yearbook

Last week, it was a photo found in a neighbor’s garage.  This time, two wedding photos were found tucked in a yearbook.

The first one had a date and a name. Through sleuthing on Ancestry.com, the folks with the yearbook located a match.  They offered them the wedding picture.  The problem is the family they found didn’t want it.

In this instance, they could try reaching out to a local historical society. They might want an identified and dated image.   Let’s hope it works out.

A Christmas wish

It’s the second image they’ve written about. The yearbook was for Mesa, Arizona. This lovely image had a caption on the back, “A merry Christmas to Mother and Father from Marie and Andrew.  Dec 25, 1919.”

No clues as to Marie and Andrew’s identity, but I’m wondering if you can search marriage records for Arizona using just first names.  Penne Hannum found this picture and hopes that a relative wants it.  She would if it were her family.  I would too.

Hunting on Ancestry.com

There is an Arizona Marriage Collection, 1864-1982 on Ancestry.com so I gave it a try.  Entered the first names of both, a year of marriage of 1919 and the location, Mesa.

Nothing. Not a match.  Tried a less exact search for a span of years and a county rather than a town.  Nothing.

• It might not be the right marriage year. The bride’s wedding dress is appropriate for the time, especially her veil.
• It might not be Marie and Andrew. It could have been sent by one of their parents. Although we’ve made an assumption that the couple sent it to one of their sets of parents.
• The couple might not have been married in Mesa.  Just because the yearbook was from there, doesn’t mean it matches.

Outstanding Questions

Penne didn’t mention the year of the yearbook, but I’m wondering if either Marie or Andrew are in the book.  It’s possible. Or even one of their children.

The biggest mystery in found photos is how they ended up where they are found.   In this case, we don’t have all the answers.  There isn’t a whole lot of information to search with.

Anyone else want to try their hand at searching those marriage records?

Does the lack of a positive result make this image disposable?   What do you think?

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