Photo Jewelry

Last week I showed you a picture of a piece of photo jewelry owned by Teri Luna and discussed a few clues.

Teri saw the column and wrote back with a few more details.

This particular pin is 1 3/4 inches high and 1 3/8 inches wide. In the photo it looks larger than that. These small pins could be worn at the neckline or pinned to the bodice.

I suggested that this man could be either the father of John Waddell Brown or the father of his wife, Agnes Dunlop Drinnan Brown if either man was born circa 1810.

Teri doesn’t know too much about either man. Both were deceased at the time Agnes and John married in 1892. John’s father, John Brown was a carting contractor but Teri lacks both birth and death information for him. It’s a classic case of genealogical research problems relating to a common name. His wife was Janet Waddell.

Agnes’ father, John Dunlop had a civic occupation as the Registrar of Births. He was born circa 1818 in Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scotland. His wife was Catherine Fulton Dunlop.

Both mother’s were alive at the time their children married. The mystery remains. Who’s depicted in the photo and who wore the pin? Janet or Catherine?

Teri’s determined to figure out this mystery. She’s going through microfiche of town records looking for clues. She might want to consult FindMyPast.com too. I found several possible matches for her ancestors including census records for the Dunlops. Find My Past offers a free 14-day trial subscription.

She’s happy to know more about the pin and said, “We will treasure it forever.”

Identify your old mystery family photos with these guides by Maureen A. Taylor: