Skip to main content

Thank you Gwen! And new family photo, possibly Mell

I want to give my sincere thanks to Gwen from http://therobertsonkubbernessconnection.blogspot.com/2011/01/follow-friday_24.html for featuring this blog and introducing me to a great bunch of fellow old-photo appreciators! I don't promote my blog and kind of assumed there weren't that many others like me out there because I don't know any in real life! It was wonderful to "meet" so many and, being a little unschooled in blog-sharing, I will admit I was a more than a bit flustered at the blog's subscriber count suddenly rising! :) Thank you so much, Gwen!

And "Thank you!" to all of you who subscribed, and to those who left comments.  I set comments for moderation so that I don't miss any, but that means that sometimes one takes a few days to go through.  I do like to reply to them, so please check back soon if you left a comment recently.

-----------------


In the past few months I went on an Ebay buying spree and spent much more than I should have really. It will take some time to put all the pictures up here, what with trying to write any sellers about where they got photos that have names on them, scanning, editing, organizing, and posting. I am a bit ADDish and go in fits and starts.

I do hope to be much better about posting more regularly now that I'm not buying any more for a while.

Here is one of my new old photos. It was taken in Flint, Michigan, by, I think, Will H. Foote.  It was interesting deciphering the capital letters on that one, but I'm pretty sure I got them right.

As usual click on the picture to see it in lovely detail1


It is always a huge bonus to me when the people are identified.  Below is a scan of the back of the photo, with first and middle names or initials.   Unfortunately not their surname!  First is a sideways version so you can see the placement as it is probably written like that due to where the people are in the photo.  I believe the names refer to just the children .  It would be better if the parents and surname were named too, but just maybe there will be someone out there searching for the first names of a bunch of siblings!




Here's the same photo turned so we can read without giving ourselves a kink in the neck.

For the purposes of anyone doing internet searches for names, here they are:
Vestie May

Elner W   
This could be a misspelled Elmer but you never know.  Also, the initial could be an H but using my super-sharp detective skills from deciphering the letters on the front, it is constructed unlike the H there and exactly like the first letter. 
(P.S. I found 2 charts here: http://www.moonzstuff.com/articles/oldhandwriting.html, with examples according to which the initial could be W or H, so for the sake of 'googlers' I'll write the alternate names: Elner H, Elmer H, Elmer W)

Charles E

Gladie Ann

Jesse R

Bennie A R

Clarisa Belle. 

And, included in the unlikely chance that someone later wrote the surname along with the price, at the top it says Mell.  I did do a fair bit of searching for Mells with these names, and only found one, who almost certainly is not this one, going by family description here: http://genforum.genealogy.com/mell/messages/5.html


Comments

Brian said…
Thanks for this post. I have Mells in my tree, so I found you via Google. These aren't any of mine, if they are Mell family at all. However, I have come across this spelling challenge before and I believe your "Elner" is not Elmer, but Eleanor, phonetically. Just a thought.
Natalia said…
Brian, thank you for writing! This makes a lot of sense---except that I believe it refers to the young man second from left at back. It seems to me that the names were written directly behind the corresponding person, with the four names (girl, boy, boy, girl) spread out like the people at the top are spread, and the three others are close together (girl, boy, boy, the reverse of the people, as they would be when written behind), positioned just like the children are in the photo, two of them directly below a sibling. This makes me fairly convinced that Elner/Elmer is a boy; at least more convinced than I am that they are Mells! ;)

Thanks so much for writing! I am certainly open to more thoughts!
Nice work. I came across your blog while “blog surfing” using the Next Blog button on the blue Nav Bar located at the top of my blogger.com site. I frequently just travel around looking for other blogs which exist on the Internet, and the various, creative ways in which people express themselves. Thanks for sharing.
Sara said…
I didn't know where else to post this but I love your site!! I love old photos AND big families. I'm the oldest of six and have 5 living children and 2 that have passed on.
I'm so excited to see what you'll be posting in the future but until then I'm going to look at 'older' posts. Thanks so much for taking the time to post these photographs. Very special!
Natalia said…
Sara, I'm glad you found me! Wonderful to find a "kindred spirit!" I hope you keep on commenting. Bless you and your family. :)

Popular posts from this blog

Cox, Hershey, Bickmore, Isaacks, Armistead, Kellogg, Schroeder, unknown, and Anthony families.

April 2010 Please see updated information in the comments, and I've copied some of it under the Isaacks family halfway down this post. These are all linked from Ancient Faces. To see the original entry go to ancientfaces.com and search the names. Cox family, 1927. Left to right: Marion Absolom Cox, aged 36, b Feb 26, 1899; John Larkin Cox, b Aug 15, 1895; Alva Louis Cox, b Mar 20, 1901; Gilbert Raymond Cox, b Jan 2, 1904; Mary Cox, b Oct 13, 1886; Robert Dale Cox, b Nov 2, 1909; Mary Melvina {McReynolds} Cox, b Oct 10, 1871; John 'Turkey' Cox, b Aug 24, 1859. Henry (b Feb 13, 1820) Hershey and Caroline Good Hershey (b Feb 5, 1824) family. Children are: Alvin E Hershey, b Feb 28, 1842; Mary A Hershey, b Jul 10, 1843; Malinda G Hershey, b May 10, 1845; Nancy A Hershey, b Jan 18, 1848; Benjamin Hershey, b Feb 8, 1850. UPDATE: July 2009: "Keith" writes (slightly adjusted): Just a quick note to say I love your blog and it came to a surprise while s

Talmon, Weir, Shafer, Switzler, Mcginnis, Hawkins, Parsley, Yeager, Lacey, Sanders, Campbell, Morlang, Eckles, Reed, Lesher, Fossett, etc, families

These are all linked from Ancient Faces. To see the original entry go to ancientfaces.com and search the names. Talmon family Weir family, taken Feb 1936. Front: Charles McEwan Weir, 15, b Jan 3, 1920; Mary Helen McEwan Weir, 5, b Nov 8, 1930; Ann Addison Weir, 48, b May 21, 1888; William McEwan Weir, 13, b Jul 28, 1933 Back: George Weir, 24, b Nov 7, 1911; Charles McEwan Weir, 51, b Oct 11, 1885; Ralph Weir, 23, b Jun 16, 1914 Albert and Nelsena Shafer family portrait, taken December 24, 1908. Amazing family. Children range in age from 26 down to infant. Babies in front: Edna Geneva Shafer, 3,b Mar 17, 1905; Hazel Nelsena Shafer, 5, b Jan 15, 1903; Mildred Shafer, 6 mos, b Jul 18, 1908 Middle: George Elmer Shafer, 21, b Nov 18, 1887; Albert Shafer, 52, b Sep 28, 1858; Lawrence Chester Shafer, 10, b May 20, 1898; Martha Nelsena Sjurson Shafer, 42, b Apr 11, 1863; Harold Neil Shafer, 8, b Apr 28, 1900; Zona Louise Shafer, 26, b Dec 4, 1882 Back: Josephine Isabelle Shafer, 14, b Jun 19,

Gil, Pizzitoia, Underwood, Runser, Basham, and Puente families

These are all linked from Ancient Faces. To see the original entry go to ancientfaces.com and search the names. Gil family in 1914. Parents are Anastacio Leoncio "Tito" Gil, 39, b Jan 21, 1875, and Balbina Yates Gil, 31, b Mar 30, 1883. Children are: Jasper Edward Gil, 10, b 1903; Harold Jerome Gil, 8, b 1905; Grace Angelina Gil, 7, b 1906; Rudolph Muricio Gil, 4, b 1909; Viola Gil, 2, b 1911; Eva Gil, 1, b 1913. Possibly Vincena Volpi Pizzitoia's children Melissa Pairlee (Best) Underwood, daughter of William Best and Lucinda Raines, with all of her children gathered at the funeral of her husband Robert A. Underwood. front row l-r: Alfred, Carlos, Rufus, Charlie, Ernest and William. back row l-r: Ila, Oleda, Pairlee, Geneva and Kathleen Philip Runser family shortly after the youngest child, Katherine, was married. Most likely taken at the family homestead in Foxboro, Wisconsin. This is of the parents and their children without the in-laws. The parents are Philip J Runser