Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Smile for the Camera: Who are you?

I recently discovered Smile for the Camera in time to participate in the 9th Edition:

The word prompt for the 9th Edition of Smile For The Camera is Who Are You - I Really Want To Know? Show us that picture that you found with your family collection or purchased, but have no idea who they might be.

Someone took the time to be photograph, someone took the time to send it to a loved one, someone didn't take the time to identify the photograph. And you really want to know who they are. Bring it to the carnival. Share! Maybe one of our readers can help.

Admission is free with every photograph! Your submission may include as many or as few words as you feel are necessary to describe your treasured photograph. Those words may be in the form of an expressive comment, a quote, a journal entry, a poem (your own or a favorite), a scrapbook page, or a heartfelt article. The choice is yours!

Well, I have two that I would like to share. This first one is a family. I have had this photo posted for years on my genealogy website, here. My cousin sent it to me, saying that he had been told these were our Fife relatives and that my ancestor, John Calvin Fife was in the photo. Since he died in 1879, and I've been told the photograph looks like it was taken in the 1890s, I have wondered if he might be the man in the photograph on the back wall. In that case, the older woman shown here might be my g-g-grandmother, Mary F. (McConnell) Fife, along with two of her daughters and her son, my g-grandfather, Charles E. Fife. However, I have seen other photos of great-grandpa, and that man doesn't really look like him to me. (For comparison, there is a distant photo of him here, and a group photo showing him fourth from the left, here.) Maybe someday someone will be able to definitively identify these people for me!

This second picture shows one person I know, and three that I do not. The back of this photo was written on. It reads:

"Esther Atkinson and the Hunter Kids"


Esther was my great-aunt, the sister of my grandfather, Charles Atkinson. But who were those Hunter kids? Relatives? Friends? Maybe Esther helped take care of them?

You can see more about the photo here.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone recognized these children?

4 comments:

  1. I love that first photo because we get a glimpse of their parlor.

    As for the second photo, have you check the census around that time to see if your ancestors had Hunters as neighbors?

    I hope you get some answers!

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  2. Would love to be able to enlarge the first photo. Beautiful setting. Like Amy, I love to see their parlor.

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  3. I remember on the Antique Road Show someone had a photo similar to the first one & the appraiser was able to narrow down the era by the decor and furnishings. I love that there are 2 portraits on the wall of the parlor!

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  4. I have always loved that picture, too! I had my hands on the original back in 1998. My cousin lent me a bunch of family photos that his mom has, including that one. I have to admit, I was using my very first scanner back then, and didn't do a good job with a lot of the photos, but I really wanted to try to capture all the details in that one. The original wasn't very large, if you click on the photo to see it full-sized, it's a little bigger than what I scanned.

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