Saturday, June 10, 2017

Trying to Match Faces to Names


Along with the photo in my last post, there were five other Tintype photographs, also unidentified, among the possessions of Art & Sadie McGrath. Believing these people may be family, I've got some ideas on who they MIGHT be. I looked at the families of the brothers and sisters of Art & Sadie and both of their parents. We have some identified photos of members of Sadie's side of the family, so I have compared them and I don't see much resemblance. These photos look like they were all taken before 1900. According to Wikipedia, Tintypes started losing commercial ground in the mid 1860's, yet survived for well over another 40 years mostly as a carnival novelty. So it's possible that these are from the 1880's or 1890's. 



This group of a family including parents, 6 children and a young woman may be the easiest one to determine who they could be. I assume the man has his hand on the shoulder of his wife, and the young woman in the hat seems to be a few years older than the children and may not be a sibling. She could be a relative or she could be someone they took in to help with the children.  The two girls, one on each side of the adult women, look about the same age or within a few years. So I looked for a family with at least six children where two girls are the oldest.  

One family I found was Levi and Minnie Patterson's. Minnie's full name was Arminda Ruth, she was the second oldest sister of Art McGrath. Ruth Webb, who was possibly the woman in my last post was her Grandmother. Levi and Minnie's family started with a girl, then another girl, then boy, boy, girl, boy - the last boy was born in 1890. This photo could have been taken about 1891 or 1892 judging by the smallest child in the middle. Levi & Minnie's family moved from Illinois to Nebraska about 1885. So if this is them, the picture was taken in Nebraska. 


One other possible family that might match this photo is the David Foster Negley family.  The children in that family start out with three girls, then three boys. It's hard to say if the boy in the forefront looks older than the younger girl on the right. Those Negley children were born between 1869 and 1882 with three years between the two oldest girls. These girls look closer in age than that to me. Most of the other Negley family photos we have are the Carte de Visite type.






I think the age order of these 3 children goes girl, boy, girl.  One related family that starts out that way is the William and Rebecca Smith family. Rebecca is Art McGrath's oldest sister. Their third child was born in 1887, the younger girl looks about two or three years old. The next girl they had died in 1890. Again, this picture may have been taken about 1891 or 1892.

For comparison, I know the young woman on the right is Elizabeth, the oldest daughter of William and Rebecca Smith. Can this be the same girl?


Maybe I'm stuck thinking along the same family line, but IF the family group is Arminda McGrath's, and the children belong to Rebecca McGrath, could I expect to find a photo of William and Rebecca (McGrath) Smith?



The couple in this photo and the next one look to me like they could be the same, below just a few years later. It really could be anyone. 

Below it looks like a boy on the man's lap, and I can barely see a ruffle and two little feet on the woman's lap (it's much easier to see when zoomed in closer).  It's impossible to tell with the damage to the photo. There's no face, but I really think there's a little girl there, older than the boy. Could the children in the photo below be the oldest two in the photo of the three children above? 




Another comparison look - the woman on the right is Rebecca (McGrath) Smith.

Arthur McGrath had no other siblings. The woman below could be anyone. She is wearing what looks like a ring on a chain hanging from her neck.  She does have a band on her wedding ring finger.  Sitting on a chair leaning on a table, she looks to me like she is in her early to mid 20's. 




We will never really know who they are unless someone else has the same or similar photos. I can't say for sure, but I think that these photos are all of the McGrath side of the family. I believe they belonged to Rachel McGrath at one time, the mother of Rebecca, Arminda and Arthur.  





2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed following your analysis of the photos. I did something similar with a photo from a family reunion taken in the 1920s. What I had assumed was just a group of people I'm now thinking is one particular family after counting the boys and girls which matches the family of my great grandmother's sister.

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    1. Having children in the photo always helps identify it, especially if you do know those children. It helps date it too. Thanks for reading & commenting Wendy!

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