Friday's Faces from the Past - A Closer Look

In September, 2014 I posted this photograph which I thought read "This is Myrtle and Deril". The "da." on the next line I thought might be an abbreviation of "daughter". After looking at it closer, I think my eyes neglected to see a hypen because the name "Derilda" was not familiar to me. That little hyphen made me take another look for Myrtle and her daughter "Derilda".

Still looking in the 1940 census because I thought the picture had been taken around that time based on the printed photograph and the way they were dressed, I found no Myrtle and Derilda. But when I searched other online family trees for a mother/daughter without using any dates, I found a family that has a connection to my ancestors. By the ages of that Myrtle and Derilda, the photo had to have been taken 20 years earlier than I was thinking.

I found a Myrtle Jessie and Helen Derilda who had the last name Hebert. This tree showed Myrtle's maiden name was Pitt. That name was familiar to me. Years ago I had heard from someone named Pitt. Myrtle's father was William Pitt, her mother was Martha Berkstresser. I knew how the Berkstresser name fits into my family tree.

For ease of explanation I'll say this photo was originally given to my Second Great Grandparents, Josiah and Sarah Negley who lived in Eldorado, Nebraska.  Sarah's maiden name was Lee, her brother was George W. Lee. George was married to Christine Berkstresser. Martha and Christine were sisters. So, Myrtle is Sarah Negley's sister-in-law's niece.

The Berkstresser and Negley families had both lived in Bedford County, Pennsylvania before moving first to Bureau County, Illinois, and then the Clay county, Nebraska area. Josiah Negley and Christine Berkstresser were both born in 1846, Martha was about 10 years younger.

Myrtle Jessie Pitt was born in 1894 and Derilda in 1914, so in this picture if Derilda is about 3 years old, Myrtle would be about 23. Between 1900 and 1910, William & Martha Pitt moved from Eldorado, Nebraska to Fergus county, Montana. That is where Derilda was born. Following Helen Derilda Hebert in the online trees, she was shown to have married Robert Chester Holmes and had at least a couple of children. She died in 1968 in Seattle, Washington.

The only explanation I have for the stamp "United Photo Service, LaCrosse, Wisconsin" is that whoever took the photo sent their film there for processing. We used to send our film somewhere to be processed. I remember the fun of getting the pictures back! Sometimes it took from Christmas to the county fair to finish a roll of film. You never knew what would be in that envelope.