I am possibly looking for the first time at the faces of 3 of my direct ancestors!
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| Photo courtesy of Beth Spann Curtis |
Recently, a comment on another post here led to an email exchange with a distant cousin, Beth Spann Curtis, which led to her sharing with me this incredible photo. Her father, Herbert Spann, was the youngest son of Marrion Spann. Marrion was the youngest son of Benjamin Franklin Spann and his first wife Hiley Ann. This photo had come to Beth's father from a woman named Opal, who I believe was Opal Peers Spann, the wife of James Kenneth Spann. James was a son of William Henry Spann, who was a son of Ben and his second wife, Mattie. Opal's daughter, Linda had also contacted me a few years ago and shared some photos her mother had, but not this one. All of those people are gone now, leaving Beth & I wondering who the people are in this photo.
"Benjamin Franklin" is written on the bottom of the copy, if "Spann" was once written there also, it has been cut off. I don't know who wrote that or when it was written there. I don't know the date this was taken or the format of the original photo. I have only a digital copy, and Beth does not have the original. She believes that Opal had it and where it is now is unknown.
My eyes immediately saw all the girls in the photo. I knew that Ben & Hiley Ann Spann had eight daughters, the second youngest is my Great Grandmother Allie (Spann) Bell. The girl that strikes me most as having a possible resemblance to other photos I have of Allie (by the shape of her face) is the girl standing directly behind the bearded man. There are 8 females over the age of say 10 in the picture. The young girl standing next to the bearded old man, looks like about 5 years old, and there are 3 infants. Then the four males, one a young boy I'd guess to be about 10.
Ben's second wife Mattie died in 1893 along with twin sons. At that time, they had other children, Lewis, born 1887, William Henry, born 1889, Stacy, born 1891 and Bertha, born 1892.
At first, I was looking at the boy in the picture to be Marrion, and the bearded man as Ben with his wife Mattie and their young children, but I couldn't place the young girl. Ben and Mattie had 2 boys before 2 girls. When Marrion was born, four of his oldest siblings were already married, so I considered Ben's grandchildren could be included. Abner had 4 boys between 1874 & 1879. There were no girls near the age of 5 to explain the young girl.
Beth said that she thought she remembered someone saying that Ben was a baby in the photo. Ben was born in 1827, too early for this photo. But, what if Marrion is a baby? Marrion was born in January of 1882. What if he is the infant on the lap of the man on the left? What if that man is Benjamin Franklin Spann? What if his wife Hiley Ann is sitting next to him?
Looking at everyone as if it is late 1882, the young girl standing next to the bearded man could be Etta, about 5. The girl behind the bearded man then could really be Allie, age 12.
So, from the left side, the young boy could be explained as one of Abner's boys, likely his oldest, John Franklin, age 8, with Abner standing next to him. The daughters would all range in age from 27 to 12, so it's hard to say who is who for sure. Looking closer at the woman seated next to the bearded man, she looks to me like she might be the oldest of the females. She might actually be Hiley Ann. She may be holding a granddaughter - Juda had married in 1879 to James Brammer and had daughters Rosalia in 1880 and Viola in February of 1882. It could be Juda holding the infant on the far right.
With all of this as a possibility, could the bearded man be Ben's father, Hartwell Spann? My Third Great Grandfather?! Hiley Ann's father, Abner Decker, died in 1860. Hartwell was born in 1801 and would be 81 years old. He is living in the 1880 census there in Wayne County. He is first noted on the 1850 census record as being blind. Looking at the eyes of the bearded man makes me wonder.
The things I can't explain are: Where are Abner's other boys? They are all too close in age for any of them to be an infant. The missing spouses of those who were married by 1882 could be explained if they chose to include only the blood relatives, no spouses. People do that.
I'm very grateful to Beth for sharing this photo with me and allowing me to share it with the rest of my family. We may never know for sure who is who, but this seems to me to be the family of Ben & Hiley Ann Spann. Have I just put faces to the names of my Second Great and one Third Great Grandparent?!
