As I do my genealogical research, I always look for any hints for what my ancestors looked like. Were they short or tall? What color were their eyes? How the heck did I get red hair when everyone in my family has sandy brown hair? We're lucky enough to have one family photo album from the 1800's and a few old photos here and there but I always ask myself? Where did all of our family’s photos go?
In order to answer that question, I've become slightly addicted to perusing every old photo at every antique store and show, scouring the back of EVERY photo to see if there is a name on it. The vendors must wonder what the crazy lady is doing sitting on the floor with a pile of photos. I also search EBay to find I.D.’d photos and albums. It makes me insane when I see families selling their own family albums but I'm a good girl and don't follow through on my thought of sending them a nasty email to tell them how lucky they are and telling them they're horrible people for selling their family history like that.
Occasionally, I find someone else’s family photo that has a name and location on it and I buy it in hopes that somebody is left in that person's family that would love to know what they looked. So, I will sometimes post these photo finds here and maybe a descendent will find them, contact me and the photos will be returned to their loved ones. Who knows? Maybe one day, someone will find my ancestors’ photos and I'll figure out where this red hair originated.
Alise, Minnie, Orville and Raymond Young of Matoon, IL. Children of Edwin and Rose Young. Photo found in Glendale, CA.
World War I soldier, Raymond Young of Matoon, IL. Son of Edwin and Rose Young. Photo found in Glendale, CA.
No comments:
Post a Comment