Counting the Clues to Solve an Old Photo Mystery
The three parts to this German photo mystery are the caption, the date of the image and the family history information. The first blog post dated the image to the 1880s, and the second post discussed caption translation confusion. Please read the comments to the Caption Confusion post. A woman...
Read MoreCaption Confusion in a Foreign Photo
Caption confusion is a common condition. You may suffer from it. The main symptoms are squinty eyes and a headache from trying to figure out what someone wrote on a picture years ago. You can't read the handwriting or follow the cryptic clues. Maybe you discover that what's written isn't...
Read MoreForeign Photo Caption Mystery
Ownership is a clue to who's in a mystery photo. The problem is while most people know who gave them a picture—such as an aunt, parent or grandparent—but before that, ownership information may be unknown. Debra Allison can trace the provenance (ownership) of this picture back to her great-grandmother Antoinette...
Read MoreCaption Mystery for an Old Photo
Identifying captions written with good intentions years ago often confuse descendants rather than clarify who's who. On the back of this photo found among the things of Roxanne Turpin's mother-in-law is a cryptic note: "Relative of Grandpa (Grande), I think." The person wrote in ball point ink, which...
Read More5 Clues to Solve an Old-Photo Mystery
Every old mystery photo is full of clues if you know where to look. Let's break this one down into five steps: 1. Consider the provenance.Phyllis Reakes' first cousin gave her this photograph. Phyllis knows the man sitting on the far right is her great-grandfather, born in 1839. That...
Read MoreForeign Photo Mystery
This damaged image depicts one family line of Julie Townsend Gontarek's husband. Julie knows the image shows relatives in Poland, but not their identities. There are three possibilities: The Gontareks, Klamsky and Otrasek families all lived there. Before she can delve deeper, Julie wants to know when the picture was...
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Sweden to the U.S. and Back Again
Do you have photographs in your collection that were taken overseas? That's Maria Benini's problem. Only she lives in Stockholm, Sweden. and her mystery photo was taken in Illinois. Benini found this boy's picture in a little brown box that her mother had in her family home in...
Read MoreA Gleasure Family Story
Last week I wrote about Ben Naylor's letters from the Gleasure Family in Ireland and the photos in the collection. Here's more of the story. When Frank Gleasure emigrated to Natick, Mass., about 1900, he left behind a number of younger siblings. For several years, his brother Joseph wrote letters...
Read MoreThe Old Man
Two years ago, Ben Naylor discovered this photograph of a older gent. Ben is stumped about the man's identity. Every photo tells a story and this one is no different. Ben's great-great-grandfather, Irish immigrant George Gleasure (1858-1921), had five children and raised them in Natick, Mass. ...
Read MoreConfirming Identities in Old Family Photos
I'm working on a photo mystery that is making my eyes hurt and my brain spin. With any luck I'll be able to present it here next week. In the meantime, Milah Goler Pasto contacted me through Facebook to ask about a couple of her family photos. She...
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