Lost Pictures: Looking for 1887 Wedding Picture

Maureen Taylor — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:07:00 +0000

I love this column. Brian Nichols wrote for help. He’s looking for an 1887 wedding picture. Here’s his story:
My great-grandfather was a traveling cigar salesman from St. Louis. On December 7, 1887 my great-grandmother, Adelia, left her family’s farm in Wisconsin and eloped to Canton, South Dakota Territories with great-grandpa Frank A. Nichols. Two years later, Frank left Adelia and their son, then disapeared from family history. Adelia kept Frank’s last name and the wedding certificate but removed their pictures, which presumably have been destroyed. We’re hoping to find the plates or copies of those pictures. The family knows of no other existing photos and dear great-grandma never spoke about her husband again..other than to tell their son that Frank died in St. Louis a few years after he left them. (we managed to find Frank’s death certificate and discovered that he died from injuries received during what was later named “the Great Cylone of St Louis and East St. Louis”).

When looking for missing photos I start by Googling the name, just in case. You never know what’s going to turn up. Then I go to DeadFred.com and AncientFaces.com.

A more time intensive search involves contacting historical societies in the area in which the person lived and if all else fails try reverse genealogy. That’s when you research the family forward in time rather than backwards. You’re looking for living descendants. In this case, Brian would look for living collateral descendants of Frank A. Nichols, i.e. his siblings.

Do you have a “lost photo?” I’d love to share your story and help you find it.

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Ask Maureen: Photo Reunions

Maureen Taylor — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Patience wrote: I found a stack of quite good portrait photos from the late 1800’s – mostly from California but also from NY, Minnesota, Indiana. Only a very few have names of whose photo it is – but almost all of them have the name of the photography studio. What would be the best way for me to seek out family members who may have lost them?

One of my favorite websites is DeadFred.com. Individuals post images on the site hoping to connect with family or to find missing family photos. Over 5,000 a week search this online archive. The site is easy to navigate and it’s free!

If you want to facilitate the reunion, then join the ranks of genealogists who research the names on these abandoned photos like they’re members of their own family. It’s a wonderful feeling to reunite these photo treasures with their descendants.

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Lost Pictures: Looking for 1887 Wedding Picture

Ask Maureen: Photo Reunions