Yesterday morning, for no particular reason, I was thinking about my great-grandmother, the one I am named after. I got to wondering what she looked like as a young woman. I have one or two photos of her as an elderly woman, but that's all. I was wishing there was some way to make a photo "young", the way technology can make a person "age".
Silly.
Random thoughts on a random day.
The thought left my head almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Later, I sat down to scan some photos for my new series Photo Friday. I had recently {re}discovered an old album my parents had put together. There are some real gems in it that I wanted to share.
In the back of the album was an envelope. An envelope I had not seen before. (Or perhaps simply overlooked?) In the envelope was THIS photo.
Holy ....... moly!
Why had I never, ever seen this before??
The photo is ragged, waterstained, faded - but quite possibly will claim a place in my Top Ten best finds.
Not only was this a photo of my great-grandmother, Anna, at about age 30, but (score!) a never before seen image of my 2nd great grandmother, Mary Dempsey! And, and, and siblings!! AND the back was labeled!
I can place this photo sometime around 1890, taken in Minnesota shortly after the family moved from New York. The whereabouts of Katie post-1880 had been a mystery, but here she is! The men? Why they are not labeled is odd, but I suspect they are Hugh O'Connell in the upper left, and little brother Thomas, they had both moved to Minnesota with 'Mother O'Connell' and the rest of the clan.
The synchronicity of it all did not dawn on me until this morning. I had planned to use this photo on Friday as my inaugural Photo Friday post when I was reminded of yesterday's thought. How odd, really, that scant hours after I was wondering about Anna I should find this photo? I'm sure I've thought of her before and wondered.
Maybe it has something to do with my decision to return to my "Why". Maybe it was the full moon? Maybe it was merely a coincidence, or maybe ........
©Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved
Or maybe you were led to the photo? I like that answer best, I think. Great find in any case!
ReplyDeleteI like that answer best too! I often feel my ancestors around me when I research. Thanks for the comment.
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