Collecting Pictures
Most people have a possibly 128 5th great grandparents. I only have 126 because of the loop in my family tree. Of those 126 great great great great great grandparents, all but one of them have been faceless with the exception of one on my maternal line on a well documented line. The one 5th great grandparent I have a picture of from that line is only a digital copy of the actual picture but one that I treasure.
I treasure it because I just like to collect pictures of my ancestors. Partly out of curiosity of how traits get passed on from generation to generation and partly because it gives me a feeling of closeness to people who couldn't imagine me more than I can imagine their daily lives. I am proud of my collection of 18 3rd great grandparent pictures I have out of the possible 32 everyone has. (This is before the loop.) I keep searching for those holdout 14 pictures but know that I have slim odds of finding all of them due to some early deaths.
So while doing some auxiliary research for my other Smith family, a post still being written, I came across these two photos of 2 of my 5th great grandparents, tripling my total collection at that level! According to a biography written by a granddaughter, whom these pictures came from, Jane was especially fond of smoking and cooking for native Blackhawk Indians who showed up at her door looking for food. Her husband David Jamerson did not live to be a ripe old age and due to the period, details of how he died young will probably forever be a mystery.
It also created some problems for his estate, but I will save that for another post down the road a bit. Unbeknownst to me, they aren't buried real far from where I live, just across the border in Illinois, so perhaps one day I'll swing by and introduce myself to their spirits. They are still remembered and now have faces!
That's amazing that you have photos back so far--to the era when photography was new. I have some photos of a few of my great-great grandparents, but I'm beginning to think that the South (because the war) had little time for such luxuries in the 19th Century.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right because about the timing and geographic location. I am always surprised at how many pictures I have found of distant ancestors. The only pictures I have of my line that came from the south, were taken after they were here north of the Mason Dixon line!
DeleteYour great grandmother's kindness to native Americans reminds me that it wasn't all about cowboys shooting Indians and Indians firing arrows back. The relationship was frequently much more complicated than that. "Jamerson" is an interesting spelling. I am sure that I have never come across it before but in the past accurate spelling wasn't necessarily a big deal.
ReplyDeleteI have several accounts of ancestors who lived essentially among native Americans and all are stories of peaceful coexistence.
DeleteAs for the last name, when I go back that far, the spelling is generally an average of all the different ways I find it spelled as most records are third party records where my ancestor wasn't actually signing or writing anything. In this particular case, I have records where it is spelled Jimmerson, Jameson as well as Jamerson. When I don't have an original signature or spelling by a close descendant, I am left to pick usually the most frequent occurring version which was Jamerson but it might not be correct as you hint at.
Jane is a stern looking person (hard life) but was kind to others. I have a few photos but they're not organized. I should work on that more!
ReplyDeleteThey always say that they looked stern to be captured on slow filming speeds of the time. But I'm guessing some of them were just stern looking anyway.
DeleteOld pictures are fascinating. The farthest mine go back are grandparents. I get a kick looking at how my mother looked as a little girl.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny how things get passed down. Honestly, one of my 3rd great grandfathers looks like a spittin' image of me today!
DeleteHow great that you could find some photos from a time when photography was a rarity. I have photos going back to a mid-1800s daguerrotype of my three-greats (I think?) grandfather. The problem with some of our oldest family photos is, we don't know for sure who they depict. It wasn't always common practice to write a name on a photo and some will probably forever be a mystery.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I have more than a few of those too. I'm trying to be proactive though and label the ones I do know for future generations.
DeleteHow neat that you got the pictures. And what interesting details to go along with them. I think photos help make them more real, the face for a name thing.
DeleteIt most certainly does!
DeleteSuper cool Ed. We have some pictures of my great grandparents, but not all family lines.
ReplyDeleteProbably only 25% of my direct ancestor pictures are ones that I own. Most have been by contacting or being contacted by other lines of my family tree.
DeleteExcellent work as usual, Ed. It's really cool how much you have done into your family tree. It's kind of mind blowing that we all have that many great great great great great grandparents.
ReplyDeleteIt makes it quite easy to imagine at how one doesn't have to go back very far to be connected to anyone.
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