There are three photographs below. The one in the middle is a definite photograph of my great-grandfather, taken in 1900, shortly after the birth of his daughter, and my grandmother, Myrtle. (It was colorized in the 1940s, but I have the original photograph as well, which contained my grandmother as an infant.)
My inexpert opinion is that the individual in the oldest photograph isn't the same as the individual in the middle. The shape of the head is different. However, the ear, mouth, and nose look identical. If it were my great-grandfather, it would likely have been taken in 1883, at the time of his wedding, when he was 20.
I am much more willing to believe the man in the last picture is my great-grandfather. He lived until 1929, age 66. Visually, I'd guess the picture is from his final decade.
John, as I look at these three photos I see the same man in different times of his life. So often when I look at photos that are definitively identified as the same person over time, I notice that faces and bodies often get fuller as people age. The similarities between one and two are striking: hairline -- even the way the hair falls to the man's right, ears, nose, mouth, fullness on the lower face behind and under the mouth, and shoulders that slant slightly. In photo 3 I see all of those, but in a more aged version. But I would probably be like you and want something more than a distant cousin's word for it. I hope you'll find more photos, perhaps with a name on the back.
ReplyDeleteThanks. The cousin isn't certain who wrote the identification on the back of his photograph. He assumes it was his grandmother, which would generally be a good identification since she was my great grandfather's niece. But he isn't certain.
ReplyDeleteIf it is my great-grandfather, I think it qualifies as my oldest family photograph.
ReplyDeletePre-dating by 10 years, this photograph of his children
http://blog.transylvaniandutch.com/2010/01/wordful-wednesday-van-every-children.html