Who's in the Photo: 52 Ancestors

You've been researching your old family photos, right? So play along to identify a photo shared by my distant cousin, Connie. It's got some great clues. There is a man's name on the back and a photographer's mark on the front. The woman's dress is distinctive. Have you already guessed a time frame?

The back of the photo says David Henderson. Is that Senior or Junior? Putting the clues together will solve the puzzle.

The photographer is Williams of Portage, Wisconsin. Doing a Google search for Wisconsin photographers turns up a wonderful index compiled by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The current link is: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS3528

It's not usually that easy to identify a photographer's mark. We got lucky. The index says that George W. Williams was active in the Portage area between about 1900 and 1906.

The high sleeve of the woman's dress is a style that was popular in the 1890's. The photo was probably taken in about 1900 and certainly no earlier than 1893. With a time frame established, it's time to review the men named David Henderson.

David Henderson, Sr., was born in Fife, Scotland about 1799. He was a linen hand loom weaver in Scotland. He and his family came to Wisconsin in 1850, where he became a farmer. He is listed on the 1880 census of Columbia County, Wisconsin, though his tombstone gives a death date of 1879. Considering the stone was laid at a later date, it's likely he died in 1880 or after. He does not appear on the 1885 state census.

His wife was Ann Taylor, the widow of Peter Mitchell. She was born about 1800 and died about 1886, according to the same tombstone.

Since both David Henderson, Sr., and Ann Taylor Henderson had died before 1890, they cannot be the couple in the photo. Therefore, the photo is of their son and his wife.

Digital scrapbook elements from ClubScrap and DigitalScrapper

David Henderson, Jr., was a boy of 7 when the family came to Wisconsin from Scotland. He was born on January 15, 1843, in Linktown, Fife, Scotland. According to the census taken in June, 1860, he was working as a farm laborer, though he had attended school within the prior year.

Just a few houses away in the 1860 census, the 7-year-old Jane Robbins lived with her parents, John and Elizabeth (Thompson) Robbins. On June 8, 1886, David Henderson, Jr., married Jane "Jennie" Robbins in Columbia County. They had three sons: George, Edwin and William.

David continued farming throughout his life, dying on November 12, 1908. Jennie lived a much longer life, living until October 20, 1947. Jennie and David Henderson, Jr., and Ann and David Henderson, Sr., are all buried in Bach Cemetery in Columbia County, sharing a single large stone with the four names.

* Edited 9/7/18 to correct a typographical error in the census year.

Farewell, Senator

As a resident of Arizona, I voted for you. I voted against you. Regardless, you always were "my senator." I supported you because you supported me. Even after moving out of Arizona, I appreciated your leadership.

Thank you, Captain McCain, for your service to your country.

Thank you, Senator McCain, for your service to Arizona, to the United States and to the planet.

You are missed.

On Top of the Blue Ridge

Did your ancestors migrate through the beautiful Shenandoah Valley along the Great Warrior Trail? For many years the valley was a major route for migration and travel between Pennsylvania and North Carolina. This 1751 map shows dramatically how the mountains in Virginia limited westward migration and controlled the direction of travel. Today Interstate 81 parallels the old trails.

Map from Library of Congress

Some of your ancestors, like Thomas Jefferson and like some of mine, may have chosen to live in the Shenandoah Valley or surrounding mountains. Whenever I drive through that area, the beauty awes me and I understand their choice.

Soon, for the first time in his life, my younger brother will spend a few days in the magnificence of the lower Shenandoah. If you are a cousin, do read on to see if one of our shared ancestors lived in this beautiful area. Someday you might even wish to follow the trail yourself.

So, brother, this post is for you!





Near the orange marker at Glen Wilton, John Derrick owned land and it was the area where he died about 1790. It is also where he married Anna Maria Dunkelberger. Here Philip Fry married Maria Magdalena Derrick in 1781. The Fry family migrated on to Tennessee and Alabama. Philip had 25 children and many of our DNA matches are from this line in my father's ancestry.

Switching to my mother's family, the dark red marker is in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, formerly Greenbrier County. Members of the Greaton family were taxed in this area. David Greaton moved on to Ohio and Illinois. His daughter Elizabeth married Lazarus Maddox in Ohio in 1816.

Also in Greenbrier County, John Kelly was born about 1779. He moved on to Tennessee where his  great-granddaughter married Benjamin Franklin Pryor.

The dark pink marker is at the community of Hanging Rock. In this area a large group of Swiss Anabaptists made their home near the end of the 1700s. Today this group is known as Church of the Brethren. Our ancestors and relatives who settled here included members of the following families: Peffley, Rettinger, Gerst/Garst, Bosseck, Graybill, Borndragar, Mangus, and many more. My ancestors moved on to Indiana and Kansas, but many family members stayed in Virginia.

Lastly the purple marker sits near the stunning Blue Ridge Parkway. Nicholas Allee in 1797 was granted 38 acres that adjoined land he already owned. The land is partially described as

... Lying and being in the County's of Montgomery, and Franklin, the greater part thereof, in the County of Montgomery on the dividing Ridge, including the heads of Daniel's Run, the waters of Black water, and bounded ... top of said ridge ...

What amazes me about this grant is that it specifically mentions the Blue Ridge (dividing ridge) and lists the watercourses in a way that the land can be identified within a few miles. The counties no longer have a common line, as Floyd County was carved out of Montgomery County in 1831. The creek named Daniel's Run no longer appears to begin at the Blue Ridge, but its probable course can be seen on topographical maps. Using Deed Mapper software to determine the shape of the property and researching the watercourses,  I believe that it included land that today is part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, including milepost 144.8, the Pine Spur Overlook. I'm looking forward to visiting this site and seeing what my ancestors saw. 

Nicholas Allee died in 1808 and his descendants moved on to Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. His legacy lives on in hundreds of descendants and his land enchants thousands of visitors to the Blue Ridge each year.