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This is my fourth-great-grandfather's farm in West Virginia. His name was Ferguson Caldwell and his wife was Lydia Caldwell.
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This is Ferguson's brother, Levi, who was born in 1834 and fought in The War Between The States. I have a letter that he wrote from the battlefield saying how he hated the Rebels. It's full of fascinating details.
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This is Levi and his (my) extended family. It's funny how having one's picture taken was serious business. It must have been a rare occurrence.View attachment 24584
This is Levi's home.
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This is Reverend Lorenzo Caldwell, Ferguson's uncle? He travelled all day over the mountain to baptize and Christen children and perform nuptials. He has such an austere countenance but not necessarily unkind.
Yeah, I'd considered that. I wonder if it was expensive. I'm not sure but every time I have seen group pictures from this era the subjects are so grim. I have a picture in the guest bedroom of my great-great-grandfather's family (smoky and turn of the century) and they all look like they have been sucking on pecan bitters. Ha....part of the “seriousness” or “stiffness” is probably attributable to how long the subjects of the photo had to sit still while the archaic photo process did it’s magic....
....it took forever for the old flash powders to do their thing if I recall, so they probably all needed to pee...Yeah, I'd considered that. I wonder if it was expensive. I'm not sure but every time I have seen group pictures from this era the subjects are so grim. I have a picture in the guest bedroom of my great-great-grandfather's family (smoky and turn of the century) and they all look like they have been sucking on pecan bitters. Ha.
....it took forever for the old flash powders to do their thing if I recall, so they probably all needed to pee...
....I do the same!....I keep telling Tracy we're just going to buy up a bunch of them-hang them on our walls and voila!-Instant ancestors!!......I love black and white photos, and sepia toned ones too. I think many things photograph better in that stark way, including myself.
I go to little antique stores now and then and it sort of breaks my heart to see old b & w photos for sale. Really old, beautiful photographs of someone, just orphaned from their family. I always look at them and wonder about the people in the photos. Who are they? Why did they end up here?
I have too. Not long ago there was this very old, hmm, guessing 8 x 10 photo of this really beautiful woman. Black and white and just that touch of pink on the cheeks that they used to do? I almost bought it to frame. I had no clue who she was, but inside I was wounded for her. I asked the desk person if they knew who she was and they didn't.....I do the same!....I keep telling Tracy we're just going to buy up a bunch of them-hang them on our walls and voila!-Instant ancestors!!......