Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images. If you want to play along, sign up to the link, try to visit as many of the other participants as possible, and havefun.
Five Girls On A Boat : Third Party Print (1920s)
Four little ones One on a child-sized chair. Three on the ground.
Three are looking at the photographer’s helper,
who must be doing something to hold their attention.
But one has his attention on someone off to the side.
Who are these children?
Another copy provides names.
Billye Winston Larry Dorinda
Billye and Dorinda are sisters.
Winston and Larry are brothers.
The two sets of children are cousins.
They are all cousins of my father, Jerry Smith.
Here they are again. The boys are in different places.
Dorinda is off to the side
and so is the attention of all the children.
I wonder if this photo was taken first, then Dorinda was moved in closer.
And someone made an extra effort to turn those eyes to the front.
What is written underneath Dorinda? I asked her:
One of my nicknames was Dindy. sometimes called Dindy Dimples, because I had double dimples. They don’t show in pictures though. Billye is also a nickname.
Her given name is Wilda.
The year was 1939. The photo was taken in Iowa.
Those bare feet say “summertime.”
Another photo taken the same day.Wilda must have been very fond of that chair.
Again, the better copy has no names, but they are provided on this one.
Myron – Mike Smith, my dad’s brother, son of Abbie
Father – M. D. Webber, my great-grandfather, father of my grandmother Abbie.
Billy – Wilda
Abbie – my grandmother
Dorinda
????? I cannot read what is written. The woman is my great-grandmother, Dorinda Strange Webber, Abbie’s mother. Abbie wrote Father to identify her father, but that doesn’t look like Mother or Dorinda.
Winston
Gerald, my father (Jerry), son of Abbie
Laird – Laird Addis, father of Winston and Larry
Larry
My dad and his brother Mike are dressed like the farm boys they were.
I don’t know the reason for the gathering that day in Iowa City,
but it looks as though it was a happy time.
This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday. Please visit other participants here.
Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images. If you want to play along, sign up to the link, try to visit as many of the other participants as possible, and havefun.
The “Y” prompt was the nudge I needed to research a line of my family that I know almost nothing about – the Yost line. I have headstone photos of several of the Yost family from a trip I took to Iowa in 2012.
I always hope for success in answering all of my questions, but it is never that easy!
I found some photos on ancestry.com that are identified as my 3rd great-grandparents. Below: John Yost
Said to be John Henry Yost, Sr., born 1803. Retrieved from ancestry.com
John Yost was born 21 July 1803 in what is now West Virginia. I have as his parents Jacob Yost and Sarah. I don’t know where I got those names – an unmistakable sign of an amateur genealogist! So I have no real clues to parentage.
On 22 April 1829, John Yost and Henry Siler filed a marriage bond in Berkeley County, VA in the amount of $150 for a marriage license for John Yost and Barbara Siler. I do not know the relationship of Henry to Barbara. Brother? Uncle?
Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940. Accessed from familysearch.org
I also found a photo on ancestry.com that is identified as my 3rd great-grandmother, and wife of John Yost, Barbara Siler.
Said to be Barbara Siler. Retrieved from ancestry.com
I have been unsuccessful in locating early census records for John and Barbara Yost, but later census records confirm the birth of my 2nd great-grandmother, Martha Jane Yost in Virginia in March of 1830.
By April of 1832, the family was in Greene County, Ohio, where a son, Peter, was born. A third child, Andrew, was born in October 1833, also in Greene County, followed by a fourth child, Catherine, in April of 1836. I searched through the 1840 census for Greene County, page by page, but never found the family. Perhaps they were on the move again, as they eventually settled in Jefferson County, Iowa.
I have a little more that I could share about the Yost family, but I keep searching and researching, looking for more information and additional context. Now that it is mid-afternoon on Sunday, and having intended to post something on Saturday, I realize it may be best to just stop for now.
Perhaps I should have gone with my other thought for the “Y” prompt – yarn. I could have finished that in a week’s time.
Please visit other Sepia Saturday participants and see what yarns they have to tell. You can find them here: Sepia Saturday
Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images. If you want to play along, sign up to the link, try to visit as many of the other participants as possible, and have fun.
The prompt photo brought to mind a photo of my great-grandfather Myron David Webber.
M. D. Webber playing fiddle
Looking at this photo, I have several thoughts and questions:
When and where was it taken?
What about those clothes, the hair, the missing mustache?
The position of the fiddle?
Did he play only for his own (and his family’s) enjoyment, or did he play publicly?
Did someone teach him to play, or did he teach himself?
How did he acquire his fiddle?
What happened to it?
M. D. Webber was born 15 October 1874 in Villisca, Iowa. Sometime before July of 1888, the Webber family moved to Lurray, Kansas. M. D. married Dorinda Strange on Christmas Day 1897, at the age of twenty-three.
Below is a wedding photo for comparison. On his wedding day, M. D. was sporting a mustache and tamed that curly hair.
Wedding of Myron David Webber (left) to Dorinda Rebecca Strange
I always remember him having a mustache and other photos I have of him show a mustache. So does the lack of one indicate that the photo was taken before 1897?
Great-grandfather Webber and me
But wait. Is that the glint of a wedding band on his left hand?
M. D. Webber playing fiddle
Maybe the mustache had not yet become a permanent fixture when this photo was taken. And has his hairline receded, or is it just the way his hair was combed in the wedding photo that makes it seem so?
I wish I knew more about men’s fashion at the time. His shirt has a stiff collar. A quick internet search has me wondering if this is a separable collar, worn to look stylish without the expense of frequent laundering, starching and pressing. These were often paired with separable cuffs, which M. D. does not have. His collar is stiff and pristine, but his shirt is soft and not stiffly pressed. “Dress casual,” but not “Sunday best?” And can someone please tell me about that wide, dark waistband/belt?
Typically, the violin or fiddle is played with the instrument tucked under the chin. M. D. is not holding his fiddle in that position. My cousin identified the photo as M. D. Webber playing fiddle, so I’ll assume he played fiddle music rather than classical. Is his positioning of the instrument more in line with fiddlers? I don’t know. Maybe one of my musical friends can help me out.
One cousin says she heard that M. D. sold his fiddle to help finance the family move from Fairfield, Iowa to Iowa City. I have written several posts about M. D. and Dorinda’s son, Fred Webber, who won a debate scholarship to the University of Iowa. The family moved in 1926 so that Fred could attend the university.
So far, my best guess as to the date is early 1900s. And place is either Luray, Kansas or Fairfield, Iowa.
Unfortunately, there are no living family who heard M. D. play the fiddle or know much about his skill or public or private playing. In his early years, he was a teacher and minister and active in the community. Did he ever play with others in church or at a club meeting? One thing seems clear: this instrument was for pleasure and when money was needed to assure his son’s university education, it’s usefulness was as a source of income.
In 2018, I wrote a Sepia Saturday post that linked the cornet band in Luray, Kansas and M. D. Webber’s uncle, James T. Webber. Although Jim Webber was not in the cornet band, he was a supporter and I found references to him playing the fiddle.
Luray Headlight, 7 Mar 1889
And other references that do not specify which Webber played the violin. I’ll assume the reference is to Jim.
Luray Headlight, 20 Oct 1887
The Luray Headlight (Luray, Ks) 18 Oct 1888
Maybe Uncle Jim taught M. D. Webber to play. And since Jim was known for his fiddle playing, one can assume that family gatherings included fiddle music and perhaps some singing too. I found other references to Uncle Jim singing in the choir and his sister Nettie playing organ (if I remember correctly).
I haven’t been able to answer all of my questions, but I do like this photo and the little peek it provides into a fuller understanding of my great-grandfather.
Since my Webber and Strange families lived on the prairies of Kansas, I went looking for a fiddle song to include. If you read the Little House books, you know that Pa played the fiddle. I have now learned that several musicians have recorded the songs that Pa played in the books. I’ll include one each from two different groups.
Little snippets in the town newspaper in the 1880s about Jim Webber portray him as quite a talker and joker. I can imagine him playing these lively tunes.
Don’t fiddle around. Dance on over to Sepia Saturday and see what musical notes others have offered today. And join in!
One on a child-sized chair. Three on the ground.
The boys are in different places.
Wilda must have been very fond of that chair.
