An 1800's Photographic Surprise

This blog post is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" writing challenge by genealogist, blogger and podcast host Amy Johnson Crow. This week's prompt: Surprise!

Edna Kelso Hall, photographed in Arkansas City, Kansas by Phillip A. Miller. This cabinet card, taken about 1890, is in the Chester Cowen Collection of the Oklahoma Historical Society.

How often do you happen across not one, but two photos of direct ancestors, taken in the last 1800s? Call it a surprise. Call it serendipity. I call it amazing!

I was researching my husband Jim Casey's paternal ancestors - following his lines back from Clara Hall Casey, his grandmother. She was born in Oklahoma, and many of her ancestors--both the Hall and Kelso families--made their way to Oklahoma in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

My online search for records led me to the Oklahoma Historical Society website. Often these sites have records either indexed or available online, and this was no exception. OHS has a searchable archives database, so as I usually do, I began to enter family names to see if I got any hits.

Yes, it was a surprise to enter "Edna Kelso," into the search box and get an immediate hit: an entry and thumbnail photo of a beautiful young girl about 6 or 7 years old, captioned "Edna Kelso Hall." How could this be? Here were both her maiden and married names connected with this photo.

Clicking on the entry, it appeared to be a cabinet card, which put the date it was taken at approximately 1890 or so, based on Edna's birth year of 1883, and her apparent age in the photo. I read further that the photo was taken by a photographer name Phillip A. Miller in Arkansas City, Kansas - where Edna Kelso was born. Incidentally, Mr. Miller was a prolific photographer and is well-known for his images of the 1893 Oklahoma Land Run.

If this weren't exciting enough, I further searched Mr. Miller's name in archives, and got an even bigger surprise - a hit on several more portraits. Of particular interest were two others: one of a young boy, and one titled "Mrs. Elizabeth Blackman." This was my husband's 3rd great grandmother's name; Edna Kelso would have been her granddaughter.

Did I stumble upon the remnants of a family portrait sitting?

Elizabeth Blackman portrait, taken about 1890 in Arkansas City, Kansas, by Phillip A. Miller. (Oklahoma Historical Society, Chester Cowen Collection)

The photo of Elizabeth Blackman showed a stoic-looking lady of about 50 or so, with tightly-curled hair bound up on her head, wearing a long dark gown.

This unidentified young man is thought to be a grandson of Elizabeth Blackman and cousin to Edna Kelso Hall, as the image is by the same photographer, and the backdrop is the same as the photo of Edna. (Oklahoma Historical Society, Chester Cowen Collection)

The photo of the young boy, about 11 or 12 or so caught my attention, as the backdrop in his photo--an outdoor gate and rock stair--appeared to be the very same as the one in Edna's.

Fast forward to July 2018, and a camping/genealogy trip to Oklahoma. Jim and I made our way to the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City to view in person, the photos we had seen online. As it turns out, they had more secrets to share.

The addition of the words "my cousin" gave us a new theory on the group of photos. (Oklahoma Historical Society, Chester Cowen Collection.)

 

Written on the back of the photo of Edna were the words,  "Edna Kelso Hall my cousin." Our theory is that the young boy in the other photo is Edna's cousin, and that Elizabeth Blackman was his grandmother as well. Perhaps all three photos belonged to him as an adult - so he knew Edna's married name. It could be that the photos were lost to the family at some point, eventually finding their way to the Chester Cowen Collection at the OHS.

Reverse of cabinet card photo of Elizabeth Blackman, noting her maiden name of Butler. (Oklahoma Historical Society, Chester Cowen Collection)

 

On the back of Elizabeth Blackman's photo were the words, "Butler Blackman Elizabeth." With the addition of Butler as a maiden name, the woman pictured was positively identified as Jim's third great grandmother.

Although family history research carries many twists, turns and the unexpected, finding these photos ranks among the very best surprises I've had so far in researching family history.