Tuesday Tagging - 2 Men in a Shop

Do you know who this might be?

P000021 - "2 Men in a Shop"

Albumin Print, circa 1860 - 1890

Costume, circa 1910s

The man on the left is wearing what looks to be a knit button-down sweater, properly called a cardigan. This costume is from the 1910s and 1920s, which places the photograph much later.

Tuesday Tagging - Leaning Man

Picture found in Callaway Collection of Photographs, Unidentified Male

Do you know who this might be?

P00011 - "Leaning Man"

Albumin Print, circa 1860 - 1890

Costume, circa 1890s

Costume is similar to 1890 fashion illustration, notice the jacket, shirt collar and tie.

The 1st Wife, the 2nd Wife...Arkansas Marriages

I've heard people with teeth clenching frustration bemoan tracing women in their family history and I'm right there with them when search before 1850.  After 1850, they are still gritting their teeth and I'm smirking along. The only furrowed brow I really encountered were with Jonathan Hosea Callaway's two oldest daughters, Mary Ann Rachel and Martha Van. Their birth dates were clearly recorded in the family bible but not their marriages. 

Without a record of their marriage and their husbands' last name, it becomes difficult to trace them through census records. However, an hour at the genealogy center on Ancestry.com (Library Edition) soon solved this issue. These are transcriptions, not copies of the originals (if you know anything by now is that I thrive on the originals, so I'm still working on getting those).

Transcription: Mary R. Calloway, Female, age 23, born abt 1840, residing in Ashley Co. Arkansas, marries F F Brud, Male, age 34, marriage date - 23 December 1863

I'm still a little furrowed on this one because the surname Brud is not popping up. I really need the original in case there was an error in the transcription (i.e. the name was misspelled). 

The 2nd daughter was Martha Van and apparently went by "Mattie" since her step-mother was also a Martha. I found "Mattie Van Calloway" also married in Ashley County, Arkansas on December 5, 1867 to J. H. Riggin. Still smirking I did a search on FindaGrave.com and found she died on May 7, 1880.  Again her husband is listed as Rev. J. H. Riggin. I blinked... and blinked again. Wait, is that right?!

I quickly shuffled through my files for the youngest daughter of Jonathan Hosea Callaway. Her name was Louisa "Lula" Mason and she married.... yep, there it was, "John H. Riggin." Married  September 24, 1880 - just 4 months after her sister's death. Oh, Come on! Maybe this was a cousin with the same initials? Right? Right?

I checked to see if Lula's J.H. Riggin was a minister too... yep. Then I found these photographs. The back says "Riggin & 1st Wife Callaway." The dating of the photograph puts it between 1860 and 1890, well within the time period for Mattie's marriage to J.H. Riggin. Therefore, based on the above collected evidence and until new evidence proves me wrong, this is one of the few pictures I have of Martha "Mattie" Van Callaway.

That's Arkansas marriages for you and if you think about the time period, it actually makes a lot of sense. I could go into a cultural anthropology thing, but I think I'll save that for another article.

Tuesday Tagging - Family Picnic

Picture found in Callaway Family of Photographs, Unidentified Family

Do you know who any of these might be?

P00010 - "Family Picnic" 

Albumin Print, circa 1860 - 1890

Costume, circa 1890s

There are many costumes to chose from in large collections of pictures like these. I try to focus on one clear image, preferably a child since their clothing styles are easier to identify and mark the period. Think about it, children often grow out of their cloths about the time the fashion is changing. Meanwhile adults will wear out of fashion cloths for years before replacing it.

Here is a cropped image of the child I chose to focus. The child is wearing a sailor outfit which was popular in the 1890s.

Pity Me... Pairing Pears!

The photographs have taken over my life. I've become obsessed with identifying the people in them. I'm not concentrating on the ones that have no identification... no, I'm obsessed with the one's that do. In other words, I'm trying to Pair Pears! 

It's crazy because they are all Callaways. But which branch and how many generations removed? The only way to answer these questions is to spider-out. What I mean is I have to spin out the genealogy web to included descendants of descendants. The results look more like a snow flake than a web... actually it looks for like a contagion epidemic map from the CDC. 

The CDC's basic indexing method starts with zero patient. In this case, I'm starting with Jonathan Hosea Callaway. That's pretty far back but photographs became available in the 1820s and 30s. To be thorough, that's why I'm starting with him. He's indexed as C-01.

Then I have list out his offsprings, then each offsprings's offsprings, continuing until I reach the 5th generation.  Do you know how many people that is?! I don't, but it looks like I'm going to find out. The whole idea of indexing aunts, uncles, 1st cousins, 2nd cousins... just makes my head hurt. 

But it's already paying off. Below is a picture (I'm pretty sure) of Edward B. Callaway, 6th offspring of John Hansford Callaway.

 

The thing about doing this is that you don't collect your evidence all at once. New evidence may come forth later, either a month or years. So conclusions reached now may need to be re-evaluated and changed later. Unlike the 10 Commandments, history isn't set in stone. So if you're doing genealogy or looking for answers here, remember that those answers can always change. 

Tuesday Tagging - A Family & One Shocked Little Girl

From Callaway Collection of Photographs, Unidentified Family

Do you know who this family might be?

P00005 - "A Family & One Shocked Little Girl"

Albumin Print, circa 1860 - 1890

Costume, circa 1880s

Costume is similar to style found on 1881 postcard fashion print - notice the drop waist on the girls' dresses. This is the polonaise style consisting of a drop waist and false pleated skirt. 

Hoarders... Gotta Love Them!

Last week I got so enthralled with boxes and boxes of photographs that I completely forgot to post an article. In lieu of words, I'm staying with the images. Check out the Callaway Family Archives on Facebook for glimpses of some Callaway ancestors. There are many who remained unknown, so Tuesdays are now designated "Tuesday Tagging." I hope others may know who these ancestors are and comment on them.

Don't forget to like the Callaway Family Archives Facebook page for regular updates.

Tuesday Tagging - A Gentleman's Airs

Picture found in Callaway Collection of Photographs, Unidentified Male

Do you know who this might be?

P00004 - "A Gentleman's Airs"

Albumin print, circa 1860 - 1890

Costume, circa 1860s

Costume is similar to style found printed in Harper's Weekly (February 27, 1864) - notice sleeves and shoulders of jacket; buttons and placement