Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Wedding Portrait?

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.


Unknown couple pictured in photo album of Mary Jollett Davis


I need help identifying this couple in a tintype found in an album belonging to my great-grandmother Mary Frances Jollett Davis.  I wonder if maybe they were her in-laws, Mitchell and Martha Willson Davis.  Does he look at least twelve years older than his bride? 

One reason I think this is a Davis is that the man seems so dapper, much like my great-grandfather Walter Davis as seen here.

Walter B. Davis 1933 Shenandoah, Virginia
Walter B. Davis 1933


Who is this handsome couple and why didn’t I inherit those good looks?  




© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

15 comments:

  1. Their hairlines look similar, but there's a lot of time between the two. The same doesn't appears so for the couple. He maybe a little older but not 12 or more.

    Unless you are using somebody else's picture you look quite a Bobby Dazzler.

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    1. What a fun compliment, but I'm sorry your eyesight is failing.

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  2. I don't think he's 12 years older Wendy. If it helps any I believe this photo was probably taken mid 1870's. Their clothing seems to fit that era and that particular type photo sleeve was popular about that time.

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    1. OK, then within 3 hours of being online, this post is already out of date. LOL. Mitchell and Martha married in 1849. I've considered my other greats, but that mid-1870s date doesn't fit anyone in my direct line. Possibly they are one of my ancestor's much older or younger siblings. Or - perish the thought - someone bought it in an antique store.

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  3. It could be their wedding picture, but one thing is for certain the moment I saw them, they'd make a lovely square dancing couple! They just seem to me ready to dance the night away!

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    1. I bet they did the Virginia Reel more times than we can count!

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    1. She should be thinking, "Aren't I lucky to nab a good-looking one!"

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  5. Maybe it's not a wedding photo? Could it be a graduation photo or some other event? Or maybe even siblings that had dressed up for an occasion and their parents had a photo taken?

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    1. Apparently it could be anything but what I need it to be. LOL

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  6. Wendy, I think part of the difficulty in discerning their ages is that the man seems to have a boyish look to his face, while the woman has a mature-looking face. With this combination, their ages could be reversed, but it would be quite hard to detect that due to the appearance.

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    1. Now I wonder if he looks older to me (boyish?? really??) because I had convinced myself it was Mitchell Davis. I don't know what to think.

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  7. I love they way the couple is sitting arm-in-arm! I don't think I've ever seen that in an old photo before. So cute!

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  8. I don't think he's 12 years older than her but I don't think he looks boyish, either. Like Jana, I think this is the first time I've seen a photo from this time period where the woman has her arm around the man's. Do you use Picasa and if so, have you tried their photo-identification utility? If Walter B. is named/tagged in Picasa, it may pick up others who look like him. Not that there's any real accuracy to Picasa's photo-identifications....

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