This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt is a man on
horseback. Some of my oldest photos are
of some boys on horseback.
This photo was in a box of pictures that came to me
through either my grandmother, Lucille Rucker Davis, or my great-aunt Violetta Davis Ryan. While I don’t know the boys,
the one on the right looks much like my maternal grandfather Orvin Owen Davis. If the boy looks to be 11 or 12, that dates
the photo about 1912 or 13.
These next two photos came to me through the Slade side of the
family, so possibly one of the boys is my paternal grandfather Fred Slade; then the other might be one of his brothers. If these are Slade boys, the date of the
photos is around 1910.
My great grandfather Stephen Slade farmed in Princess Anne County, today around Kempsville in Virginia Beach. If I’m correct, then the photo gives me my first glimpse at parts of the buildings on the old farm.
Saddle up for a wild ride on Sepia Saturday.
©
2014, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
What wonderful old photos!
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite family photos are of my grandpa and his logging operation. They used horses out in the woods then.
Have a great weekend. ☺
I love old photos showing people at work.
DeleteGreat photos! Beautiful horses!
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful although they look like they could use a bath and a good brushing.
DeleteIt's rather fun to guess, isn't it. I find I'm getting slowly better at recognizing people the more I look at my old family photos.
ReplyDeleteThe last two photos that I THINK could be my paternal grandfather require more study because we don't have that many photos of him except as a grandfather. I wish I had seen these photos while my dad was still living so I could ask him.
DeleteThat first one does look like Granddaddy Davis. I wish we had a picture of Stephen Slade.
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteHow fortunate you are Wendy to have these images in your album. After posting the prompt I realised I didn't have anything, apart from one of a great uncle, which I've already used. I really must think ahead; no point in being admin if I can't take advantage. These are gteat photos aren't they? They don't seem to be bothering with a saddle, but then I know nothing of horses and riding.
ReplyDeleteNo one can accuse you of just looking out for #1 then! But heck yeah, for what you're getting paid, you might as well choose your own agenda while you can. While the cat's away ....
DeleteI wanted to add cowboy to your title. Again you have the best photos of family ever to run with our theme this week. So interesting they are.
ReplyDeleteI thought of that too but wondered if it made sense. Thanks!
DeleteI was distracted by this name Orvin, attached to a very Welsh Owen Davis. It did not ring true. I then found that its almost impossible to find anyone with the first name Orwin, unless they had some Swiss connection perhaps. So can you throw some light on how your grandfather acquired this name?
ReplyDeleteSwiss? Really? OK, well, I don't know where "Orvin" came from. It's the first in the family. But his parents Walter and Mary Frances were "modern," I suppose, because they did not repeat any family names like the previous generation did, with the exception of Orvin's older brother Millard Mitchell whose middle name honored Walter's father. My Davis research goes back most likely to Wales, you're right.
DeleteOh, those boxes of unmarked photos! And yet, do I change my ways?
ReplyDeleteAhem...
HA, Jacqi, you've built a career on unmarked photos!
DeleteJudging by the look of the photos, they could easily have been taken around 1910ish. Thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for confirming my best guess.
DeleteI notice that they are riding bareback. I really like it when the old photos also have things of interest in the background, like the wagon and crudely built sheds. Although these are better than some of the photos I have where it appears the walls are made of sticks bound together.
ReplyDeleteYou and I have the same taste in old photos, it seems.
DeleteThose are big horses! Princess Anne County sounds so charming.
ReplyDeleteHazel
Charming? I hadn't thought of that before, probably because I live so close. But the words themselves do have an idyllic air.
DeleteHow wonderful to have such early photographs of your ancestors working on their farm.
ReplyDeleteThanks, but I wish I knew more.
DeleteKids on horses - what could be better? I don't think I'd dare ride bareback anymore! And don't you wish people wrote identities and dates on the backs of old photos?
ReplyDeleteThat's my wish every day. My life would be so much easier.
DeleteIn my day it was rare for boys in the village to have a horse to ride. My one chance came to ride a horse owned by a local girl. I got on, she hit it with a whip - horse and I parted company. I haven't been on a horse since!
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you. My daughter would hop on any horse. Me -- I never even wanted to hold the reins to keep the horse from wandering off.
DeleteThese are really neat, Wendy. I think that my favorite one is the one in the middle. That barn makes a statement somehow.
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
It is a cool photo but so terribly damaged. The picture is attached to some sort of cardboard "frame" that was bent and torn many years ago.
DeleteWendy, you have wonderful Sepia photos. A real treasure, as they are so old. Are you thinking of making a collection behind glass for display? I think I will do with some of mine. they have to be well protected on acid free board and behind glass.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I hadn't really thought about displaying them. Some of my old photos are already framed and I do have a few on display, but there are so many more that I would need my own museum. But you're making me think!
DeleteA nice selection of horsemen.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThat first photo reminds me of a horse show I went to see recently with my folk in Sydney called Cavalia. It was amazing seeing what they could do - young women standing on the backs of paired horses galloping at break-neck speed across the front of the amphitheatre. Thrilling stuff.
ReplyDeleteI have seen performances similar to that in movies and on tv, never in person though.
DeleteThat second photo is one LARGE horse! I have some very old photos too...and I have no idea who is pictured....which has forced me to write ont he backs of all my photos. My 3 children all look alike in their baby photos...they even ask, "was that me?"
ReplyDeleteA pkg is on its way to you :)
Happy Summer!
I was good about identifying photos from 1981 to 1999 and then I fell off the wagon, just like my ancestors about whom I complain.
DeletePackage? You're so fast. Thanks -- I look forward to receiving it.
What could be better than a boy on a horse. Rather like a young fellow getting his picture taken behind the wheel of a car --- a rite of passage.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of that. Interesting perspective! Thank-you.
DeleteThat first shot is wonderful. It tells a story even if it's not reality. I can easily see the country boy and the city boy going horseback riding together. Characters from an old 1930s movie during the Depression.
ReplyDeleteI like that idea!
DeleteAwesome photos! It appears that these boys are riding bareback. No saddles for them!
ReplyDeleteAnd what is going on in the first photo with the boy on the left? Is he kneeling or standing on that horse?
It looks like he's standing, but the photo is so wrinkled it's hard to tell.
DeleteI do notice the two last horses have white markings on their foreheads. The last little boy is very dressed up.
ReplyDeleteI looked at those horses wondering if they were the same horse.
DeleteSplendid shots!!
ReplyDeleteNice that you got those.
It seemed the norm to have a horse,
at least, in your family...
:)~
HUGZ
Well yeah, in the early 1900s. And then again in the 1990s when Daughter #1 was a horsey girl. Sold the last one on the internet. But hitting that Send button was tough.
Delete