Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features a young man
named Lewis Powell which made me wonder if I have a Lewis Powell in my family
tree. No, I don’t. However, I have inherited quite a few photos of a pretty
girl named Lacuta Powell. She was the centerpiece of a mini-mystery I helped
solve nearly 10 years ago.
In May 2012, the latest edition of the Greene County Historical Society newsletter arrived. On the back page are several photos with a request for information on the people featured.
One photo grabbed my attention immediately because I have the same one tucked away in a box of photos that have been passed down through the family.
The lovely girl in that beautiful lace blouse was identified in the GCHS magazine as Agnes Stephens Utz. Hmm. Definitely a familiar face. Definitely UNfamiliar name.
I checked the back of my photo where I had penciled in the name given to me by my distant cousin Vessie Jollette Steppe. The name: Lacuta Powell.
In fact, I have a number of photos of Lacuta Powell. Lacuta as a baby:
Mrs. Sarah Powell
daughters Rosalie and Lacuta
A host of Powells – Lacuta is there with her mother and 2 sisters and who knows who else.
But of course, that’s Lacuta Powell IF Cousin Vessie was correct. To my knowledge, Lacuta is not family, so I’m not sure why our family has her pictures. Then again, we have no Agnes Utz in the family either. I sent a quick email to the GCHS to let them know their mystery had developed another layer.
Curiosity sent me to the census records. I guessed at
Lacuta’s age based on Vessie’s birth date. It turns out Lacuta’s family lived
smack-dab in the middle of my Colemans, Sullivans, Clifts, and Davises. It
makes sense that Vessie would remember the face of a childhood playmate.
Even though the census records confirmed Vessie’s claim there was a girl named Lacuta, census records don’t identify people in photographs. Vessie could have been mistaken – she was in her 90s when she identified the photo. For the time being I put ol’ Lacuta / Agnes out of my mind and returned to my other research. I was flipping through my copy of Shenandoah: A History of Our Town and Its People when the name of one of my distant cousins caught my eye. Guess whose name was right beneath it. Yep, Lacuta Powell.
Lacuta is on the front row, third from the right
scanned from Shenandoah: A History of Our Town...
One look at that dark hair and serious expression told me that the photo in question had to be that of Lacuta Powell, not Agnes Utz. The resemblance was unmistakable.
Now I’m wondering how the person who donated the box of photos to the GCHS came to have this photo too. Maybe she’s not related to Lacuta Powell either.
Be a pal and visit my pals at Sepia Saturday. (Did you see what I did there with that little homophone?)
Wendy
© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
Wonderful truly sepia photos. Lacuta is a pretty name. I'd never heard it before.
ReplyDeleteFunny how things (names, clues) sometimes just pop up when you least expect them!
ReplyDeleteYou solved the mystery of Lacuta, but who in the heck is Agnes Utz? And, like you asked, who donated that box of photos? Surely you are not leaving the rest of the mystery unsolved? (Said with a wink and a smile.)
ReplyDeleteThink how many archeologists have mistaken the image of a Pharaoh because some ancient scribe put down the wrong name. Queen Agnes wouldn't inspire as many stories as Cleopatra. Every so often I come across photos uploaded to Ancestry.com that I know are incorrect. Usually it's because the photo relates to a subject in my research where I have a better identifiable photo. Often it's posted by very distant relations many, many times removed from that family tree. Cousins. It's always cousins who get stuff mixed up.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful bit of sleuthing, Wendy. I have two piles of unlabeled photos (from maternal and paternal lines) and hope to one day identify them. Your post gives me hope!
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad living relatives - perhaps somewhat 'removed' from the subject whose picture they are looking at, state, with unequivocal surety that the person in question is "so-&-so". Perhaps they do it out of the frustration of not knowing for certain but just wanting to be through with the search, when they should really say "Thought to be--" or "Believed to be--" which would let others know the search might need to continue.
ReplyDeleteInteresting problem with a photo and a name or two. Wouldn't it be great if someone else responded to the GCHS newsletter's call for info about the girl in the photo!
ReplyDeleteNow that's a mystery - will the real Lacuta/Agnes please stand up!
ReplyDelete