Up until now, my branch of the family of Theodore and Julia Ann (Wade) Stone has only had this one photo of them with their eight children who survived to adulthood:
This photo has been a cherished heirloom in our family, and is believed to have been found among the photo albums of my grandfather’s sister, Juanita, who passed away in 1982. From what I recall, the original photo was damaged, so a local photo studio took a photo of the print, did restoration work on the copy negative, and then made new prints which were given to family members. It was extremely helpful to have the individuals labeled on the mat board which housed the print, as we might not have correctly known who was who among the girls, and it was a great help to know their married names and the first names of the husbands of all of the girls except Mary. My grandfather, Larry, had a very striking resemblance to how his father, Arthur (Pearl), appears in this photo. I believe the original photo to have been taken about 1900, based on the apparent ago of Alta, who was born February 18, 1887. For all of the people other than Pearl, this family photo was the only photo we had of them.
Several years ago, Diane, a descendant of Mary, made contact with me, and we began exchanging information. It turned out Diane’s family had several old photos that have turned out to be of the Stone family, although several of them were not known to be members of the Stone family as the photos were not labeled. Among the photos was one which looks to have been taken at the same time as the family photo above, considering that Alta is wearing the exact same dress and hairstyle:
The white area in the lower left is some damage that has occurred to the print. I made the mistake initially of thinking that it was a little girl in the photo with Alta, but have since learned that it was fairly common for young boys to be dressed in such outfits. Diane confirmed with her mother that it is Mary’s son, Charles Porter, in the photo with his cousin, Alta. He was born October 2, 1896, which provides an additional estimate of the group photo having been taken about 1900.
This afternoon, I received another photo from Diane, and it is an absolute gem. It is another Theodore and Julia Ann (Wade) Stone family photo, taken a few years after the previous photo:
Almost everyone is in the same place as the previous photo, with the exception of three of the daughters. My guess as to why they are positioned differently is to balance the black dresses with the lighter, patterned dresses among the daughters (two black dresses and one patterned dress in the front row, and two patterned dresses and one black dress in the back row). Among the three who are in different positions, I believe Anna is in the front row at far right, Kitty/Kittie is in the middle of the back row, and Mary is in the back row at far right. Dating this photo is a bit more of a challenge, although it is known to be before October 29, 1914, as that’s when Theodore passed away.
It’s very exciting to come across this photo, and I can’t thank Diane enough for sending it to me. It’s a wonderful example of the power of collaborative genealogy. She has also sent me additional photos of some of the Stone daughters later in life, and I plan to make these photos part of my upcoming posts.
Adventures In Genealogy Research: No Stone Unturned/The Wright Stuff 