I love this beautiful photograph of my great-grandmother, Mary Brown Young, with three of her brothers.
There are a few details in this photo that I especially enjoy.
First, their clothing. I love every little detail of their clothing. Especially their caps, Mary’s sweater, and Sandy’s coat. Also, can you see the pin on Sandy’s lapel? I can’t figure out what it is exactly. When I zoom in on the largest sized scan, all I see is the prohibition sign of a circle with a line through it. I wonder what else might be on that button?!
Second, the animals – the dog who seems like a regular companion, and the cat on the post in the background. That cat is in perfect focus and is looking right at the camera. Love it!
Third – the white picket fence that is familiar to me because of another photo taken in front of their home in Butte.
Fourth – I should clarify that enjoy is not the right word for this one, maybe interest is more accurate – you can see George’s upper lip. As an adult, he wore a mustache to cover his upper lip. If I remember correctly the family used the term “hair lip” when referring to George’s lip. I don’t know if George had a cleft lip or a cleft lip and cleft palate. I also don’t know if anything was done to correct the problem. George’s face is quite fuzzy in the image, but when I zoom in on the largest file size, I can see his lip slightly better and it appears to be split – and not cleanly.
This beautiful photo, rich with detail, was originally shared with me by my cousin Gregg as a scan in an email. A few years after that, he found that he had two originals and mailed one to me. The scan you see is from the original that Gregg mailed to me.
He shared this information about the scan he emailed:
Young children in Butte
1915
Butte, Montana
I think you might find this picture interesting. Here are the last four children of James Young (II) and Catherine Brown. The photo was taken in front of their home. Mary and Sandy standing with George on the back of the sled with my Dad, Andy, up front. Circa 1915.
The back of this photo is inscribed to “Grandma”. As both Grandmas lived in Scotland, I wonder how the copy made its way back to America and finally to me?
Happy Thursday, I hope you will scan and share a precious photo today! xoxo
In years to come descendants (of the families I have photographs of) will wonder how in the world they got from Pope County, Illinois, to Luxembourg. It’s the people trying to preserve them, sending them to the next best person. I still need to figure out what to do with that collection.
My first impression of your photo was, *Look at those rosy cheeks on the young lady.*
Oh! So true!! At least you are doing a good job leaving a rather large digital footprint. There is a better chance descendants in your family will figure it out than me figuring out how that photo got from Montana to Scotland and then back to Washington. Although, in the end, I don’t even care how it made it to me, only that it did and that I know who is in the photo!!
Ah, yes! Grandma Mary’s rosy cheeks. I’m so glad you pointed that out. I hadn’t even noticed. I ordered an 8×10 print of this photo to put into a frame that belonged to Grandma Mary. It’s a lovely oval frame with some fancy curlicue stuff going on. I’ll have to share a picture once I get it framed and hung. 🙂
Even being a black and white photo it does look like she has rosy cheeks. 🙂
I like the digital footprint analogy.
Yes, it does! I can’t believe I missed that.
Good, because you are doing a great job preserving and sharing your work. It is a wonderful gift to so many cousins now and in the future.
Thank you for pointing out the cat! I would have missed that, and I LOVE cats! And boy, there certainly is a strong family resemblance especially between Sandy and Mary.
You are welcome, Amy. I can’t help but smile because I actually thought of you when I pointed out the cat. I know how much you love them and this particular cat just seems so wonderfully aware of the camera. 🙂
Love it for all those reasons and because — Butte, Montana, in 1915! Fabulous!! Thanks for pointing out the cat. I love seeing pets in old photos. Pets were so common, but people rarely wrote about them.
True!! Family pets were very common and yet they don’t get much mention do they? I know about a beloved dog in this branch of the family. There are a few photos of the dog. I also know that my Grandpa (different side) had a horse he really loved. But after that, I don’t know about family pets beyond my parent’s families. Hmmm… maybe we should be more aware of that and make sure we change that trend. 🙂
This is a priceless photo. I need to go to the new Family History Center!
Thank you, Nancy! ❤️