Sunday, January 26, 2014

Eliza

Eliza, can we talk? 
I have spent a lot of time looking for you. I know that you are one of Oscar's older sisters. You were born about 1817, possibly on one of Charles jaunts to Canada. But you seem to be able to dodge me at every turn. Oscar has helped. He told me that he met you for the first time in Monroe, Wisconsin, probably in the mid 1850s. But that's about it.
Cousins have provided a little more information including several possible married names and at least one other possible location.
On the back of some old pictures one cousin wrote that you might have lived in Unique, Iowa. Unique is now officially a ghost town according to Wikipedia.  And, unlike some of your siblings' locations, Unique is a long way from Clinton or Davenport.
How did you get married without leaving some kind of record behind, somewhere? Did you have children? How come no one has a birth or baptismal record for them?
I have looked, and looked and looked, but you still elude me. I have done searches in every place that I know, but no Eliza. 

So, I thought I better ask you directly if you can help me discover your story. One more solid clue, is all I ask. People are indexing new records every day for ancestry.com and familysearch.com. Have one of them index a record that gives us the answer we need. Or send me back over some plowed ground where I missed a seed.
I know that Oscar wants me to find you and include your story. And, I believe, that Charles, your father, would want your life recorded. This Langford family story is waiting to be told so that every one, torn apart by the challenges of their times, can be brought together again. This time, we are not leaving anyone behind on their own. 
Just like all your brothers and sisters have done, help me.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Deciphering Old Pictures

Langford cousin Pierce Eichelberger provided a wealth of old pictures passed down in the family. Some had names on the back, others did not. Some had names of the photographer and studio, and some had the town name where taken.

The easy ones to figure out have already been posted. Here are a few more that I have tried to decipher.

I believe that this may be Peter Wise and the two daughters that he had with Jeanette Langford, Delia and Mary. I think this because it was taken in Clinton, Iowa, and the ages look about right. Jeanette and Peter also had a son, James Henry Wise, and it is possible that this is a picture of the three children. I am not very good at estimating ages.

Here is another picture that was labelled with only Wise on the back. It was taken in Winona, Minnesota, which makes it unusual.


Another picture which I think I have figured out is below.This was taken by a photographer in Boone, Iowa. The only Langford family to reside in Boone were descendants of Jane Langford and Merritt Allen. Their daughter Mary married MJ Mann and had several children.
This I believe is their son, Harry Mann. He can be found living in Boone from 1910 or earlier until 1940.
He and his wife Cora had two daughters, Neve and Dolly. The pictures below were all taken in Boone as well and may be their children at various ages:

And the three pictures below were all taken in Clinton or Lyons, Iowa. They are almost certainly relations of the Langfords in some way.