This top photograph is of my great-grandmother, Margaret Jane Gordon Kelley, and my grandmother, Dora Frances Kelley. My great-grandmother was one of ten siblings. She married later in life and had only one daughter.
Looking at photos of her and her family, I craved to know her (and them). They looked close and had mutual affection. But my father and grandmother are gone...how could I learn more?
Here is a photograph with her (left), with her brother (my great-grand uncle), William Wayne Gordon, and her sister (my great-grand aunt), Mary Gordon Bush in the 1920s. My impression of her brother was that he was quite a colorful, light-hearted farmer with a strong faith and a kind heart.
Because of Facebook and a series of random events, I was able to meet three of his grandchildren while in West Virginia.
And the cruise director of this gathering is my newly met third cousin (William Wayne Gordon's great-granddaughter), Sondra Gordon Nasseri, and her husband, Kuzum Nasseri. What a hoot! We had a wonderful lunch at Lightburn's at Stonewall Jackson Resort. The guys went cruising on the boat...while we women pored over family photos in each other's possession...while planning to get together again...swapping stories...and embracing family.
So grateful for this find!
Beautiful photos. I have done this too. Found family and old photos. Lovely and so interesting.
ReplyDeleteWonderful Denise, my late Mother in Law looked into her maternal side and discovered family in Australia, unfortunately she died before she could meet them , but we met Trish in 2012 when she visited the UK.
ReplyDeleteI love old photos and these are wonderful. Love looking at the clothes and the hairstyles. A simple time it always seems but I guess it didn't back to them, wonder what they would think of us now, probably not much.
ReplyDeleteYou have some well kept photos, a lot of ours have faded rather badly. I've been looking through old pictures lately and organizing a little of my genealogy stuff. We've just learned that my mother and father had a common ancestor. In 1692 two siblings began their branches of the family; one led to my mom and one led to my dad. Almost 240 years later my mom and dad met. Genealogy is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful experience ! I have many photos of "unknown" relatives and w/ my Mom's Alzheimer's she is unable to help. I still like to sit and look at them though. I do feel a bit of a connection to them,
ReplyDeleteThis is more than fabulous! I love how you did the photos in black and white and very light. Hides a lot of wrinkles!
ReplyDeleteGrowing up with family history, Saturdays and Sundays were spent driving and "visiting" cemeteries looking up passed relatives for dates..but we also visited with many family members and finding many treasures of just spending time with family..truly treasured memories....and this was so cool to see older pictures that I've seen before and them to find my sister's picture at the end,I had to reread. Thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful 'trail' of photos and relatives! It is nice to find family after all these years.
ReplyDeletexoxo
I love the top portraits!
This is awesome! I've met some distant cousins through Ancesty.com and FaceBook, but none in "real life" yet.
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