Thursday, April 24, 2014

Treasure Chest Thursday~From Cedar Chest to FB Success!

   A few weeks ago my Aunt brought me some pictures that were found while cleaning out a chest that belonged to my Paternal Grandmother"Mimi". Unfortunately, most were unidentified and looked to have been taken in the early 1900's. The people who would know who they were have long since passed. 
  Asking myself why Mimi had kept them for so many years lead me to believe that they probably were family pictures. Another question was-why didn't she ever tell me she had them!! I have several pictures of Mimi's ancestors and a few pictures of my Grandfather's Maternal line. Could some of these pictures be from my Grandfather's Paternal line?
  After scanning the photo's I posted three of them on the Facebook page for Williamsburg County,SC Genealogy. My Paternal Great Great Grandmother, Sarah Rebecca Smith Flemming Hudson, (1835-1916) was from this area. The people in this group are very helpful and I hoped that someone would be able to identify the pictures or lead me to someone who could.
   Not long after posting, I received a comment telling me that one of my pictures looked like her Dad's Grandparents.  I asked the comment maker, Lynette, to post the picture to compare and she did. The men in the picture did indeed look very much alike! Her photo was of Samuel and Caroline Mouzon. Looking at my data base, there was a collateral line with a Mouzon. My Great Great Grandmother's sister Emma Jane married a Mouzon.Could they be related? 
  Next, I went to Ancestry.com to  find any information on the Mouzon family. Searching for the Mouzon in my tree, Duncan King Mouzon (1837-1911) from Williamsburg, SC married to Emma Jane Smith (1837-1906), lead  to an amazing discovery! Attached to a tree page for this couple was the exact same picture that was in my Grandmother's trunk! My unknown picture is of my Great Great Grandmother's sister Sarah and her husband Duncan. I contacted the owner of the tree and asked for more information. A cousin connection has been made as she is a direct descendant. Our Great Great Grandmothers, Sarah and Emma Jane were sisters!
  A little more searching and I realized why the man in my picture looked so much like the man in the picture that was shared via Facebook.... they were brothers!

    Photo from Mimi's Chest
Duncan King Mouzan(1837-1911) and Emma Jane Smith(1831-1906)
©Cheri Hudson Passey


  Photo from the Williamsburg County FB page
Samuel Ruffin Mouzon II(1842-1926) & Caroline Austin Montgomery Mouzan(1848-1937)
Picture courtesy of Lynnette Ard
  But wait! That's not all!!
   Another picture that I posted to the FB page was also an unknown couple. There is faint writing on the back. The pencil markings are very faded and look to say something about a Mr. & Mrs. D(?).H(?),...maybe Welsh? It has a faint address that says Cades,SC. Cades is in Williamsburg County,SC. Once I realized that the first picture was a sister of my Great Great Grandmother, I decided to see if this photo could be another sister. Sure enough, after doing some research, I discovered that Susanna Caroline Smith (1845-1915) married twice. Her second husband? David H.Welch (1835-1903). They lived in the Cades area of Williamsburg County, SC.
  Now two of those mystery pictures are identified thanks to using social media.
The Genealogy pages and groups on Facebook and the Communities on Google+ are wonderful places to learn and share.Wherever you are researching or whatever types or records or methods you are interested in, there's probably a page,group or community that can help. It's easy to start one if there isn't. If you aren't using this wonderful resource in your research you are missing out!
   
   ©Cheri Hudson Passey






   

10 comments:

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    1. Thanks, Jana! Now to get the rest identified !! Lol!

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  2. The real surprise here is that someone merely said, "they look alike," not "oh, that's so-n-so." I need to start posting some of my UFOs and hope for the same kind of good luck.

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    1. You really should. I have had great sucess in getting help from the various communities! Thanks for taking the time to not only read my pist but to comment too!

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  3. That's great Cheri! You were very clever to use fb to get the photo out to many people!

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  4. I really love the FB pages for the states, counties and communities that I am researching. Everyone is always so helpful. Tomorrow, the Williamsburg County group that helped me identify the pictures is having a "Reunion". This will be the first time we have all met in person. Can't wait to say "Thank you" face to face!
    Thanks for your comment, Colleen, and thanks for reading my post!

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  5. Congrats Cheri on solving a couple photo mysteries! I need to do more with my unidentified pics and you've encouraged me to do just that. Thanks!

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  6. Thanks, Cindy! Good luck with those pictures! I appreciate you reading and commenting on my post!

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  7. Wow! Sometimes the best part of family history is making the connection you never expected. Great detective work, Cheri!

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    1. Thanks, Sally! The help came so quickly! I wish it was always that way! I appreciate you reading my post and commenting!

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