My Very Favorite Family Photo
For the 21st Edition of Smile for the Camera, the prompt is: "Give Their Face A Place." March is Women's History month and you are asked to picture women back into history. The unknown, known and unsung women who are often the foundation of our family history. Give their face a place. The interpretation is yours. Admission is free with every photograph!
Once I read the prompt I immediately knew I'd be participating and what's more, I knew exactly what picture I'd be using:
It is my absolute favorite family picture (it is also my Blogger image and the one I use on GenealogyWise). I found it in May of 2008 when my grandmother let me go through and take any and all family documents and pictures I wanted. It was in an old box which originally held Christmas Cards (that my great-grandmother paid 59 cents for, lol). I think it is the style I love the most. The beads, the pose, the hair, the fur rug, I just love the look of it all.
While my great-grandmother was born and raised in California, she kept in contact with her father's cousins back in Iowa and many of the pictures I have for my Wellons family were sent to my great-grandmother from these cousins. The person in the picture above is one of those cousins.
She is Winifred B. Wellons, born 15 June 1895 in Iowa, probably Richland in Warren County. She was the daughter of Andrew Jackson Wellons and his second wife, Susan Ellsworth. They were in Richland until late 1910 when they went to Yakima, Yakima, Washington. They lived there until fall of 1915 when they went back to Iowa. You can clearly see that Winifred is wearing a wedding ring and prominently displaying it in the picture. I don't know when she married but the picture was taken on 18 August 1913 when they were supposedly living in Yakima. Winifred was married to Raymond Morkert and theylived in Franklin, Marion, Iowa for many years. They had two children there, Marion A. and Marvin C. The family was in Shelton, Mason, Washington by 1930 and Winifred and Raymond lived there the rest of their lives. Marion died on 23 July 1934 in Shelton at sixteen. Winifred died on 25 April 1974 in Shelton, Raymond also there on 9 October 1980 and Marvin there too on 18 January 2002. All but Marion are buried at Shelton Memorial Park. A directory of the interred can be found here.
Winifred was seventeen at the time this picture was taken. If the picture was her wedding picture like I suspect, I wonder what might have been going through her mind that day. A young girl, a bride, hopeful and in love with the world at her feet. I don't know what place in history she'd have but I do think she represents all of us on the threshold of adulthood and marriage and the optimism that accompanies that stage in life.
This post was written for the 21st Edition of Smile for the Camera
Photo of privately held by the author of this blog, [address for private use], CA, Feb 2010
All images, including this one, are not to be reprinted, altered in any way or accredited to anyone else without the expressed, written consent of the author of this blog.
Once I read the prompt I immediately knew I'd be participating and what's more, I knew exactly what picture I'd be using:
While my great-grandmother was born and raised in California, she kept in contact with her father's cousins back in Iowa and many of the pictures I have for my Wellons family were sent to my great-grandmother from these cousins. The person in the picture above is one of those cousins.
She is Winifred B. Wellons, born 15 June 1895 in Iowa, probably Richland in Warren County. She was the daughter of Andrew Jackson Wellons and his second wife, Susan Ellsworth. They were in Richland until late 1910 when they went to Yakima, Yakima, Washington. They lived there until fall of 1915 when they went back to Iowa. You can clearly see that Winifred is wearing a wedding ring and prominently displaying it in the picture. I don't know when she married but the picture was taken on 18 August 1913 when they were supposedly living in Yakima. Winifred was married to Raymond Morkert and theylived in Franklin, Marion, Iowa for many years. They had two children there, Marion A. and Marvin C. The family was in Shelton, Mason, Washington by 1930 and Winifred and Raymond lived there the rest of their lives. Marion died on 23 July 1934 in Shelton at sixteen. Winifred died on 25 April 1974 in Shelton, Raymond also there on 9 October 1980 and Marvin there too on 18 January 2002. All but Marion are buried at Shelton Memorial Park. A directory of the interred can be found here.
Winifred was seventeen at the time this picture was taken. If the picture was her wedding picture like I suspect, I wonder what might have been going through her mind that day. A young girl, a bride, hopeful and in love with the world at her feet. I don't know what place in history she'd have but I do think she represents all of us on the threshold of adulthood and marriage and the optimism that accompanies that stage in life.
This post was written for the 21st Edition of Smile for the Camera
Photo of privately held by the author of this blog, [address for private use], CA, Feb 2010
All images, including this one, are not to be reprinted, altered in any way or accredited to anyone else without the expressed, written consent of the author of this blog.
What a great photo -- and even better that you have so much history about Winifred. Your grandmother was very generous!
ReplyDelete