Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The Maxson Family

Photographer -Baird and Son    Lewistown
Astoria, Illinois
Taken in the 1890's

My Great Grandmother on my mother's side was Carrie Rosella Maxson Brown Driver

The two woman above are two of her sisters and the photo identifies them with their married names.  The woman on the left is Ida Roberts and on the right is Cara Brown. To have found this photo and it actually would be my Great great aunts is all amazing to me. 

Two other sisters were Jane Henderson and Ellen Boward.
There were also two brothers John Maxson and Walter Maxson.
That would make seven in total in the Maxson Family.

Great Grandmother Carrie Roszella Maxson married my Great Grandfather Charles William Brown.   He died five years after they were married in 1888, when my Grandfather was three years old.  She remarried a man name Thomas Jefferson Driver.  That is why she has so many names.

As I write this material I find that the person who wrote on the back of the photo has made a few spelling errors with the name Maxson and also Rosella.  I do have a newpaper article of a reunion that I need to research in my files that will help me verify the above information.

The amazing thing about this Sepia Saturday adventure is that I have in the past year discovered my Great Grandfather's name which I had never known before now.  I found info as to where he is buried and also his parents names.  I have not been doing serious searching so I can assume I will find so much more if I really dig in to the job.

The irony to it all is that I didn't pay much attention when my parents were alive and I can tell you they were not very clear about explaining it anyway.  As I keep up with the search and as I write it down,  I can see a tree with branches.   I have gone back farther back that I really ever believed that I could.

Check out others who are participating in Sepia Saturday by clicking here.

13 comments:

Bob Scotney said...

Keep at the research Larry. It will be interesting to see how you get on. I'm short of details on my family and as yet I haven't made a serious attempt to investigate back beyond my parents.

Sr Crystal Mary Lindsey said...

Hello LArry, I do believe we are much more interested in our past now than ever before. Its sad how there was no care. My own mother has lost so many of her photos or they were put carelssly in a drawer.
Here you have your two Aunts..I looked at this photo and thought, I bet they walked everywhere. It would have been their only exercise accept perhaps riding a bicycle. They are both slim and trim for their age which I would guess as in the fifties. Absolutely beautiful.

Kristin said...

How did you find the photograph? You are finding lots of info for someone not looking! Almost as if someone was sending it to you. Anyway, that's how I feel sometimes.

Alan Burnett said...

It's a great photograph Larry - I don't think I have seen pictures of this side of your family before. I so agree with you about wishing I had paid attention to those stories which were told by my parents - it makes me even more determined to somehow ensure that what family history I act as curator for is recorded for the generations to come.

21 Wits said...

I totally agree....my mother kept so many secrets, of what I'm finding out now, was really quite remarkable and only wish she had shared more with me! Great post Larry!

Unknown said...

I agree with Kristin, it is like someone wants the story told...I love the detail stitches and pleating on the dresses in the photo of the two aunts...we share the dilemma today not having paid attention and then they did not really talk...we seem to be as immersed in our pasts as the ancestors were in moving ahead to the future! I wondered if you would show up this week and so here you are.. Wonderful photo.

North County Film Club said...

I just love Cara's skirt! They're both dressed beautifully but that skirt deserves to be copied by some famous fashion designer.
I agree about getting info from the past from our parents. I wish I had asked my mother so many things. There's only one relative left from that era. I'd better ask her everything I can think of before it's too late.
Barbara

Tattered and Lost said...

Ahhhh, I see very sensible shoes sticking out from beneath those grand skirts! I used to fear old age meant sensible black shoes. I imagine these two grand ladies would tsk tsk the way we dress today.

Christine H. said...

Larry, Sepia Saturday works a great incentive, doesn't it? I find myself doing the same thing.
As Barbara already mentioned, these are beautiful skirts.

Bruno Laliberté said...

ROBERTS???
i have a ROBERTS in the family!!
"Elisa Roberts daughter of Ernest Roberts and Éva St-Pierre", those ROBERTS were from TROIS-RIVIERES or TROIS PISTOLES [maybe, if my memory is not too screwed up...]. why all of those "3", i don't know... are we distant, very distant cousins?????
that would be too weird/funny/peculiar... though, we'd be related by alliance, not by blood... though we have a saying here in french, "y a plus qu'un chien qui s'appelle pitou". good luck translating that!!! a rough translation would be, :"there's more than one dog going by the name of doggy".... the cuteness gets lost in translation...
oh well!!
:D~
HUGZ

Far Side of Fifty said...

They are dressed beautifully..those pleated skirts are beautiful..not typical skirts or blouses for the 1890s.. (I would say 1905)but still an interesting photo:)

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Hi Larry; the two ladies look so elegant and well groomed. I love the details on their blouses and skirts. I admire their trim waist! It is great that you have found out so much already about your family. It is fun and some times also a bit sad.
This is really a very nice picture. I think it would be nice to make a feature wall with beautifully framed old photos.

tony said...

Well, I was much the same in my early years.Oral history was all around me, but as a kid I paid little attention.It's only as we grow older do we realize the importance of our family's past.
Some great work Sir!