Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Weaver and Ellen Wheeler.....

Ellen Wheeler, b. 1899 and Weaver Wheeler, b. 1895

Weaver is the oldest brother of my Grandmother Mabel Zella Wheeler Brown Brooks.  I don't know the date of the photo above but I do know they were married around 1914 and they were both young when they married.  He was born in the Lorimor, Iowa area south of Winterset. I believe that he was one of four boys and my grandmother was the only girl. Weaver was my Great Uncle and his wife was good about recording their lives through pictures. 


Here they are in a park with their three daughters.  I  have blogged about this couple before but I didn't know at that time that they had three daughters not two.  Knowing Ellen, it may not be a third daughter and could be a friend of the girls.  She was not into detail and would include anybody who came along in  her Christmas pictures.  Darlene and Veda are the only names that I know. If there is one more daughter, I will eventually find out for sure. I will just need to pay closer attention to see if it shows up among the stuff.

I have posted this picture earlier and I made gross errors in the text.   I will just return to the past and delete the errors and move on.  This girl is probably their granddaughter.








This is another one of the granddaughters.








Great Aunt Ellen is wearing the wonderful hat. Her daughter Darlene is standing next to her and Darlene's husband Ed is crouching with their one daughter. Ed and Darlene Fischer eventually had three daughters in total.  Two of them are above this group photo.  Great Uncle Weaver is the third guy with the straw hat from the left.  The rest could be Ellen's brothers and mother and the taller younger woman is a daughter, maybe Veda and maybe not.

This is Veda as a teenager or older.  I don't quite understand the middle name.


This is a repost of an earlier blog.  I don't know this as a fact,  but I believe this is their 50th wedding anniversary, in 1964.  It is written on the back that he is 69 years old, which meant that he was 19 when they married.  She is 65 in this photo which made her 15 maybe going on 16 years old when they married.

Weaver was a farmer at first and as he continued to make money from the farm or farms that  he owned, he bought and rented homes to college kids in the town of Iowa Falls, Iowa.  There is a junior college there and he had numerous rentals.

As a new discovery, I found a diary of my mom's that described how her family lived near them in Hardin County when she was young.  I don't know this as a fact and yet it was hinted that my Grandmother and Grandfather didn't  have much money to live on.  They farmed out one son, Marvin, to my Great Uncle Lee and my mom with parents and maybe another brother went to live with them for a while.  The diary doesn't go into detail, but I would expect my mom was four years old, by the stories she told and that would have been 1923.

As I blog I find that I make new discoveries that totally nullify names and dates.  I think it is best to go back and correct what I can and delete the rest.  I find it to be a fun adventure, but after a while it becomes overwhelming to get a clear picture just by the scant writings on the back of photos.

Enjoy others who are participating in Sepia Saturday from all around the world by clicking here.

14 comments:

21 Wits said...

Truly treasures all of them! Family is the greatest part of life, isn't it? Of course all the wonderful hats stuck out to me too....they sure loved wearing hats back in the day, compared to the far too many baseball caps running about today! (Most of which don't even play the game either!) Have a great weekend Larry!

Tattered and Lost said...

How fun when I scrolled through that for a moment the little girl in the plaid skirt ends up sitting next to the phone on the blog background. I can imagine her sitting like that waiting for it to ring.

Far Side of Fifty said...

You have a good start if you can identify the people..not everything will be as it seems..the person that wrote on the back of the photos could be mistaken. Correct what you can ..and keep going forward..sooner or later it will all sort itself out:)

Sr Crystal Mary Lindsey said...

yes I can remember seeing a couple of the pic before...
Not the top one though...Gosh I loved those old cars!!!
You can almost feel the tin and smell the leather seats. Great that your great Aunt was interested in photography and took photos to keep the memories. Not many did that then..And it wasn't as easy as today.
Wonderful family Christmas card..Now that's what Christmas is all about. The love and sharing of families.
Bless you Larry...Whenever I look at your pictures I feel happy.

Kristin said...

This is true! It's even harder when they don't write on the backs and you have to figure it out from clues in the photos. I really like the photo of them on the running board.

Christine H. said...

Great photos - and I absolutely love the Christmas cards. I do remember some of these pictures from earlier. I realized that I'm starting to feel like I know your family, which is a testament to your great posts.

Alan Burnett said...

You are right, it is a constant journey of both discovery and amendment. But that makes blogs unique : they are evolving, ever-changing, never exact. A bit like life really.

Bob Scotney said...

Even the dog has a smile on its face!

MuseSwings said...

These are great photos and the succession of years makes it that much more interesting!

Edie Silva said...

Is very important to record the moments in life!

Bruno Laliberté said...

well, at least, you find some writings on those photos. all i see is glue...most times!! loved all of these xmas cards with family, and how some people managed to sneak into them, hence, the "3rd daughter"!!...
VEDA's pic is remarquable, very eerie.
great post!!
i see your investigation leads you to rethink past conclusions, but i'm sure it is all for the best.
good lcuk!!
:)~
HUGZ

Bruno Laliberté said...

BTW:
i would not erase what you previously wrote. they were a first theory, and you might have to retrace your steps at some point. better keep it all and appreciate the whole.

Nancy said...

I like how you started with a photo of them at a younger age and ended with a newer photo. It's always interesting to see how time changes people's faces.

With the word "history" in it, you would think family history would be found and be done, but it seems not to be so. We find bits and pieces about people and families, and then more bits which contradict the earlier finds. I agree with Ticklebear: leave what you've found as you first posted it but add a link to the new information.

Lisa B said...

A lovely collection of photos and it's good that your journey through them is revealing more details and enabling more of the past to come to life.