The year must be 1951. The baby is about a year old or more and he is surrounded by relatives. Great uncles and aunts are all in the yard. They seem to be dressed up for some reason. They aren't church goers so to speak so they must be there after a funeral. The men for sure are all my grandmother Mabel's brothers. They were all farmers and probably were 55 years old or more. To see them in suits seams unusual for farmers. I can't identify the women but I am assuming that they are wives, great aunts of mine.
I am the little guy being held by Elva Wheeler. It is an amazing good photo of me as I was the fourth child and most all photos of me as a baby were blurry shots. There were not a lot of pictures taken as I was the fourth child and another child died 8 months after I was born.
When I grew up to get to know Elva he had changed in appearance. He was short all of his life but he became rotund as a well-fed mans should be. He was a friendly guy and bald completely. He had a very angry wife who cussed a lot. Later on in years, she mellowed and became a kind, quieter woman.
My grandmother's brothers are here with names labelled above. There is one other bother not in the photo who just didn't hang around with these people. He went to the big city to make his fortune. In the top photo the back sides of Lee are directly positioned behind Elva and the next one back is Weaver. To follow the theme of "watching over others" my grandmother lost her husband in 1937. Her brothers hovered over here and made sure she had a place to live and food on the table. Everyone was poor back then and they got by with whatever they had. The tree behind them is my great grandparents tree. I have so many old photos of various people standing outside in front of that tree. The all lived in the Madison County area, "Bridges of Madison County" locality, Winterset and Lorimor, Iowa.
Cyrus Henry Wheeler, 1872-1948, and Martha (Mattie) Selena Mobley Wheeler, 1876-1941. Most all of these people are buried in the Moon Cemetery near Macksburg, Iowa.
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7 comments:
Fine Solid Honest Looking People.
Elva looks a protective guy & you look really secure & relaxed. .But I wonder what's to your right?Both of you seem to be looking in that direction rather at the photographer?
Great photos & your words really add so much to them.
Getting the names straight in old family photo collections is a lot easier when there's a kind of master photo with labels. My snaps of long ago family events are too mixed up and I have to guess who's who.
Thank you for introducing me to them. I really enjoyed it. Ðo you know if that tree is still standing?
I wonder what your aunt was angry about and why she mellowed out in later years.
Well doggone it, I guess my comment never went through. I was saying how much I always enjoy your family photos. A nice rich midwest feeling. And I wonder if that tree is still standing.
Well you know we are all going to think what a cute baby you were! As for Elva’s wife, these days we know more about ‘hormones'; women weren't allowed to mention them then. The other reason of course is that Elva at home may have been a different person altogether - perhaps he made her mad!
What a neat collection of family photos, and there you- center stage! I have so few baby pictures (other than ones taken with just me as the subject) I would love a few with surrounding relatives.
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