Week 32: Reunion

 

Scott Family Reunion 

taken at the home of Joseph and Martha Scott  

I was thrilled five years ago when I received an email from a relative I'd never met.  After taking a DNA test, Ancestry.com identified Brenda as being a 4th-6th cousin of mine so I wrote to her, letting her know my lineage in the Scotts.  She asked if I had a copy of a long-ago Scott family reunion photo--which I didn't--so she sent along not only the above picture but also one that had numbers that identified some of the reunion attendees and a poem that was published about the gathering.  What a lovely gesture!  

According to Brenda, the picture was taken at the home of her great-grandparents, Joseph and Martha Scott.  Joseph was a younger brother of my 2x great-grandfather, Samuel Scott.  Brenda wasn't sure what year the photo had been taken, but she suspected it was around 1915.  I used several clues to narrow down the year it may have been taken. 

1.  The poem mentions: 

"And little Joe who farms for Pa

With Gusta his young wife

Just sailed around mongst older folks

They had their time of life"

Brenda knew that Joseph and Gusta married on 25 Dec 1912 so that gave a starting point since the poem inferred that Joseph and Gusta were still young or even recently married.

2.  The poem was published in the Warsaw, Indiana newspaper in 1915.  Maybe it was the same year or soon after the reunion?

3.  The poem mentioned the time of year:

 "Twas on the 28th of March

And cool and crisp the air 

When friends went out to Joseph Scott's 

And met each other there."

4.  My GrandDad A.C. Scott (#14) looks to be in his early to mid-teens in the picture.  He was born on 10 May 1899.  If the picture was taken on 28 Mar 1913-1915, he'd be either nearly 14, nearly 15, or nearly 16.  To me, he looks to be about 16.  

5.  My grand-uncle Frank Scott (#13) was born 24 Sep 1904.  In the picture he looks like an early adolescent, making 1915 seem much more likely than 1913 or 1914.

Based on those clues, my best guess as to when it was taken is 28 Mar 1915.

#20  William Oldfield Scott, my great-grandfather

#19  Mary Dubbs Scott, my great-grandmother

#14  A. C. Scott, my grandfather, son of William and Mary

#13 William Franklin Scott, my grand-uncle, son of William and Mary

#8 Joseph Scott, reunion host & my 2x great-granduncle

#7 Martha Mickey Scott, Joseph's wife

Joseph Scott (#8) would pass away in 1918, three years after this picture was taken.  He was a Civil War veteran.  His wife Martha (#7) would live until 1926.

My 2x great-grandfather Samuel Scott (one of Joseph's oldest brothers) had died in 1910, a few years before this picture was taken.  His son, William Oldfield Scott, was Joseph's nephew.

I love the patriotic bunting.  This would have been during World War I so that may have been why the porch was decorated this way.  It's interesting to see how every woman is dressed in either a white dress or white blouse and nearly all the men have neckties on.  I wonder about the scarf that Martha Scott was wearing.  She's the only woman wearing anything like it.  Did it or the pin holding it have significance?  I love the enormous hair bows on some of the little girls and the two boys decked out in sailor suits.  In every picture I've ever seen of Mary Dubbs Scott she's facing to the side instead of looking at the camera.  Great-grandma, why did you always do that?