Connecting with other researchers to find Hannah Filer's photo

 I must say I was rather obsessed with Eliza's 'Hannah Filer' photo.  The photo is very clear and I studied Hannah's placid and kind face.  The photo quality is such that she and I can make eye contact.  I liked her.  I zoomed in to have a look at her belt buckle, the shape of her finger nails, her collar pin.  I guessed Hannah was about 40 years old when the photo was taken, so about 1908.

 I had to believe this was Hannah Filer because the lightly pencilled name on the back of the photo couldn't be an unassociated scribble.  Could it?  She had become 'my Hannah'.
 
 With the 2010 posting on the Tredegar forum, my research into the Filer family stagnated.  I had no other ideas of how I could locate a photo of Hannah.  Time to let the fishing lines I had set out drift in the currents. 

Photo in Eliza's Album c1908

Photo belonging to Hannah Filer's
great grandson which confirms
name in Eliza's album

 December 2012 I noticed a new poster on Ancestry who listed the Filer family I knew from doing document research.  Eric had joined Ancestry 6 weeks previously so I sent him a message through Ancestry.  Luckily he answered.  Some people don't.  'My Hannah Filer' was his great great grandmother!   

 I sent another message, holding my breath.  Hoping he would answer again.  Do you have a photo of Hannah?  He sent a drawing.  Jaw dropping time for me as it was a face I knew from Eliza's album - my Hannah Filer!  Take a look – Hannah in the drawing is wearing  a similar top and collar pin  as in the photo and just look at those kind eyes and serene smile.  I now had the correct Hannah Filer, my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed and Eric, a new 4th cousin.  

 Remember I suggested to tick the box that you want email notifications when there is a new posting to your Community Forum query?  September 2016 I was notified by email that there was a new posting to my Tredegar Forum posting on Hannah Filer.  Tim responded that he is the great grandson of Hannah Filer's father, Samuel Filer.  Fabulous.  A new 4th cousin.  Collecting cousins becomes addicting.  Tim did not have photos of Hannah but he had some of Hannah's father Samuel and other family members.  The Filer family was taking real shape.
 
 I found Eric just over two years after my concerted efforts to locate a photo of Hannah.  Tim replied to my Tredegar Forum query a little short of six years after my posting.  Sometimes you just have to be patient.
 
 I've now confirmed that the one photo in Eliza's album which was named, is truly Hannah Filer.  Since Hannah is there, surely there must be a photo of her twin sister Elizabeth Filer.  There is another photo of Hannah Filer in the album, so one more photo has a name.  A total of five photos named.  112 more photos to go.

Community Forums

  Many towns, counties, states and provinces have community forums.  People post queries with the hope that a local person or someone who used to live in the area, will have the answer they're looking for.  Forums are usually broken into categories.  Genealogy is usually one of the categories.  Try it: Google your place of interest, such as 'Tredegar forum' to see if your location has one.  After posting a query, make sure you tick the box that says you'd like to be notified by email if subsequent posts are made on the same topic.

 On 26 September 2010 I posted the following notice in the Tredegar, Monmouthshire genealogy forum:

 My ggmother's GRAY family lived in Tredegar.  In her photo album there are two photos of "Hannah Filer".  The stamp on the back is "Columbia Medallion Studios" Chicago, Illinois [USA].
 Hannah may have been Eliza's cousin who was born 1868 in Tredegar, the daughter of Samuel FILER & Mary BRIGHT.  Hannah's siblings may have been Sarah Ann, Elizabeth and Samuel - all born Tredegar.
Hannah may have married Thomas POWELL in Tredegar in 1892 and their children may be William, Gladys, Thomas, & Mary.
 I have put this information together from document research and it is not confirmed that this is 'my' Hannah Filer.
 Because of the studio photo I am assuming the family emigrated to the US.

 I would like to get in touch with anyone who knows anything about Hannah Filer and her family.

 I received 17 replies.  People gave recollections of the family.  One woman sent the marriages of Hannah Filer and her two sisters.  Someone walked to the cemetery on a very blustery day to check the headstone that he thought might connect.  It does.  He sent a photo.  Someone told me about an additional Filer child who died in between the census.  Another person walked to the cemetery and gave explicit instructions on how to find the headstone.  

  I don't live in Wales so this area knowledge is priceless.  I am amazed, humbled and so grateful for the kindness of people who go out of their way to assist.

    Unfortunately no one had a photo of Hannah Filer.  The search continues.

Research Approach to Hannah Filer

back of Hannah Filer photo

 Remember I said there is one photo in Eliza's album that has a name?  Pictured is the back of the photo.  Pencilled lightly on the left hand side is 'Hannah Filer'.  Was this a doodle or was it the name of the person in the photo? 

 I have three Hannah Filer's in my family tree during the decades the photo album represents , so which one could she be?  Is Filer a maiden name or a married name?  How do I find out?  How do I prove it?

 The photographer's logo says Medallion Studios, Chicago, Illinois.  Nice clue but this threw me for a loop because as far as I knew all my Hannah Filers lived out their lives in Wales.  I was flummoxed. 

 I traced all three of my Hannah Filer contenders by traditional paper research:

      1)     Birth / baptism records
2)      Census
3)      Marriage records
4)      Death records

     All events took place in Wales.

blowup of Columbia Medallion Studios logo

Other research:

    1)  I studied the photo for clues about photo date by hair style and clothing. 

     2)  I researched Medallion Studios in Chicago, Illinois to find out when they were operating and at what locations.  Sometimes people have photos taken while on vacation.

     3)  I looked at US census for Hannah Filer.  Of course was Filer a maiden name or a married name?

     4)  I contacted Tredegar Library to see if they had any references to the Filer families.

5)  I searched three subscription websites, Ancestry, FindmyPast, and MyHeritage.  Ancestry listed a person who was researching a Hannah Filer.  I sent him a message.

6)  I checked Google Images

7)  I used Google Lens (more about that in a later post).

8)  I checked 'Dead Fred' at https://deadfred.com/ to see if anyone had posted a photo of this person. 

9) I searched two wonderful free sites, Lost Cousins https://www.lostcousins.com/ and FamilySearch   https://www.familysearch.org/search/

10)  I Googled Hannah Filer every way I could think of

11) I searched two sites that list millions of graves around the world: Billion Graves  https://www.https//billiongraves.com/ and Findagrave https://www.findagrave.com/.

12)  I posted a query and photo on the old Rootsweb, which was a free message forum and searchable family database.  Then Ancestry bought it and have been whittling away at some of the very useful features.

13) My Hannah Filers lived in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales so in 2010 I posted on the Tredegar forum https://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/forum asking if anyone had information about the Filer families.   Several very helpful people replied.  One lady even went to the local library to obtain information on Filer marriages.  How nice is that.

 No luck for a photo.  Dead ends.  Now what?

The Serendipity of Sarah Jane Allcock

 I had long known about my 1st cousin, 3x removed, Sarah Jane Allcock from traditional document research. Sarah Jane's mother, Hannah Bright, is the sister of my great great grandmother Sarah Bright.  I was able to find out that Sarah Jane was born March 20th, 1861 in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales, however, I couldn't find a marriage or death for her in Wales. 

 Fast forward to a late evening in 2009.   I was tired and lazily trolling Ancestry when a photo had me wide awake and leaping from my chair.  I ran to Eliza's album and immediately sent a message to the Ancestry poster, attaching a copy of one of my unnamed photos.

Eliza's photo
Sarah Jane Allcock c1880s

 Thankfully, Jean responded right away and wanted to know where I got a photo of her great great grand-mother!, Sarah Jane Allcock.  Sarah Jane is Eliza's maternal 1st cousin.  Woo-hoo, a name to go with one of Eliza's photos!

Photo belonging to
Sarah Jane Allcock's descendant c 1880s

 Jean's great great grandparents lived in Russia for 30 years.  Sarah Jane married her 1st cousin Alfred Allcock in 1884 in Hughesovka, Odessa, Russia.  The couple had 7 children, all born in Hughesovka.  When the Russian Revolution became de facto, the Allcocks returned to the UK and lived out their lives in Yorkshire, England.  

 There are 2 other photos in Eliza's album of Sarah Jane.  One by herself and one with her parents. Two more people named.  

 Within a week of our initial correspondence Jean moved her online tree from public to private. If my timing had been off by a week, I would probably have never discovered the name of the person in the photo in Eliza's album nor the subsequent family story.  I am a firm believer that some relatives just want to be found.  

 Only 113 unnamed photos to go.

A Photo Album

A birth certificate shows you were born.
A death certificate shows you have died.
A photo album shows you have lived.                              

                                          ~ Author Unknown

My photo albums have changed size and shape over the years.  I no longer have thick albums of paper contemporary photos.  I keep the antique albums as is but my personal albums have disappeared.  I've scanned the photos I want and enjoy them on a 10" digital photo frame.  I can plug in an SD card or a thumb drive.  I can have different folders so my vacations aren't mixed in with our friend's pool party.  It's a great way to feature different slide shows for family or friends gathering.  

Do you have photo albums you don't know what to do with?

Who is Eliza Hannah Fuller

 Before I inherited the beautiful leather photo album from my great grandmother, the only thing that I knew about her is that she was 5'11" and always stood very erect.  When the average height of European men during World War II was 5'7", Eliza towered over most men and certainly over other women of her era. 

Eliza Hannah Fuller nee Gray c1930s

 I never met Eliza but because the 117 photos in her album were  unnamed I wanted to learn about her life so that I might try to put  names to faces. 

 Traditional document research revealed that Eliza Hannah Gray  was  the third of eight children and oldest daughter of Henry  Thomas Gray and his wife Sarah Bright.  Eliza was born in Somerset,  England but the family soon moved to Monmouthshire, Wales for  mining job opportunities.  As an adult Eliza moved to Kent, England  where she married and had five children.  She and her family later  emigrated to Canada.

 Eliza grew up in the middle years of Queen Victoria’s reign.  By  Eliza's 1956 death she saw five more British monarchs come to the  throne and 16 Canadian Prime Ministers move in and out of power in her adopted home of Canada.        

 Eliza lived in three countries, lived through two World Wars and the Great Depression.  She welcomed many new inventions that her descendants enjoy in everyday life.  Central heating,  indoor running water, indoor bathrooms, electric lights, the gramophone to bring music into the home, telephones and television are just a few of the inventions that Eliza would have seen.  It was during her lifetime that women won the right to vote.  In the background, after the wars, government and business was developing mammoth-sized binary computers. 

 The one invention that did not come soon enough for Eliza was penicillin.  Her grandson Hector died of an ear infection at 16 years old, just 4 years before the public use of the drug that might have saved his life.

What is my Inheritance of Memories

 When our family was clearing out my aunt and uncle's house I became heir to a very old beautiful leather photo album with a metal clasp that belonged to my great grandmother.

Photo album belonging to Eliza Hannah Gray

 Over the next months I devoured this album.  I stared at people, clothing and backdrops.  I guessed at ages.  I got out my magnifying glass so I wouldn't miss a detail.   I was fascinated.  I was obsessed. I had a growing need to know who these people were.  What their lives were like.  Who their families were.  What work they did.  Where they lived.  How they were related to my great grandmother, and therefore, to me.

 The photos from long ago are often so clear that you can make eye contact with the people.  I was getting to know this group.  From the manner of dress this was an album of people from the 1890s and before.  Some faces showed up several times through the ages.

 There was however, a tiny problem with this gorgeous album of 117 photos.  All the photos were unnamed!  Well, okay, I exaggerate.  Not all of them were unnamed.  One had a name and one had a clue.  That left me with 116 unnamed photos.  Now what?  Before I get into that I should introduce my great grandmother.