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.
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