Happy
Mother's Day to all mothers past and present. The collage above shows 6
unbroken generations of my female lineage - from one mother to the next.
Starting from the left we have Sarah Stead, my great-great grandmother. Next is Sarah's daughter Sarah Simpson, my great grandmother. Then we have Sarah Simpson's daughter Ruth Fuller, my grandmother. Then comes Ruth's daughter Joan, my mother. Then me and then my daughter Judy. Then our direct maternal line is done as my daughter had sons but no daughters.
These 6 mothers had a total of 24 children. Sarah Elvery Stead died at the age of 31 and of her 6 children, only 4 lived to be raised by step-mothers. Sarah Jane Stead Simpson lived to a good age of 89 and raised 6 children. My grandmother always spoke of her mother with love and affection. My grandmother Ruth Simpson Fuller had 3 children and lived to be 90 years old. Then my mother Joan had 4 children and lived to ripe old age of 93!
My mother was an interesting character with an adventurous spirit. If it were later in the day I'd raise a glass to all the mothers who went before me but because it's early morning I'll just take a few moments of silent thank you to all of them.
Wonderful photos and such a treasure. I have a post of seven generations on my blog, but not as complete as yours. My maternal great grandmother is one of six sisters and unfortunately the only photo I have is all six with no one identified. She died when my grandmother was only 9 years old. I do have a watercolor that could be her, or possibly my paternal great grandmother. My mother could not remember for sure. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating for you! But don't despair. You may find someone else with the identical photo one day - that someone may be a descendant who knows who each person in the photo is. It happened in my family, it can happen in yours.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother had a photo of a woman ca Civil War period. It came to me when she died but no one knew who she was. Years later I "met" a man who was had the identical photo but he knew who it was! Turns out it was my great-great-grandmother (My grandma's grandma) who died in 1867.