What Strange Inscriptions Have You Seen on a Photo?

Photo Detective posed an interesting question on her Facebook page: "What's the strangest thing you've ever seen written on a family photo?"

I have a few vague or humourous inscriptions on photos but my favourite is this photo on the left with the inscription:

"Merchant Maulsby, cousin Matilda’s father the meanest man that ever lived"

 

 

 

I also like this inscription on an 1860s cartes de visite (CDV) of Lydia Edwards. She does look ill or at the very least, depressed.

 

"Lydia Edwards, Grandfather’s wife and a great invalid" 

 

What are some of the unusual writings you've ever found on an old photo? 

Where to Find Obscure Genealogy Records

How many of us search the more obvious sources, don't find what we are looking for, then are stuck not knowing where else to look for that elusive ancestor? 

Obvious sources are census records, birth records, marriage records, land records, death records, passenger lists, and newspapers. Many of these basic records are found on Ancestry.com But are there other sources we can use?

There are also naturalization records, passport records, military records, cemetery records, almshouse and poorhouse records and more. Many are found online for free, others are pay-to-view.

What Other Genealogy Records Are Out There? 

It may surprise you to know that there are many valuable genealogy records that are less well known. I'm talking about education records, medical records, institution records, tax lists and so on. But there's even another layer of overlooked records that many people miss completely. 

Here are three that I find incredibly valuable but often overlooked.


Coffin plates Find ancestors in this wonderful genealogy resource at  Ancestors at Rest in  hundreds of coffin plates listed (with photographs) 

Coffin Plate of Peter Banta died 1889

Memorial Cards & Funeral Cards Find ancestors in this wonderful genealogy resource at  Ancestors at Rest

Edith Markham Memorial Card

Ledger books, Account books, Admission Registers Ancestors at Rest has dozens of free ledger books online from N. America (mostly USA)

Ledger Book dated 1856

Linking 2 Separate Family Lines, Mine & Hubs

I love it when family lines intersect! Recently I discovered that my first cousin, twice removed (Anne Ruby McInnes) married my husband's first cousin, three times removed (Alexander Butler) in Ontario in 1919.

I'm blown away by this. McInnes is my father's ancestry and stems from Daniel, the brother of my great-grandfather Alexander McGinnis. Daniel ran away from home as a young teenager, and changed the spelling of his surname to McInnes. My line stayed in the Guelph Ontario area, where Daniel's settled in Wingham area of Ontario.

The Butler line from my husband stems from his African American ancestor Jonathan Butler who settled in the Waterloo area of Ontario. Alexander Butler is the son of the brother of hub's 2nd great grandfather Joseph Butler.

I also discovered yet another linking of two families (mine and my husband's) in 2015 and wrote about it on Twists and Turns Can Lead to Great Genealogy Surprises


The intersection of completely unrelated lines is fascinating and has me wondering if this happens very often in family trees. Just this morning a Facebook friend posted that she just discovered that the daughter of her 4th great grandparents married the grandson of her husband's 5th great grandparents.

Inquiring minds want to know! Who all has found this intersection in their family?