Who Are My People: Connecting Photos to Family

 

"The Great Outdoors"

        By the time this photo, along with the many other photos reached me, sadly my dad had passed and I couldn't ask him about the pictures.  Many things in the box had clues that in fact this was my family.  One was a note addressed to my grandmother at her home. Another clue that this box was surely my family was confirmation from my dad's sister that one of the pictures was her.  

        I had this box of photos for about 10 years before beginning to research my family.  I now have been able to identify all those buried in the photo and their stories.  I am still in search of who the people are alive in the photo.  All I have is strong guesses but have not had any solid collaboration on who they are.  I've not been able to locate the burial site but have a really good suspicion of where it is since the family had property in Nebraska and all those buried were in Nebraska.  A road trip this fall to local churches, libraries and historical societies will hopefully lead to concrete information about the burial site.  

        What I now know about my family since receiving this gem is amazing. The first headstone is my 2x great grandfather Ezekiel C Fueston ~1835-1890. He was born in Kentucky and died in Nebraska a few months after his oldest son John.   Ezekiel had a presidential pardon from the Hayes Administration in 1878.  He was not able to pay his fine when he was arrested for making moonshine. 

      The second headstone is Ezekiel and his wife Ursley's first born son John William (1857-1890). John's wife and 2 children are buried together.  John, his wife and one child were tragically killed by the cars (train) when they were struck in their wagon in town in Big Springs Nebraska in 1890. The second child in the grave with them was buried at another location, assume near by the property, and exhumed and moved to be laid to rest with them when they were buried.  The third headstone is for another of John's daughters Nannie B (1883-1893).  She was a mere 8 year old when her nightdress caught fire by the stove where she was cooking.  

     Basically through this photo I've learned I have lots of family from my dad's side.  Ezekiel and Ursley had 10 (possibly 14) children.  I can track 10 of the children now and have been in contact with a few cousins I didn't know existed.  And this photo not only shows the great outdoors, it also traveled many miles.   Ezekiel is buried in Nebraska and I recently had the opportunity to visit Ursley's gravesite in Spokane, Washington.  

       Until next time...keep hunting the Great Outdoors!