GenealogyBlog

Many of my readers of this blog know about the 19th century photo album I acquired. I am very thankful for the woman who rescued my family’s photo album, found me and sent me the family heirloom.

Many of these photos have been posted on Wordless Wednesday or in other blog posts. Here are the first ten photos in order from the album. If you can provide any insight into these photos I would love to hear about it. Perhaps you can estimate the year one of the photos was taken or the age of an individial(s) or even perhaps what event was taken place.

The first photo in the album is a cabinet card which has been dated to around 1900.

This photo doesn’t seem to fit the same time period as the others within the photo album. It appears to be from around the 1920s or 1930s and is similar to the photos I have from that time period.

This photo is a cabinet card taken prior to 1900.

This cabinet card photo was taken between 1896 and 1898 and is most likely my great Aunt Florence.

This cabinet card photo is of an unknown subject.

This photo is of an unusual size and doesn’t fit the standards or a cabinet card, carte-de-visite or some of the other when known sizes of old photos.

This photo is a cabinet card of an unknown subject.

This photo is a cabinet card of an unknown subject.

This photo is a cabinet card of an unknown subject.

This appears to be the size of a sterograph photo of an unknown subject.

This photo comes from a 19th century Sanders & Fryher Photo album. If you can identify the date, age of the individual or who the person is, please post a remark about it.

My ancestor Patrick Fraher has always intrigued me. There are many brick walls in my genealogy which surround him. He was born, married and had two children in Ireland. He then went to England where he had two more children. Finally he moved to the United States in about 1860 where he had five more children. I’ve been unsuccessful in finding any records about him outside of the United States. I’ve been unsuccessful in finding any exact date of birth, marriage or death. There’s also a black sheep part of him which I find fascinating. There are reports in newspapers about him being arrested for being drunk. There’s also a report in a newspaper about him escaping from an insane asylum. However, that story is for another time.

This blog post mystery is about his time during the civil war. Patrick apparently served during the civil war. The photo below is him in his civil war uniform.

There is no doubt that the photo above is Patrick Fraher. I have in my possession a 19th century photo album known to belong to one of Patrick’s daughters (Mary). Pictured below is Patrick, with presumably his wife Sarah. The head shots of both photos were super imposed on top of one another with different intensities and the facial features are identical. The two photos are of the same man.

With no doubt left that Patrick served in the civil war, there are a number of questions to be answered. When did he serve? What unit did he serve with? The cap in the civil war photo seems to suggest an artillery unit, due to the insignia. I went to the civil war soldiers and sailors system to see if I could find Patrick. There were two Patrick Frahers. One served for a Massachusetts Volunteer Artillery Unit and another which served in the 12th US Regulars. The Massachusetts volunteer was known to have died in Andersonville Prison, so this could not be my Patrick. The other served in an infantry unit, which was not what I expected from the insignia.

A professional genealogist I had contacted about getting some civil war pension and service records was able to find some information about the Patrick Fraher who served in the 12th US Regulars. This Patrick Fraher served for a very short period of time. He enlisted in the upper part of New York State. He was also born in County Waterford, Ireland. This record seems very promising that it could be my Patrick, even though the unit may not be an artillery unit. My Patrick was enumerated in the 1865 New York Census in Essex County New York, which was fairly close to the place where the Patrick Fraher from the 12th US Regular enlisted.

For those professional genealogist veterans would this satisfy the Genealogical Proof Standard? Would this be enough proof to say that the Patrick Fraher who served in the 12th US Regular Army is my Patrick Fraher? I’ve tried finding other Patrick Fraher civil war veterans. Fraher can and has been misspelled many different ways (Fryher, Friher, Friar, and Frier). No other Patrick seems to fit with the known facts. I believe my Patrick was the one who served in the 12th US Regular and it seems more likely than not. I would love to hear feedback regarding this finding and conclusion.

A family group sheet with Patrick, his wife and children can be found in this earlier post for those who are interested.

Prior Post with Fraher Family Group Sheet

The BCG Genealogical Standards Manuel is a must for the professional and amateur genealogist who is striving for research which meets the Genealogical Proof Standard.

The first section of the book defines Research Standards and what it takes to make your research adhere to the Genealogy Proof Standard. It goes through Data Collection Standards, Evidence Evaluation Standards and Compilation Standards. The reading is rather textual as you might find in a college text book or manual. When I was reading and going over the material I found it helpful in my research. It was however a very boring read. It didn’t keep my interest very long and I could only read a little at a time.

The next section of the book deals with teaching standards. Since I am not a professional genealogist, I did not have a whole lot of interest in this section, but still was able to read through the section. It had the same college textbook feeling. It covered Standards for Lecturing, Instructors and Educational Writers. Another small section for continuing Education Standards follows the teaching standards section.

Most of the pages in the book are dedicated to Appendixes. The appendixes include The Genealogists Code, The Board for Certification of Genealogists, and a series or appendixes of examples for specific types of research projects. Since I have recently been contemplating getting into genealogy professionally, I found the appendixes with sample letters particularly interesting. They go through a standard of what a letter would look like to a prospective client.

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