Featured Great Great Grandmother ca.1850 Picture Postcard.

Hi Antiquers!
This is a picture postcard of my Great Great Grandmother and 2 other people.
Looking at the picture, she is on the left side.
Date: ca. 1850.
Location: Sardis, MS.
Brief Message (on back.)
Elaborate Victorian Script.
Written using pencil. Faded. Barely legible.
Gotta love those hats!

 

From the clothes and hats, I'd guess more 1880 than 1850. Easter, maybe?

 

Love the picture!

 

Would you use the full image button please?
Thank you.

 

Real photo postcards such as this one did not exist before the very early 20th century. However, there is a possibility of an older photo being reproduced onto a real photo postcard. That being said, to me the children's clothing appear to be from the first decade of the 20th century or so.

What year was the great-great grandmother born? That will help.

 

Thank you, evelyb30.
Math has never been my strong point.
My Grandmother was born in 1904. Her mother, my Great Grandmother, Amanda, was born in the year 1882. Cassie's birth date is written down in my records...somewhere. I'll find it eventually.

 

Agree long, long after 1850. Edwardian, not Victorian.

Debora

 

Hi Debora,
Found it...finally.
Cassie Matilda Sturges was born in the year 1858. Thanks for the clothing information. The picture was taken, more than likely, during the Easter holiday. Was it considered tradition for women to wear white clothing during the Easter holiday?
If you look closely, Cassie is wearing a simple band "engagement" ring. It is an unadorned, size 5, 14K gold ring. It is marked 14K. It was passed down to my Great Grandmother, Amanda Belle Cobb and, eventually to my Great Aunt, Claudia Cobb. It was lost during the 1980s.
I love family history, yes. Ancestor worship? No. LOL.

 

Hmmmm.... Sardis, MS. That town is hardly 30 miles south of me. The chief attraction in that corner of the world is Sardis Lake Reservoir built during the depression (actually 1940) to control flooding with at least 3 other reservoirs and dams along the northern Mississippi River delta. The lake is huge, at least 98,000 acres and stretches miles - a great place for water sports: boating, fishing, camping, etc. The actual town of Sardis was incorporated in 1866.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ken...8&hl=en-us&client=safari#imgrc=4dF2QFCIRNmCwM:

 

Here is the marriage record of your great grandmother Amanda Sturgess to I presume your great grandfather Jaffie Cobb on 23 Dec 1899 in Panola Co., MS. Sardis is in Panola Co.
Scroll down to the Sturgess name:
http://panola.msghn.org/marriages_s.html

--- Susan

 

I was already confused and now even more so.

Who is "Cassie Matilda Sturgess" (born 1858) and where is there a picture to see this "ring" on her finger? No one in the first picture is old enough to be her (remembering that this picture was undoubtedly taken well after 1900) nor can the woman in the most recent picture be her either.

 

I was and am still confused also. I believe the 1850 was in error for the date of that pic. It was probably taken in the 1880s. The first/top pic is supposedly of his great great grandmother Cassie Matilda Sturgess on the left though to be pefectly honest she seems to have the eyes of his great grandmother Amanda??? Amanda Belle Sturgess (born 1882), his great grandmother, who married Jeffie Cobb in that marriage record on 1899. The last pic of the woman holding the baby is probably his great grandmother Amanda (Sturgess) CObb wearing the rings even though he called her Cassie in message #8. I thinkkkk??? he is mixing up the names Cassie and Amanda???

--- Susan

 

Is the script visible enough for you to get a scan of it? Some of us are good at deciphering. Even if it doesn't give clues about the photo it would be fun to try!

I'm not sure what to say about the pics at this point. I know the clothing is not from the 1860s (which would be the right time frame for the image to be of somebody born in 1858).

Here are some examples of girls' dresses from the 1860s, or the Civil War era:
https://www.google.com/search?q=186...vrsZ3TAhVI74MKHeEYB1sQsAQIQQ&biw=1680&bih=955

They were often fitted at the waist, with wide skirts (because they wore crinolines that made the skirts stick out -- or sometimes hoops... although hoops might have been for older women). The skirts could be higher than floor length for girls but not as high as in the postcard photo.

 

Cassie is 47 years old in the 1915 picture in the first post

She is about 115 years old holding the birthday boy in the 1970s pic

 

Hi,
Thanks for the information.
Regarding the date of the picture postcard, I am not sure when it was taken.
The census records, regarding the Sturges and Cobb families, contain several errors.
Sturges is the correct spelling ~not Sturgess.
My Great Grandfather was Jeff~not Jeffie.
It's a fun puzzle and I thank you for your ideas, comments and suggestions.

 

As to spelling on early vital records, it is very common to see misspellings. In fact back in the early 1800s and before it was a sign of high education to be able to spell a name or whatever several different ways. Many wills, probate papers, etc... from earlier times have a person's name spelled many different ways in the same document. Also in small communities many recorders have/had limited education resulting is what's consider misspellings today. I believe it wasn't until the publishing of Noal Webster's dictionary in early 1800s was the language started to be standardized.

--- Susan

 

Susan,
I can't begin to tell you how much I (and the Cobb family) appreciate the information you "dug up."
For one person, this type of research is a daunting endeavor. Prior to the link you shared, I did not know my Great Grandmother's, Amanda Belle Cobb , maiden name was Sturges. A Thousand Thanks!
The picture of the woman (Boufant ?hairstyle), holding a young boy, is Claudia Cobb, my Great Aunt. ca. 1980.

 

My Grandmother and Grandfather. Thelma Cobb Johnson. Alexander Benjamin Johnson.
Memphis Zoological Gardens. ca. 1940s.
The picture was taken just before he left for Japan ~WWII. Unfortunately, he was killed during the war and I never had a chance to meet him. His nickname was "Buddy."

 

This is the first photo in Full Image.

 

It's funny - Cobb and Sturgis (spelled with an I) are old time names on Cape Cod. Lots of things named after those two families. I wonder if your ancestors migrated south from here.