Earp family members or their doppelgangers??

Hi, everyone. I emailed the Goldfield Historical Society, but never received a response. I also shared this post & the corresponding photos in a FB group, but I figured it couldn't hurt to share here, as well. In my opinion, several of the individuals have an uncanny resemblance to members of the Earp family. Upon doing research, I discovered that the Earp family spent very little time in Goldfield, NV. Here's a few of the discrepancies that made me question the accuracy of the info written on the back:

•Morgan Earp died in 1882—This photo was allegedly taken in 1893.

•There's no historical records placing any of the Earp family members in Goldfield until almost a decade after this photo was allegedly taken.

•Goldfield wasn't even founded until 1902.


Taking the aforementioned facts into consideration, these are the conclusions I've drawn:

A) This photo was taken somewhere other than Goldfield at an earlier date, or

B) If it was, in fact, taken in Goldfield, it was taken at a later date, & the individuals in the photo are not Earp family members, or

C) We've just learned that the Earp family spent time in (what is now known as) Goldfield many years prior to it being founded (which is unlikely, but not completely out of the question).


I was a bit discouraged by a couple of the comments that I received from the FB group until someone said that the resemblance seemed more than coincidental & that I shouldn't give up just yet. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts!!


P.S. One of the FB commenters mentioned that the dress styles were consistent for 1889–1893. Another commenter believes the writing is from a much later date (late 20th century). He also said that the "225–" is likely the price that the photo was being sold for at a show—This was my original thought, as well. Someone else said that the writing is likely the photographer's notes & they may have been written a decade+ later. Honestly, I've been left w/ more questions rather than answers~ lol.

 

Would/could you post a photograph of the back without the editing?

Debora

 

"Nev" was the traditional way to abbreviate Nevada.

 

This is one that I already had in my gallery—I'll share a better one a little later today!

 

Yes, I have noticed that w/ CDV's that I have in my collection. The "Goldfield, NV" seems off to me, anyway—It seems like it doesn't belong w/ the rest of the writing.

 

Those puffy leg-o-mutton sleeves on the ladies' dresses are 1890s. They came into fashion right around 1893 and remained popular through much of that decade.
The older seated woman is a bit behind the times and still wearing the 1880s style of sleeves, but the younger women are more fashion forward.

 

It would help if the people in the photograph actually looked like the Earp family members you posted next to them, but unfortunately they don't.
Different noses and eyes for the most part.

 

There are significant differences in their faces, the first thing I noticed were the Earp men's eyes and the low straight eyebrows, the strong noses as well, but also so many other differences - Virginia's face was longer and stronger than the other lady. Do not believe this photograph could be prior to Morgan's death in 1882, 1890s seems more likely, but even if so, why would his parents appear so aged, much older than at their 50th anniversary in 1890? And is the old guy missing a finger - or a flaw in the photo?




~Cheryl

 

There is some similarity, but ...nahh.

 

It is always difficult to do facial comparisons of photos taken at different angles, with different lighting, and at different ages. It might be helpful if you could include the dates/age of the comparative photos you used.

If you have enough comparisons, this might be an application for something like Google Photo Face Recognition. (Don't ask me how to use it - I haven't.) Or some other modern AI system. Just googling around, it seems to be up and coming in genealogy research.

 

Agree.

 

I agree with other opinions that none of them look all that much like the Earp family. Also, the date of 1893 seems spot on. Could be a year later. As mentioned earlier, the puffy sleeves on the women's dresses were in vogue in the 1890s... not before.

The writing in the upper right could (maybe) be a name -- "M. D. Tait" -- There is a partial crossbar to the right of the final letter. So it could be a "t." The first letter could be "H." but it looks a bit more like "M." I'm also not positive about the capital "T" but probably.

Also, the handwriting could have been added at any time after the picture was taken. It's obvious from what you've already uncovered that there are inaccuracies (Goldfield not being named Goldfield in the 1890s, for example). This kind of identification project can be tricky. But fun!

 

Ears are the most telling feature and none of those ears match up. You can change a lot of your appearance, but your ears don't change. That's what I always look at first.

 

they do get bigger though......don't they ??
old folks ears are huge....