Same person?

[trlvn]

I have quite a few old family photographs (cabinet cards, cdv's, a few tin types) that have no identification of the subject. I *think* I've figured out the following but I'm also afraid that I'm talking myself into something that isn't there. So please let me know if I've let my enthusiasm run wild!

Background: my Treleaven ancestors left Cornwall, came to Canada near Kingston, Ontario and then homesteaded in Huron County in the late 1840's. Some spread to the nearby village of Lucknow which is in Bruce county. Come 1882, land was becoming available in the Canadian West and a large group formed to go homestead there (Manitoba). From there, some went due south into what was then the Dakota Territory. That Territory became the states of North and South Dakota in 1899.

I've got 3 pictures that identify the photographer as from Dakota so that makes them pre-1898. I think the following is Frank Willard Treleaven, 1865--1946, (FWT):



MyHeritage now has a feature when it will generate a computer guesstimate of the age of a photo (generally +/- 5 years). It thinks the above photo is from around 1892. FWT was 27 in 1892.

Why do I think this is FWT? I have a known photograph including FWT:



This image is cropped out of a well-documented picture taken for FWT's parents 60th wedding anniversary in 1904. FWT was 39 at that time.

Given a 12 year age gap, I think a lot of the facial features really correspond. The giant moustache doesn't help, though.

FWT stayed in Hannah, in what became North Dakota, for the balance of his life.

The other circumstantial evidence is that I found this picture among stuff from my g-grandfather and his two (spinster) sisters. My GG was also born in 1865 in Lucknow, as was FWT; they were first cousins. Were they pals? I don't know for sure but they were almost certainly in school together.

(Cont.)

 

[Daft Bat]

I use the ears as a guide and, comparing the two pictures, they certainly look to be the same chap.

 

[trlvn]

So if my uncertain photo above is Frank Willard Treleaven, then this next photo must be his wife: Clara Ella Errington Davis (1867--1951):



Same photographer, same props, and she is the right age to be his wife. OTOH, I have no other known photograph of Clara to compare to.

(Cont.)

 

[trlvn]

I use the ears as a guide and, comparing the two pictures, they certainly look to be the same chap.

I think I heard somewhere that ear lobes are a pretty reliable feature for identifying people.

 

[Daft Bat]

I think I heard somewhere that ear lobes are a pretty reliable feature for identifying people.

Not necessarily the lobes as they have a tendency to get longer as the person gets older, but certainly the part of the ear above it.

 

[trlvn]

Going further out on the limb...is the following ALSO FWT but about 10 years earlier yet again:



MyHeritage thinks this photo is taken about 1882 (again, +/- 5 years). FWT would have been 17 in 1882 and that was the year the group went West. The reverse of the photo shows it was taken in Fargo, Dakota or possibly Yellowstone Park(!). The 1882 migration date is firmly established by a newspaper article at the time.

OTOH, my understanding was that the whole group stayed in Manitoba (Crystal City area) for several years before FWT's parents and siblings moved again into the Dakota Territory. At this point, I don't have any firm evidence of when this later move happened.

FWT and Clara weren't married until 1890.

What do you think? Is that FWT in either or both pictures?

Thanks for looking,

Craig

 

[Daft Bat]

Hmmm.... Not so sure about this one. The bottom of the ear is closer to the head in the first two pictures.

 

[GrannyBarb]

I don't think the first and last fellows are the same guy. The Treleaven men in the group photo all favor each other... Possible, but not air tight. Sorry. Love all the pics, though.

 

[AnnB]

I think the first two photos are of the same chap, but I think the third one is a different person.