For many years I would see old photos in antique shops, at Cracker Barrel, or at flea markets; decades old eyes peering at me out of tones of gray and sepia. I always wondered who they were and, as a genealogist, if they had descendants today looking for them.
Finally, after years of daydreaming about who they might have been, I decided to try to find out. I started with the photos in my family's possession; photos of friends of family years gone, with little luck unfortunately. From there I proceeded to purchase photos at antique shops and junk shops that looked promising to research. I generally try to buy photos with names and possibly places on the back that may help to locate them. On occasion, one speaks to me that has no name and I bring it home anyway. I once dropped $50 on a family Bible for a family not related to me, complete with a goldmine of names and dates.
I bring them home, attempt to date them, research them, and track down living descendants or family that may want them. Until I find those people, they stay in a box marked "Not My Ancestors" lest my descendants mistake them for photos of our own family some day when I am gone. Although if all goes well, they will be home with their own families long before then.
So this is my blog about my journey tracing these people who are not my ancestors, and hopefully reuniting them with people to love and remember them. Sometimes it is exciting. Other times it is saddening as I get to know these people only to discover some tragedy that befell them or someone close to them. Other times it is disheartening, when I buy photos with names and dates and they had many children only to discover that the line has ended in all directions and there is no one closely related to them alive today. I get to know them. I celebrate their triumphs and I mourn their losses, and for a brief few minutes or hours, I feel like I live their lives.
Hopefully by profiling these people as I research them on this blog, I can find their loved ones who may be looking for them today. If not, maybe it can serve as a memorial so that they are not forgotten.
