Wandering Around The Family Tree

 My guess is this photo of Angeline Elizabeth (Hankins) Johnson dates from the 1870s, based on the elaborate lace collar on her dress. There is no information about the photographer or where it was taken.  On the back, it says Aunt Angie Johnson in unknown handwriting. This was possibly written by her nephew, William Lucas Hankins, my great grandfather. While Angie had many nieces and nephews, given what I know about the passing down of photos in my family, William Lucas Hankins is the most likely person to have provided the identification.  This second photograph of Angie likely dates from about 1894. There is nothing on the photograph itself to indicate the date. However, she appears to be wearing the same dress that she wore in the group portrait with her siblings taken at Harding Studio in Binghamton that year.  The date on the back, 1 February 1903, is her death date, so unlikely to be the date the photograph was taken.  Angeline Elizabeth Hankins, daughte...

  This photograph of Rebecca Thomas Hankins was taken by the photographer Sighi of Binghamton, New York. Wellington G. Sighi had a photographic studio in Binghamton between 1872 and 1885, which gives a date range for this photo. [1] Sighi's bio on the Nineteenth-Century Photographers of Binghamton, New York makes him out to be quite a character!  During those years, Rebecca lived in Hankins, Sullivan County, New York. She first appears in the records in Binghamton in the 1899 City Directory. Her brother, Samuel Howard Hankins, was living in Binghamton by 1888.  The identification of Rebecca T. Hankins is in an unknown person's handwriting. The dates of her birth and death are in the handwriting of Barbara (Schickler) Hankins, who was born fifteen years after Rebecca died.  This photograph has been digitally enhanced.  Rebecca Thomas Hankins, daughter of John Hankins (1803-1847) and Susan Thomas (1811-1885), was born 20 October 1835 in Pennsylvania. She was a sch...

 This photograph of Howard Ross Hankins was taken in Owego, Tioga County, New York. The dark color of the card indicates it was taken in the late 1880s, which is consistent with what is known about Howard's life and when he was in Tioga County.  On the back, the photo is identified as Howard Hankins in an unknown person's handwriting.  The photo has been digitally enhanced.  Howard Ross Hankins, son of Lucas Wurtz Hankins (1831-1910) and Mary Ellen Ross (1835-1914), was born 4 August 1863 in Manchester, Wayne County, Pennsylvania. He married Emma Chappius (1862-1889), daughter of Mark Chappius (1827-1918) and Mary (1835-1883) on 6 March 1888 in Berkshire, Tioga County, New York. Howard and Emma had a daughter Mabel (1889-1890). On 26 May 1907, Howard married Martha M. Hanning (1874-1960), daughter of John Hanning (1842-1929) and Martha (1845-1918) in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. Howard died in Los Angeles on 27 March 1922.  Newspaper accounts link Howard...

 I found two photographs labeled Mary Ellen (Ross) Hankins. The identifications are done in my mother's handwriting.  Both photos may have been taken the same day - Mary Ellen is wearing the same clothing in both photos. One photo shows more of the dress than the other. It's not clear if one is a copy of the other, or if they were originally two separate images.  One has been peeled off a cardboard backing. The other is a cabinet card indicating the photograph was taken by A.P. Davis of the Elite Studio in Deposit, Delaware County, New York. I have not been able to identify information about A.P. Davis.  These images have been digitally enhanced  in Photoshop.  Mary Ellen Ross, daughter of John Ross (1791-1837) and Sarah Kellam (1797-????), was born 25 August 1835 in Pennsylvania. She married Lucas Wurtz Hankins (1831-1910), son of John Hankins (1803-1847) and Susan Thomas (1811-1885) on 5 August 1857 at the home of her half brother Benjamin Tyler. Mary Ell...

 There is a label on the back of the photograph identifying it as Lucas W, William L and Mary Ellen Ross Hankins, with a date of c 1875-1880 we think. The handwriting for the identification is in my mother's handwriting (she's also the person who stuck labels on the backs of photos and wrote on them with ink after I told her not to write on the backs of the photos in ink! I said use a soft pencil!) I suspect mmy grandfather Francis William Hankins provided the identification of his father William L Hankins in the photograph. There are enough other photos of Lucas and Mary Ellen to compare that would confirm their identities.  No information is provided as to where the photograph was taken. My guess is Manchester, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, since that is where Lucas Hankins and his family lived.  I suspect the photograph dates from the early 1880s. William was born in 1872. So for the photo to have been taken 1875-1880 - he would be between 3 and 8 years old. He looks old...

 I'm starting to digitize a notebook of Hankins family photographs dating from the 1880s-1920s. I'll probably do a post for an individual photo or group of photos, depending on what I find.  According to information written on the back, this photograph dates from 1894, and was taken at the Harding Studio, 33 Court St. in Binghamton. New York. These notes are in my handwriting and I have no clue where the info came from. The photo itself looks to have been peeled off a larger cardboard backing board. People are identified in a typewritten note, taped to the back of the photo. In the original ttypewritten information, Mary Ellen Ross Hankins is included in the list - crossed out an in my handwriting replaced with Mary Hankins Main. Samuel and John Hankins are indicated by ? on the typewritten note, and I wrote in their names. My guess is the information about who is who and when the photo was taken is from another copy of the photo in another part of the family. These are the su...