52 Ancestors Week 25: Unexpected

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 25's theme is "Unexpected." There can be all kinds of unexpected discoveries when we research our family history. What have you found that was unexpected? Have you found anything in an unexpected source? What about an ancestor who experienced something unexpected?

In genealogy, unexpected events are a common occurrence. You're always going to find something you've never expected whether it's a DNA result that shows you're Scottish when you thought you were Irish or if you find a half great-aunt you never knew about. You might even find something you never expected to find while you're digging around looking for information on great-uncle Jed's worm farm. (Author's note. I do not have a great-uncle Jed!) Life is always about anticipating the unexpected. It's what makes life interesting!

Franklin Senter and family. But...Wait a second.....

Something unexpected happened about a month ago, actually. I was on Familysearch  looking for some information. I forget what it was. When I looked at the main page, I saw that someone had attached this photo to the right onto a man named Franklin "Tiny" Senter. Frank was the father of  Walter Howard Senter, the second husband of my 2x great-grandmother, Gertrude Stevens.

At first I thought nothing of it. Familysearch, like WikiTree, is a world tree. People put up pictures all the time. Results, of course, vary! I read the description and the user who uploaded it said that the picture was taken in 1903. She then went on to list who was who in great detail.

Franklin was the guy in the front row on the left. Walter was the guy behind him and next to him was his mother. She said that her grandfather was one of the kids in the picture and that the lady in the middle of the front row was Walter's wife. To my annoyance she didn't list her name.

Naturally, I sent a message to the lady. I wasn't going to leave this hanging by a thread! I needed to find out who the lady in the middle was! I took the pic and upon a closer inspection, I saw that she and my own mother share similar features! Was I freaked out? Nah. Excited was more like it! So, who was she? From the beginning I suspected she was Gertrude. I just needed a little thing called evidence. I'm not the type who'd claim some lady was my ancestor without proof. That's how genealogical fights break out.

Luckily, I had plenty of evidence! Walter married only one person in his lifetime. That woman was Gertrude. They were married on September 22nd, 1899 in Kingston, New Hampshire. Walter and Gertrude were married for four years by the time that picture was taken. Everything seemed to click. I just needed confirmation from the lady who uploaded the picture.

Eventually she wrote me back and greeted me as a cousin. Well, half-cousin if you want to get technical! She confirmed that the woman in the middle of the front row WAS Gertrude Stevens. Then it all clicked into place. That's why she and my mother looked so similar! I shared the picture on Facebook to make certain I wasn't seeing things. Other people in my family thought the same thing I did. I showed my mother and she said "Yeah, she and I look alike." Dunno if it freaked her out. Probably not. My mother tends to be more pragmatic than anything.

This was an unexpected discovery. What was really amazing is that several cropped versions of this picture was uploaded to several trees on Ancestry. No one tagged Gertrude so I never got that hint in the years I was ON that website. The people who were tagged were typically the Senters. That's when I sprung into action!

After I received confirmation, I uploaded the picture to WikiTree, Geni, Myheritage and Ancestry. I then tagged the correct people to make sure that this information would never be lost again. Pro-tip: If you upload a picture, make sure you tag everyone! If you know them all, at least. With the picture all over the Internet, my work seemed to be done. Or so I thought.

I kind of wanted to know who the adorable baby on Gertrude's lap was. It wasn't my great-grandfather, Austin. He was living in Haverhill at the time the picture was taken and was also eleven years old. The baby had to have been one of the Senter children. I just wasn't sure who. Gertude had the following children with Walter:

* Theodore Franklin
* John Howard
* Lawrence
* Ruby
* Clarence
* Hilda
* Helen

Conventional wisdom dictates that the baby is probably Theodore because he was born February of 1902. This picture could have easily been taken in early 1903 before his first birthday. That's my theory, anyway. I could be wrong. Time will tell. Even my cousin wasn't sure. She said it was one of hers and Walter's kids. Teddy here seems to be the only option because the next one wasn't born until July of 1904. If I knew the exact date the picture was taken, I could extrapolate how old the kids were. But, I may not know the date.

Finding the picture was definitely unexpected because I wasn't looking for anything in particular that day. I was never shown the picture when I was younger because we didn't have a copy and it was unexpected how it just popped up like this. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Internet can be wonderful sometimes. (As long as you avoid YouTube's comment sections). It was definitely unexpected how she and my mother look so alike. Gotta love genetics!

Now that I have a picture of Gertrude for my collection, I now have pictures of 10 out of 16 2x great-grandparents. Here's hoping I find the rest of them, soon!