This photograph, taken in Canada, was posted to Ancestry a few years ago. It purports to be of Angeline Peck (seated) and three of her sons by John Dent Collins, an Irishman from County Cork. The females pictured are said to be Angeline's stepdaughters, the children of John's first marriage to Mary Anne Wright. The girls were born in County Cork, the boys in Canada. I have serious doubts about the lady in the back row, however. She seems too long in the tooth to be Angeline's stepdaughter. I wonder if she might in fact be Angeline's younger sister Eliza Jane who was living with Angeline and John as late as 1865. Looking through censuses, it seemed to me the small boy must be Herbert Collins who was born in 1867 and passed away in 1871. In the photo he looks to be three or four so it was probably taken about 1870.
That brings us to the adult male seated next to Angeline. John Dent Collins died the same year his son Herbert was born, so it isn't John. Marriage records show that in 1870, Angeline became the third wife of my great-great-great-grandfather Jeremiah Garner, who apparently had a mid-life crisis, left his wife back in New York, and ran away to become an inn keeper in Canada. And marry twice more. And then leave Angeline in Canada to return to New York after his first wife's death, in time to be buried next to her. Passing strange.
Assuming I'm right about the young child being Herbert, and this photo being taken in 1870, Jeremiah would have been fifty-four years of age. The man in the photo could be that age, but when I first viewed the image, I was somewhat skeptical about this being Jeremiah. Mostly because there was no real proof or provenance, and I'm just a natural born skeptic. I contacted the individual who originally posted the photo, who conceded she wasn't positive about her identification of Jeremiah, but seemed to believe the lady was indeed Angeline.
After spending the last few days studying this family, I have to say I'm beginning to come around. Who else could this man logically have been? The gardener? In 1870, photos were still being taken exclusively by professional photographers. It wasn't until eighteen years later Kodak would introduce the first camera for home use; a box camera that came preloaded with enough film for one hundred photos. After one had used all the film, the camera, along with $10, was returned to Kodak for the photos to be developed and printed. The photos and the reloaded camera were then returned to the customer. But that was in the future, the picture above would no doubt have been taken by a photographer.
The question remains, is that Grandpa Jeremiah? Is it? I wish I could say I was positive it's him... but I'm not. I really do think it is, it makes sense that it would be. I know he married Angline in March of 1870, and looking at the leaves on the small tree in the background it's obviously well past March in Canada. I would think if a photographer was hired to come out and snap a family photo Jeremiah would certainly have been in it. Judging from the background, that may even be his hotel the family is posed in front of.
