It happened again.
I wrote last year when genealogist “STORMDS2008” reached out to me about returning an old family photo to the family. She made the effort to trace the family history and found me, even though I am a distant cousin. (See: Kindness of Strangers in Returning Old Family Photo.)
This week “Firimar” reached out to me with old photos of brothers Charles and Frank Mayall.
Thanks to “Firimar” I have now added a copy of each photo to Charles Alfred Mayall (1863- ) and Frank Emerson Mayall (1861- ).
Their lives were not easy. They lost their Mom when they were aged about 17 and 18 – then lost their father six years later.
Frank moved to Helena, Montana, where he was prominent in business, and married Emma Florence Kimball, a Massachusetts girl, on Thanksgiving Day, 26 November 1896. But things took a sudden turn in 1903 when he became seriously ill and went to an asylum in Maine, where he died in December 1903.
Charles married Jennie Moore on 4 September 1899 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Life was looking up for Charles, but it took a turn in 1902 when he was arrested and later released for drunkenness – accused by his father-in-law, 74-year-old, recently widowed Nathaniel Gilbert Moore (1828-1920).
Sadly, a year later Charles was again arrested for drunkenness.
The marriage did not last and they were divorced soon thereafter.
Life is difficult and can be complex.
I am glad that “Firimar” took the time to share their pictures, so that we could add more to their story – and get a better perspective of their lives.
Thanks to the Internet, genealogists across the world are quickly piecing together our global family – one obituary, one photo and one document at a time.
Have you made the effort to connect missing photographs to the family?
Tell us your story.