Since posting the analysis of a photo of my great-grandfather in this post, together with my conclusions about identifying the three women with him, I have come across new evidence that may affect that conclusion. The University of Michigan Library, at their website Seeking Michigan has posted a collection of Michigan death registrations 1897-1920, with images.
As usual with a new database, I plugged in some potential surnames, as we have ancestors in the Windsor/Detroit area, and one of the results looked promising, though oddly spelled: Emma Hancel Hutton. I already “knew” that my great-grandmother Emma Harriet (nee Hirons) Billyard Hutton had died on April 25, 1880, because that is what the published cemetery transcription of her tombstone said. Carved in stone, right? I had visited that very cemetery in September 2008, but found the only lettering still legible was the surname on the base — BILLYARD — where Emma was buried with her first husband William Billyard.
Imagine my surprise to find this document at Seeking Michigan!
Michigan death registration for Emma Hutton, 1900
(The original is found here) It is dated April 25, 1900 — fully twenty years later! No doubt the stone had been badly eroded when the transcription project was undertaken, and 1900 looked like 1880. And her death in Detroit, just across the river, while visiting with her stepson Robert Hutton, explains my failure to find an Ontario death registration.
Back to the picture and the little chart showing who died and when. Here’s a new version, with the changes in bold text:
| Name | Born | Died | Age: 1880 | 1883 | 1887 | 1891 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W. J. Gerald himself | 1850 | 1923 | 30 | 33 | 37 | 41 |
| Elizabeth H. (Billyard) Gerald , his wife | 1852 | 1930 | 28 | 31 | 35 | 39 |
| Emma Hirons Billyard Hutton (her mother) | 1828 | 1900 | 52 | 55 | 59 | 63 |
| Charlotte (Richardson) Gerald (his mother) | 1833 | 1899 | 47 | 50 | 54 | 58 |
| Ann (?) Richardson Ryder | 1828 | 1894 | 66 | 69 | 73 | 77 |
(Original observation) The oldest woman looks considerably older than 52, Emma Hirons’ age in 1880, and she died in Windsor, Ont Detroit, so I don’t believe Emma is pictured here.
New Conclusion:
This new information doesn’t really change my original conclusion; although I can no longer eliminate Emma by reason of her death before the earliest possible date of the picture (the family moved to Ottawa in 1886/87 and studio closed in 1891). I still think the oldest woman looks more like 73-77 than Emma’s age of between 59-63. Additionally, Charlotte Gerald lived most of her married life in Prescott, Ontario, south of Ottawa (indeed Charlotte and her mother Ann Ryder were enumerated living together there in the 1891 census), while Emma Hutton lived most of hers in the Windsor area. So, I stand by my earlier statement of this picture being William John Gerald, his wife Elizabeth H. Billyard Gerald, his mother Charlotte Gerald and her mother (WJG’s grandmother) Ann Ryder.
One other tidbit — when I first asked my dad about this picture, he identified his grandfather immediately, but thought the youngest woman was his Aunt Addie. She would have been only 16-20 at the time of this picture, and unmarried. I guess he was seeing a strong family resemblance.
Sources:
Death registration of Emma Harriet [Hirons Billyard] Hutton. Michigan Certificate of Death, Michigan History Foundation, Seeking Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.org/: accessed 3 August 2009; updated 8 April 2023).
St. John’s Anglican Churchyard, Sandwich, Windsor, Ontario. Ontario Genealogical Society, Essex County Branch, Windsor, Ontario, 1999, p. 15
Ancestry.com (digital image). 1891 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1891. RG31. Wellington Ward, Ottawa City, Ontario. Roll: T-6360, Family No: 8 on p.2.
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