Dead Fred's Relatively Speaking Needs Your Help with Solving a Mystery!

Unearthing Relevant News, Advice and Updates for the Living
Special Letter from Joe Bott, Founder ©DeadFred.com

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Special Letter from Joe Bott

DeadFred.com Needs Your Help!

Joe Bott here. I'm coming to you for help with solving a mystery.

Can You Help Us Identify This Photo?

Found among the belongings of a Scandinavian family in Saskatchewan, Canada, the photograph was taken in New York. The family name at the time was Pedersen, later changed to Ekstrand. The image appears to be from the 1870s-1890s or 1860s-1900s. There is speculation regarding the gender of the child, but the photo submitter notes that there is a bow in the child's hair, which is difficult to see in the scan yet apparent in the original.

Prior research of the Photographer A. Po. deGroat of Bath and Hammondsport, NY, indicates that (professionally at least) his line seems to be extinct. The submitter tells us no branch of her family has ever lived in that part of the world. This is a true mystery!

While the clues and tidbits above are just the humble beginnings of what I suspect will become a very interesting genealogy reunion tale, there is definite power in collaboration.

Please review the details of the photograph here, and forward this information along to your fellow sleuths to help us increase the possibility of identifying this photograph. The identifying genealogist will receive a FREE download of DeadFred.com's The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book (an invaluable resource packed with articles and case studies that reveal tips, shortcuts and resources from genealogy's top writers)!

Why the Push to Identify This Particular Photo?

I recently received a call from the folks at the new television series Ancestors in the Attic hosted by Jeff Douglas and produced by Toronto's Primitive Entertainment.

A "Friend of Fred" who found an ancestor on DeadFred.com dropped our name (Thank you, fair friend!), and now we're working with the show to possibly highlight some DeadFred.com discoveries during the series. Ancestors in the Attic also submitted the photo pictured above from one of its viewers in hopes of making a connection.

With 1,032 reported photo reunions through DeadFred.com already, I believe that identifying this mystery photo is well within the reach of our talented community of DeadFred.com members and visitors.

So...without further ado: Fellow genealogists, thank you in advance for lending us your thinking caps along with your brilliant minds, and I hope to hear from you soon. Again, click here for photo details.

Please send all clues and progress reports to archivists@deadfred.com with the subject line, "Attn: Joe - You're Going to Love This!" (I love getting e-mail with that subject line.)

Long Live DeadFred.com!
Joe

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