It’s a sepia photo, taken by Rich & Corwin, Guthrie Center, IA. There’s an arrow pointing to the girl on the right. On the back, in Leora Goff Wilson’s handwriting, it says “Laura Jordan (Goff) at 19 or 20 years of age and friends,” so this was taken about 1887 or 1888.
I didn’t recognize any of the others so I posted it on the Historic Guthrie County Facebook page and asked whether anyone, especially those genealogists, just might know who they are.
One man said he thought it was the wedding photo of a Goff family, February 25, 1890. Hmm, that’s the date Laura Jordan married Milton Sheridan “Sherd” Goff. He thought the others were Goff siblings, Edward and Minnie, plus Laura’s sister Floy. I was stunned. Does that mean that the “groom” in the center is Sherd Goff?
We’ve met Sherd’s brother Edwin Carlton Goff, and his sister Minnie Belle Goff. It’s hard to tell from photos whether it’s “Uncle Ed” but the woman on the left wore her hair the same way in at least one other photo. She was also a friend of Laura Jordan, both teaching country school in Guthrie County. Minnie’s death a few years later was a tragic one.
I’m leaning toward believing that three Goff siblings are in the photo. This photo was probably made before Laura married, and she would have been friends with the Goffs a year or two earlier. The girl standing in the back looks nothing like Laura’s next sister, Floy Jordan, so maybe she was a friend, perhaps another country school teacher.
My biggest conundrum? Leora Goff Wilson was the oldest child of Sherd and Laura Goff. Why wouldn’t she have recognized her own father and noted it on the back of the photo?
It always surprises me that long ago, the ‘style’ was to not smile in a photo. That can make it difficult to determine why the picture was taken in the first place.
They do look a little glum, don’t they!
I agree with GP…the expressions were so stern…makes everything harder to discern! But what a find, Joy. ❤️
Thank you, Vicki. A genealogy mystery for sure!
🥰❤️🥰
Inauguration Day is winding down a little and then College Football Championship, but I just took a little “time out”. I took a screen shot from your post and also one of Milton Sheridan (Sherd) Goff from Find a Grave. Nose, eyes, ears, etc. make me think this is our Great-Grandfather Goff. Maybe you know, but I have long wondered how his first and middle names came to be.
Milton Goff was the older brother of Nathan P. Goff, who was Sherd’s father. https://joynealkidney.com/2019/07/05/nathan-poole-goff-1815-1900/
Milton served in the Civil War but I was told that their father paid for a substitute so that Nathan wouldn’t have to serve. Sherdian? I don’t know.
It seems like you identified the people in that photo. That’s great, Joy. 😊
I hope so, Miriam, but I wish they looked happier about it!
What a wonderful portrait. Probably not a wedding photo with an odd number of people in it like that. Probably friends and family.
You may be right, Eilene.
I’m guessing family and friends, too.
Thank you, Liz.
You’re welcome, Joy.
That’s a real nice picture, Joy. I can understand them not smiling. I’m very often told to smile for family pictures. It being a conundrum for you is puzzling to me, since you know so much about your family history.
Thanks, Tim, for your comments.
My pleasure, Joy.
This old photo from the early ages of photography is amazingly well preserved and without considerable fading. Good luck with your sleuthing, Joy! 🙂
Thank you, Nancy. This one has been a puzzle, but fun to “work on.”
Everyone does look very serious!
They sure do, Linda.