Making connections

I started the blog in the hopes fellow family historians out there would find me, find shared surnames, see familiar faces in previously unidentified photos, and end up solving all of my problems.

Perhaps that last part is too lofty a goal, but for the rest, I'm happy to say it's working amazingly well!

I've connected with several distant Sabin cousins and through them have identified various photos. Most recently I heard from Derek Swezey, another descendent of Oliver and Maria (Swezey) Sabin, who helped identify two additional photos in Grandma Sabin's album. Both photos were actually photos of Rosa Swezey, Oliver and Maria's daughter and one of the few individuals who had an identified photo in my collection! Now that I've compared this photo with others, it's hard for me to know how I didn't see the similarities earlier. Sometimes when you're doing this for so long you almost become blind to the subtle clues that can lead to the answers.

Derek told me he would be sharing my blog with others in his family, so I hope they come here, read this, and can find the same success. I look forward to future connections!

Rosa Swezey

Rosa Swezey

Rosa Swezey

The top photo was the one that had been identified by handwriting on the back as "Rosa Swezey, 1871". The bottom two were identified with the help of Derek Swezey comparing the identified photo to the other unmarked images.