Family Photo (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 8)

The Archer Family Farm in Washington Co., TN (Early 1880s)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more exciting family photo than the one I’m using for this week’s entry for the Family Photo prompt of the 52 Ancestors Writing Challenge. When I think of family, I think of this photo. There are literally family members all over the place in this picture!

It’s not a photo that I own. In fact, I found it online a number of years ago when I was researching my husband’s family. The great grandmother of my husband, Dean, was Dollie Lee Archer (1894 – 1963). She married Elder Frank Glenn (1885 – 1973) in the year 1910. It was from researching the Archer line that I found this fantastic picture.

One of my husband’s 4x great grandfathers was Joseph W. Archer, Sr. (1787 – 1866). He was born in Virginia but moved to Washington County, TN in the early 1800s. He built the wonderful house featured in this photo during that time period. This photo was taken sometime between 1880 and 1884, several years after Joseph’s death.

However, even though Joseph himself is not in the picture, and even though I have no idea if any of Dean’s direct ancestors are pictured there, I know the people in the photo are all related to him.

I love the way the photographer put people everywhere, even on the roof of the porch. I’ve seen more photos featuring family members like this since discovering this particular picture, but this was the first one of its kind that I had ever seen.

The photo was found on a fantastic site created by Archer descendants, called the Archer Family Site. The site is filled with facts gathered by other Archer researchers. 

I loved the photo when I found it, and I love it still. It’s the epitome of a family photo to me. When I look at it, I can visualize each of those people in the photo living in that great big house, or at least nearby, and I wonder what their lives were like. I imagine the effort it took for Joseph and others to build the house in the early 1800s and the love, conflict, joy, sadness, and probably even despair that prevailed inside of it over the years.

I’m glad that these people were part of my husband’s family, and I wish more than anything that I knew each person’s name!

@2019 Copyright by Carla Love Maitland