Where have the Black Sheep gone? I suppose there could be a limited number of black sheep and more of Sentimental Moments.
This is not a sentimental moment but rather I am intrigued by the serious look on his face. I have narrowed this ancestor down to two possibilities.
The first would be Robert Stephens but the second and whom I think he really is would be Christof Sperl.
My speculation comes from the wording, which is cut off, at the bottom right. I think that spells Sperl and the word at the right could possibly be Christof, I theorize this by the first letter and second could be Ch…. and the word is long enough to be Christopher.
He and his wife Margaret Buchl emigrated to the USA in 1869. Two of their children made the trip, Anton and Barbara. Two more children were born in the USA, Thomas in Baltimore and Margaret whose birth place I do not know.
The photograph seem to put me in mind of a passport photo or some other picture required for identification.
He looks so wise and like he knows the punch line to a great joke. Great picture. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI love to look through these kinds of pictures. Digital photography is incredible, but older photographs seem to have more...character.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this story. I'll be following your posts - many of my ancestors came from Germany to Pittsburgh.