Anytime a box full of photos comes up at auction, I admit that I can't resist. Especially when they are piled up and I have no idea what's inside. The first thing I do is unpack the box and start looking for clues to the faces in photos. Fortunately, many of the pictures were marked with names and locations, making the research a lot easier. I also look at the condition of the photos. In this lot, a few have water damage but most are in good condition.
I have an interest in war time artifacts, so I was excited to find a few items from WWI. A couple of portraits of soldiers and "A Message to you from his Majesty King George Vth." were also included. I'm still researching who the soldiers are and who the Message from King George was sent home too, but here's what I found:
Dated April 1918, this message was given to American soldiers and airmen arriving in England. It was a welcome message thanking soldiers for joining the alliance. It has the stamp of Windsor Castle on the top of the stationary and was mailed to a Mrs. John H. French in Athens, Alabama.
From my research, the Reding family lived in Indiana and their children moved to several states as they married and started families of their own.
John Lytle Reding (1841 - 1908) and Mary F Bagley (1846 - 1922) married in 1864 and had 10 children. John was a farmer as were his neighbors.
Nancy Alma (1868 - 1976)
Celestra Jane (1870 - 1958)
Alva Alanson (1873 - 1922)
Ozro (1875 - 1876)
Jessie Myrtle (1877 - 1928)
Melvin "Mel" (1880 - 1948)
Rella "Retta" (1881 - 1943)
Maude (1884 - 1945)
Edward (1886 - 1962)
Clarence (1889 - 1891)
Celestra Jane married Robert McFarland in 1889 and had at least one child with him, a son named Debs Leon McFarland. They divorced sometime between 1900 and 1910, as both Celestra "Jane" and her son were living with her mother and several siblings in the 1910 census.
The 1930 census shows Jane listed as widowed and living in Battle Creek, Michigan with her son Debs, his family, and her brother Edward. Robert McFarland had passed by then, so perhaps she considered herself a widow despite the divorce. Her son passed in 1936 and, in 1940, she was living with her Daugther in-law and some family members. She was a lodger at a home in Battle Creek when she passed in 1958.
I have no identified photos of Jane but one of Robert McFarland and his brother Cleveland.
Rella (or Retta) Reding (1881 - 1943) lived in Indiana her entire life and married Frank Payton (1881 - ?) in 1922. They had two children together:
Jesse French (1923 - 1923, Stillborn)
Mary Margaret (1925 - 2002)
Maude Reding (1884 - 1945) married Thomas Pearl Brewer (1883 - ?) in 1919. My research shows they had no children together. In the 1910 census, her occupation is listed as Laborer.
Edward Reding (1886 - 1962) was born in Indiana but moved to Arizona a short time before his death. He married Rena Dickey in 1913 and had one son with her, along with a stepson.
Cletis Russell Redding (1914 - 2004)
Roscoe Dallas Prewett (1910 - 1978)
Prior to 1940, he and Rena divorced and he is listed in the census as a Factory worker. It appears as though he lived in Michigan for a short time prior to moving to Douglas, Arizona.
Below are some unidentified photos in the pile that appear to be related but I have not yet identified them.
I'll continue researching, as there are many more photos that have not yet been identified. If you are interested in these family photos, please click the link on the top of the page for more information. As always, I'll send them to a descendant free of charge.
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