Shared Photo: Fox Family Reunion

Question

This photo was included in the batch of photos given to me by my grandmother. She had written "Fox family reunion" on the back and identified her mother Mary (Fox) Reiser as the woman in light colored dress on the far left of the 2nd row and Mary's mother Ella (Charles) Fox as the lady sitting on the far left of the 1st row. 

Ella's husband William Pleas Fox  is a rather frustrating dead end for me and I keep staring at this photo hoping it will give me some clues. So, I'm sharing it in the hopes that perhaps folks in this photo will look familiar to someone else.

My grandmother thought this photo was taken in Tennessee, but isn't sure. It might have been taken in Knox County, Kentucky.  

William Fox died in 1897, so I'm assuming this photo was taken after that. That also makes sense because Mary (Fox) Reiser was born in 1886 and definitely looks older than 11 in this photo. Ella died in 1928. So, that gives me a probable date range for this photo of 1897-1928.

Click here for the image details page or here for the full-sized version (1012 x 800).

I think, the lady next to Ella on the front row (wearing a scarf) is Matilda Fox. I also think she might be the sister of my William. But I am lacking any documentation sans an 1850 census record with matching names and a photo seen on Ancestry of Matilda (uploaded by a direct descendent) that bears a resemblance to this woman with a porch in the background that looks like the porch in this photo.

If anyone has any clues or connections to this photo, I would love to hear from you!

Comments

The style of clothes worn by the younger generations behind the seated people, seems to indicate a period around 1910 or so.  There's a chap with a bow tie and some of the other men seem to be wearing shirts with normal collars, not the kind that were buttoned onto a shirt.  Pity we can't see the skirt lengths of the ladies with these men.

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Thank you. Fashion timelines are something I'm quite ignorant of and need to brush up on.

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Exciting news for me today as the lady who was a descendent of Matilda Fox received her DNA results and they show that we are possibly cousins. No proof yet that the match is through William and Matilda's mother, but it's a step in the right direction!

Answer 1

The curved formed shoes for right and left feet indicate that this photo was after 1850-1860 ish ..  

The hair styles of the younger women towards the top of the photo and to her right another woman, suggest something that might be dated. (Example: during the suffrage movement women's hair styles tended to look like the hair style of the woman center top whose hair is slightly parted with side "hair buns."

Great Photographic Technique with an advance lens for the circa ..

Comments

Wait, so suffragists used to have Princess Leia hair buns? :D

Seriously though, thanks for the reply.

 

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Certainly is anecdotal .. with great admiration and respect I yield to this clarifying reference: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20439/20439-h/20439-h.htm

Susan B Anthony and Lucy Stone deserve an acknowledge recognition for their respective successes.

Poking fun .. I believe that Princess Leia might have borrowed a "Hair-Do" from them. lol

C'est Bon Magnifique !

Answer 2

What a amazing photo of the reunion what a treasure to own, I hope there will be someone that might know some of the people

Thank you for sharing