Friday, September 19, 2008

the Nick and Ella Curtis family

This photograph often appears in the homes of descendants from William Rushmer Curtis and Ella May Canfield. This is their family portrait with eight of their children. William and Ella had twelve children, including a son named Floyd Augustus who passed away just two months shy of being two years old. Based upon the ages of the children in this photo, we assume the eight children pictured are the first eight out of nine who were living about 1905 when this photo was likely taken.

  • Rushmer Guy Curtis (standing, centered between mother and father)
  • Lovantia Curtis - unidentified, but one of the three oldest girls in the photo
  • Grace Adaline Curtis - unidentified, but one of the three oldest girls in the photo
  • Florence Albertha Curtis - unidentified, but one of the three oldest girls in the photo
  • Luella Curtis - (standing on the far right in front)
  • Delbert Curtis - (standing in front of father)
  • Ada Curtis - (standing in front, on the left by her mother)
  • Reed Josiah Curtis - (seated on mother's lap, about one year old)
If the age estimate is right for Reed Josiah, then this picture was taken about 1905. One thing that Ada always talked about on days that she thought about her mother was the fact that she was raised as an only child but ended up having twelve children. Ella May was raised as an only child because her brother passed away when he was a baby. Ada would always say how amazed she was that her mother raised twelve children after being raised as an only child.  

No comments: