Nine Young Men

In looking through my father’s papers, I have come across many photos taken in the beginning of the 20th century. Sometimes the pictures are labeled, perhaps with a date or place and rarely with names of people. Most of the time there is no label. So it is quite a challenge to figure out who these people might be.

A while ago, I found this picture:



At first it looked like it might be a picture of 8 men and boys and a little girl. That is how I labeled it. But then I looked more closely and found my father. He is the fourth from the right wearing a dark jacket and white pants, the only one of the older cousins not wearing a three-piece suit. To the right of him the proud young man is obviously his brother, Otto, standing very straight to show that he is taller than his older brother. The curly-headed young boy hiding next to Otto is their brother Hugo. The last little one, looking very unhappy, is the youngest of the brothers, Robert. His fancy little outfit was what very young boys wore in those days. So who might the other men and boys be? From their fancy three-piece suits to their white shirts with stiff collars and formal neckties to their polished shoes, they look elegant. Only Hugo in his sailor outfit with short pants and high boots looks comfortable.

They are obviously lined up in order of age. The man on the left with the receding hairline looks considerably older than my father. It also appears that three families might be represented. The two men on the left are dressed similarly. The three in the middle are also dressed similarly, but differently than those on either side of them.

I decided to look in my father’s genealogy to see whether I could find any kind of family pattern that would make sense. On my grandmother’s side of the family, I did not have enough information to make any kind of a guess. However, my grandmother was the oldest child, so it would be reasonable to assume that her younger siblings would have younger children, not older ones as shown in the picture.

I then examined the family of my grandfather on my father’s side. My grandfather was the youngest of six siblings, two of whom did not survive infancy. It would make sense that his brothers might have had older sons. I can’t help but remember the importance of our family name to the men of the family. A gathering of the young men and boys who would carry on our name would be well worth photographing.

My grandfather had two older brothers. The eldest moved to England and eventually took the name William when he became a British subject. He had three sons. The other brother, Gustav Adolph had two sons.

This picture appears to be a group shot of the stair-step grandsons of my great-grandparents, Hermann and Pauline:

From the left: Gustav Adolph’s children:

Hermann Hans Friedrich, April 1889
Gustav Adolph Wilhelm, October 1892

William’s children:
Hermann Maximilian, February 1893
Oscar Adalbert, August 1894
Richard Wilhelm, January 1896

And the children of my grandfather, Carl Rudolph:

Albert William, May 1896
Otto Hermann, September 1897
Hugo Rudolph, February 1906
Robert Erich Sebastian, December 1907

My cautious German cousin, HH said that perhaps I might be correct, but he reminds me that this is only a guess. We cannot be sure of anything. Come back and read my next blog to learn more about this and other related pictures!