Portraits have been having a very long moment. As far as I can tell, it’s not ending anytime soon & that’s fine with me. I like to say I’m averse to trends, but cannot deny my love for a crusty ol portrait. Bonus points if you know who they are (but no matter if you don’t).
This somber-looking man is an ancestor of mine. I don’t know his name or when he lived. My dad got it several decades ago from what he calls “the old home place”—a property in north Louisiana where his relatives lived for several generations. The family sold the land and the structures were being demolished, so I guess he was rescuing what he could. He also found this portrait of an even sadder-looking couple, more mystery-relatives lost to time.
I wonder why the woman was so sad, and if she liked this picture of herself. I wonder if her husband was nice to her. My gut says no. I wonder if the young man on my mantle had a glass eye, or if it just looks that way. Did he lose it in war? Did he die young? What made him important enough to have his picture on the wall for so long?
My dad also found this old group photograph, which conveniently has everyone identified in writing on the back. It’s a treasure trove of granny-chic baby name inspiration, if that’s your thing: Evette, Luther, Florence, Eliza, Martha Jane, maybe even “Shaw” or “Avinger” (go crazy, why not).
“Lilly McKinzie Hilburn, Lula McKinzie Miller, Lou Shaw Stratton, Mary Alberta McKinzie Avinger, Grandma Shaw, Evette Stratton, Martha Jane Shaw McKinzie, Luther Stratton, David Lacy McKinzie, Florence McKinzie Duke, Eliza Stratton, Lena Rivers McKinzie”
The tall young woman in the top row with a distant look on her face was my great-great-grandmother, Miss Mary Alberta McKenzie Avinger. Later in life she was known as “Mama Avinger”. I don’t know much about her either, but nailing down that connection made mystery-portrait people feel a titch more legitimate.
Mama Avinger in her nineties at The Old Home Place
