Children in Photo

[darkerhorse]

We’re trying to identify the children in this photo.

What is your guess as to gender and ages or age differences?

It's a French-Canadian family living in upstate New York c.1900.

[joetucciarone]

Hi - The baby looks about 3 to 6 months old. The child on the left is standing on something, so he/she may only be 2-3 years old. The boy on the right might be 4-5 years old.

The baby could be either a boy or a girl. At that time it was very common to clothe baby boys in dresses, because it was easier to clean their underwear. Having said that, I'm guessing the child on the left is a girl. The shoulder puffs are decorative, not utilitarian, so they may indicate that this was a feminine dress.

Was the woman's husband deceased? This is a cabinet card, taken at a studio. Such portraits were meant to "document" the members of the entire family, so the absence of the father seems to imply he was no longer living.

[darkerhorse]

I appreciate your reply.

If this is the family I think it is then the husband and three older children were alive.

I was assuming the baby and child the on the left were girls, and the one on the right was a boy.

It would fit my theory if the girl standing was three and a half years older than the baby, and the boy standing was 5 years and 4 months older than the baby.

[joetucciarone]

Glad to lend an opinion; I like looking at old photographs. Is there anything stamped or written on the back of your picture? There was a photographer working in Geneva, New York, named Abel Shepard Hinckley. He was active in the 1870s and 1880s, but this predates the estimate for your picture by 30 years.

I haven't been able to find a Hinckley in West Port (Westport), the name and location of the studio on your picture.

[darkerhorse]

I don't have the original photo, just a digital copy.

[darkerhorse]

The woman in question had eight children from 1891 to 1902.

[darkerhorse]

Does anyone not think it's two girls and one boy?

[darkerhorse]

Glad to lend an opinion; I like looking at old photographs. Is there anything stamped or written on the back of your picture? There was a photographer working in Geneva, New York, named Abel Shepard Hinckley. He was active in the 1870s and 1880s, but this predates the estimate for your picture by 30 years.

I haven't been able to find a Hinckley in West Port (Westport), the name and location of the studio on your picture.

The family lived in Westport, Glens Falls, and Port Henry, NY during the period of the photo. The best guess is Glens Falls. Any connection to Hinckley Photos in those other towns?

[darkerhorse]

The consensus among relatives I've polled is three siblings (l to r):

girl born May 1899, girl born November 1902, boy born July 1897.

Anyone think this scenario is unlikely?