Sunday, March 12, 2017

I Found My Great-Grandfather on DeadFred!

DeadFred is a "genealogy photo archive," a website where people upload old photos to connect them with family members. Visitors can easily search to see if they recognize anyone and request that a photo of a relative be mailed.

I have known about this website for a long time and every once in a while, will check to see if one of my relatives has a photo there. Last week, I was reminded of the site and entered a few family surnames into the search box. Imagine my surprise when I found one identified with the name Lowell Copeland!

I contacted the person who posted the photo and he mailed it to me. When I asked him where he found the photo, he wrote: "Found 7+ years ago in an antiques mall in Berkeley Springs WV." (I have no idea how it got to West Virginia!)


The photographer is Ritz & Hastings, at 147 Tremont St. in Boston. The website Broadway Photographs has a page about this photographer which helps me narrow down the date of the photo to 1882-1884, when Lowell Copeland was 20-22.

As far as I know, Lowell Copeland did not attend college. His brother, Charles Townsend Copeland (Copey of Harvard), graduated from Harvard College in 1882, so perhaps this photograph was taken on a visit to Boston for his brother's graduation.


On the back, the name is written in distinctive handwriting, but I have not found this handwriting in my other records.

Besides the fact that Lowell Copeland is a relatively uncommon name, I recognized him because of another photograph that I have which was taken a few years earlier.


This photograph was taken in St. Stephen, which is in New Brunswick, Canada, across the St. Croix river from Calais, Maine, where Lowell was born in October 1862.


The back of this photograph helps to date the photo to 1878 and I believe this is his handwriting, based on other examples that I have. (For example, see this photo of his wife.)

Thank you to Ira for sharing this photograph on DeadFred and for mailing it to me!

12 comments:

  1. Wow! That's terrific! And thanks for sharing. I'll have to check out the site.

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    1. I hope you have luck at the site, too. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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  2. What a surprise. I guess I have to put DeadFred on my list to check every so often. It seemed like a needle in a haystack, but your success is inspiring me to take a look!

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    1. I don't remember when I last checked the site - this photo had been there for quite awhile, so it's wonderful I found it. Thanks for the comment!

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  3. That's a great find and a great reminder to check the site regularly.

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    1. Yes, please do check and I hope to read about someone else's find there. Thanks for the comment.

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  4. What fun! I've checked DeadFred in the past, but haven't yet found any family members.

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    1. Keep checking - you never know! Thanks for the comment.

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  5. So Happy​ for you! Thanks for an uplifting post.

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    1. This was definitely fun to find. Thanks for the comment.

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  6. What an exciting find, Elizabeth. It is always wonderful to add another photograph to a collection.

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    1. Yes, it is, but especially exciting to find it at DeadFred!

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