Unknown Subjects

My Great-Uncle Arnold Campbell Davis and his children have long been the Davis family historians. Some time ago, three of my Davis cousins, Janet, Barry, and Dena, diligently sorted through their father's extensive collection of photographs and family documents. Barry scanned and ordered them in an online document sharing system, to which he generously provide me access. For someone as interested in family history as I am, this was a breathtaking treasure trove. 

Barry designated one of the folders in the collection "Unknown Subjects," and the photos there are intriguing. I believe most of these subjects are family, but proving that is not easy. Perhaps not even possible, unless some more distant cousin recognizes a parent or grandparent. I have some conjectures about a couple of the oldest photos in the collection, however.

The wee lass in the photograph below was not in Unknown Subjects folder and is not unknown. I include the picture only for comparison purposes. She was my great-grandmother, Emily Robina Elizabeth Campbell, born on the family farm on May 18th, 1891. Her grandparents, Duncan and Amelia McGregor lived in nearby Prince Albert, where a photographer at the Clifford Bros. Studio captured her image on something called a cabinet card.

My research uncovered almost no information about the Clifford Bros. photography studio. Further, I combed through the 1891 census and found no likely photographers by the name of Clifford. The Clifford Brothers may have been businessmen who lived elsewhere. There were two photographers in town, Marie Strachan and Daniel Cadzon, and one of them may have operated the studio. Interestingly, Marie Strachan's oldest child, Joseph, would marry my great-Aunt, Alta Mae Simpson. 

The popularity of cabinet cards peaked in the 1880s but declined steadily over the following decade and a half. I found two Clifford Bros. cabinet cards that date to about 1890. Clifford Bros.'s photos taken in 1893 and later are in black & white tones, rather than sepia, without the distinctive cabinet cards. I've been unable to find any Clifford Bros. photos dated later than 1896, although I can only locate a half-dozen of their photographs, period. 

Suppose the photo below dates to around 1890, the subjects are family, and the photographer was in Prince Albert, which are all pretty safe assumptions, in my opinion. In that case, there is only one possibility of who these two men could be: Forbes and Duncan McGregor.

Duncan and Amelia McGregor had five daughters and two sons. The oldest was Emma, my 2x great-grandmother, and the mother of Emily above. The second and third oldest were Charles Forbes McGregor and Duncan Alexander McGregor, age 30 and 28, in 1890, and both lived in Prince Albert. There are no other options available. 

The following two photos, which appear to have been together in a double frame, are more problematic to identify. 

My first assumption was they were closely related, perhaps brother and sister. However, one has sepia tones while the other is black & white. These photos could date years apart. And while these subjects were very probably closely related, it's difficult to determine the age difference and, subsequently, their relationship.

Both photos appear to be cabinet cards inserted into the frame through the slots near the bottom. The paper of the frame tore above the slot on the side with the young man, exposing the cabinet card and the name of the Clifford Bros. studio.

Many attributes date the woman's photo to the 1880s: hairstyle, dress, and the cabinet card itself. Reusing the assumptions above for the picture with the two men, the Unknown Subject had to be a McGregor sister. 

There are five sisters to choose from, but, fortunately, I have photos of Emma, Nellie, Kate, and Alexina against which to compare. 

As you can see above, Kate and Alexina have facial features different than the Unknown Subject. Kate has a longer face and a dissimilarly shaped mouth. Alexina also has a longer head and more protruding ears. Nellie McGregor has similar features to the female Unknown Subject, but her hairline is comparatively too low. 

​Emma's picture in the lineup is from 1921, so at least 30 years after the female Unknown Subject's photo. She is heavier, styled her hair differently, and arches her eyebrows, but her facial features are quite similar. Some detail on the sepia photograph of the young woman is not easily apparent, but the mouth is of the same shape. The hairline is also about the same, and the earlobes of both are attached. The shape of the eyes and chin are also similar. 

I don't have a photo of Robena; however, another unknown subject appears related to the sisters, and I included her picture in the lineup. The photo style as a decorative card and dress of that woman point to the 1890s, at the latest. This unknown subject could be Forbes or Duncan's wife, who both had children in the 1890s. Or it could be Robena, who had her daughter, Emily, in 1896. Since we have a photo of a grown Emily in the Unknown Subjects folder, and the woman resembles the sisters, I believe it is Robena. However, this woman has curly hair and smaller ears, so she is not the same woman as the one next to her.

With the photo of the young man, his coat and hairstyle point to the 1880s. After comparing the photo to known photos of her son, Charles Forbes Campbell, I ruled him out. 

Charles Forbes Campbell vs. Unknown 14

These two do have some similarities, but the brow on unknown is much higher, and his left ear appears to have a bend. While I believe these two are related, they are different people. Emma had another son , John Duncan Lorne Campbell, but he died in 1895 at the age of 14, and unknown appears to be older than that, perhaps late teens or early twenties. 

However, he strongly resembles one of the two men in the first photo above, and it may even be the same coat. The McGregors arrived in Prince Albert in 1895, when Duncan McGregor was 23 and Forbes McGregor was 25. It appears likely that this photo was taken when he was younger and the photo above a few years later. Again, he could be either man.