Rediscovered Raney & Dyson Family Photographs

Great-grandmother Louisa Petitjohn Smith and our darling grandmother, Mary Smith Raney, c 1907, probably at the boarding house they ran in Fredonia, Kansas. Note Mary with a root vegetable and knife in her hands.

You know how some familiar items become invisible? For years a red cookie tin sat on a desk in our bedroom.  Today it caught my eye and I thought, What's in it? I dusted it off and cracked it open. Inside was a piece of ivory satin from our grandmother's 1910 wedding gown that she later made into a coat for her little daughter Louise; also, a small stack of lavender-colored envelopes bearing my mother's handwriting, identifying each old photo within. She'd sent them to me some 20 years ago. I'll share with you these and a few other photos I've come into.

 In 1925 the Raney family attended the 2nd annual Rabbit Breeders' Picnic in Spokane. I guess our grandfather Frank was raising rabbits, although I've never heard about this enterprise. The photo of the picnic attendees is so sharp, I was able to edit out our family members and enlarge their images.

Mary Raney with baby Geneva on her lap and 4 yr-old Mary Agnes at her feet

Louise Raney, age 7

 Paul and Dennis Raney ages 12 and 10

Our grandfather Frank Raney nearly hidden

My mother Geneva "Jean" Raney (1925-2014) with her pet rabbit and hen. She always had pets, once even a white rat. Our grandmother fussed over her fly-away dandelion hair.

Our great-grandmother Louisa Petitjohn Smith (1849-1931)

I have a vague memory of Grandma having this small studio photograph of her mother Louisa framed and sitting on her dressing table. I have to think it was taken after our great-grandfather Eugene Smith's death in 1928. Otherwise, wouldn't there have been a photo of him, too? On the other hand, she doesn't look to be about 79 in the photo, so perhaps it was taken years earlier. I certainly see a lot of Grandma in her face.

Geneva Raney on a pony on Nora Street. The photographer came along and someone must have had 25 or 50 cents to purchase a photo. Mom looks to be about 11 years old, so c.1936

Christi Nail, a descendant of Whitman Hill Dyson, our 2nd great-grandfather, and father of Nancy Dyson Raney pictured below, sent me a group photo, which I edited for this close-up.

Our great-grandparents James and Nancy (Dyson) Raney, c. 1919, with Great-aunt Esther (I think) (b. 1902) and Esther's son Walther, who died from the painful trauma of being swung around and having his arms dislocated from his shoulders. Nancy didn't like to wear a bonnet while working outside, although she holds a straw hat in her lap.

Christi, our 1st cousin, 3 times removed (a 4th cousin, I think), who sent these photos, is the granddaughter of Whitman Dyson's second to youngest son, John Whitman Dyson (1897-1971).  See my blog about Whitman and his three wives HERE. John and youngest brother, Leonard Dyson (1901-1977), which Whitman had with his 3rd wife Ella, aren't pictured in the photo below because they hadn't been born. Based on the ages of the three boys pictured, the photo  was taken about 1896, which places the large photograph of Whitman Dyson that hung in Grandpa's house to the same photo session

Willard Dyson (1879-1936), son of 2nd wife Sarah Jane, making him 3rd wife Ella's half-brother. Ella was Sarah Jane's deaf-mute daughter. Boy on left Joseph Alva Dyson (1891-1970), boy on right Grover Dyson (1890-1957). Sarah Ellen "Ella" Roy Dyson (1865-1934) and our 2nd great-grandfather, Whitman Hill Dyson (1836-1914)

Here's the same Dyson family at home in Pike County, Indiana, in 1897 when Ella was pregnant with John. Note that she hung her wash on the fence behind her.  Christi said the house was burned after the coal mining company purchased the land and the family moved on. The boys were our 2nd great-uncles.

I'll end with the group photograph from 1919, probably at James and Nancy Raney's house because they're in the middle. Most of these people are our relatives. Nancy had four older sisters; perhaps one or more are in the group. Ella, Whitman Dyson's widow, is sitting behind our pretty great-aunt Esther. Scroll to the right - the white-haired man with the hat on his lap might be Peter Dougan (1845-1922), James Raney's mother's brother. Whitman's son Christi's grandfather, John Whitman Dyson (1897-1971), and his first wife (the droopy girl), are in the middle in the back row; to their right with all the hair is Willard Dyson and probably his young blond wife.  The others, unidentified, are all gone now. Always put the names on the backs of photos.

I invite you to scan and email me old photos you have of our extended family and I will eventually post them on this blog.  Send them to shipscatbooks@jrcda.com. You when young, your parents, your kids. Just make sure they're in focus so I can crop them for close-ups. We'll finish with the song "Picture on the Wall" HERE

Postscript: Cousin Pat tried to comment, but it appears the blog isn't currently allowing comments, so he emailed me. He wrote: 

Yes, they raised rabbits and chickens. Grandpa built the hutches and coops, but it seemed that Grandma, Paul (my dad) and Denny did the work. They did this twice at the rental houses in Yardley.  Dad related that he attended junior high in east Spokane, Chief Garry, and rode the trolley in to school.  But twice a week he dressed two rabbits, carefully wrapped them in freshly laundered cloths and placed them in his satchel.  He rode the trolley into the city and sold the rabbits to the head chef at the Davenport Hotel before returning to school.  This helped supplement the income of the family.

I have noticed how much your mother resembled a young Mary (grandma) and in the picture that you posted, there is a resemblance of my sister, Sandra.  In other views, I see a notion of my Dad’s face.  Genes run deep.