Photo - Family Andrew Kimmins ALLUM

  General Notes:

Photo: This remarkable photograph of the young Andrew Kimmins Allum family made its way to this web site via Ruby Guessford Temple in 2008. The original, vintage image was taken at Wallace & Bane in Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania, and "1869" is handwritten on the back ... in pencil, not ink.

The year 1869 brought the family to Iowa, and the photograph may have been taken in Pennsylvania in honor of that departure.

The three children who appear with Andrew and Margaret are presumed to be Nelson Melville, George Hudson and Jonathan Edison, the latter a babe in arms. Lydia Jane Allum -- the only daughter born to Andrew and Margaret prior to 1869 -- died at age two in 1868 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Wind Ridge, Greene County, PA.

I did ponder the identity of the baby wondering if the child might be third-born Lydia Jane instead of fourth-born Jonathan Edison. Lydia Jane was born in November, 1866. If Lydia Jane ... the photo would have been taken in 1867 or before mid-year 1868 (she died in July, 1868) and could not have been taken in 1869 as written on the back. In 1867 and 1868, son Nelson would have been only five to six years old and son George only three to four. Do both boys appear slightly older -- that is, ages six to seven and four to five? If so, the photo likely was taken in 1869 -- after Lydia Jane's death -- and the baby is Jonathan Edison Allum. The baby's attire, however, is a watercolor-type pink (not shown here) added through the years by someone who knew or guessed the child's identity! Pink is the only color added to the vintage sepia-toned photo.

Admittedly, facial features of a baby Lydia Jane could resemble those of a baby Jonathan Edison. Look closely, however, at the face of the baby in this photo, then at the face of adult Jonathan Edison in the family group on the page of Margaret Ann Loar. A similarity is undeniable.

Do, of course, draw your own conclusions.

Do you agree that young Nelson resembles his mother (Loar)? And young George his father (Allum)?


Original vintage photo gifted to ALLUM in 2008 by Ruby Guessford Temple




Kenneth M. Allum, Jr., April 21, 2008 e-mail to DeeAnna:

"I reviewed the history of camera development and photography in the U.S. The concept was in its infancy when the Civil War broke out. Matthew Brady's pics from the Civil War for Harper's Magazine created amazement and stimulated the potential of the invention. From 1865 at the end of the Civil War to the picture of Andrew Allum and family just before they departed Pennsylvania for Iowa in 1869 was only 4 years!

"Do you have even earlier ones in the collection, a generation before Andrew?

"What a treasure accumulated and systematized! Thank you again from our entire limb of the family tree!"


Yes, there are photos of Andrew's parents, Jonathan Allum and Ellisabeth (Supler) Allum, plus a tintype in excellent condition with a stunningly clear image of Ellisabeth. --DeeAnna