This is a mystery photo that was found in Robert Henry Hicks Sr. 's home after Uncle Bob (Robert Henry Hicks Jr) had passed away. Uncle Bob had been living at the old homestead, in Stockbridge Georgia for many many years.
On the back of this photograph is written "Mrs. Willena Harris" .
At first glance, one might assume that Willena is in this picture. I beg to differ.
First, this picture dates to about 1908 - 1912. I base this information on the first girl standing on the left. Her hair is done in the "Gibson Girl" fashion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Girl. Both the first girl and the second have sort of puffed sleeves that are more fitted toward the bottom. This type of dress, with the high collar and puffed sleeves were "in fashion" around 1910.
So, how do I know Willena isn't in this picture? The first and most important reason is that Willena wasn't born until 1914. Secondly it says Willena Harris on the back. Which means she came into possession of this photograph after she was married.
I would still like to find out who is in this picture. One clue I can use is the empty chair. The empty place tells me that someone is missing, or away, or deceased. I am going to assume that the mother/wife is deceased. So, my next step will be to try and figure out if anyone had a missing wife in the 1910 census. But, I don't know where to start. Perhaps the Georgia census? Or maybe some other state? I don't know yet.
If you have a suggestion let me know.
I thought maybe it could be Larkin Hicks (Great Grandaddy's father) but then I remembered they had a lot of boys and this picture has more girls. This could be a Hunsucker family photo as it was found with other Hunsucker photographs. Aaron Hunsucker (Great Grandmother's father) was a widower, so that could account for the empty chair. But, as far as I know, when his wife Mary died, they only had two children; Vesta and Ira. Therefore, there are too many children in the photograph to be them. Though the dates would match if one of the younger girls is Vesta and one of the boys is Ira.
Or it could be a Harris family photograph, since the back has Willena Harris....
This mystery might take a while to solve.
