More Scully Family Photos

In one of the previous installments of this series, I posted The Scully Family Photo, thusly named because it included almost every member of the family. The main persons likely present, but missing, from that photo were the two Wilson children and Edmund Scully, the patriarch of the family, all of which appear here in these two photographs. Both photographs are taken in front of the same house as the previous photo, but appear to have been taken several years earlier. Also, both photos appear to have been taken on the same day as the adults are wearing identical clothing. In the first photograph, they are wearing hats and coats, in the second they are not. The second photo has more visible shadow so was taken at a different time on the same day. Both photos were likely taken using Charles Wilson's camera. Like all of his photos, these photos do not use a wide-angled lens. Also Charles developed his own photographs and many of these have faded dramatically over time. These are no execption. The quality of these photographs is very poor and required significant digital correction to make them viewable. The Wilson photo album includes several photos taken in front of the Wilson home, and since the home does not appear to be the same as this one, I assume this is the home of Edmund and Margaret (Godsil) Scully.

A B C D E F G H I
   J K L  M

In the first photo we have in back Dan Scully [A], Kate Scully [B] (not yet married), Margaret (Godsil) Scully [C], Mary (Scully) Wilson [D] and Charles Wilson [E], Anna Scully [F] (never married), Margaret (Scully) Forsyth [G] (my great-grandmother) holding her daughter Mary Fay Forsyth [H] who was born on Jannuary 3, 1902 and died on January 31, 1903, just over 13 months later (allowing us to date the photograph confidently to mid 1902), and on the far right the first of two definitive photos we have of Edmund Scully [I].

Along the front we have my grandfather, William Henry Forsyth [J] age 9, and then standing in front of their parents, Mary Leona Wilson [K], age 3 1/2 and John Howard Wilson [L], age 2 1/2. on the right, standing in front of her mother is Edna Margaret Forsyth [M], age 7. The Wilson children are recognizable from other photos found in the Wilson's photo album on the page marked "My Family" which was included in the treasure trove of photographs provided to Nick Hyslop in 2016, and then he to me.

B A D E F C I
     L K N O

In the second photograph, many of the same individuals appear, now without their coats of hats. Along the back we have Kate Scully [B], Dan Scully [A], Mary (Scully) Wilson [D] and Charles Wilson [E], Anna Scully [F], Margaret (Godsil) Scully [C] and Edmund Scully [I]. Edmund Scully has removed his hat allowing us to get a better look at his features. The first thing to notice is that what looks like a mustache is only an image artifact, it is clear from the first photograph that he had no mustache. The next thing to notice is the shape of his head. Photographs of his sons, Ed and Dan Scully show this same distinctive wedge shape. Large brains, I assume. This is the second of the two definitive photographs of Edmund Scully.

Identifying the children in this photograph is fraught with problems. The two on the left, John Howard Wilson [L] and Mary Leona Wilson [K] are included in the first photo, so are easily labelled. The two boys on the right are more difficult. Would it help if we knew who else might have been present? Turns out no. The only missing spouse is William Marion Forsyth (my great-grandfather). Undoubtedly he took the photo. This does not help us because they had no other children. The two boys appear to be ages 3 and 4 (or maybe 5), which means they were both living in 1900 when the census was taken. Reviewing the census records for all of Edmund Scully's children gives only one boy that fits either of these, and that is William Thomas Scully, who was 3 years old. The problem is that the next oldest missing grandson is George William Sipes who was almost 9 years old, about the same age as William Henry Forsyth seen in the first photograph, and too old to be the other boy. The two boys look like they could be brothers so it is not clear if the boy on the left is William Scully or not. Perhaps these are nephews of Charles Wilson or William Forsyth. Only one of Charles's siblings was married by 1898 when this older boy must have been born. Unfortunately, I am unable to find the census records for this individual (Clarence Lyle Wilson) for the years 1900 or 1910, and by 1920 he and his wife had no children living at home. William Forsyth only had one brother who had only one son, that son was born on January 13, 1896 making him 6 1/2 years old. I'd be surprised if this boy was that old, but it is a possibility. Another option would be nephews of other in-laws not known to be present. We have only two to choose from. Jackson Sipes had many siblings who married prior to this time. It is not known if Josephine O'Brien, William Thomas Scully's mother, has any siblings. At this point in time, I do not have enough information to identify either of the boys conclusively.

Lastly, I should address the question as to Edmund Scully's name — is it Edmund or Edward? Unfortunately we do not know. There are plenty of official records naming him both. All of the census records, his wife's obituary and all of his children's marriage licenses list him as Edward. on the other hand, his marriage record, his obituary, his tombstone, my grandmother's notebooks (his grandaughter-in-law), and Helen Nichols letter (his grandaughter) all list him as Edmund. It is clear that his family considered the names interchangable. It is interesting that two of his children named their sons Edward and one named their son John Edward. Edward was also used in the next and following generations. No other naming instance of Edmund is found. There is no instance in the records where his name is listed simply as Ed, so this is not a case of confusion, however when viewing handwriting in many of the old records, it is often difficult to determine which name is written, so abstracted indexes cannot be relied upon to be accurate.