This is one of the two pictures that sent me on my search over the weekend, as I described on my other blog. I do know the identities of at least some of the women, and I have a good idea when and where it was taken.

First, because of the clothing and the people present, we are fairly certain that this picture was taken around 1916. We also think it was most likely taken at the home of my great-great grandparents, Louis and Wilhelmine Bracht in Allen County, Indiana, mostly because of who is there and by process of elimination.

The first thing that I knew for certain was the identity of the tallish woman in the middle holding the baby. That is my great grandmother Flora Bracht Hildebrand. The little girl in front of her is, we are fairly certain, her oldest child, Irene, who was born in October 1910. The woman standing just to the left of her is her mother-in-law, Wihelmina Kruetzman Hildebrand, who lived with them. She is holding Walter, who was born in September 1912. The baby Flora is holding is Marie, born in January 1915. My grandmother, Helen, would be born in April 1917, and there is no sign of her.

The second woman from the left is a puzzle. She may be Flora’s mother, Wihelmine Pracht Bracht. If so, Her looks do not change in any picture of her that I have seen, even though see lives until 1953. She could also be an older relative. I have wondered if maybe the woman standing to the right behind her shoulder could be Flora’s mother, especially since I believe the young woman to the right of her is her sister, Frieda, who would have been about 16, and the woman has her hand in the crook of Frieda’s elbow.

I am still working on other identifications. I think that the woman standing behind Frieda to the right is Augusta Bracht Foltz. Flora, Frieda, and Gustie were very close. I think that the second woman from the right is Margaret, the wife of Augustine Bracht, Flora’s older brother. Flora had three other brothers who could have had wives in the picture, as well as an older sister.

I’m going to keep working on this.