(no subject)
I recently started uploading the HUGE collection of photos my grandmother left me when she died to Facebook. I love geneology, so it's a treat for me to be able to look through all of them. And it's also awesome because some of my relatives are on Facebook and they noticed I was posting them, and then they started telling me more about the photos and about the history behind them. This has become a very fun little project.
Robert Goldie Thomson and Annie Walker. My Great Grandparents. The first ones over here from Scotland. Her family wouldn't let her move to America if she didn't marry him first. 1920s, I believe.
My grandparents on their wedding day. George Jongebloed & Jean Thomson. 1940s.
1950s. My two uncles, my father (who is holding) and my aunt.
Class photo from the 40s. I think my grandfather should be in here somewhere.. the photo is so big I had to figure out how to scan the whole thing in!
Isabella Faulkner Schaffer (my great great grandmother). 1900s.
John Thomson, father of Robert Goldie Thomson, my great great grandfather. 1900s.
East Meadow Hospital, East Meadow (Long Island), NY in the 50s. Either one of my uncles, my father or my aunt is in the basinet that says "Jongebloed" in the front.
I think this is my grandmother and my great aunt with one of their children at the beach. 1950s.
I'm not sure if this was a photo of the family, or a souvenier from Aberdeen, Scotland (where my grandmother's family lived and where she visted a lot). The back says "copyright: Aberdeen".
Another that may or may not be family, but I think the photo is gorgeous anyway! The back says "copyright: Aberdeen".
Lieutenant Walter Rybka, who is now Captain Walter Rybka of US Brig Niagara, and whom just recieved the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. I'm not sure how the family knew him, but my grandfather was in the Navy for a while, so that might be it. 1950s.
EDIT: I emailed Captain Walter Rybka last night, thinking it might be the same guy because they look so similar, but it was his son. He had this to say about the above photo:
"The young Lt. Walter Rybka in the photos is my father, who is no longer with us. We have one of these photos in our family collection, but the other people in it are not identified. There is a note saying the occasion was the first anniversary of this particular unit of the Signal Corps, US Army. I do not know precisely where the photo was taken. I suspect it is sometime in late 1943 or early 1944, either in Washington D.C. or Ft. Monmouth NJ.
My Dad entered the Army in Jan 42, and by the time he went through basic training and OCS it was Nov 42. I am not sure how many assignments he had before the job with the people in the photo, but for a year to have passed in the same outfit the occasion must have been later in the war. I do know that he spent most of the war between the places mentioned as a designer of mobile darkroom equipment for processing reconnaisance photos close to the front lines. The only time he got away from a desk or drafting table was to go on field training maneuvers to test the stuff he was designing. He had been an industrial designer of photographic equipment before the war, so the Army was making best use of available skills in essentially keeping him at the same job in uniform.
That is as much as I know about the photo, I would be happy to learn any other details you could provide. Thanks,
Walter P. Rybka"
Robert Goldie Thomson and Annie Walker. My Great Grandparents. The first ones over here from Scotland. Her family wouldn't let her move to America if she didn't marry him first. 1920s, I believe.
My grandparents on their wedding day. George Jongebloed & Jean Thomson. 1940s.
1950s. My two uncles, my father (who is holding) and my aunt.
Class photo from the 40s. I think my grandfather should be in here somewhere.. the photo is so big I had to figure out how to scan the whole thing in!
Isabella Faulkner Schaffer (my great great grandmother). 1900s.
John Thomson, father of Robert Goldie Thomson, my great great grandfather. 1900s.
East Meadow Hospital, East Meadow (Long Island), NY in the 50s. Either one of my uncles, my father or my aunt is in the basinet that says "Jongebloed" in the front.
I think this is my grandmother and my great aunt with one of their children at the beach. 1950s.
I'm not sure if this was a photo of the family, or a souvenier from Aberdeen, Scotland (where my grandmother's family lived and where she visted a lot). The back says "copyright: Aberdeen".
Another that may or may not be family, but I think the photo is gorgeous anyway! The back says "copyright: Aberdeen".
Lieutenant Walter Rybka, who is now Captain Walter Rybka of US Brig Niagara, and whom just recieved the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. I'm not sure how the family knew him, but my grandfather was in the Navy for a while, so that might be it. 1950s.
EDIT: I emailed Captain Walter Rybka last night, thinking it might be the same guy because they look so similar, but it was his son. He had this to say about the above photo:
"The young Lt. Walter Rybka in the photos is my father, who is no longer with us. We have one of these photos in our family collection, but the other people in it are not identified. There is a note saying the occasion was the first anniversary of this particular unit of the Signal Corps, US Army. I do not know precisely where the photo was taken. I suspect it is sometime in late 1943 or early 1944, either in Washington D.C. or Ft. Monmouth NJ.
My Dad entered the Army in Jan 42, and by the time he went through basic training and OCS it was Nov 42. I am not sure how many assignments he had before the job with the people in the photo, but for a year to have passed in the same outfit the occasion must have been later in the war. I do know that he spent most of the war between the places mentioned as a designer of mobile darkroom equipment for processing reconnaisance photos close to the front lines. The only time he got away from a desk or drafting table was to go on field training maneuvers to test the stuff he was designing. He had been an industrial designer of photographic equipment before the war, so the Army was making best use of available skills in essentially keeping him at the same job in uniform.
That is as much as I know about the photo, I would be happy to learn any other details you could provide. Thanks,
Walter P. Rybka"