If so, I have a family photo for you.
The large (8"x9") photo above (mounted on 11"x14" cardboard) has been in my family for at least three generations, but its relevance to the family has faded into obscurity.
The photo would have been taken about 1911 in south-central Minnesota (presumably Goodhue County or thereabouts). The wedding participants were almost certainly all second- and third-generation descendants of Norwegian immigrants, who gathered for the wedding of the rather solemn couple in the center:
One interesting aspect of the photo is the abundance of young women wearing white; at a present-day wedding, white is usually reserved as the prerogative of the bride, but perhaps some other old Norwegian custom was influential here.
There is no need for this photo to stay in my family. It is possible that the elderly lady near the right end of the front row in the closeup might be the sister of my grandfather, but even if true, the connection to my family is so tenuous as to render the image only of curiosity value.
If Heline Gunhus Aasheim was your great-great-ancestor, just leave a comment on this post and we can correspond to get the photo to you for the cost of postage. Perhaps you can enlighten me about any connection of the Aasheim family to the Finseths or Distads.
I passed on a link to this page to someone I found on Ancestry.com who maintains an Aasheim family tree - user name rvthryet. S/He seems to be a direct descendant of Heline Gunhus Aasheim.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Big Boppa.
DeleteA summer afternoon wedding outdoors would have dictated white attire for most young women of the era. The white wedding dress tradition was still not standard in the US until after WWII, and a the bride's dress would likely have been reused after the wedding.
ReplyDeletehttp://vintagedancer.com/1900s/edwardian-tea-dress-and-gown/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_wedding
the dresses may not be 'white' but cream colored, pastel, etc., light colored.
DeleteI-)