A Closer Look (Part 69)

Panemunėlis, Lithuania, about 1902 to 1904. This is my Dad's paternal Grandmother, Salomea.

Here's the original post.

Difficult to Identify

Padubysis, Lithuania, probably early- to mid-1920s. We have a few photos from Padubysis, Lithuania. It's probably a place where my Dad's paternal Grandparents lived or had a summer place. The snapshots are difficult to scan because someone laminated them—probably to protect the images from getting crumpled.

Gathered

Padubysis, Lithuania, probably early- to mid-1920s. I initially resisted posting this photo because it is poorly focused. Both my Dad and his twin Jonė, however, kept the image among their important papers. Dad and Jonė only wrote the name of a Lithuanian city, Padubysis, on the back of the snapshot. I decided to post the photo because it shows several generations of the family of my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas. Vytautas is the tanned fellow standing in the back row, second from left. My Dad and Jonė likely are the children sitting on the ground.

Recognizable

Šiauliai, Lithuania, about 1902. We are working on firmly identifying the people in this photo. I believe they are, from left to right: my Dad's paternal Uncle, Kaz; Kaz's wife, Bronislava; my Dad's paternal Grandmother, Salomea (I am certain this is she), and; my Dad's paternal aunt, Stanislava.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

More Clues

After I posted an early-twentieth-century photo of some relatives, my Toronto Cousin sent me an image of family members from about 1902. Only after I had looked at the photo for a while did I realize that I'd seen it before here. One of the persons in the photo was a well known pastor who was a pioneer of educational reform during the time Tsarist Russia still occupied Lithuania.

Panemunėlis, Lithuania, about 1902 to 1904. Seated, left to right: my paternal Grandfather's uncle, the priest; my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas, still a boy; Vytautas's mother, Salomea; Solomea's daughter, who died; Vytautas's sister, Victoria; Vytautas's paternal aunt, Stanislava. Standing, left to right: Charles, the first husband of Stanislava; a parish housekeeper; Bronislava, the mother of my Dad's cousins, Henry and Vytas; and Salomea's brother, Leo.

A housekeeper again appears in a family photo. You saw that occur earlier, here and here.

The males in my family strikingly resemble one another.

More Questions than Answers

By now, I've posted most of the really old photos that we have. Occasionally, I still find a few snapshots that have not appeared on the blog. This is one of them. I didn't post it earlier because I don't have much information about the subjects. My Dad, who rephotographed and restored the original image, simply wrote the name of a Lithuanian city, "Padubysis," on the back of the photo.

Padubysis, Lithuania, about 1910. It's possible that the people riding in the carriage are my Dad's paternal Grandparents.

I fill in a missing link.

I  don't have many images of my Great-Grandparents, and I've posted most of them here. Early on, I talked about photos of my Mom's maternal Grandparents and her paternal Grandparents.

I also introduced my Dad's maternal Grandparents.

Here is my Dad's paternal Grandfather, Ambrose. He was born in 1838, and I think this photo dates from the late 1870s: 

 

Ambrose, like his son, Vytautas , served in the Russian Imperial Army during the years when Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire. I have two modern-day relatives who are dead ringers for Ambrose.

Here is Ambrose's wife, my Dad's paternal Grandmother, Salomea. She was much younger than Ambrose; she was born in 1859. I believe she sat for this photo in about 1905:

 

When I first saw Salomea's photo, I said, "Check out that fur vest." Next, I thought, "Wow! What an exotic name." I then looked up its meaning. It's a Polish name that means "peace." My name, "Irene," means "peace" in Greek. That's a connection that never came to mind.

I wish my name were "Salomea" instead of "Irene."