A Photographic Puzzler

Frank and Merry Logue e-mailed a couple family pictures to me a few weeks ago. Frank described one picture as showing Joseph Streeper, Sr's children clowning for the camera. The picture, shot circa 1900, was badly faded and had been folded repeatedly over the years. It was very hard to make out much detail. Click on the thumbnail below to see the full image.

I can't resist a challenge in Photoshop, so I got to work on the picture. To my surprise, as I started to work with the picture, a face began to emerge of a man lying on a couch or a bed behind the three women. That face bears some resemblance to the bearded portrait hanging on the wall. The first woman from the left seems much older than the other women. Perhaps she is their mother. Her expression seems to be one of concern or worry. In fact, I'd describe a general feeling of melancholy in the picture. Click the thumbnail below to see a computer enhanced version of the entire image.

At this point, we can only guess at what this picture has to say to us after 100 or more years. But here is a guess. We may be looking at Joseph George Streeper, Sr. near the end of his life (he died on July 18, 1895). The first woman on the left may be Mary Kingston Parker Streeper, Joseph's wife. The young man on the left may be William H. Streeper, Joseph's oldest son. The second woman from the left is Florence Richmond Streeper, Joseph's oldest daughter. The other woman may be one of Joseph's daughters, such as Edith Streeper, or Mary Virginia Streeper.

For substantiation of my guesses at the identities above, please click on this visual comparison.

Known comparison pictures of William H. Streeper and his sister Florence Richmond Streeper were taken in 1903, eight years after the photograph above. The known picture of Mary Kingston Parker Streeper was taken late in her life, and therefore could have been made as much as thirty years after the picture above in 1895.

Any alternate explanations? E-mail Larry Mason at: drlmason@yahoo.com