Imagining the Appearance of an Ancestor

Based on the information you collect for an ancestor, and without having a photograph, do you ever try to imagine what the ancestor looked like?  I do!  I don't know where the ideas come from but sometimes, there they are.

Such was the case with my great-grandfather, Fredrick K. Gerner.  I learned that he was born in Germany on about September 29, 1848, that he married in 1872, and  in 1926, both in Pennsylvania.  I learned where he was in 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920, and what he was doing each of those years.  I have a copy of his will and know what he left and to whom.  And I have a copy of the birth, marriage, and death pages of the family Bible.

My great-aunt Brendice, his daughter, described him as "a stern German" who came to the U.S. when he was 6 months old.  She said, "My father never talked much and I was unconcerned to ask him [family history questions]."  She called him an honest, hard-working farmer of 144 acres of land.

That's not much to go on, really, to imagine what a person looks like.  I envisioned a tallish, muscular man with a shock of straight, black hair, and a big mustache.  I have no idea the origin of that image.

It was several years after I'd found all of the above information that I finally made contact with my great-aunt's son.  He had photos of Fred.  Two photos, to be exact, and he shared them.

One of them is pretty blurry and it's hard to see the faces.   But there's one thing you

can clearly see:  a very shiny pate!  I don't believe there's a single hair on Grampa Fred's head.  It's a little harder to tell about height from this photo.  All we can really see is that he and his wife. Elvira, are about the same height.

This may be a slightly better photo of Fred.  Hmmm. 

I was wrong about tall, muscular, and the black hair.  Can any of you readers tell if he has a mustache?

Right or wrong, I was thrilled to finally see a photo of my great-grandparents and their children.  I always think it's exciting to be able to put a face with a name.

Fred's birthday is today (if my sources are correct).  I'm honoring his memory and celebrating his life with this post.  Happy Birthday, Grampa Fred!
.