Two More Brewster 5-Generation Photos

How many people can say they have been in two 5-generation family photos. Not many, I would guess.

However, my great-grandmother, Pearl (Reid) Brewster (1880-1962), did just that. She was in two 5-generation family photos that were taken nearly 60 years apart!

The first 5-generation photo Pearl was in was taken around 1898. Pearl was the mother of the youngest child in that photo, my grandmother Gertrude (Brewster) Miller (1896-1973):

William Reid (1855-1905), Gertrude (Brewster) Miller (1896-1973), Mary Ann (Cottrell) Headington (1816-1903) Standing: Pearl (Reid) Brewster (1880-1962), Elvira (Headington) Reid (1838-1911). c1898 photo

The little girl is my grandmother, Gertrude (Brewster) Miller. Her mother, Pearl (Reid) Brewster, is standing on the left. Pearl’s father William Reid is seated. William’s mother, Elvira (Headington) Reid, is standing on the right and Elvira’s mother, Mary Ann (Cottrell) Headington, is seated on the right. [1]

The next 5-generation photo that Pearl was in was taken about 1958. In that photo she was the oldest person, the great-great-grandmother. That photo is one of two 5-generation photos that were published together around 1979. The newspaper clipping is not labeled so I do not know the exact date or the name of the newspaper, but it is probably from a Berne, Geneva, or Portland-area paper:

Brewster 5-generation photo, c1958.

The caption between:

Twenty-One Year Makes A Difference
In the picture above, you have seated on the left, Pearl Brewster, great-great-grandmother and on the right great grandfather, holding Debbie McCroskey. In the back on the left is Sue McCroskey and on the right Eileen Bollenbacher, the grandmother.

In the picture below seated on the left you have Dorothy Brewster, a great-great-grandmother, and on the right, Eileen Bollenbacher, a great-grandmother. Standing on the left is Sue McCroskey, the grandmother, and on the right is Debbie Ehr, the mother holding Jeremy Ehr. So the baby in the picture above is the mother in the picture below.

5-generation Brewster photo, taken c1979.

Pearl’s son Jesse Brewster (1900-1964) was the great-grandfather in the 1958 photo.

Jesse’s widow Dorothy (Parr) Brewster (1903-1980) was the great-great-grandmother in the 1979 photo.

Some great family photos!

 

[1] A Snapshot of the Past—Five Generations of My Family, Karen’s Chatt, 29 Apr 2011.

2 comments

  1. That is impressive! I love how the little one is posed in the ca. 1898 photograph.

    1. Yes, it is an amazing thing and I am grateful the family took these photos. Thanks for writing!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.