I recently rescued this cabinet card from an antique shop.
Someone wrote 'Johannes Randahl' on the back side
It comes from a Moline, Illinois photographer.
It seems that eventually Johannes ended up in Northern Minnesota. I've yet to do any significant research into this boy to see what became of him, but I'm hoping to reunite him with a family member who will treasure it
Isn't rescuing old photographs fun? To date I've been able to return a Victorian family album to a family member and baptismal certificate another family. They are easier to return when you can find someone doing genealogy research. It's more difficult when the only descendants available are not researchers. Strangers tend to be creeped out by the stalker skills that genealogists develop. I found a findagrave memorial for my great-grandfather's elder sister that someone had added a wonderful photograph to. Turns out the contributor had seen the photograph in an antique shop, photographed it instead of purchasing it (with the shop owner's consent), and then did the research needed to add it the memorial. I had already seen another photograph, and they were of the same woman. Good luck to you in your research on this. Thank you for your generous spirit.
ReplyDeleteThere is a popular road in the Fox River area called Randall Road. It runs north and south through multiple counties. Any connection, I wonder?
ReplyDeleteHave you checked with the local County or city historical society? They might know him.
Moline is in Rock Island County. Here's their historical society's link...
http://www.richs.cc/
Has anyone tried ancestry.com's database?
ReplyDelete