Joseph William Myers Family
Date & Place:
in Mississippi United States
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Joseph William Myers Family
Updated Jun 26, 2025
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Gary Gray
4 followers 65 favorites
02/19/2014
Comments
AncientFaces
382k+ followers 411 favorites
10/29/2014
LOL…if looks could kill? :) Joseph William Myers and family taken around 1897 in Mississippi.
Mary Ruessing
via Facebook
I am a third generation photographer with 3 masters degrees in photography and thw reason for no smiles in the early times in photos is that the exposures were mostly 10 minutes long, so hard to hold a smile that long and still be in focus. Alsi the chin issue of the mom is damage on the photo, not disfuguration.
via Facebook
I think you're right about the chin issue being damage, but when the photo is enlarged, it actually does look like the left side of her mouth is a bit swollen and looks like her cheek is bruised (and possibly above her eye as well).
via Facebook
Which would leave her precious little reason to smile.
via Facebook
Yes, it was perfectly acceptable to beat your woman back then..not saying this is what the issue was here.
via Facebook
I was thinking the same thing, that the husband may have hit her. It really does look like she is bruised on the left side of her face and under her eye and above her eye.
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I'm glad you explained, she sure doesn't look very good! I wondered about abuse and/or dental problems...
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I wondered why people appeared to be so "unhappy " looking.
via Facebook
OR... she could have had a fall... or was in some sort of an accident. Right?
via Facebook
I think she's been clobbered.Her whole demeaner looks withdrawn and fearful...
via Facebook
If the woman is the mother what is the age difference between her and the men ... at least 20 years or more ?
via Facebook
Holy s***. People turning this into women's lib issue. She could have an abscessed tooth.
via Facebook
Thank you it drives me insane when people say "oh they look so unhappy" or "life was so hard then they had nothing to smile about" and life was hard but that's all they knew so I'm sure when they did have happy times I'm sure they were very happy. Also you never hear old stories of your ancestors that they had such a sad horrible life so why would people think others had it worse then their own families. Unless you come from a rich line of people I assume most peoples lives then were fairly similar.
via Facebook
I posted my reply above, but women and children were the property of men...like cows. I don't think being a woman (especially a poor woman) would be a good thing to be back in those days. The religious South is not exactly easy on women to this day...you think women were treated with dignity back then in places like Mississippi?? Doubt it!
via Facebook
It really is more like damage on the photograph or bad digital retouching, it looks swollen because it is lighter in that area, so a scuff or someone trying to retouch and went too light. Her neck is lighter than her cheek, so that makes it look like there is a bump on the cheek. There are more reasons, but I am low on time right now.
via Facebook
Thanks for the nice explanation Sandy Sahagian. I LOVE photography and I'm a pretty good amateur but wish I had taken it further. I studied music instead. I just love pictures and have taken thousands in my day. It's really great to hear an expert opinion, though.
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I actually think the mom's ruffle on her dress covered part of her chin when she sat down is why her chin looks foreshortened.
via Facebook
I don't think people should be forced to smile for every photo anyway. It's unnatural unless you're feeling it. And, I don't think it was a 'requirement' in early photography to smile.
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Sandy Sahagian you beat me to the comment I was going to make! My grandparents were born in the late 1800s and my maternal grandmother always sat stone faced when a camera came out. She also would ask "Is it done?" We have no photos of her beautiful smile because she was taught to be still & expressionless for pictures.
via Facebook
1897 Mississippi? Wonder if they were Klan members? The old fellow on the right looks like grand imperial wizard...
via Facebook
I wonder how many pictures would an average family sitting would get? Like now we get picture packages and send some to family. So I wonder if they could only afford 1 picture, like getting a portrait painted? Or did they get at least 2 to give away at least 1 to someone else?
via Facebook
When photography came into being in the late eighties, it was very, very costly. The family would dress in Their Sunday best for the photo shoot. These poor souls are dressed in tatters and probably had to mortgage their home to pay the photographer, no wonder they are so solemn. Tough times.
Frances Lamm
via Facebook
In those old pics they always had scowls on their faces...I wonder if they were told 'everyone scowl now'!
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ha ha ha ...If you lived in 1897 Mississippi you'd probably would be scowling too.
via Facebook
If they were truly mortgaging their home to pay for that photographer they would have made the best of the moment and looked better! It WAS the time exposure that caused the solemn expression, and photographers in those days charged a reasonable amount considering the time, materials and expertise it took just like today.
via Facebook
This is some of my Wilson Clan and they didn't smile much either. They were inside also.
via Facebook
It was a hard life back then. People probably didn't smile as much.
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My kids have 'Wilson Clan' ancestors that came through Kentucky, Oklahoma and parts west.
via Facebook
No, they are not smiling, but they don't look beaten down like the woman in the picture or frightened like the children.
via Facebook
I can't help but notice the holes in their clothes and no shoes on the children. You know they wore their best clothes for such an occasion and it really brings home how hard the times were for them. They were true hero's back then just for being able to live and provide for their families. Many people of today wouldn't last a month if we were picked up and sat down in their time and shoes. Me included I'm sure. We owe a lot to these people who carved out our country and I'm honored to look at their pictures from so long ago.
via Facebook
Thank you honey! Very hard life indeed.
via Facebook
It is possible that this was damage to the photo, but yes, the dirt farmers of the south were still feeling the effects of the Civil War in the 1890's.
via Facebook
Photographers used to go door to door offering to take photos for a small fee. Often the family didn't have time to prepare their sunday best and were tired. This poor woman looks like she had to take care of every one....
via Facebook
during this time there were two classes, poor, or rich. no middle class, from what i've read.
via Facebook
I was born during depression, 1938, and my parents had it hard. but i think it was worse after the civil war.
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you said it so much better than I ever could, Ericka. All the modern appliances we have today ( dishwasher, washer and dryer) and we still complain how we have no time. How many of us could manage like they did? God bless them!
via Facebook
It would have been such a chore to do anything back then that sometimes when I get frustrated with my hectic life I actually think of these tired souls and what hard really was. They lived it. But what always grabs me by the heart when I think about life back then is all the deaths they had to face. People got sick...and they died. It was a part of life and a lot of that death was children. As a mother myself its hard to imagine everything they must have endured every time a baby sneezed or a loved one coughed. Fear that it could turn deadly and no medicine to give them! How scary and sad to have to think about much less face everyday. I respect these people so much.
via Facebook
Thank you Sandy, I have none of your qualifications, and even I KNEW that! I see so many people posting things about them not smiling. Try to hold a smile that long-even 1 minute! I am an amateur genealogist, VERY amateur, even after 12 years, and I have been able to find professional photos of many of my husband's family dating back to mid 1800's. Not even 1 was smiling-except for one family shot and the baby didn't know any better and had a little smile-can't imagine how she held it for that long!LOL I think it's hard even to have a relaxed face for too long.
via Facebook
The camera that was used was most likely an 8x10 view camera which requires a long exposure time. If they smiled the chances are the photographs would appear blurred because of any movement. It too hard to maintain a steady smile. Life was hard, still is, but now we smile. I love studying these pictures.
via Facebook
This is what a relative wrote on an old family photo that I posted. Someone made a comment about how serious everyone looked and he explained ... " Camera's took long exposures so folks had to remain very still. A smile would have turned to a grimace by the time the photographer was finished. That's why pictures of horses often have blurred heads because they moved when everyone around them remained still / rigid." ... enjoying your site.
via Facebook
When I blew up the photo it looked like the lady's husband had used her for a punching bag recently. In addition to her chin looking swollen it looks like she has bruises as well. That might have something to do with her unhappy look.
via Facebook
maybe the wife was helping with chores....maybe behind the plow horses, & they were 'spooked'...pulling & dragging the 'misses' across a hard, bumpy ground, face first.... js'ing that you never know, she may have made the hubby a nice punching bag too!!
via Facebook
I study genealogy and this is very common in old pictures!!
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Sheri Herrick, my first husband is a Herrick from Ohio, so my two sons are Herrick's, I am also into geneology but I haven't gotten back to Scotland yet. I got my ex's maternal Sullivan back to Scotland.
via Facebook
Does the mother have a black eye and a swollen lip?
via Facebook
Yes she does and those kids look scared to death.
via Facebook
I still say the kids look scared. And the mama looks angry. Probably all the work in the house was being delayed, they did have to do so much in those days.
Helen Gazzara
2 favorites
10/29/2014
If you take a good look at the right side of her face, it looks as though she may have had Bell's Palsy.
Lynette Burke
1 follower 14 favorites
10/29/2014
The older man has a bit of a twinkle in his eye I always wonder how they could stop kids from smiling probably the amount of time they had to sit still did that
via Facebook
More like complete mystification. People had no experience having their photo taken. They had no idea what the photographer was doing and the box he was working with could make your picture. Most had never seen a painting, let alone a photograph.
via Facebook
Okay, we know that in those days people didn't smile because of the time exposure of the shot, but There Is something More in this portrait . The woman has Her hair so Tightly pulled back it indicates a Very Stressful life and I am Not just talking about hard work ! She looks like someone has just given her a Flat Swollen Lip. Her shoulders are slightly Hunched, her hands are Obedient, her head is Stooped as if Fearful, she is some what Cringing and her Eyes reek of Abuse. The woman's whole Demeanor indicates that she is Controlled and has No Rights. What is the age difference between the woman and the said husband, twenty years perhaps ? I am reading him as 48-50 years of age. She would have been a Very, Very young bride ... if she is the mother ?
Sydney 2014
Sydney 2014
via Facebook
No because of the amount of time the actual photos took to expose to the large plate sometimes people had to sit for extensive amounts of time. Most people in photos or paintings never smile because they were pissed off from having it take so long. Especially if they had to count every minute as money lost.
Cossari Giuseppe ( Joe)
4 favorites
10/30/2014
I am searching for the origins of the surname Cossari
Claudia Rentrop
5 favorites
10/30/2014
Was Joseph any relation to William R. Myers in Texas?
via Facebook
My great Uncle John was a photographer in those days. He lived to be100 yrs. old. Many of his glass plate negetives, camers, etc. were all very well presurved and in pristine condition. One thing I remember seeing was several metal rod like pieces with cross piece near the top, or curved metal brackett at top. Reminded me of a porcelain doll stand. These were placed down the back, under jacket or shawl or whatever, and craddled head to keep person being photogrphed from moving head side to side, or moving period. I am sure that added to the already unpleasant situation.
via Facebook
First clue...Mississippi....and women and children were still considered property. Women were owned by men like cows until 1894 (didn't change right away). They were considered the same as slaves. It lasted in Kentucky until 1890. Life was not easy in many ways back then either and many children did not live to adulthood and women often didn't survive child birth.
Annelle Taylor
3 favorites
11/05/2014
You have no clue and are undoubtedly stupid. Bigot.
via Facebook
Lol! Okay! I can tell by your skills in communicating you are highly intelligent.
Annelle Taylor
3 favorites
11/05/2014
You are a bunch of jump to conclusions idiots. My family has been in Mississippi for 150 years. None of the women have ever been beat, belonged to the KKK or any thing like that. Talk about bigots. Have you ever heard of poor? Have you ever heard of abscessed tooth? If you don't know the story behind a photo you should keep your comments to yourself.
Gary Gray
4 followers 65 favorites
11/06/2014
The gentleman on the right is Francis Joel Myers, my 4x Great Grandfather. He immigrated to America from Germany as a young man in the early 1800's, married and had children here. The other man in the photo is his son, the brother to my 3x Great Grandfather.
What we know about the Myers is that they were poor and worked very hard as farmers and ranchers, surviving off the produce of their land.
Times were hard back then, both Francis Joel and his sons survived and fought in the Civil War, and of course, life in the south after the war was harsh. It took years for families to rebuild and begin to prosper again.
The grandson of Francis Joel Myers, Walter Daniel Myers, my Great-Great Grandfather, owned a small country grocery store in Mississippi and was also the local postmaster. While I did not know the people in the picture personally, I did know people who did, or who heard first hand about them. I know for a fact that my paternal grandfather, born and raised in Mississippi, was taught from birth to be a southern gentleman, and he in turn taught that to me.
To this day, I open doors for my wife, and pull her chair out for her at restaurants to help her be seated. We were all taught southern gentleman ways and I have never apologized for being that way. Never did I hear of my grandfather, or his father abusing their wife.
To the people who posted disrespectful comments, think how you would feel if others posted similar comments about your ancestors and their families. It is just plain disrespectful.
Well wishes to all, be well, be happy, and be good to others, especially those you love, for life is very sweet, but also very very short. There is no time for being unkind.
What we know about the Myers is that they were poor and worked very hard as farmers and ranchers, surviving off the produce of their land.
Times were hard back then, both Francis Joel and his sons survived and fought in the Civil War, and of course, life in the south after the war was harsh. It took years for families to rebuild and begin to prosper again.
The grandson of Francis Joel Myers, Walter Daniel Myers, my Great-Great Grandfather, owned a small country grocery store in Mississippi and was also the local postmaster. While I did not know the people in the picture personally, I did know people who did, or who heard first hand about them. I know for a fact that my paternal grandfather, born and raised in Mississippi, was taught from birth to be a southern gentleman, and he in turn taught that to me.
To this day, I open doors for my wife, and pull her chair out for her at restaurants to help her be seated. We were all taught southern gentleman ways and I have never apologized for being that way. Never did I hear of my grandfather, or his father abusing their wife.
To the people who posted disrespectful comments, think how you would feel if others posted similar comments about your ancestors and their families. It is just plain disrespectful.
Well wishes to all, be well, be happy, and be good to others, especially those you love, for life is very sweet, but also very very short. There is no time for being unkind.
Jeanet Groenink
1 follower 227 favorites
04/14/2015
Perhaps in the year when my grandmother was born
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Poor Family sitting still for 10 mins....The lady is wearing a pretty dress.A nice family...
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1897. Possibly first experience with photography. Maybe they didn't know you were supposed to smile.
via Facebook
Mary, thats not correct. Sandy's input is correct.
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Gary Gray
Gary Eugene Gray was born in northwest Louisiana to parents Ronald Eugene Gray and Melba Dean Tubbs Gray in northwest Louisiana. He has a keen interest in genealogy for the sake of preserving his family history not only for the present day family members, but future generations as well.
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Gary is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin and he is also a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Texas.
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I found that I am related to several famous people including famous singers, business people as well as state and national politicians. Additionally, I am related to famous people of the past including famous scientists and a famous fighter at the battle of the Alamo. The link to famous people runs through my paternal as well as maternal lines. Very exciting.
I found that I am related to several famous people including famous singers, business people as well as state and national politicians. Additionally, I am related to famous people of the past including famous scientists and a famous fighter at the battle of the Alamo. The link to famous people runs through my paternal as well as maternal lines. Very exciting.
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