Samuel Phenice With Grandkids

It’s time for a Phenice photo.  It all started this morning when I received an email about an old Phenice photo from the 1880s.  Someone wants to find relatives of the subjects of this old studio portrait made in Kansas.  She was trying to find someone who knew about the family.  I think she found the right person.  I know who the people in the photo are and I know who some of their current descendants are.  I haven’t seen the photo yet, but I look forward to seeing a photo of my great grandfather’s first cousins as children in 1880s Kansas.

In the meantime, I’m satisfied with looking at some old photos of my great great grandfather Samuel Charles Phenice.  You remember him, right?  He fought for the Union Army during the Civil War out of Pennsylvania.  He only fought in one notable battle – the Battle of the Wilderness.  But one was enough.  He was injured on May 5, 1864, in Spotsylvania, Viriginia.  While recovering from his injuries, he was stationed at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, as part of the Veteran’s unit.  He was there the night of the Lincoln Assassination.  I don’t have any early photos of him in military garb.

I do have photos of him in his later years.  That’s because he lived such a long time.  He made it to the ripe old age of 95 years.  But in the photo I’m sharing with you, he was only 83.  He’s standing with four of his grandchildren.  They are his youngest grandchildren.  He had grandchildren much older than these four.  In fact, some of them were already parents themselves.  Samuel had about ten great grandchildren at this point.

They are his youngest because these grandchildren are the children of his youngest child.  He and my great great grandmother Cathrine “Kate” Foster Phenice had their last child Emma in 1889 when he was 45 years old.  That’s bit older than the average parent.  Then Emma had her last child Harry in 1927 when she was 37.

There is another interesting Lincoln connection here.  Harry was born on February 12, 1927.  February 12th is the birth date of Abraham Lincoln, so Harry was given the middle name of Lincoln.  Harry Lincoln Quillen.  I’m sure Samuel must have told little Harry his story of the Lincoln Assassination.  Harry lived to the age of 90, dying on his 90th birthday.  This photo came from that line of the family through Harry’s daughter Emma.  Thanks again for the photo.  I refer to the photos that she shared with me as the Lincoln Collection.  It seems appropriate.

There is a little bit of confusion about the subjects of this photo.  The caption was written by Samuel’s daughter Emma Phenice Quillen.  I think the people are called out in two rows.  The back row starts with Papa – Samuel Phenice – at the left.  On the right we have “Emma” holding Harry.  I don’t think that is Emma, who was 37 years old at the time.  I think it is her daughter Erma who was 15.  That’s why I call this photo Samuel and His Grandkids.  The two boys in the front with ties are Dean on the left and younger brother Harold on the right.

Samuel lived in Nebraska near Beaver City at least until 1930.  I’m thinking this must have been a visit to Grandpa’s house around 1927.