Phenice and Keys United

March 1906 – Daisy Keys, Lola Myrtle Phenice and Emma Orra Phenice in the back. In the front is Harry Clifton Phenice and James Edmund “Edd” Phenice. The four Phenice individuals are siblings.

These people would never have dreamed that their photo would be posted on an electronic device that would be available for all to see.

The photo includes the parents of my grandmother Myrtle Sylvia Phenice Bucklin. Daisy Keys Phenice is the one standing on the left. She was married to Harry Clifton Phenice who is sitting in front of her.  The ages of the people suggest that the photo was taken sometime around 1905-1910.  It was probably taken in March 1906 when Daisy and H. C. went up to Precept, Nebraska, for the wedding of his younger sister Myrtle. (See Visits in the Past)

The others in the photo are H. C.’s sisters Myrtle and Emma (a witness at the 1906 wedding) and their brother Edd. Some of this information was on the back of the photo. Myrtle Phenice was older than Emma Phenice, but in this picture the one in the middle looks younger.  After comparing this photo to other photos that were personally labeled by Emma Phenice Quillen, I think the names are correct.

July 20, 2018 Update

When I originally posted this photo, I thought it was probably from around 1900.  That would have been closer to Daisy and H. C.’s wedding date.  That would have been too early, though.  There’s no way that Emma was only 11 years old in this photo.  When I found Myrtle’s wedding record from 1906 and it showed Daisy as a witness, I changed the date for the photo.  It was likely taken just before the wedding.

I also had the names incorrect for the sisters.  I had no name for the brother.  My mom wrote the names on the back of the photo as Daisy, Emma, and May. (Though it looks more like my handwriting from years back.  I probably asked her about it and that was her best guess.)  Then I got in contact with Emma’s granddaughter Mona Quillen and she recognized her grandmother as the sister on the right.

If the name May was correct, then that meant that the girl in the middle was 20 years older than Emma.  Anna May Phenice was born in 1869 and Emma was born in 1889.  That couldn’t be right.  Then Mona sent me copies of several photos of her grandmother and her siblings.  And best of all, she had written names on the photos.  What a treasure that is!  After looking through them and editing them, I was able to recognize which sister was which.  So now I think I’ve got them straightened out.