Monday, June 24, 2013

The Great-Greats: Mary Catherine Shouse Bonnel

Mollie Bonnel (Mary Catherine Shouse), 1841-1903
The most exciting part of seeing Grandma Bonnel's photo album last month was seeing photographs of four of my husband's great-great grandparents for the first time. The album included images of her parents and Whitaker in-laws. We now have faces for seven of his sixteen great-great grandparents.

This photograph of Eva Bonnel's mother is in need of digital restoration. Sorely in need of digital restoration! Fortunately her face is clear, but the background needs to be cleaned up and the fingerprints removed. She appears to be in her late thirties or forties, which would date the image to the late 1870s or 1880s. The caption on the back of the portrait gives her name as Mollie Bonnel, which is the first time I have seen her referred to by a nickname.