Sentimental Sunday: John Roberts and Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts
We have posted pictures of John Roberts (1832-1922) and his wife Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts (1835-1917) but somehow missed posting this image. It is from the photo album of Jeremiah “Doc” Roberts (1837-1918), one of the many brothers of John Roberts, and “Doc” actually was a doctor. This is the earliest photo we have of the couple- they would have been in their early 40s if the year is correct.
They do look younger possibly in this photo, so we may need to research the date a bit more. (Farm life, with the sun and constant hard work, often made folks look older than they were.) The information on the back of the photo, however, states, “To Jerry Roberts” (likely Jeremiah) and there is a date, 1876. They probably sent the photo from Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa, to Jerry, who had stayed in Indiana. It would be interesting to know if the date is in the same ink and handwriting- if not, there is more justification to question the year.
John and Lizzie were married in 1857 in Roseville, Illinois; he was 24 years old, she 22. Their first child was born in 1858, and the fifth and last in 1877. (Sadly, their last child died at 10 months.)
Perusing this image did inspire a desire to take a look at all the pictures we have of John and Lizzie, sort of ‘side-by-side’ so we can follow them through the years, however we will need to do that vertically here on the blog.
Comparing this picture to the first shows how they have aged into possibly the 1880s, which is why the above picture may actually be earlier that 1876.
By 1892 the family was well-established in Jasper County. The above image was taken at the Roberts homestead and cropped from a large family portrait of children and grandchildren.
Cropped from a larger family picture.
John and Lizzie had moved to a larger house by the time this picture was taken. The large family picture this image was cropped from included all their children with their spouses, and grandchildren.
Some of these family pictures have slightly different dates per the various descendant lines.
The reverse of this image states, “This is awful dark but your can tell it is Grandpa.”
We have not found any images of John and Lizzie together after the 1900/1902 image. Lizzie passed away in 1917, and John survived her by five years. The above image was used for his obituary in 1922. (Her obituary had no picture with it.)
Notes and Sources:
- Family treasure chests of photos. It is wonderful that cousins have shared so that we can have so many pictures of our dear ancestors throughout their lives!
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