Wednesday, July 16, 2008

An Unexpected Blast From The Past


Last night, quite by accident, I discovered this website, which contained the above picture of my great-great-grandfather, Ira Wells Sr, whom some of my older readers might well recall me writing about in this post.

I can't really say he looks that much like me, but strangely he does look quite a bit like I always imagined he'd look. He was a unique individual, regardless of the veracity of the witchcraft stories, which might well have been more legend than fact.

I'm really glad I found this. Back in the days this picture would have been taken, people tended not to smile in photographs. They were afraid their descendants would see them and, if they were smiling or laughing, would think they were "foolish". A serious expression and public manner at all times was the order of the day.

Can you imagine what they would think if they could see some of the pictures people pose for today?