Searching for Sina - Sina's Little Book of Pictures - Part 4

These are the next two pages of photographs in the little book of pictures that belonged to my maternal grandmother, Sina Harriet Bellinger Kelly.

Who Are They?

Of all the photos in this picture book, this magnificent looking couple is not identified. Enter my inner photo detective. Sina's Little Book of Pictures is primarily of her friends, circa 1910-1911. This couple appears to be a generation older than everyone else in the picture book. They aren't identified. Might they be people so close to Sina that they needed no identification for her? Might these be her parents, Emma Harriet Landon and John William Bellinger?

Below are photographs of Sina's parents from an earlier period in their marriage. I enlarged the photos and compared them side by side with the unknown couple in Sina's book. The facial features, as well as their hairlines, look very similar to me. The moustache worn by the men is certainly quite similar. If the photos in Sina's book, above, are her parents, Emma would have been about 48 years old and John would have been about 56 years old. 

Emma and John Bellinger
Is the unidentified photo in Sina's book her parents?

What do you think? Is the couple in Sina's book her parents, Emma and John Bellinger? 

Sina's friend, Garnet Lee Meese

Sina and her friend, Garnet Lee Meese

There are several photos in the book of Sina and her friend, Garnet Lee Meese. The 1910 Federal U.S. Census for the Salt Creek Precinct in Cass county, Nebraska shows Garnet Lee is age 20, living with her parents, Ira and Margaret. Her father was a carpenter (as was Sina's father, John Bellinger). Garnet was a school teacher.

By 1920, Garnet had married David Meese and they were living in the Greene precinct in adjoining Saunders county, Nebraska. David was a farmer and Garnet's occupation was listed as "none." Garnet's brother, Lawrence Lee, was living with the couple.

In 1930, Garnet and David Meese still resided in Greene precinct in Saunders county. They had a six year old son named Lee. The census indicates the age of both at first marriage was 25, indicating they married circa 1913 - 1915. This would indicate that some of the photographs in Sina's book could be dated to 1915 since Garnet is identified by her married name in Sina's book. Unless, of course, Sina added the married name to the book at a later time.

Garnet and David's son, Lee, became a medical doctor and died in 1952 at the age of 29. Source: FindAGrave memorial.

I discovered via the Social Security Death Index that Garnet Meese died in Shickley, Nebraska in May 1986, having outlived her friend, Sina, by 31 years. FindAGrave has a memorial for Garnet - she is buried at Sunrise Cemetery in Wahoo, Saunders county, Nebraska. I added the photos of Garnet from Sina's book to her FindAGrave memorial.

Each page of Sina's little book of pictures is taking me through a journey of learning more about her by learning more about her friends. Each page brings more people and more personal stories to discover.