This picture sits on a bookshelf in my den. It was taken in 1909. I love it.
What must it have taken to get that many people together, dressed in their Sunday best, posing for a camera that requires no movement for an agonizing long time?

What I know about the photo is this — It’s of my father’s mother’s extended family. The first man on the left in the row of seated adults is my grandfather. Next to him is my grandmother. They are holding my father and his identical twin brother. I believe the one on my grandfather’s lap is my father, but I can’t be sure.
My great grandmother is the last seated women on the right. My great grandfather is the man with the mustache on the ground next to her. My great, great grandmother is the older woman seated next to my grandfather. My great, great grandfather is the man with the huge hat in the upper left.
Al of the others are brothers and sisters, of my grandmother; their spouses, and their children.
My efforts to find my father’s father’s family history goes only a couple of generations back. It is a bit frustrating, but with a last name like Johnson, I shouldn’t be surprised.
I’ve been a little luckier with the family you see in the picture. Through my great grandmother’s line, I’ve made it back to 1502 and Birmingham, England. My 13th great grandfather, John Jennens, was born in Birmingham and died there in 1575. He was buried in the St. Martin’s Church Cemetery.