Collecting McNeffs

I'm not done searching for and remembering Polly. I've decided though that to be a bit more active here, I will expand the scope of this extremely intermittent blog to Polly's descendants as well. Who knows? Maybe down the road it will help break a wall.

This was inspired by ebay. Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective, had a podcast episode about finding family on the auction website. I figured McNeff was a unique enough name. I set up an ongoing search and forgot about it.

And then this gem appeared in my inbox:

Meet James Willard McNeff of New Albany, Indiana. He was born in 1857. Any educated guesses as to how old he is here?

I'm not a direct descendant. Not even close really. We are second cousins three times removed. Polly had two sons: Thomas Wright McNeff and William McNeff. I'm descended from Thomas. Young James here is William McNeff's grandson. Since we're not too close, I thought I shouldn't spend the money. I found a descendant on social media and reached out. I didn't get an answer though and the auction closed without the tin-type selling.

I panicked. Pictures are a strange thing. A shadow of a moment in the lives of those who have gone before. I'm not sure we value them now. They're so easy to take and share. I once saved a photo of my 3rd great Clark grandfather from the trash as my grandmother was on a house cleaning tear. I marvel still at how close that image was to being lost forever. I really treasure it ... and of course I've been happy to share it. I created a digital version and put it online. Once I heard from a distant cousin, and excitedly sent him a file of our shared ancestor. He said, "oh yeah, I've seen that before." I was gutted. He had seen it because I put it online. The victory in saving it just wasn't there for him. It only rated an "oh, yeah."

And what about all those orphans in shops, fairs and auctions? My aunt once told me that if no one wants the family photos she has, they should be burned. "Whatever happens, I don't want them in the antique shop." There's little fear that those photos will go unwanted, but what about after this generation is gone? Will the next one care?

And what if young James Willard McNeff hadn't ended up on an antique dealer's ebay auction? Why then, I wouldn't have swiftly emailed him saying, "I missed the auction! I'm so sorry! Please re-open it and I'll buy it immediately."

So Willard (as I gather from records he was called) is with family again. Welcome home.