I have a lot to say about these two old tins.
First they were found in the two boxes of stuff I got from my Aunt Jane that had all the Higginbotham photo’s in it of Rufus F. Higginbotham Sr., and some of his children.
Secondly, they were wrapped in an old plastic bag from a pair of pajamas.
Thirdly, after comparing a picture that Harry Short has on James Oliver Higginbotham, with Jane Harriet Holley Higginbotham sitting beside him, I believe this lady just might be Jane Harriet Holley Higginbotham. So does this mean the man is Sanford Higginbotham? And which of the children would it be?
Family legend has it that Jane was an Indian, and taken in as a baby by the Holley’s to be raised as their own. This lady has the look of an Indian. No one has ever found any proof that Jane was an Indian, so if she was, I would say the Holley’s covered it up.
This is the photo that Harry Short has:
This is what Harry says about the picture: Believed to be James O. Higginbotham, with wife Edith Burnham Higginbotham and his mother, Jane Higginbotham. Clothing and photo appear to be about 1860’s.
Look at the lady sitting, believed to be Jane. Her hair, the bone structure on her face, and the way her shoulders are all match with the lady in the tin. It is my opinion that is the same lady.
There are others that are of the belief that it is Edith Burnham Higginbotham sitting in the chair, and Nancy Edith Higginbotham Barner standing next to her husband Robert Barner.
I think I disagree with that theory for this reason, I think the lady in the tin is the same one sitting in Harry’s photo, no matter who she is. I imagine if the tin were of Edith Burnham Higginbotham, one of her descendants would have it. I think it is more likely that my 2nd great-grandfather, Rufus F. Higginbotham Sr. kept the tin of his mother. It is for this reason I believe it to be Jane.
But I could be wrong. Who’s to know for sure without the pictures specifically identified by someone that knew them, or we find another picture with them positively identified.
What do you think??
~SHR~
