Finding an Ancestor in the Digitized Archives

Most of us do not have direct or indirect ancestors documented in books or historical materials held at archival research repositories. The exception is ancestors listed in the standard civil and religious documents.

One rare example in my ancestry is my great grandfather Rev. James S. Royer’s half-sister Mary Buch Royer, a missionary in India for about 33 years between 1913 and 1947.

Known as B. Mary Royer, she was born in 1881 to Benjamin J. Royer and Laura (Buch) Royer in Rothsville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

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Finding an Ancestor in the Digitized Archives Story
Finding an Ancestor in the Digitized Archives Story Slideshow

Courtesy Elizabethtown College High Library Special Collections / The Internet Archive

Could a Langer in my Family Ancestors have visited Yosemite National Park in California sometime in the early 1920s?: A Study of an Unidentified Photograph

When my maternal grandfather Irma passed down to me some of her father’s photographs in the mid-1990s, one of the photographs depicts 3 men and 1 young woman standing on a high rock ledge overlooking a barely visible foggy valley. You can tell it is a tourist attraction because of the metal railing in the lower left, with three horizontal rails.

One of the men and the woman are wearing knickers and knee socks, with the woman wearing a woman’s tie and possibly high boots. The man in front is holding a walking stick. They appear dressed for a hike for that time. The man with the walking stick appears the eldest in the group.

The distance between the photographer and these 4 people is enough to have blurred their faces. The type of camera used and the weather conditions likely contributed to the image quality.

The photographic print measures 9½ inches tall and 7½ inches wide; a good size.

There are no markings on the front or back; completely unidentified.

Given my Langer family's presence in Aalborg, Denmark during the early 1900s, I have assumed that the image was taken somewhere in Denmark or Europe. And, never really researched it online.

I could not have been more wrong.

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Could a Langer Have Visited Yosemite National Park in California in 1920s Story

Could a Langer Have Visited Yosemite National Park in California in 1920s Story Slideshow

Overhanging Rock at Glacier Point,

Yosemite National Park, California, undated

The Langer Family in Aalborg Denmark Story

There is one photograph in my entire family photos archive that both fascinates me and remains a mystery.

That photo is a 1904(?) family group image of the Langer’s in Aalborg, Denmark.

Both my great grandfather Langer and his father, my great-great-grandfather, are in the photo, as are about nine other Langer’s.

There is no description of the image, front or back, except that someone wrote “1904 / Denmark” on the back.

I was not aware of this photo until about 2005, as it was held by another family member.

I have been researching this photo ever since.

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The Langer Family in Aalborg Denmark Story

The Langer Family in Aalborg Denmark Story Slideshow

The Langer Family Postcards of 1906 to 1910 Slideshow

The Langer Family in Aalborg, Denmark, ca. 1904