Trying to select one favorite family photo from all the ones I have collected over the years is a hard task. One of my favorites is the one I have selected for the 52 Ancestors project.
I obtained a copy of this photograph from my Great-Aunt Lena. It shows a group of young men and women, most of them holding apples. According to Aunt Lena, the group had gone to New Bern and decided to get their photograph taken holding apples as a joke. I like to think that since Mary Whitford was a teacher that was the reason they held apples. Mary would soon marry Joshua Allen Toler and have Aunt Lena and later my granddaddy, Quentin Toler.
Pictured in the photograph are Susie Wetherington, Ira Whitford, Mary Whitford, Mack Wetherington, Effie Wetherington, and Cora Whitford. Biggs Wetherington (twin of Mack) is seated in front, though some have said it may be Henry Wetherington in front. All of the Whitfords were brothers and sisters, and all of the Wetheringtons were brothers and sisters. In fact, Ira Whitford would eventually marry Susie Wetherington; also Cora Whitford would marry Henry Wetherington. The photo was probably taken around 1903, but definitely before 1909 when Susie and Ira married.