The clue (I missed) in the album

Ella Sedgwick Ralph Album 2, p.24 
Caroline Ralph Miller collection, 
scanned with permission. 
PL Embley digital collection.

There may have been a Nancy Drew mystery by that title...

I started this genealogical journey in the 1970s with a mimeographed list of my direct ancestors prepared by my grandfather Marion Taylor Bird. (Probably about the same time I would have been reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Are these two facts related?) The "Ancestors Of..." list was extensive on my maternal grandfather's line but had few details about my maternal grandmother's ancestors. This was likely in part because her father John Albert Ralph died when she was not yet 10 years old. His father, William John Ralph, was orphaned when he was only 7. Family information that would have passed naturally over years of association was lost.  

Ella Sedgwick Ralph Album 2, p.12
Caroline Ralph Miller collection, 
scanned with permission.
PL Embley digital collection.

After my grandfather retired, he began a more concerted effort to gather the family history, writing letters and visiting cousins and extended family. Some of his research files were given to me after he passed away. One file included his handwritten notes about two Sedgwick-Ralph photo albums. I'd never seen the albums, so I set out to find the owner.

I wish I could remember how that unfolded. But I somehow found out who had the albums and was able to get in contact with her. The albums had originally belonged to William John Ralph (the orphan) and his wife Ella Sedgwick Ralph. They passed down through their youngest son to Caroline Ralph Miller, one of my grandmother's cousins. Caroline very graciously made the albums available to me for scanning. My brother-in-law who lived near her in Washington state scanned the photos for me and returned the albums to her. I have uploaded many of the images to FamilySearch Memories so they will be available to more Sedgwick-Ralph cousins. 

One of my favorite things about FamilySearch Memories is that you can connected photos and documents to other information about the people they represent. Tagging photos to profiles makes the information available to all the person's descendants -- even if they don't know the person who uploaded the information. However, it can take a bit of research to find the correct person's profile to tag in the FamilySearch Family Tree. Finding someone in context (connected to the correct siblings, parents, spouse, children) can be surprisingly complicated and may require some "clean up" in the wiki-style shared Family Tree. The album itself provided clues that, in combination with traditional genealogical sources, revealed relationships. The identity of John Dunlap is just one connection the photo album has helped prove.

Index page - Ella Sedgwick Ralph Album 2,
Caroline Ralph Miller collection, scanned with
permission. PL Embley digital collection.

There are two photos of John: #24 lists him as "Papa's boyhood friend." But #12 has "W.J. Ralph's cousin" penciled above the name. Cousin. (How did I not notice that ten years ago? Research principle number whatever: revisit records you already have!) My g-g-grandfather William John Ralph had a Dunlap cousin, but I was not aware of any Dunlap relations. 

It seemed likely that the connection would be through a female Howe or Ralph who married a Dunlap. This tidbit is gold because that mimeographed list stopped with William John Ralph's parents.

The answer as to how John Dunlap and WJ Ralph were cousins came unexpectedly. As is often the case with my research, I find the answer to one question while looking for an answer to what I think is a different question. That turns out to be the same question. Searching for newspaper mentions of Robert Howe (a known sibling of William John Ralph's mother, Margaret (Howe) Ralph) led me to an obituary for Rebecca Dunlap because Robert is named as a surviving sibling. Rebecca died in Cincinnati, Ohio (large city, less likely to have personal details if her death was even published there). But thankfully, her death was mentioned in the small Columbus, Indiana newspaper because she had been a long-time resident and had a surviving sibling there -- William Howe. The clipping also mentioned her sister Mrs. William Herron, who was living in Colorado. 

Rebecca Dunlap death notice
The Republic (Columbus, Indiana)
3 May 1900, p. 4
Newspapers.com

I had solid documentation of Mary Jane (Howe) Herron's connection to my 3rd great grandmother Margaret (Howe) Ralph: she was described as "my sister" in Margaret's will. The death notice linked Rebecca to both Mary Jane and Robert, which then proved the link to Margaret, who died more than 40 years earlier. It also connected all of them to William, who had a well-known son (lots of newspaper mentions of Sheriff Howe).

Brief research into Rebecca Dunlap's life revealed a son named John, born in 1850 -- a year younger than my orphaned g-g-grandfather William John Ralph. John is enumerated in the Dunlap household from 1850 through 1880. I have not been able to find him after 1880; more research is required. 

That album offers many rich clues into identities and relationships, both well-documented ones and some yet to be identified.