The Hyphen Family Lineage

The original handwritten annotations on the back of this photograph were written by Mary Alice (Bayha) Thomas, a great-granddaughter of George W. and Henrietta (Miller) Forst; there were secondary annotations by Mary Alice's daughter Jane Anne Thomas. Additional notes were attached to this photo by Jean Pasko for Jane Anne Thomas. There was some confusion as to the identity of the young woman standing on the left, which is understandable - Mary Alice was born approximately three decades after the photo was taken, and her notes were likely written at least another thirty years after that. Jane Anne's notes would have been some decades after that, and the final notes by Jean Pasko would have been written nearly one hundred and forty years after the photo was taken.

The confusion stemmed around whether the young woman was Melissa or Salome Forst. In the time since I originally inspected this photo, I've done significantly more research into George W. Forst's family history, and reviewed quite a few photos of his daughters Melissa, Sophia, and Salome. The youngest boy in the photo is definitely Albert Michael Forst (b. 1867), and Melissa and Sophia were both married in 1869. Additionally, Sophia died in 1872, and Melissa in 1874. Based on Albert's apparent age, along with the ages of the other boys in the photos, I believe this photo to be taken sometime between 1872 and 1874. By that point, Melissa and Sophia were both at least married, and it's possible that one or both of them were deceased. Neither was living with their parents as of the 1870 US Census. Salome (b. 1857), on the other hand, was living with her parents in 1870, and wasn't married until 1874.

Standing in the background, from left: Salome Forst (m. Wilson), Emery Rolando Forst
Front, from left: George Washington Forst, Albert Michael Forst, Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Forst, Henrietta (Miller) Forst