Charles Connelly Hirons (1856-1922)

Feb 21

Unusual Source

On February 1, 2015 I was pleasantly surprised to receive a completely unexpected email notification from an Ancestry.com member, DarbyHinton, whom I have never met, that he had come across a picture on Ebay with my 2nd great-grandfather’s name on the back of it: Charles Hirons. As I read the message, I was stunned that he had taken the time to look for Charles Hirons (1856-1922) on Ancestry.com — finding my publicly-shared tree, looking at the two pictures I had shared there of Charles with his family — one from 1893 and another from 1903 —and then, going even further to compare those photos with the one that he had found on Ebay to see if it was likely to be the same person.

*Screenshot of the email I received on 1 Feb 2015; Persmission has been granted (11 March 2021) from the sender DarbyHinton to share this message with his name.*

I couldn’t type my response fast enough.

“Are you serious? YES, I would love to see the photo!”

The photo that Ancestry member DarbyHinton had found on Ebay:

Front: picture of a young man, smooth face, clothing dates to the 1870s — fitting with the 1856 birthdate of Charles Connelly Hirons

Comparing DarbyHinton’s photo of Charles Hirons with the two that I already had:

Charles Hirons Family, c. 1893 — Charles, seated on the far leftFrom the left: Charles Connelly, Robie, Lena Grace, Orvel Porter (my great-grandfather), John French and Teressa Alice (my 2nd great-grandmother) — Charles Hirons Family, c. 1893 — Charles, seated on the far left
From the left: Charles Connelly, Robie, Lena Grace, Orvel Porter (my great-grandfather), John French and Teressa Alice (my 2nd great-grandmother)

Charles Hirons Family, c. 1903 — Charles seated, on the far rightFrom the left, seated in the front: Terressa Alice, John French, Hobart McKinley, Charles ConnellyFrom the left, standing in the back: Lena Grace, Robie, Orvel Porter — Charles Hirons Family, c. 1903 — Charles seated, on the far right
From the left, seated in the front: Terressa Alice, John French, Hobart McKinley, Charles Connelly
From the left, standing in the back: Lena Grace, Robie, Orvel Porter (my great-grandfather)

The Ebay seller sold the picture for $4.50. Along with it, she sent the following message:

“Good Morning, I am so glad to hear that he is coming home. I love that some of my things are going to be going to wonderful places. I believe this photo has had a journey. Your grandfather is very handsome! Someplace in time our families must have crossed to get this photo into my hands. He is on his way!”

I have not been able to find the connection, nor do I know how the picture ended up in her possession.

I’m thankful for the generosity and the kindness of these two strangers — two people whom I’ve never met, two people who went out of their way to provide a way for this piece of Hirons history to find its way home.

Thank you DarbyHinton for granting me permission to share your name with your message to include in this blog post.

Thank you also to cousin Otto Arrington, great-grandson of Charles Connelly Hirons/grandson of Lena Grace Hirons, who invited dad and me into his home just 2 years earlier in June 2013 for a lovely afternoon of fellowship and to share with us the two family photos from 1893 and 1903 of Charles Hirons — without those, there would have been no way of verifying that the picture found on Ebay was our Charles Hirons.

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Kathryn Hirons Kesterson http://hoosierkin.com