The Searcy County Library of Marshall, Arkansas has a Facebook group called Searcy County Arkansas Genealogy Archives. I was pleasantly surprised when the library posted the below photo of my grand-uncles to their Facebook group. I hope they don’t mind that I’ve borrowed their photo for this article!

Alpha Watts was the son of Samuel Houston Watts and Virginia Ann Cypert. He looks particularly young here.

Jesse Cornelius Graham was the son of John Henry Graham and Mary Matilda Bohannon. Jesse would marry Alpha’s younger sister Callie Dona Watts on Sunday, 11 March 1917.

Minnie Rosetta Bohannon was the daughter of Daniel Bohannon and Ada Barnes. She was a first cousin of the Grahams because her father was Mary Matilda Bohannon’s brother. Minnie would marry Marcus Houston Watts, Alpha’s younger brother, on Sunday, 7 October 1917.

William Thomas Graham was the brother of Jesse, Jasper, and Evisa and a first cousin to Minnie. He would marry Virgie Copeland on Sunday, 4 November 1917.

Mary Cannada was originally Mary Irene Bohannon, daughter of Daniel and Ada, sister of Minnie, and first cousin to the Grahams. She married Hughie Cannada on Sunday, 22 September 1912.

John Jasper Graham was the brother of all the Grahams shown here and a first cousin to the Bohannons. He would marry Danner Copeland, Virgie’s younger sister, on Sunday, 7 January 1917.

Evisa Jane Graham, the eldest of the Graham siblings, married Posey Collins on Wednesday, 25 September 1912.

Charles Ethel Bohannon was the brother of the Bohannon sisters and a first cousin of the Grahams. He married Leona Watts, sister to Alpha and twin of Callie, on Sunday, 15 June 1919.

Dating the picture

There’s not much in the photo that might offer a clue to the date. The various weddings mentioned above might have brought all these particular people together. That gives this photo a date range of 1912-1919. I’m leaning toward the 1912 side of that range because of how young Alpha looks here, and some of the later weddings were of his younger siblings. With that in mind, Mary Bohannon and Evisa Graham were both married in September 1912 just three days apart. That could be the month and year of this photo. In 1912, Alpha Watts was thirteen years old, which would account for his youthful appearance. But, I stress, this is just a guess.

Colorized Version

Just for fun, I uploaded this image to MyHeritage in order to apply its colorization filter.

Bibliography

“Graham, Bohannon, & Watts Family Photo.” Facebook, Searcy County Arkansas Genealogy Archives, 25 Oct. 2022, https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0Ukgw3epY1MGPbiwN3Baza7yTrqrbSWWXMyQfF8zjTvvPZED2MyM6ZdfdHjm12cAml&id=1547050528927986.