You never know where a priceless family photo is going to turn up. This picture was taken in the entrance to Piazza Joe's Italian Eatery & Bistro in Charlottetown, PEI. Look closely at the photo on the wall (click on it to enlarge). Would you have recognized it as the family of Robert Jenkins and Margaret Louisa (Young) Jenkins which was taken in 1901? And an original, not a copy, in the original frame! It has appeared previuosly on this site. One of the young girls is my wife's grandmother Hannah Belle Jenkins.
After finding the restaurant owner, Joe Lisi, I was told that he had bought the framed photo at a yard sale. As he was from the US it had no sentimental value to him, but was just an old family photo to go with a few others he had on adjacent walls of the entry to his establishment. After explaining the significance to our family, I asked if I could buy it from him. He replied that he would not sell it, but that what he wanted was an old family photo, and that if I could provide him with a suitable replacement we could make a trade. You will now find hanging in it's place a copy of the photo of the family of Isabella Jenkins and husband Kenneth MacDonald taken in 1903, which is also found in Nicolaus Henckell the Hessian, Vol. I, p. 242. Thank you Joe.
The moral of the story is to always keep your eyes peeled for old family photos. You never know where you might come across something which is priceless to the preservation of your family heritage.
If you have old Jenkins family photos to share on this site, please send a scanned copy to me at demacdonald@pei.sympatico.ca . And please don't forget to identify all your photos with who is in them so it won't someday be tossed out like the priceless Jenkins photo shown above.
