A Jen Too Many

Alonzo Bryson, Jul 23, 1840 - Feb 29, 1920, and his wife, Valeria Wright Bryson, May 21, 1839 - ????. I found the pictures at the Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive when I was idly Googling for Alonzo Bryson one day.

I was hoping to find information on a different Alonzo, the father of Dow Gilbert, but didn't mind getting distracted with this photo of his identically named cousin.

Here's the thing that makes my head hurt, though:

Isaac Bryson (b 1771) married Jane Carr (b 1775). They had 16 children (that we know about.) One of their sons was named after his father. Isaac, Jr. (b 1816) grew up and married a girl named ... (wait for it) ... Jane Kerr (b 1817).*

You can imagine that with 16 children (that we know about) Isaac-n-Jane the First had an absolute ton of descendents. The family was very fond of certain names, which means that I have to wade through dozens of Alonzos, Isaacs, Isabelles, James, Charles's, Pearls, Margarets, Janes, Johns, Williams, Priscillas, and Valerias, trying to track down which is who. They're not as bad as the Kanatzers, however (another family line), who were absolutely obsessive about the name Elizabeth (oops - have I complained about that before on here?)

To see other vintage photos check out Paper Dolls for Boys.
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*It reminds me of a family I knew, three brothers and a sister. Two of the brothers married girls named Emily**. Their sister's name was also Emily. Now there's a family that's going to give some poor future genealogist a nervous breakdown!

**The name has been changed, although I would guess if any of them read this they'll recognize themselves.