To Tell the Truth

[Published July 19, 2009]

Do you remember the TV game show that ran in the '60s and '70s called  "To Tell the Truth?" Three contestants all would claim to be a particular person that was noteworthy or had an unusual occupation, but only one of the three was telling the truth.  A panel of four "celebrity" experts would question the contestants each trying to figure-out who was authentic.  The pretenders were some-what schooled in the history of the authentic person to put up a good front.  The fun was seeing the panel ask questions that they hoped would trip someone up.  After a couple of rounds of questions each panel member would guess at who was authentic and who was lying.  After the panel made there guesses, a disembodied announcer would call out "Will the real Mr. Anderson (or whoever) please stand up!"  After a few false motions by all contestants, the authentic person would reveal himself.   It was a fun show.   

 

I feel a little bit like a panel member of "To Tell the Truth" regarding the photos of our ancestral grandparents Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow.  I think I know the emotions they had when they saw the real person stand-up after they incorrectly choose an impostor!

Left :The "Real" Thomas Ducklow

Right: The "Real" Elizabeth Ducklow

The pictures that I had believed to be images of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow are in fact not Ducklows at all!  Instead, they are the parents of Gunder Ostenson, Lucinda Ducklow's hus

band.  They are ancestral grandparents only to the descendants of Gunder and Lucinda Ducklow Ostenson.  The Ostenson's came from Norway, not Ireland. 

Left: Grandfather Ostenson 

Misidentified as Grandfather Thomas Ducklow prior to June 2009

Right: Grandmother Ostenson

Misidentified as Grandmother Elizabeth Ducklow prior to June 2009

So how did that happen?

One of the best sources of photographic information of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow's family are two very old photo albums that now belong to our distant cousin Deb Good Ehlers.  These albums contain photos taken perhaps as far back as 1870s.  Deb received this album from her Aunt Barbara Good shortly before Barbara's death in 1990.  Prior to her death, Barbara had gone through the album and identified many (but not all) of the people in photos.   These albums have provided many of pictures of Thomas and Elizabeth's immediate family that I have shared on this blog. 

There is one set of  pictures marked as "Grandma Ducklow" and "Grandpa Ducklow" in one of these albums.  This identification was trusted to be  accurate and is how the pictures were vetted.  It now appears that Barbara Good, or whoever did the identification years ago, had misidentified these two images.  The pictures marked as Grandma and Grandpa Ducklow have been proven to be Ostensons. 

The original owner and complete provenance of photos in these old Ducklow / Good albums is not entirely clear. Barbara Good likely became the owner in 1938 when she took on running the pioneer Good family farmstead from her Uncle Frank Good.   Frank had took over full responsibility for the farm when his father, Frank Good Sr.,  died in 1923.   Frank Good Jr.'s mother, Mary Ann Ducklow Good continued to live on the farm with her son until her death in 1931.  So the Ducklow / Good albums was likely originally those of Mary Ann Ducklow and Frank Sr. Good.  They were in the pioneer farmhouse that was of the estate that Frank Good Jr. and then later Barbara Good inherited.  The source from some of the photos could reach further back in time as Mary Ann Ducklow Good may have received some of the pictures upon the death of her mother, Elizabeth Ducklow in 1904.

What is most curious is why the album had pictures of Mary Ann's Good's youngest sister in-laws?  Several ideas come to mind how this might have occurred but ultimately none fully explain the puzzle of why Gunder Ostenson's parents pictures are in the Ducklow / Good family album.  It seems very odd that Lucinda's husband's parents where in a Ducklow / Good album and may have been further reason that they were misidentified by Barbara Good.

The actual ancestral photos of Thomas and Elizabeth on display here come from the photo collection from Michael Jon Holman.  Mike is the grandson of Lucinda and Gunder Ostenson. His collection of photos contain the exact same photos labeled in the Ducklow / Good set as Grandma and Grandpa Ducklow.  However, his set of these photos are labeled as Ostensons from Norway (Gunder's parents).  In addition, the photo of the Grandmother is dated June 1899.  Assuming both the Grandmother and Grandfather pictures were taken the same day, this date can not fit for Thomas Ducklow.   He died in 1892.  Mike Holman's collection also contain a second set of photos of Gunder Ostenson's parents further vetting them as Ostensons.  

The great news is that Mike Holman's picture collection included the real picture of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow!   This photo was marked as such by Mike's mother Anna Ostenson Holman providing solid identification of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow.  On top of this, when you look at the real pictures of Thomas and Elizabeth,  the images look like Ducklow descendants!

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