Taubman family.

Purchased at a thrift store in Tucson. The photograph was trimmed to fit inside an elaborate frame, removing the studio mark. The photograph has 13 individuals posed around a central pair, likely the parents, five children, and two seated women who probably the parents of the four younger children.

The photograph.

Taped on the back is a piece of paper with the following hand-written data.

Front side.

LEE

BESS

MAUDE

MALOA

IDA

__A

RO(TH)

TOMMY

SADE

JAMES

[this list is repeated in pencil across the top back of the frame]

Cemetery-

Andy, Emma, Cythna, Maloa, Henry, Lee, Andy

1870 Census

Henry, Maloa, Thomas, William, Lee, Levin[?], Emma, Andy

1885

Henry, Laura, Andie, Emma, Mary

Back side.

I wasn't aware that the back side of the paper had names on it until after I figured out who the family was.

Wm. Henry T.

JENNIE Bowman

LYNN T., OPAL T, HENRY T, MALOA __?__ __?__

The scribbled out area is difficult to read and includes 1918.

IDENTIFICATION

How did I identify these people? No surname is present on the paper. With one exception the names are common and that exception is Maloa. I searched Maloa on Findagrave.com and Ancestry and found many women with that name, too many to narrow the search down.

Important clues were the list of names after "1870 census" and "1885." 

I assumed that 1885 was also a census year. In 1885, the federal government conducted a censuses in Florida, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico Territory, and Dakota Territory. Other states and territories also conducted censuses in 1885 including Iowa, Alaska, Minnesota, and New Jersey. This seemed like a possible thread to follow.

I switched to the 1870 census. What if I searched the name Maloa, what would I find? There were three woman with that name listed- Maloa St. Martin (b. circa 1820), Maloa Taubman (b. circa 1865), and Maloa Ferry (b. circa 1848). The first two were living in Iowa, the third in Illinois. A fourth entry for Louie Mccrea had been annotated by a researcher that this was actually a Maloa Mccrea, also from Iowa.

I then switched to the Public Member Trees on Ancestry and searched for a Henry with a wife Maloa. Three entries came up, one for a William Henry Leffard Lowden of Canada and two for a Henry Taubman also from Iowa.

Clicking on his entry I discovered that Henry Taubman was born in Ballaugh, Isle of Man, England in 1827 and died in 1899 in Maquoketa, Jackson County, Iowa. His first wife was Malvina "Melva" Maloa Current. She died in 1871, before the photo was taken. Henry was married second to Laura Fairbrother. Henry and Maloa apparently had seven or eight children- Thomas Edward, William Henry, Leo U., Lynn, Andy, Emma, Leota, Centha, and perhaps Abigail. Leota and Centha died in 1871, about six months after their mother.

The 1870 census for Maquoketa Ward 3, Jackson County, Iowa lists the family in the same order as the list on the back of the photograph.

Henry Taubman household, 1870 US census, Maquoketa Ward 3, Jackson County, Iowa.

The 1885 census for Maquoketa also matched the note on the back of the photo.

Henry Taubman household, 1885 census, Maquoketa, Jackson County, Iowa.

So who were the people in the photo?

Henry and his second wife Laura (Fairbrother) Taubman were seated in the center. There are five people, likely siblings, in the back row. Among the four men are likely Thomas, William, Lee, Linn, and Andy. Which one is missing, uncertain The woman is probably their sister Emma. 

Son William Henry was married to Martha Jane Bowman and that couple had three children- Homer (born 1878), Opal (born 1884), and Lynn (born 1887). William Henry is standing on the left with his hand on Martha's shoulder. Homer is standing next to her, with Opal in front and Linn on Martha's lap.

Son Linn is probably the man on the right, with his wife Mary Ellen Goodrich seated in front of him, holding daughter Maloa (born 12 September 1888). 

The other two men then could be Thomas, Lee, or Linn. Daughter Emma may be the woman behind father Henry, but she died on 9 August 1889. If this was her, then the photo would have to have been taken sometime in May through August 1889, given the size of little Maloa.