Roots of Identity

 For the life of me, I couldn't figure out where this guy was from. Samuel Gregory McCarthy (1862 - 1918), detail. My wife's great-grandfather, Samuel Gregory McCarthy (1862 - 1918), shows up in Hand County, South Dakota where he married Adaline "Addie" Elmira Carl (abt. 1880 - 1953) on 28 June 1896. He was 33 years old. She was 16. Oof. Addie (Carl) McCarthy , detail. Hand County, South Dakota They ended up staying together and having 9 children together, until he passed away in 1918. From family records, we had the hint that he was born in  Monticello, Jones County, Iowa . We didn't have a birth record to prove the exact location, but both the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census records confirmed that his birth place was Iowa. But we had no records of Sam before he showed up in 1896 in South Dakota. There didn't seem to be any McCarthy family in Jones County, Iowa. Jones County, Iowa Matches from my wife's DNA test finally solved the mystery man. I put together...

 Newspapers can make all the difference. You can find information that you never knew existed, or find parts of a life story that helps to paint a picture of a family member. Back row, left to right: Glenn, Daisy, Roy, Michael Ora. Second row: Freeda (leaning against her mother's leg), Addie (mother), Samuel (father), Dorothy, Archie. Seated in front of Samuel: Howard. Not pictured: Harriet, as she had recently passed away. My wife's grandmother was  Freeda McCarthy . Above is a photo of the McCarthy family, in Hand County, South Dakota.  Hand County, South Dakota It's a photo taken of a printout of a scanned photo. We would like to get an actual digital copy of the photo, if we can find out who has the original. We knew that Freeda was the girl leaning against her mother's leg. Her parents were  Samuel "Sam" McCarthy  and  Adaline "Addie" (Carl) McCarthy . We also knew that this was taken sometime after Freeda's older sister,  Harriet , had pass...