Sometimes, one expectation is held at the beginning of a genealogical search, but an unexpected event happens along the way.

It’s been years since I thought about this original old photo, given to my great grandmother, Nellie Tarbox Adams, in the early 1890s.

In faded writing just above Eastern Portrait Co. is the message “How do aunt Nell.”

This little girl, dressed to the nines, looks to be about 2 years old when her picture was taken c1892 in Calais, Washington, Maine, where the extended Tarbox family was living.

My great grandmother, Nellie, had one sister and three brothers. Her sister, Elizabeth, had two daughters, but they were born in the 1870s and early 1880s, so too old to be this little girl.

Her brother, Ollie, married but had no children. Her second brother, Horace, had one daughter born in 1881, so again too old to be this little girl.

That leaves her third brother, Charles Franklin Tarbox who married Cleantha “Cannie” Cochran. They had four children – George, born 1882, Oliver, born 1884, Othelia Fay, born 30 August 1890 and Helen Louise, born 4 April 1904.

The only child this could be is Othelia, who went by Fay during her life. Although I never met Fay, she died on 9 August 1984 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, several years after I began the genealogy hunt.

However, my cousin Charles Chadwick, did keep in touch with her via letters. I didn’t have this photo in my possession at the time – Charles had it. Otherwise, I would have directly asked her if it was her baby picture.

Although I have no document to confirm it’s her, I am firmly convinced that I’m right. I thought I’d take another look at Fay and her family just in case my photo turned up somewhere.

Instead, I went down a different rabbit hole. Fay’s younger sister was Helen L. Tarbox, born 4 April 1904 in Calais, Washington, Maine.

I followed some of the links to her and learned that her middle name was Louise.

I also hadn’t been able to find her after the 1920 census when she was at home.

She had apparently moved down the highway to Bangor, Penobscot and married James Alexander “Alex” Dunning. Helen died in Bangor on 10 June 1982.

James and Helen were the parents of one daughter, Diane Elaine, born October 1938, probably in Bangor. This was exciting – a new, fairly close cousin. Diane had married Francis J. Almeter on 6 June 1959 in Maine. They moved frequently due to his military career, but retired in Illinois.

Unfortunately, Frank died in 2019 and Diane just last year on 8 July 2024. However, I was able to locate a child and have reached out to share information.

I’d love to share information with this person because I have a couple of original family photos I’d love to gift, one being great grandmother Cleantha Cochran.

You never know where a rabbit hole will end!