Ellen Rowan Taylor writes:
I assume
the picture was taken between 1862 and 1865.
Josephine Goodheart, (first girl in the
back row on the left) was my great-grandaunt. She was born in 1854, and
looks to be around 9 or 10 years old in the picture.
She was one of the early
principals of Pekin High School. There was
a bell in the old Washington Junior High School [originally used as the
high school] with her name "Josephine" on it.
She married Lemuel Allen
in 1898. Josephine's father was Second
Lieutenant John Goodheart, who was in Company C of the
Second Illinois Calvary, and was killed in a battle at Merryweather's
Ferry in Dyer County, Tennessee on August 16,
1862.
Josephine's sister was
Kate Goodheart Woost, who was my great-grandmother. Her mother was Sarah
Catherine Shober, whose family settled in Tazewell County before 1840.
Sarah married Steven Roney in 1868.
Lou McKinney (third girl
from left in the back row) was Josephine's cousin. Her name was actually
Lewis Ann McKinney, after her father, which I find very interesting.
I have just recently
come into some information from a family Bible that I didn't know existed,
and haven't had much time to research this family. I don't know if the
other McKinney child is Lou's sister or not. The
Bible identifies another child as Ophelia.
I don't know anything
additional about the sewing circle, I believe the Goodheart girls were
Methodist, but I wouldn't swear by it.
As you can see, the
children are identified at the bottom of the picture. I believe the
handwriting is my great-grandmother's, great-grandaunt Josephine's, or
their mother's.
