This photo must have been taken about 1880 in Cooke County, Texas. Saphronia "Fronia" Hart, the young lady in the upper right of the picture, was married by the end of 1880 and had her firstborn in July 1881 in Cooke County, Texas.
From known family history, it is hard to be sure exactly who is who in this picture, assuming the probability it was taken in 1880. From left to right, we have the mother, Sarah Ann (Welborn) Hart, then probably Nora Francis Hart, Alta Hart, Saphronia "Fronia" Hart, and Joe Ann Hart. Joe Ann Hart was born in 1868, a couple of years younger than Fronia. But some family records indicate she died in 1870. To reconcile known family history with this picture, the author does not believe than Joe Ann died until after 1880. The little girl in the front, Alta Hart, is believed to have passed away in 1883. Nora Francis, Fronia, and Ruth Ann, born in 1881, and Lee Pearl, born in 1885, all reached adulthood and had children of their own.
A mystery is why this picture shows only the female side of the family. Timothy James Hart was alive at this time, along with his sons - John Caleb, James Timothy, and Erlon Frederick. He also had an older son, Lorenzo Dow, from his first marriage. We can speculate this is a studio picture and that the male members of the family were in a different pose, which has yet to be discovered, if it ever existed and is still around somewhere.
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003