Kimberly Tilley rescues forgotten stories of early twentieth century America from obscurity. Her books, Grievous Deeds (2023); Has it Come to This? (2022), Cold Heart (2020), and The Poisoned Glass (2019) were Amazon category best-sellers in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and India.
Kimberly owns OldSpirituals.com. She's very grateful for the wonderful community and two outstanding contributors to help fulfill the site's mission of rescuing fascinating stories from obscurity.
Kimberly is the cofounder of Pivot Talent Development LLC, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. PIVOT offers workshops, training, consulting, and coaching to help professionals improve performance, drive business impact, and transcend limitations.
Kimberly owns OldSpirituals.com. She's very grateful for the wonderful community and two outstanding contributors to help fulfill the site's mission of rescuing fascinating stories from obscurity.
Kimberly is the cofounder of Pivot Talent Development LLC, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. PIVOT offers workshops, training, consulting, and coaching to help professionals improve performance, drive business impact, and transcend limitations.
Latest posts by Kimberly (see all)
- Rhythm, Art, and Labradorite - 8 November 2026
- Personal and Goodwill Evolutions - 27 October 2026
- Supernatural in Blue - 25 October 2026
Musical Accompaniment: The Last Waltz by Old Boy
This picture comes to us from the great state of Missouri. It was taken on September 2, 1896 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Rev. Jacob Dunham Gossett and Joan (Jo Ann) Frances Ratliff Gossett. The family was photographed in front of the couple’s home in Independence, Missouri.
kchistory.org
I imagine time had wrought some changes in the Gossetts since their marriage 50 years earlier! I wish we knew whether the people surrounding them are all their children or if some of them are in-laws. It’s a lovely picture.
The family around them might be their own kids only (no inlaws). 6 men 2 women so they definitely had more than 4 kids. It was norml then to have 8 kids. The only one that is iffy is to the left of the father. Is he young enough to be their kid?
It’s so hard to tell how old people are in these old pictures… I’m not sure. But it’s definitely possible to have 8 kids. My grandpa was one of 13!
Based on geni.com information on the Gossetts, those surrounding the celebrants are likely offspring.
https://www.geni.com/people/Jacob-Gossett/6000000021501445249
Wow, nine children!
Thank you for finding this!