Susanna Russell Historical photo Grandma 1855, Family Tree Genealogy

Northwest Ohio, 1855
oldest known family photo, seven generations!

1700s Peter Sunderland and Katherine Hollman-Sunderland had a daughter Isabell Sunderland-Russell-Washburn (pictured here 1855, at 66 years) had 8 kids.

Isabell is mother to Susanna Russell.

Susanna Russell is the first white child born, 1818, in what became Allen County, Ohio. Susanna is younger sister to Juliann Russell.

Isabell is mother to Juliann Russell 1700s
Grandmother to William Russell Cochran
Great Grandmother to Ulysses Marriott Cochran 1800s
Great Great Grandmother to Ruth Cochran 1900s
Great Great Great Grandmother to Mary Buettner
Great Great Great Great Grandmother to Joesph Ballard
Great Great Great Great Great Grandmother to Nicholas Ballard
Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandmother to Joshua Ballard 2000s

Webmaster's note: Any good artist strives to incorporate the subliminal into his or her multimedia presentations -- and this pyramid is a great example. WE TRULY STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF OUR ANCESTORS. CAN YOU IMAGINE? If you or I are represented as the top block in this pyramid, all the mothers and fathers who got us to this point over hundreds of generations may be imagined as building blocks to create this symbolic metaphoric image. JUST DO THE MATH, for example: Each of us has a biological mother and father. Our two parents have four parents between them (our paternal and maternal grandparents). Those four grandparents have eight parents between them (our great grandparents). Those eight parents (our great, grand parents) have 16 parents between them. Those 16 parents (our great, great grandparents) have 32 parents among them. Those 32 parents (our great, great, great grandparents) have 64 parents among them. Those 64 parents (our great, great, great, great grandparents) have 128 parents among them -- that generation was born around 1850! While that's only the proverbial "seven generations" -- mathematically representing the 128 biological mothers and fathers that every person has in his or her Family Tree -- it becomes mind boggling to imagine how going back a few hundred generations deeper could easily build a pyramid model such as my example.
ANCESTOR Calculator fact check:
Each generation doubles your direct maternal/paternal ancestors -- the parents who got you here. Example: Your parents provide 2 ancestors (mother/father). Your grandparents provide 4 maternal/paternal ancestors. Your great grandparents provide 8 ancestors....
GENERATION: YOU	ANCESTORS: -
Your Parents	2
GrandParents maternal/paternal pairs	4
Great GrandParents	8
Great Great GrandParents	16
Great Great Great GrandParents	32
Great Great Great Great GrandParents	64
GGGGG GrandParents	128
GGGGGG GrandParents	256
GGGGGGG GrandParents	512
GGGGGGGG GrandParents	1,024
GGGGGGGGG GrandParents	2,048
GGGGGGGGGG GrandParents	4,096
GGGGGGGGGGG GrandParents	8,192
GGGGGGGGGGGG GrandParents	16,384
GGGGGGGGGGGGG GrandParents	32,768
GGGGGGGGGGGGGG GrandParents	65,536
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GP	131,072
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GP	262,144
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GP	524,288
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GP	1,048,576
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GP	2,097,152
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GP	4,194,304
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GP	8,388,608
That's 20 generations of parents who got you here -- over about 400 years or from the year 1625. It would seem -- take any ONE of these 8 million parents out of your lineage -- you would never have been born into this life....
We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. - Shirley Abbott (1934-2019)

This photo is one of the 500 scans and digital restorations I did for a 45–minute family documentary movie DVD.

My Mama told me this image of her Great Great Great Grandmother came to her from a visiting relative discussing their genealogy work -- my mother only had a crappy Xerox copy -- but it connected a dot in the family tree -- and makes a point here.