Here’s another old photo that remains unidentified. Clearly, this elderly lady is from Goes, the Netherlands, and, no doubt, died in Goes. Because of her age in this photograph, imagine how early she must have been born!
She must be from one of these branches: Paaks, Zuidwegs, or Mulders. It’s unlikely that she is a direct ancestor of Alice Paak, though, because Alice’s mother (born Bassa) died in her early 40s, in 1865. And her mother, a van Nek, died in 1848.
It’s less likely to be a Mulder because most of these photos come from my grandfather’s’ family, not my grandmother’s. She’s not a DeKorn because they came from Kapelle (very close to Goes, but not Goes). That leaves the Zuidwegs–or perhaps an aunt or other relatives of the Paaks.
How do you like her bonnet? Why does it look like her dress has creases around the skirt?
Here is the back of the photo in case it offers any clues:
The Family Kalamazoo 
I wondered about the creases too. I have no idea why they are there. The fabric looks heavy and shiny. and the shawl is wrapped the way people wrapped them in the era of the Civil War in the US. The bonnet would keep her head warm.
The creases are such a mystery. I agree about the other things you say, too. The skirt looks very new. Look at the sleeves. That doesn’t look like a dress top to that skirt. It looks like a sweater; look how thick it is at the wrists.
I agree, the folds in her skirt are a puzzle and the fabric itself looks almost like a finely woven wool used for men’s suits. I wonder if these old photos hold a smidge of an identifiable fingerprint, not that prints were recorded that long ago but wouldn’t it be fun if there were a fancy ‘CSI’ electronic machine that gave us the answers? The proverbial “hey, i found a hair (or piece of fabric) and it belongs to …”
On another note, do you follow http://www.michpics.wordpress.com? One stunning photo a day of a Michigan scene. Today is one of the Holland Harbor Lighthouse, and previous days have been amazing shots of ice and snow covered places. I think you’d enjoy it – a quick, easy follow to view one shot of ‘home’ per day 💐💐🌷
Sammy, thanks for the blog. Beautiful photos. That’s great!
I LOVE your idea about a CSI machine for genealogy. hahaha. That is the added dimension that we do not have at this point!!! They will have to figure out a way that fingerprints are found by following DNA inheritance ;).
Amazing photo! She looks old, but people looked old earlier back then. Maybe 70??
I was thinking that, too, Amy. The mouth, jaw area looks like a lot of pics of older people in antique photos. I wonder if it’s a sign of missing teeth?
Interesting theory! Don’t they also say that’s one reason people didn’t smile in photos?
Yes, plus too hard to hold the smile, of course. But imagine how many people were toothless or partially so!
I’d say it’s a sign of missing teeth.
That’s what I was thinking!
The photographer, Jacobus Johannes Quist was born in Nieuw-Vossemeer on 04.01.1846, and died at Amsterdam 22.05.1918. He was working at Goes and Zierikzee. Some photo’s from 1860-1918 can be found at:
https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/images#filters%5Bkunstenaar%5D=Quist%2C+J.J.
Hubert, I have more questions on this one! I can’t see any photographs at the link? Can you see them when you go to the link? I can’t figure out how to search because I, unfortunately, do not know the Dutch language.
Also, do you think that the woman’s bonnet or cap and clothing are consistent with an older person from the late 19th century who was from Goes?
When we lived in Dublin Ireland I had a friend who looked like this woman. She was a wonderful woman. Full of zest for life. She passed away in 2013 at the age of 97. I especially enjoyed her accounts of living in Calcutta and other parts of India during the 2nd World War.