We'll help you solve your ancestry mysteries, too

We recently received a mystery photo at the Webb City Area Genealogical Society. The photograph was taken the summer of 1938 in Webb City. The two couples were identified as Aunt Ida, Uncle John, Dad and Mom Phillips.

We decided to do a little research and see if we could identify the two couples. It helped that the photograph was dated and we were able to estimate the ages of the people pictured. The person who wrote the identifications on the photo was the niece or nephew of John and Ida so one of these two people would be the sibling of either Dad or Mom Phillips.

After doing some research at Ancestry.com and Find A Grave, we discovered that Benjamin Franklin Phillips had a sister named Ida Bell Phillips. Benjamin Phillips was born in 1890 making him 48 years old in 1938 and Ida Bell was born in 1878 making her 60 years old in 1938 so we are guessing Ida and her husband, John Michael Patrick, are the couple on the left and Benjamin and his wife, Flossie Jeanetta, are the couple on the right.

We have many research tools at the genealogy society so if you are interested in discovering your family history please come and visit us on the third floor of the Webb City Public Library. Our hours are noon to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Our phone number is (417) 673-0398. You can send us an email message at webbcitygen@gmail.com.