Beards

***This post was transferred from the Finding Horace blog.***

Originally published on Finding Horace 20 May 2023.

To be honest, there is a noticeable dearth of beards in my immediate family. My husband has one, and my dad has had one from time to time, but other than that, clean-shaven or mustaches seem to be the order of the day. Allow me to demonstrate:

My grandfathers

My great grandfathers

A few great great grandfathers

Not much to see there.  Cuzzin Heather suggested my cabinet card book of unknown Swedish folk.  Surprisingly, it was much of the same.  There were two bearded men in my collection, but fortuitously, I *did* have an identification for one of them - this bearded fellow:

Meet Sven Svensson (and family)

That is quite the lush beard. The tall blond girl on the left is Esther.  The stern looking woman in the back is Nilla, my great great grandfather Ola's sister. I suspect the remaining children are Sven Jr., Nils, Axel, and the baby is likely Ruth.  I was able to identify them through the wonder that is Ancestry. Someone had this photo of Sven:

His hairline has receded somewhat, but there is no doubt about the facial hair (and the ears)!  So there, you have it, folks.  Enjoy the beard of the husband of my second great grand aunt. 😂