In 1861, Vincent Guynn (Gwynn) and wife Hannah set out from Greene County, Pennsylvania with their first born son to land in Illinois; and eventually emigrated on to Henry County, Missouri, where the growing family settled on farmland in Bear Creek Township in 1867.  The couple had seven children: Reuben Alfred, b. 1861; Melissa Jane “Jennie” Sagesser, b. 1862; Annie E. Walker, b. 1865; Priscilla Valinda (Linnie) Williams, b. 1868; John Vincent, b. 1869; Mae (May), b. 1873; and Richard Noble, b. 1877.  

My gggrandmother, Mary Jane Gwynn Minor, stayed in touch with this brother’s family, and received a set of photographs of the Missouri kin sometime between 1897 and 1901. What remains in the family possession are these three portraits, sent by an unknown niece or nephew. 

“This is my eldest brother Reuben Alfred Guynn”

Reuben was a successful business man in Montrose, Missouri, owning a drugstore with his brother, Richard, before turning to banking.  He was also a prosperous farmer.

“This is bro John Vincent Guynn taken after he was feeling bad. He was sick over one year.”

John died at the early age of 31, in 1901.

“This is sister May taken one year before she died . She was sick one year.”

May died in 1897.