Pfifferling LaBonte Photos

Profile manager: Jillaine Smith [send private message]

Background

On August 2, 2022, I (Jillaine Smith) received a private message through WikiTree from Beth Campbell regarding some found photos that apparently matched up with profiles I managed on WikiTree:

Private message to J. Smith 2 Aug 2022

This led to an email exchange resulting in a package of close to 40 photos arriving at my home on 11 August 2022.

Collection after drying photos out

The collection -- which had been found by Beth in a road-side ditch in Mocksville, North Carolina -- included individual photos, many with handwritten identifications on the back, small loose pages with photos adhered onto them-- clearly from a small photo album, one still-intact photo album, and a couple of tintypes. There was also a torn velvet bag of sorts in which many of the photos had been originally found. The photos dated from as early as the 1870s (I knew that the woman in the photo had died by 1875) to as late as about 1920 (a young adult woman who had been born in 1896). Most photos had no dates on the back; a few had "1897" written on them. There is a small subset that appear to be from the 1950s.

The finder, Beth, happened to be a genealogist! She researched the names found on the back of the photos, and found her way to a set of profiles on WikiTree that I manage. This particular branch connects to "my tree" through my immigrating ancestor, Ludwig Jauch. Ludwig had emigrated from Germany to Buffalo, New York, in 1867, a decade after his paternal uncle, Thomas Jauch had emigrated to Staunton, Virginia. Years ago, I'd researched Thomas' line, working my way from his 1835 marriage and his 1856 arrival in the U.S. through his descendants to as close to present day as I could. I had created profiles for each of them. And it was because I'd done this that Beth was able to find me and find a home for the abandoned photos. Using the hand-written annotations on the back of many of the photos, I was able to associate many of each of the photos with its WikiTree profile. I am currently in the process of scanning and annotating each of the photos. I have many more to complete.

Emigrating Couple: Thomas Jauch and Catharina Schlenker

The oldest photo in the batch appeared to be that of the ancestral (and emigrating) couple -- Thomas Jauch (later Yauch or Yauck) and his wife Catharina (Schlenker).

Thomas Jauch and wife Catharina Schlenker c 1870

Thomas and Catharina were born and married in Schwenningen, Wurttemberg. Thomas was a kuper or cooper-- a maker of casks. Like many families in the small town of Schwenningen, he emigrated to North America with his wife and children in the mid 1800s. They settled in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. Some of their children and grandchildren remained there; others wandered out to as close as Kentucky and as far away as California. Their daughter Ursula Jauch, married Henry Pfifferling and remained in Staunton.

2nd Gen: Ursula Yauch and Henry Pfifferling Sr

Ursula Yauck Pfifferling (b 1835; d aft 1900)

Henry Pfifferling (far left) and Ursula Jauch (third from left)

3rd Gen: Andrew Pfifferling and Lillie Nalls

Ursula and Henry had at least seven children, including a son Andrew Yauck Pfifferling:

Andrew Yauck Pfifferling (1868-1945)

Andrew married Lillie Nalls:

Lillie (Nalls) Pfifferling (1871-1922)

4th Gen: Marie Pfifferling and George V LaBonte Sr

Andrew and Lillie had a few daughters, including Marie Pfifferling (1896-1981) who appears as a child in many of the photos and who also appears to have been the person who annotated the names her relatives on the backs of the photos:

Marie Pfifferling LaBonte (1896-1981)

She married George Victor LaBonte Sr in 1919.

George Victor LaBonte Sr

5th Gen: Siblings George V LaBonte Jr and Anne LaBonte Futrell

Marie and George had at least two children:

1. George V LaBonte Jr (died 2014);
2. Anne LaBonte Futrell (d late 2022)

The collection of photographs includes photos of who I believe to be Anne, the daughter-- from childhood through young adulthood. Prior to her death, this daughter was living in Advance, NC, not far from where the photos were found in Mocksville, NC. I believe this collection had been in her possession prior to its being discovered in the roadside ditch.

Unknown Photos

The following photos were included in the collection; it's not clear who they are.

Unknown Group of Men c 1950s?

Unknown Mixed Group c 1900?.

Here's an image.

Finding Current Family (FOUND!)

I continue to scan, annotate and add photos from this collection to their respective WikiTree profiles.

If a member of this family would Iike these photos returned to their personal collection, please contact me through "Send Private Message" above. I would be thrilled to return them to a family that will care for them.

UPDATE: I have identified living relatives:

• An 83-year-old daughter of Marie Pfifferling LaBonte lives in/near Advance, NC, not far from Mocksville, where the photographs were found. Later update: I have since learned that this daughter has passed. Smith-32867 10:37, 4 March 2023 (UTC)
• Two grand-daughters of Marie Pfifferling LaBonte (through her son George Jr) -- one in Staunton, VA; the other in Chesterfield, VA.

I am seeking to connect with the two granddaughters who I hope would like to receive the original photographs.

Jillaine Smith

August 2022

UPDATE: I was contacted in January 2023 by one of the two granddaughters; the photographs were successfully returned to the family in February 2023. The woman in the photograph below (with husband and two daughters) is the LaBonte granddaughter and Jauch-Pfifferling descendant who received the photos. What a wonderful conclusion!

LaBonte Granddaughter, husband and daughters

Postscript

Jillaine originally shared this story on a WikiTree Roundup in August 2022, shortly after receiving the photos. Greg Clarke, one of the hosts, recognized the "LaBonte" surname that had married into the Jauch-Pfifferling line. This was a family name in his own line. While an initial round of research revealed no connection between Greg's LaBonte line and the Virginia LaBonte, Greg did get the Virginia line back several generations. Subsequent research by Greg, however, got the Virginia LaBonte line back many generations, to the immigrant, Jean Baptiste Marotte LaBonté and across the pond AND linked to his own LaBonté line!