Backwoods Blog .156

WINTER BAPTISM

Backwoods Blog;

in the woods and on the road…

Winter baptism on the Meduxnekeag in Monticello…

Alert readers may recognize the “winter baptism” photo that appeared in a Backwoods Blog post earlier last year (#95). I came across the photograph in one of my father’s old albums, but there was no information identifying anyone in the photo and I listed the young woman being baptized as unknown. In recent weeks I’ve been going through the Roy and Myrtle Cowperthwaite photo collection that I borrowed, and interestingly enough, I came across the identical photo! This time, it was clearly labeled and when I (carefully) removed the photo from the album and turned it over, it even had the date of the baptism. The young woman is Reta Cowperthwaite Wotton and she was baptized in the frigid north branch of the Meduxnekeag River in Monticello on March 6th, 1927. The stalwart Baptist clergyman and deacon assistant are still unidentified. Brrr…

In case you are wondering why my father had a copy of the picture in his photo album, his first wife, Ella Cowperthwaite, was Reta’s younger sister. I don’t see my father or Ella in the baptism photograph, but they were certainly in attendance. One of the comments from the earlier Backwoods Blog .95 post asked, “Do we know who took the picture?” Knowing what I know now, I would say the photographer could have been my father. A note on back of the photo said, “To: Myrtle and Roy” in a woman’s handwriting. Perhaps this is Ella sending the photo and note to her sister-in-law, Myrtle and her brother, Roy. This is just my imaginative take on tracking the photo. Who knows how many photos there were or how many people might have had a copy? One thing is certain. While this photo was taken a little less than one hundred years ago, so much has changed in our culture, clothing styles and living conditions. One thing I’ve noticed, though, as I spend time with these old photos and revisit the names of people and places in our family storyline, there is a lengthening and deepening of connection, even if they predated me or I remember them from much later in their life. Our storylines continue and, we too, are part of the story.

In the woods,

Dave

January 16, 2023