The back of this photo says, “Spiegel Family – Dallas, Texas” and does not give a year. And I am going to make some conjectures here:

The man leaning against the tree on the far left is my great-great-grandfather, George C. Spiegel. He was a cigar maker in Dallas, Texas.

From census records, I have two street addresses for the family. One on San Jacinto Street and the other on Pocahontas Street. A search for 343 San Jacinto Street in Google Earth shows that the address no longer exists and is buried somewhere under where I-45 and Woodall Rodgers Freeway converge. Pocahontas Street no longer exists on any current map of Dallas. It is buried under I-30 near the Dallas Heritage Village.

There are two boys in the photo. I am going to guess that they are my great-grandmother’s stepbrothers, Eddie (b. 1888) and Hans (b. 1890). That would make the year to be c. 1900.

There are four women and a man standing in front of the porch. It is difficult to tell who-is-who.

The man may be my great-grandfather, James M. Dobbs, Sr. He and Helen Von Spiegel were married in 1901 and settled in Dallas. Plus the hairline looks about right when compared to this illustration from the Atlanta Constitution.

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