In this photograph from about 1939, Mrs. Carolyn Hyde is on the right. With here are her daughter, Carolyne, and also her grandson, Bill. The man holding the coat could possibly be Melville Hanna Haskell, Carolyne’s second husband. Whenever my family and I look at our old photographs our constant refrain is, “Who are these people?” Little by little we are solving some of our mystery “unknown” pictures. Earlier, I posted another photo from the day above, and explained how Mary Mirota had worked for Mrs. Hyde as a private secretary. I received some very interesting information on the Hyde family from two readers, Dede and Woollcott, and I want to extend my thanks!
The photo mystery below is stamped on the back, February 24, 1939, so it was taken around the time of the World’s Fair picture. The horse and rider look to be ready for a formal event.
We also have a sequence of photographs that show a baby named Carol. Although Mary worked as a mother’s helper in the 1930s for the Lydecker family, the women and baby are not from that family. Possibly Mary worked for, or with, these ladies since they aren’t in any other family pictures.
Carol is shown below as a cute toddler riding her tricycle, in October of 1945.
The last two pictures above could have been taken in Mary Mirota’s home town of Whitehouse Station, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. My family is quite sure that the lady in the center in the black dress was Mary’s friend, Mary Szurick Mazur. Her other friend, Agnes, would later marry Mary’s brother, Mike Szurick. But who are all the other people?
Any help with solving these photo mysteries will be very much appreciated. If you want to send a private message, please use the Genealogy Sisters Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/GenealogySisters and I will answer you there. As always, good luck with your family research!
GenealogySisters 
My wife has a Hyde line that shows a William Hyde being the first of that line to be in America. I wonder if it is the same line?
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Mrs. Hyde’s husband was Francis de Lacy Hyde and he was from Plainfield, New Jersey. His parents were Charles and Elizabeth Kepler Hyde. His family had lived in Pennsylvania and had became wealthy in the oil business there, and later went into banking. I don’t know much further back than that.
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I have some mystery photos also. Very frustrating! Good luck!!
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Thanks, Amy. Little by little I’m making progress with these photos. Good luck with yours!
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Hi Maryann—-Sorry, I can’t ID anyone except Mother Hyde, Aunt Carolyn and Bill in all of the posted photos. I did not know Uncle Melville until 1947, 8 years after the Worlds Fair photo, but I believe that is not him in the picture.Comparing it to a picture of his son Schuyler in his obit, I am not so sure. I think Aunt Carolyn was divorced by 1939 so it is likely not Bill’s father either.The child on the tricycle– can’t say—about the right age for their daughter but I am positive I never heard her called Carol and have no recollection of her face. I do remember the old Scottish “nanny”, with quite an accent, and had been with the family for generations as you say. Sorry not to be of any help. Regards, Woollcott
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Hi Woollcott, I thank you for looking through these pictures. I agree that it can’t be Bill’s father in the World’s Fair photo. Maybe this man was another friend of the family showing them around New York City. The other World’s Fair photo has my mother, Mary, with Mrs. Hyde, Carolyne, and Bill, so this man must have taken that photo, and then they switched. Maybe this man was chauffeuring them around. I wonder if any of the edges of buildings or grounds look familiar in the baby Carol photos? My mother died when I was young, but I do remember her talking of how beautiful Arizona was. This may seem different or strange, but one of the things she did was take shorthand notes for Mrs. Hyde during attempts to reach to “the other side” with something like seances. I think Mrs. Hyde was trying to communicate with her late husband, and someone named Edward. Thanks again for your help, and for sharing your memories of the Hyde family! Warm regards, Maryann
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