Early Settlers of McNairy Co. - “D.W. Hester” Mystery
Click the picture to enlarge. Notice anyone familiar? Did someone try to rewrite history and wipe Fielding Hurst off of the Early Settlers of McNairy County poster?
I have seen this poster several times and it is on page 13 of “REFLECTIONS: A History of McNairy County, Tennessee 1823 - 1996″. There is something very odd about Mr. D.W. Hester (Col #1, Row #6). It appears that the person labeled as D.W. Hester, is actually Fielding. It is the exact same photo as the one below with Locky. You can even see the cuff or part of her shirt in the “Hester” photo. If anyone has any history of this poster, please drop me a line. It appears that this poster was created in 1916, so it is very possible that someone just made an error and didn’t intentionally exclude Fielding’s name from the list of early settlers of McNairy Co. If it were anyone but Fielding, I would just assume it was an accident.
If anyone can get a better image of the “Early Settlers”, I would appreciate it.
This image may also be found on page 13 of - “REFLECTIONS: A History of McNairy County, Tennessee 1823 - 1996″.
Listed as Mr. D.W. Hester (Col #1, Row #6)
from the image below with Locky.
Filed under: Early Settlers of McNairy Co., D.W. Hester Mystery, Col. Fielding Hurst, Purdy, TN, Hurst Nation
Astonishing resemblance but I don’t think it’s the same person. Herston looks younger, has 2 collar buttons showing, the hand on the shoulder is farther away from the collar button. Hurst either has a fuller beard or some kind of ruffle around his neck which Herston does not. Just my opinion!
Look at the little triangle of cloth (maybe from Locky’s dress) under right ear. Exact same shape. Also, it looks like Locky’s hand was colored out in the Early Settlers poster.
Also, you can see same little dent in beard. (his right side)
The picture with Locky shows more contrast. This is probably because the Early Settlers page comes from a picture of a poster board display created in 1916. In other words, this is a picture of a picture.
[…] Listed as Mr. D.W. Hester (Col #1, Row #6 of Early Settlers of McNairy County) […]
Better close-ups of each one appearing on the poster are at the McNairy County GenWeb site at http://www.tngenweb.org/mcnairy/oldphotos.html.
Curtis Morgan
P.S. One of my ancestors was A.J. Kincaid who owned a tavern in Purdy in the 1850’s. Imagine the conversations that took place there…Perhaps the site of the alleged Hurst/Forrest poker game? Just starting to research Kincaid in detail, so anything on him or the place would help. His son was named Dick Crump Kincaid after Dr. Crump of Crump’s Landing fame.
I do not know anything about the people in the photos but as a photo editor I can tell you the pictures are the same - the difference being that the one labled as Hester has been “restored” - which accounts for the differences you see in the photos. If you can find out who was responsible for the restoration the odds are good that that person will still have a copy of the original. Once you have verified that the photos are the same then you will be one step closer to solving your mystery of who the person in the photo really is. Hope this helps.