The Real Alonzo Eugene Austin or The challenges of accuracy

Is this man an Austin brother or someone else.

One of the challenges of writing a history of an area or ones family is figuring out what of conflicting information is correct.

In both Book I and Book 2, I identified a photo as Alonzo Eugene Austin. Shortly before completing Book 3, I received a photo of Alonzo Eugene Austin. The two do not seem to be the same man.

Initially the photo had been identified as Rev. Felix Kyte by an elderly great-aunt. On asking around, I received a photo of Felix Kyte.

The real Felix Kyte courtesy of Chuck M.

The photo of Rev. Kyte was of a much older man, but did not seem to resemble the initial photo I had. Since Alonzo Eugene Austin (nephew of my great-grandfather Henry Austin) was also a minister, I thought perhaps there had been some confusion and the photo was actually of Alonzo Eugene Austin. So that is how I identified the photo in two of my books.

So now I do have a photo of the real Rev. Felix Kyte and the real Alonzo Eugene Austin. Who then is the original photo I labeled as Alonzo Eugene Austin?

A photo of Mortimer Bruce Austin.

I have photos of Alonzo E. Austin’s brother Mortimer Bruce Austin.

M.B. Austin has a similar hairline and a superb mustache. But whether the man in the top photo was M.B. Austin or an Austin brother, I don’t know.

Today I added a new Book Corrections page in the line that says HOME in the header line just below the photos at the top of the page. As I have time, I will put up corrections found in the Halfway Brook books after they had been printed.

Another photo of Mortimer Bruce Austin.
The real Alonzo Eugene Austin.
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