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Piecing together family history through the discovery of artifacts and documents requires a sharp eye for
detail and often a creative use of primary sources. This page describes methods and logic that family historians have
used to fill in details of stories about Kissam family ancestors known and unknown.
The ice cream parlor proprieter
We know that William A. Kissam started an ice cream business in Huntington, from an advertisement for Scudder & Kissam
- "Dealers in ice cream and confectionery" (see Kissam Family Collection - Kissams in business). Later, we found this postcard of a group of people on the stoop of this ice cream parlor (see sign in background),
postmarked from Huntington. Could this be the Scudder & Kissam business?
We examined the postcard carefully. It was sent from Huntington in 1907, and there is no indication that either the sender
or recipient was related to the Kissam family (though the Ketchums are another historical Long Island family). We know
that the Scudder & Kissam business was located on Main St. in Huntington.
What about the man seated on the stoop? Using scan-and-enlarge technology, we compare a detail of the postcard
(left) to other known portraits of William A. Kissam (right and below).
The formal portrait, above right, is taken from the opposite angle and may not illustrate a convincing similarity
to the mustached man in the postcard. However, consider the body posture of William A. in his wedding picture, left.
The bent knee and angle of the arm is very similar to the man seated in the postcard photograph above.
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