We continue Family History Month with a photograph of another set of prominent families in Romeo: the Brabbs and the Grays!
This picture was taken on the lawn at the home of Marvil Isaac and Sara Louisa (nee Collins) Brabb on North Main Street before 1903 when they moved to Detroit. They are the couple on the far right. Marvil was a well-known business man at that time. He was the president of the Romeo Savings Bank (now the PNC Bank in Downtown Romeo) and later one of the members of the board of directors.
Marvil was so rich that he purchased the lot next door to the house and had a garden, a fountain, and a windmill built on the premise.
The only other person identified in the photo is Harold Gray. He's the little boy on the swings. He was one of Marvil and Sara's grandnephews.
Sara's sister Mary Collins married James Gray in 1862. James was the Postmaster in Romeo, owner of the Clifton Mills in Washington Township, and part of the Gray family who erected the Gray's Opera House (now the Masonic Temple in town). After having two children, including Harold's father James Jr. aka Harry, Mary died in 1870. Then in 1872, James married Martha Collins - Sara and Mary's other sister.
Harry would marry Vinnie Hartung in 1891, and Harold was their first child.
James, Martha, Harry, and Vinnie might be in this photo, but it's hard to tell. The picture itself came from Ken Gray - Harold's brother, so it's possible that living members of the Gray family might know.
Let me know if you are able to identify any other people besides Marvil, Sara, and Harold.
To learn more about the Brabb and Gray families, you contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org.
Source: The Romeo Observer Centennial Supplement, October 27, 1966, p.4; The Romeo Observer, October 24, 1877, p.1, April 17, 1878, p.1, and May 22, 1878, p.1; and Ancestry