Faintly written on the back of this picture is: "this is the 5 Dolls at Lexington, Ky". Five numbers are given with the names (left to right) 1 = J.C. Ewen, 2 = J.B. Bam..ehan ?, 3 = G... Ewen, 4 = T.S. Jackson, and 5 = J.B. Goldon? They are standing proudly, each touching down the line from J.B. Goldon to J.C. (called Jake), posing for a memory.
I would take it that J.C. Ewen (b. 1887) was the anchor of the crew since they all seem to be leaning on him. He was an older brother of my grandfather, Sidney Brent Ewen (b.1899), who would have been a young child when this picture was taken. The middle person was Green Ewen, a younger brother to J.C. and another older brother to my grandfather Ewen. Both Ewen boys had mustaches just like their father George Washington Ewen. [See post and picture "The Sod Rest Lightly", August 17, 2010.] All wore hats except Mr. Goldon who seems to be wearing an apron, and certainly did not want to get his carefully combed hair disrupted. [Perhaps a bartender who served the boys on their big trip to Lexington, KY.] The second in, J.B. [could not make out the spelling] shows his pipe, a symbol of manhood. [See post "Brothers", March 16, 2011, for my great grandfather Jones, E.T.] What a crew. It must have been mother Susan [who else would have called them "Dolls"?] who scribbled lightly on the back of the picture hoping to keep this event and memory alive. The boy's big trip to Lexington from the hills of Eastern Kentucky. Friends, posing for a memory in time.