Here is a photo of proud grandparents Nathan and Mary McClain with their bevy of grandchildren, apparently taken on the porch of their home in North Albany in 1914. The quality of this photo is not the best. It gives some evidence of being a photo of a photo (though perhaps professionally made). That fact, though, may have saved this copy from the severe fading that likely befell the original. The faces that are blurred appear to be the result of children not remaining still while the photo was taken (not due to any problem with developing or printing).

These are the identifications from Mom/Florence. (I will give temporary “X” identifiers to the ones she could not identify.) Each row is from the left. Back row: Grandpa Nathan McClain holding infants X1 and X2, Cheslah Lake, Grandma Mary McClain holding baby X3, X4, Florence McClain. Middle row: X5, X6, Bernard McClain. Front row: X7, Ray and Roy Warren, Elmer Lake, X8, Kenneth Lake

This makes a total of fifteen grandchildren in the photo.

I’m going to guess that the girl left of Florence (X4) is Mary McClain and the girl in front of Cheslah (X5) is Myrtle McClain. That means the girl in front of Grandma Mary (X6) is Dorothy Lake. By elimination, the boy to the right of Elmer Lake (X8) would be Elmer McClain and the boy on the left end of the row (X7) would be Howard McClain. The two in Grandpa Nathan’s lap (X1 and X2) must be Earl McClain and Don Lake, both born in 1913. That leaves the baby Mary is holding (X3), which must be Eldon McClain, born in 1914 (which confirms the year for the photo).

The only surviving grandchild not present that was born by 1914 is Charlie’s daughter Marie. They still lived in Nebraska at this time. She would have been 13 when this photo was taken.

Concerning the parents of the grandchildren in the above photo:

While Jim and Susan McClain lived most of their lives near Paxton, Nebraska, they lived in the Albany area for a period between 1912 and 1916 (roughly). I don’t know why. Their son Earl was born during this period. A few photos of their children in the archives date from this period, including the above photo and the one included in this earlier post (of Mary and Florence having a tea party).

Joseph and Nellie Warren had been living in northern California for a period starting about 1910. Perhaps this photo indicates that they had returned to Oregon by 1914, or maybe they were just visiting.

Harvey and Mary (Mae) Lake were living in Albany at this time, as were Arthur and Addie McClain.

Finally, Arthur and Addie McClain, and Ellery and Leota McClain lived in Tallman in 1914.

Here is a list of all the surviving grandchildren born by 1914. The name in the “McClain Parent” column links to a post about that that parent.

Grandchild	McClain Parent	Birth Date
Marie McClain	Charlie	3 Nov 1901
Elmer Lake	Mae	8 Mar 1905
Elmer McClain	Jim	1 Jan 1907
Cheslah Lake	Mae	2 May 1907
Ray Warren	Nellie	13 Jul 1908
Roy Warren	Nellie	13 Jul 1908
Howard McClain	Jim	17 May 1909
Kenneth Lake	Mae	20 Feb 1910
Florence McClain	Arthur	6 Jun 1910
Mary McClain	Jim	7 Oct 1910
Myrtle McClain	Jim	1 Jan 1912
Bernard McClain	Arthur	17 Jul 1912
Dorothy Lake	Mae	21 Sep 1912
Earl McClain	Jim	23 Mar 1913
Don Lake	Mae	12 Dec 1913
Eldon McClain	Ellery	12 Apr 1914

Nathan and Mary were just getting started on grandchildren when this photo was taken. They went on to have a total of 34 grandchildren (if I counted correctly), the last few of which were born after both of them passed away.