Family Resemblance

[Wayne Land]

Here's a photo alleged to be that of Katherine Bonney. This is the photo found by Melinda Allison and her grandson Bill Allison while going through a trunk that had belonged to Brushy Bill. I believe it may however be a photo of Brushy's real mother, Mary Adeline Dunn/Roberts. Notice the similarity of the ears, with same overall shape where the left ear protrudes farther than the right and has a smaller more tapered lobe than the right. Even if this is really Katherine, who was Brushy's half-aunt, is it possible the inherited trait could have shown up in both of them?

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[kidcanuck]

i do believe both could have the same family trait wayne. even if she was a half aunt. some family features are more unique than others, all depends on the genes.

[Wayne Land]

I believe that too. Very definitely. From personal experience I'll share this little tidbit. My first wife lived with her grandmother when we met. A relative had traced the family tree back to the brother of George Washington. Now old George never had any children but his brother did and those many generations later, my wife's grandmother had almost exactly the same eyes as our first president. The same shaped eyelids were very distinctive and a pronounced resemblance was unmistakable. Anyone who's ever viewed her photo in that regard has reacted with comments like, "wow. that's so obvious!"

[matbroadwayjr]

Are we 100% sure that the famous photo of "Billy" is really him?

[Wayne Land]

No, not 100%. But the provenance is very convincing. I'm not sure I could describe it accurately without doing a bit of refreshing my memory, but the photo is traceable all the way back to Billy himself. I personally believe the photo is authentic. For one thing, if it wasn't him Brushy would have said so and he did not.

[Wayne Land]

Another point I've often thought about and never mentioned on here. In my travels I've visited some Indian museums and seen clothing hand made by the Indians that had coins sewed into the fabric as ornamentation. That photo of Catherine Bonney (or Mary Adeline Dunn) appears to have coins sewn into the lapels. Brushy said his mother Mary Adeline Dunn was half indian. Is it possible she learned that sewing skill from her Indian mother? One reason I suspect that is a picture of Mary Adeline Dunn.

[MissyS]

I know this thread is old but sometimes I go back and read old threads, I do believe that photo is of Brushy's real mother and not Katherine Bonney , the reason being that Pat Garrett wrote in his book that Katherine Bonney had luxurious blonde hair. I want to add that it's interesting about Brushy saying his real mother was half Indian. Frederick William Grey wrote that he had a conversation with Kip McKinney while on a mining adventure and McKinney told him that Billy The Kid was a half breed indian, this is in Grey's book "Seeking Fortune in America" published around 1912?, McKinney was supposed to have never seen or known Billy The Kid when he went with Garrett at the time of the shooting, so why would he think this?

[mckinley412]

I do think him Joe have the same chin and ears. Not sure how closely related they are.