Old photographs are focus of La Conner-area history mystery

History is full of mysteries and a good one focuses on a collection of old photographs stored for decades in the attic of a rural La Conner home.

Steve Thein, of Landing Road southeast of town, came across the studio-quality black-and-white prints while clearing space to insulate his attic.

The photos, judging from hairstyles and clothing fashions they reveal, appear to date from the early to mid-20th century.

Some photos are identified only by first name, others not at all. Only a few photos are dated.

Those pictured likely were close friends or relatives of Thein's parents or grandparents.

"These pictures have been in our attic for a long time," said Thein, a 1975 La Conner High School graduate. "But I can't identify the people in them."

He places great value in history and mementoes. He's a lifelong collector with an interest in restoration of vintage pinball machines.

"It would be fun to be able to hand these photographs to the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of the people in them," Thein said. "That would be cool."

He has unearthed some clues, though nothing definitive, as to the identities of those in the pictures.

"One of the photos is of a distinguished looking man who is standing in front of a barn that used to be on our property," Thein said. "The barn isn't there now, but I've seen it in other photographs."

The Theins emigrated from western Europe to Minnesota, then on to Fir Island before finally settling in the Pleasant Ridge area.

Thein grew up believing the family's roots were German, but a cousin's research later indicated their forebears are from Luxembourg.

As for the local move, the earlier Theins sought higher ground after suffering through a series of Fir Island floods.

Interestingly, members of the La Conner pioneer Bessner family are pictured in a couple of the photographs Thein found that have identification. Their history bears striking similarity to that of the Theins.

John Bessner was born in Luxembourg in 1829 and as a young man came to the United States, settling first in Minnesota. He ventured to La Conner in the 1870s, by which time his son, Matthew Bessner (1867-1962), was school age.

Matthew Bessner eventually farmed the Skagit Delta and upon his passing was buried at Pleasant Ridge.

"I have to think that the people in the photos had to be friends or somehow had ties to our family," Thein said. "There were three or four totes of photos among the accumulations of my 67 years and of my dad's. I've gone through them and the ones I was able to identify I put in albums or sent to family members and kept some to put on our mantle."

There is, however, a full tote of non-identified photos that Thein would like to reunite with the immediate families of those pictured.

"I'd hate to throw any of them away," he said. "You know there's somebody out there who would love to have them."