So it took years before I realized that the Salvation Army was a religious denomination… and I’d been driving by a church for years in Lansing, Michigan. The above photograph is from a photo postcard taken by William H. Spinks and currently held by my Great Aunt. It’s the Salvation Army Brass Band of Woodstock, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada. My Great Great Grandfather Cornelius Packer is in the front row, third man in from the left with, what I believe is, a euphonium. The photo was taken sometime between 1881—when the Packers previously identified as Primitive Methodists and 1892 when my Great Grandmother was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Just based on his age in this picture and another family shot by the same photographer, I suspect this is mid to late 1880s.
Genie Road Trip 
August 3, 2012 at 4:07 pm
William Henry Spinks was my Great-Grandfather. He was a well known photographer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A history of Woodstock, Ontario has a photo of the Old Woodstock City Band that he took at the turn of the century.
August 3, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Thanks so much for your comment! We actually have a small collection of family potraits in addition to this one all by your great-grandfather. They’ve offered fabulous clues about my family as well as raised interesting questions.
November 20, 2015 at 1:38 pm
Thank you both for your interesting comments and the photo! I am no relation other than an avid genealogist and bandmaster/divisional music director in the Salvation Army in KC, MO.