It isn’t uncommon when working on the tree to come across photos of the individuals you are working on. Such was the case with this curious photo of Raymond Holden Babb (Seated) and his friend Clifford Eugene Day.

This picture shows the fondness these two men had for each other. But no information exists to explain how they knew each other. From the records that are available they lived about 30 miles apart and never seemed to stray from their respective counties.

The Grandmother of the person who originally posted this wrote on the Photo that it was Raymond Holden Babb & Clifford Day. From another photo I was able to determine that Raymond is on the right.

A scan of Service Records on Fold3.com (a military history research website) shows no connection either. Clifford’s service records are obscured (I’m not clear what capacity he would have served in). It does reveal that his middle name is Eugene and that he was born in 1898

There doesn’t seem to be a single picture of Clifford available to corroborate this story. The person who posted the picture had the same questions I did. I spoke with another family member with an online tree of Clifford’s and they confirmed that he bears a strong resemblance to the other men in their family. But no one seemed to know what the connection was.

So, I went further down this rabbit hole. Running adrift on traditional tactics I turned to some more unconventional methods. On Find a grave I found a record for Clifford, but it had no picture or relations listed. So, I turned to see if there were any other Day family members buried in the same cemetery.

Eureka! There are a number of Days with the middle name Eugene. This is more than a coincidence, so I look for some of the most recent descendants to work from and locate Donald Eugene Day (1921-1983).

The military style apparel suggests that they served together, but the records don’t bear it out. They clearly knew each other well enough to take such a close picture. Usually, images such as this contain relatives, but I can’t prove that either.

So, for now the origin of this photo remains a mystery. If you have any info on this image please contact me.