"George Palmer's boy"

Something very interesting...

Found a neat site called ancientfaces.com, at which people can upload old photos and search through them by surname.

I looked under "Palmer", which was my maternal grandmother's maiden name. I know it's a very common name, and wasn't surprised to find that the many uploaded pictures I found were not of my family.

But one caught my attention. The woman who uploaded it (back in 2001), said that it was simply labeled (on the back of the photo, I assume) as "George Palmer's boy." The photo shows a very handsome blond boy, about five years old, and looks to have been taken in the 1880's or 1890's.

My great-great grandfather's name was George Palmer. Considering what a common name this must be, I would never assume that the George Palmer whose son is depicted in this picture was my great-great grandfather.

Except that this boy bears an uncannily strong resemblance to my mother-- same eyes, same chin, same face shape:

Could this young boy be my great-grandfather or his brother?

I tried to contact the lady who uploaded this photo for more information, but have gotten no response.

What I'd like to find out is, where did she find the photo? If it originated in New Hampshire, for example, that would suggest that my instincts might be correct.

However, this boy's clothes look expensive to me, meaning that his family was probably well-to-do; my Palmers were, to my knowledge, farmers and laborers.

My great-grandfather, Frank Palmer, was born in 1888, so he would have been around this age in 1893. Maybe someone who knows more than I do about 19th century fashions could pinpoint more accurately when this photo was taken.