Ellett Family Weirdness!

Originally, all I knew of this family photo was that it was my Great Great Grandparents' family. I only knew that my great grandmother Kerney was one of the children.

I have been trying to I.D. the rest of the people in this photograph. The parents were easy enough. The children have been difficult.

Initially, I thought that the last of their children, Leslie C. Ellett, was born around 1902, and I think that would date this photo sometime around 1898 or 1899 since there are only 8 children in it. The children of Charles Henry and Mattie Hammond (Sanford) Ellett are listed in the 1900 and 1910 census records:

 So, I originally thought the list went like so:

TOP L-R: Luther S Ellett b 1883, Marvin S Ellett b 1889, Stella W Ellett b 1893, Kerney Leo Ellett b 1886

Bottom L-R: Charles Henry Ellet b 1859, holding Maggie G Ellett b 1896, Henry W Ellett b 1890, Otis M Ellett b 1894, Mattie Hammond (Sanford) Ellett b 1859 holding Vera V Ellett b 1898

I was sure that Kerney was the girl in the top right. Later photos of her show that she still parts her hair in a similar fashion. The other girl doesn't appear to have a hairline that would allow for that. The girl in the top right also seems to share the pouty expression that Kerney seemed to always have later.

Kerney is on the left

Kerney is on the left

Kerney is labeled "me" on bottom right

Kerney is the older woman, rear center

The problem I have run across is that Stella is actually Stell, and a boy. I originally overlooked that Stella was listed as a son in both censuses. The weird thing is that Marvin appears to be a gender bender. In 1900, Marvin is a girl and in 1910, Marvin is a boy. I have been unable to locate any other records regarding Marvin. It just seems very odd that anyone would name their daughter Marvin! I wondered if the census guys wrote the name down wrong, but it was done by two different people and they both wrote down Marvin.

So, now I am starting to think that the list actually goes:

Top L-R: Henry, Luther, Marvin, Kerney

Bottom L-R: Maggie, Charles, Stell, Otis, Mattie, Vera

It is so weird to me... Marvin is a girl's name?