From: Lueila* To: Rachel Blakely, 1908
Tuesday,
Dear Rachel,
We are in Underwood now and are going to the Gaywall’s(?) for dinner. We’re invited to Mr. Jennings tomorrow.
Your own,
Lueila
If you’ve been a connoisseur of my blog for more than a day, you probably know that I love me a 1908 postcard. 1908 was firmly in the postcard golden age (which ran from 1905-1915) and in fact, by the end of June of that year, over 7 million postcards had been mailed in the United States since their inception. Lueila and Rachel were a part of that movement.
Dropping this postcard into history a bit, let me review. In June 1908 the Progressives are in power with the great Theodore Roosevelt as President. He was nearing the end of his tenure, and the election that followed would be the battle of the Williams: with William Howard Taft defeating William Jennings Bryan. The world was days away from the Tunguska Event in Russia, Henry Ford rolled the Model T’s off the production lines, and the Wright Brothers were perfecting flight.
Meanwhile, Lueila and her sister Rachel “Rae” Blakely lived in Canisota, South Dakota. 30 miles away from Sioux Falls, Canisota was incorporated in 1900, but built in 1883 as a railroad town for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. I expect it was a small town then, but it’s small today as well, with just under 700 full time residents. Needless to say, the sisters were probably both isolated and free ranging all at once.
When I first started researching this postcard, I was pretty sure the name on the card was Louis, or maybe Louie. I made the mistake of making an assumption and thinking this was some sort of letter from a man to his girl. I guess that’s what I get for reading too many romance novels. I was set on the right path by a simple query in the Family Search database where I found Rachel.
Born in South Dakota in 1899, Rachel lived her whole life in either Canisota or Sioux Falls. The youngest of four daughters, Rachel was fifteen years younger than her eldest sibling, and ten years younger than Lueila. She was never married, and in the last census I have access to (1920) she was still living with her parents and unemployed. It’s possible she was attending some type of school or assisting her aging parents.
I knew I had the right person, because Lueila was attached to the record, but it read “Lue?La” because the census was difficult to read. A little more digging (what like it’s hard?) and I found another — more legible — census that clearly shows Lueila as the name. This is awesome because I couldn’t read the name initially.
Born in 1889 in Canada, Lueila emigrated with her parents and elder sisters to South Dakota in 1897. Like Rachel, she was single and living with her parents in 1920. She was 32 years old. The census indicates that she’s a wage worker of some sort, but for the life of me I can’t read the job title.
Since Rachel was only 9 years old in 1908, it stands to reason that Lueila, possibly with some or all of her older sisters, were traveling during the summer and visiting friends or relatives. Canisota was also a deeply rural and agricultural town. It’s possible they were “hired out” to another family member to help with chores like sewing and weaving.
What’s exiting about this postcard was that I was able to fix a little bit of the record for Lueila in Family Search and include her name and residence in 1920. This extends the record by a decade. It’s also very special when I can uncover women’s history. Even in 2024, there’s so much of our lives that remain “unseen”. When we’re gone, the only things that trail us are the documents that made up our lives. Many of these are official government records; cold and impersonal, they can’t possibly breathe color into a life fully lived.
It’s small, but this project helps do that. Rachel probably was bummed she didn’t get to go with Lueila. Like a good older sister, Lueila took advantage of the postcard craze and wrote to Rachel, probably more than once. We are lucky that we get to share in that moment.
*It is possible that Lueila is actually Louila. However, two of three census records show Lueila, so that’s what I’m going for.
A somewhat chilly image of the South Dakota Badlands. Real Photo Postcard
Hipstory 