Tag: Family History

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Unraveling Victor’s Story: A Postcard, A Nickname, and Family Ties, 1910-1918

To: Mr. Victor A Binford. From: Wren(?). 1910-1918

Dear Doc-

Card just rec’d. My school is going on fine. Hope you are enjoying life. Should be glad to hear from you again.

Best Wishes,

Wren(?)

Although this card was mailed in October, the year is unreadable. Either the ink has faded away or the card was never stamped well enough to begin with. Since it’s a divided back card, it’s 1907 or later, and based on the handwriting I’d say closer to the 1907 mark than the 1918 mark, but I can’t be sure. Suffice it to say, this card was mailed at the turn of the twentieth century. A time where World War I would see soldiers ride in on horses, and fly out on airplanes.

Bliss Business College was founded in 1897 by a set of brothers. It catered to a co-educational group of students and classes included shorthand, spelling, and penmanship. It closed in 1972, but not without a fight from those who had graced it’s halls. At heart, the college was a two year institution, but Wren (or perhaps Oren) must have met “Doc” Victor Binford there and retained a friendship. At least until Victor married.

Victor Abbot Binford was born in Mexico, Maine (yes, this is a place in Maine) on July 3, 1887 to Horace Jose Binford and Bertha Hortense Abbot. What immediately struck me about Victor is that his mother’s maiden name was his given middle name. A nice nod to his maternal side. In 1912, he married Marcia Reed, and together they had one daughter named Sarah.

Interestingly, the Maine Historical Society carries an archive of the Binford, Reed and Hatch family. The collection was gifted to the society after the death of Ann Hatch, Victor’s grand-daughter. Because of the archive, I know a number of things about Victor that I wouldn’t have known. For instance, his father was a medical doctor. Additionally, his mother died young, and Victor was adopted by his father’s new wife, Lula, who happened to be Bertha’s sister. Also, Sarah Hatch (nee Binford) raised arabian horses. Which…feels luxurious to me.

Victor died on January 16, 1960 at the age of 72. Although the postcard calls him “Doc” what’s likely is that Victor attended Bliss Business College, not that he taught there. In 1910 he was 22, single, and living at home. In 1920, he was a dowel turner at Birch Mill. By 1930, Victor was a private chauffeur…possibly for the Reed family. You see, Victor, Marcia, and Sarah all lived with Marcia’s family. According to the Maine Historical society, Marcia graduated from Smith College, and helped run The Roxbury Telephone company.

In 1940, Victor was the book keeper for “Wood Turning”, which I think is the Birch Mill because by 1950, he was the head of the household (no longer the son-in-law) and was the book-keeper for the Birch Mill. Marcia, on the other hand, was the tax collector for Roxbury County. It’s interesting, because I’m unsure if these are all family businesses, or if Victor truly bounced around. However, I’m somewhat certain that the sender of this postcard addressed him as “Doc” because his father was a doctor and Victor somehow got that moniker.

I’m sad I couldn’t find Wren. However, what’s certain is that I had a lot of fun following the threads of Victor and Marcia’s lives. I’ve said it before, but the cold black and white of papered archives gives very little actual detail of a life. However, it’s what we read between the lines that brings color into a life (hopefully) well lived.

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Education family History parenting Photographs Poems Postcards Vintage Writing Prompt

Promises, Procrastination, and Postcards: Unraveling a 1912 Tease to Frank Van Gordon

To: Mr. Frank Van Gordon. From, Chuck(?) 1912

Dear Old Friend:

How are you. I am fine and dandy. Marie said she was saving her daughter for you so don’t get married. “Ha Ha”. I never got your letter until the other day and will just send you a card. Haven’t seen tasel(?) for a long time. Well so long and soon.

Yours,

Chuck

542 N. Elder Ave, Indpls

In 1912, William Howard Taft was the president, New Mexico and Arizona were admitted as the 47th and 48th U.S. State (respectively), and in the early hours of April 15, the RMS Titanic sank in the chilly waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Suffragettes paraded in New York City, and Theodore Roosevelt was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, proceeds to give a speech, then goes to the hospital.

It was a crazy year.

This card is one of the first postcards I put on this blog, though I felt like I never quite did it justice. There is just so, so much going on. First, there’s the innuendo that “marie” is “saving” her daughter for Frank. Which…I guess the jibe is fun but it gives me a bit of the ick. I also wonder why Chuck “never got” Frank’s letter. As a professional procrastinator, I wonder if Chuck did in fact get the letter, forgot about it until he saw Marie, then remembered to send a card.

Much to my chagrin, I couldn’t find Frank at all. There were a few decent candidates, but none of them fit the timeline well. I have to assume that in 1912 Frank was somewhere between 20-30 (I’d guess 22), especially seeing as his friend is teasing him about getting married. Also, Antigo is a relatively small town, though it’s part of the lumber industry. It’s possible that Frank was a lumber worker.

Which might be why he’s hidden from us in the archives. If he only worked in Antigo as a seasonal worker, or for a year or two, then there would have been no reason for the census to record him living in that city. Also, I wonder if he’s listed in the archives as simply “Frank Gordon”. It’d be strange, since “Van Gordon” isn’t that crazy of a last name, but it’s still possible I suppose.

Well, I revisited this card in the hopes that I could shed a little more light on Frank and his friend. I’m sorry that I couldn’t find them! At least I feel like I’ve given the card it’s due — especially since so much happened during 1912! I do wonder what happened to Frank. I hope he lived a good life, and managed to sit down to dinner with Chuck at some point.

As an aside, the postcard front is so silly when you connect it to the message on the back. Chuck is teasing Frank about a wife, then sends a card that reads “I found a Queen in Indianapolis. If you’re wise, you’ll hurry here.” That’s more than a hint, it’s a smack across the head with a trowel.

Front of Postcard. “I found a Queen in Indianapolis If you’re wise you’ll hurry here.”

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Education family History Photographs Postcards Teaching Vintage writing

Lloyd Hublers 1911 Postcard: A Valentines Day Prank?

From: Unknown To: Lloyd Hubbler, 1911

Oh you kid: I’d enjoy another dance with you like the one I had at the Dickeyville dance. Would like to make a date with you, “You Honey Bunch”. Will try and be out for the 15th. Hope you will be there, dear. Will show you another good time. Oh honey I am so lonesome. From – you know who.

(flipped) Look under the stamp honey bunch. xxxxxxx

This is my picture honey.

(On front) I am ready xxx. From your sweet little wife. S.W.A.K

God am so home sick for a x x

Lloyds sweet wife ha ha

I can’t express to you how much I am obsessed with this card. Every inch of it is filled with writing. X’s dot the landscape of both the front and the back and someone added additional rouging and eyeliner to the image on the front. This postcard SCREAMS of some sort of joke, and I am absolutely here for it. So, let’s drop the card into history.

1911 sees the disaster of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York, the invention of Crisco, and the founding of the first movie studio. However, I have to wonder if the news of these events hit the small village of Potosi. Situated in the southwest corner of Wisconsin, modern day Potosi boasts a population of just over 600 people. Like many small towns, it was originally founded as a mining and farming village. Now, it hosts an annual catfish festival and fish fry the second weekend of August.

In 1911, Lloyd Hubler was a few months shy of his 20th birthday, and at least according to Family Search, still unmarried. He had one brother, who was 8 years his senior. Although the card puts Lloyd’s last name as “Hubbler”, I’m pretty sure it was “Hubler”. The Lloyd I found has a father named “William Scott”, but he’s listed as Scott W. in the census records. Seeing as the card was sent “c/o Scott Hubbler”, and the Hubler’s lived in Harrison County (where Potosi is located), I’m fairly certain I have the right man.

But birth days, death days, draft registrations, and the marriage index provide only the barest amount of context for a life. Who sent this card to Lloyd? Why? There are a few clues that we can use to point us in the right direction. Or at least to make some fun and semi-guesses.

First, the card was sent on February 16, two days after Valentines Day. My mind immediately goes to two scenarios. First, maybe there was a Valentines Dance for the surrounding area. Here, Lloyd met a girl and made the gravest mistake: he told his friends about her. Looking to pull a prank, they put together this card and sent it to him, care of his FATHER for added embarrassment.

Second, Lloyd’s older brother was 28 at the time. It’s possible he sent the card as a practical joke, but why would he misspell the name? While I think it’s possible he had something to do with the card, I doubt it was entirely done by the brother.

So, poor Lloyd had to deal with the embarrassment of being sent this provocative card. Because it was a postcard, everything could be seen by everyone. Not only could his father see and read it…but so could the postman, the postal workers…you get the idea. What did poor Lloyd do to deserve this humiliation? We will never know.

Lloyd did end up finding his “sweet” wife. In 1918, he married Leora Hinman. They went on to have three children. She outlived her husband by a decade, but I hope that their life together was S.W.A.K.

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Education History Photographs Postcards Vintage

Pauline Howard’s 1936 Postcard to Miss Lois Wright: A Snapshot of Life Amid the Great Depression

Postcard to Miss Lois Wright, 1936

Have been having a wonderful trip. The flowers are beautiufl and the leaves are out on the trees. Has been real hot until the last two days and it seemed good to have it a little cooler again. Will be back North again soon.

— Pauline Howard

First, the context. In 1936 the country was deep into the Great Depression, though the worst hard times were getting slightly better. Black Sunday, the worst storm from the American Dust Bowl, had happened a year prior, on April 14, 1935. By 1936 FDR was elected for a second term, created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and brought unemployment to 16.9%, down from 20% of the year before. Dorothea Lange also shot her iconic image of “Migrant Mother” in March. So, even if you don’t know a lot about the 30’s, these things probably sound familiar as they exist in the American zeitgeist.

Because the Great Depression exists in our mind as a sort of dark age of American society, it’s difficult to imagine people living their lives outside of hardship. Our minds immediately go to migrants, joblessness, and perhaps even the Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men.

Yes, people were desperate, and yes, these were difficult times. However, the postcard from Pauline to Lois shows that, once again, people were resilient and living the best they knew how. Now, I don’t know how old Pauline and Lois were (though from the moniker “miss” for Lois, I can assume early 20’s), but what’s clear is that despite the country’s turmoil, there was some fun to be had.

Keystone Heights seems as though it was a semi-popular wintering spot which also received assistance from FDR’s alphabet program the Civilian Conservation Corps. April was, perhaps, a tenuous time to visit, as Florida heat in April can get oppressive (indicated in the message of the postcard). But, the country was in for a worse heat wave beginning in June, so hopefully Pauline managed to make her way North before then.

I wonder what the connection between the two women were. Perhaps school friends or room mates? Women are difficult to research since I’m behind a variety of paywalls, and unfortunately I’m not confident I was able to find the correct people. However, there was a Lois Wright who lived in New Hampshire and, despite marriage, did not change her last name (it seems). She lived to be 104, and fits the timeline. Though, of course I can’t guarantee this is our Lois, I’d like to believe it could be.

The postcard is also beautifully hand colored, and is stunning in person.

Night Blooming Cereus: Front of Postcard

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History Postcards Writing Prompt

Historical Postcard: Family Sickness in Akron, Oh – August 20, 1909

Miss Anna L Thomas: 1909

Akron, Oh. Aug – 20 -09

Dear Sister,

Came back to Aunt “L” yesterday 4 P.M. Will stay till Sat or Sun then mother is coming in. Aunt L is awful tired. Uncle L is no better. bad off. Had an awful bad night last night. Minnie is some better. Nettie is well hasn’t worked since Tues.

Love to all, your sis

— Elizabeth

Unlike some of my more recent posts, this card also does little more than reveal a (perhaps forgotten) family illness. Nevertheless, I always find these the most poignant, as they reveal that the everyday mundanities of life haven’t changed much in our human history.

Here, we have (seemingly) an entire family that’s been ill with some sort of sickness. Perhaps the flu, a cold, or something more serious — it’s impossible to know exactly. However, the card does provide some clues. We know the family has been tired, we know that the children (?) are recovering, and we also know that they haven’t been able to work for a few days.

The illness of Aunt and Uncle “L” prompted family to rally around them in an effort to nurse them back to health. Elizabeth stayed with them 3-4 days (August 20, 1909 was a Friday) and then presumably, her mother took over the care.

I have to wonder why Elizabeth refers to the family as Aunt “L” and Uncle “L”. I’m sure it’s a last name, but the parenthesis made me pause.

Dropping this into history a bit, I want to note that Pertussis vaccinations weren’t given until 1914, Diphtheria until 1926, and the flu until 1945. I can’t surmise if the “L” family had any of these diseases, but I can tell you that they all would have been contagious.

Additionally, the melancholy tone of this postcard is incongruous to the picture of the park, a place where we can imagine people walked and mingled and took air when they were healthy. Perhaps a silent wish for better times?

Entrance Grace Park, Akron, Ohio

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History Postcards Writing Prompt

1907 Postcard: Silverton, Colorado – A Typical Rocky Mountain Town

Miss Elizabeth Jordan, 1907

This is a typical Rocky Mountain town

— Joe

In 1890 the West was officially “closed”. The United States had succeeded in its colonial aspirations of Manifest Destiny and settled from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The west may no longer have been “wild”, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t wily. Mining towns dotted the western landscape, as men toiled for all that glittered. In September of 1907, there were 45 states, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were still alive (though in South America) and it would be another nine years before the last stage coach robbery occurred.

Silverton, Colorado was no exception. Home to both silver and gold mines, it’s feasible that Joe had gone west to take part in the vast industry and opportunity that the west offered. The Knickerbocker Crisis had yet to occur, and being out west probably allowed Joe to make some money in an effort to buy land. Was Joe a brother? A cousin? A lover? It’s impossible to know. Well, if not impossible, then at least difficult. What is clear, is that Silverton has not changed much from the front of the postcard.

Front of postcard, depicting Silverton, Colorado.

Silverton, Colorado in 2010, taken by By Daniel Schwen.

So, when Joe told Elizabeth that Silverton was a “typical Rocky Mountain town”, he couldn’t have known that it would become a historical landmark that preserved aspects a typical Rocky Mountain at the turn of the 20th century.

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History Postcards Writing Prompt

Postcard from 1944: Connecting Lives Across Geographic and Cultural Differences

Mrs. W.W. Roswell, 1944

Dear Mrs. Roswell,

Just a few lines in answer to your recent little letter. You asked me if Sue would enjoy a little (??). I think she would love it as she loves mine. I have a 9-12 from China in my living room. Sue and (?) were here for dinner and Edwards 19th birthday party. So glad he could be home (rest of text unclear).

Lots of love to you forever

This postcard is slightly frustrating to me, because I can’t make large parts of it out. The handwriting is long and spread out, then scrunches together at the bottom and top as the writer tries to make up for her previous luxurious writing. Since this is 1944, and Edward is turning 19, I wonder if he went to war, or had been back from war. I can’t research it either, because I can’t quite make out the senders name or last name.

What I do love about this postcard is imagining the differences between the sender and the receiver. New York has always been a bustling center of activity, and in 1944 it was no different, especially with a war on. Hood River, Oregon, in contrast, is still fairly rural. The 2020 census indicated only 8,000 some odd people, up by 3,000 from the year 2000. That tells me that in 1944, it would have been a largely agricultural community, connected to the rest of the world by railway. Mrs. Roswell and her friend must have lived markedly different lives, but managed to connect through family ties and friendship.

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History Local Government Postcards Writing Prompt

President Taft’s Visit and Grape Farming: Insights from a 1909 Fresno Postcard

Miss Nettie Snyder, 1909

Dear Friend Nettie,

Your nice set of cards reced. I have not got them and would be glad to get both sets in full. We have had no rain yet, but do not expect till next month. Yes I like celery. I wish I had some fudge. Do you make it or buy it. I like some grapes. We have grapes, more of them raised here than any other fruit. We have several kinds, we have the wine, tokays, malaga, sultana, large black grape, small water grape, Emperors, and many more that I do not know the name of. We have state fair. We have one in (unreadable), and our state fair will open soon. The Sacramento state fair is the largest. Come again. Will you get to see the president. He will be here next month. Write soon.

We have these flowers in our yard.

Lily Proser. 622 C Street, Fresno Cal

There is so much going on in this postcard and I love every bit of it. However, I first want to point out that Nettie and Lily are separated by over 2000 miles. Not only is the friendship important enough to be maintained, but Nettie had somehow managed to visit Lily in California (as indicated by the “come again”). The bonds between these two must have been strong and I have to wonder how old they were in 1909. At times, personal histories can be frustrating, especially since women change names at marriage. So, when given nothing but a maiden name, it’s difficult to trace in the (free) records.

The listing off of grape types is also an indication of how rural Fresno would have been in 1909. Founded in 1872 by the Central Pacific Railroad Company, Fresno was mainly a farming town known for…you guessed it! Grapes. It’s touted as the “raisin capital of the world.” So, while two lines devoted to grapes might seem a tad mundane for two girls to be writing about, it’s actually Lily telling Nettie about her families livelihood.

Furthermore, based on Lily’s postcard, we know that President Taft visited Fresno. She perhaps included it as bait to get Nettie back out to California. Since Lily sent her postcard in September of 1909, we can assume that she was speaking about the Presidents visit to city hall park in October of 1909. You can read a transcript of his speech here.

So, while on the outset the postcard doesn’t seemingly reveal more than idle chit-chat, overall, this one little postcard provides a slew of information about the everyday life of someone living in Fresno, California in 1909. What a great piece of history.

I hope Lily got some fudge.

Front of Postcard. Cactus Dahlia