Note the apostrophe in Hallowe'en, which in earlier years indicated it was the eve of All Hallow's Day (also known as All Saints Day).
My husband's WOOD family used penny postcards like to stay in touch throughout the year, on every conceivable occasion (including Lincoln's birthday and Independence Day).
May you have all treats, no tricks, on Halloween!
More than a century ago, hubby's four-year-old uncle Wally in Cleveland, Ohio received this colorful Independence Day postcard from his aunt in Chicago, Illinois. She playfully asked him to take care and not burn his fingers with July 4th sparklers. Also she asked: "Do you remember your Aunt Nellie?"
Happy July 4th!
It was sent by Rachel Ellen Wood Lewis Kirby(1864-1954), who lived in Chicago.
Nellie signed it "from Aunt Nellie and Uncle Arthur." Actually, her husband was Samuel Arthur Kirby (1860-1939), a barber. Second marriage for both: Nellie had been widowed, Arthur was divorced.
By 1912, the date of this Valentine, Nellie had one child living, a son who sadly died at age 26 exactly three years after his mother sent this card to her nephew.
Nellie had a great fondness for all her younger relatives and stayed in touch by letter, post card, and visits. Happily, many of her postcards remain in the Wood family today.
Above, a postcard from his father's older sister, Rachel Ellen Wood Kirby, who lived in Chicago. She signed "Aunt Nellie."
Below, a postcard from his mother's older sister, Adelaide Mary Ann Slatter Baker, who lived in Toledo. She signed "Aunt Ada."
It was postmarked 12 February 1912, sent from Chicago to Cleveland.
The senders were Nellie (Rachel Ellen) Wood Kirby and her second husband, Arthur Kirby.
How many six-year-olds get mail? Wallis (the correct spelling of his given name, not the wrong spelling shown on the card) was probably happy to see this pretty card from relatives!
By this point in her life, Nellie had experienced many losses. Her first child (Nellie Lucy Blossom Lewis) sadly lived only two months, passing away in December of 1895. Earlier in that same year, her older brother Alfred Olando Wood died (1855-1895) and her younger brother Charles Augustus Wood died (1862-1895). Just two years later, she lost her husband, Walter Alfred Lewis Sr. (1860-1897).
Nellie remarried in 1907, to Samuel Arthur Kirby (1860-1939), and they soon moved to Chicago. Not too long afterward, she began sending holiday and birthday postcards to her Wood nephew in Cleveland, often signing "Aunt Nellie & Uncle Art."
Unfortunately, Nellie's son Walter A. Lewis Jr. died in 1915, just shy of his 27th birthday. We have no postcards from Nellie after that date--either the cards didn't survive, or Nellie didn't send more. But her nephew treasured the cards from this favorite aunt, and the cards remain in the family to this day, shared among descendants.
I just love these vintage postcards, still in the family more than a century later.
The sender was Rachel "Nellie" Wood Kirby (1864-1954), an attentive aunt living in Chicago, Illinois.
Nellie and other members of the Wood family rarely missed an opportunity to send penny postcards to younger relatives.
One year, Nellie even sent her nephew a postcard for George Washington's birthday on February 22, which was celebrated as a federal holiday beginning in 1879.
Today, of course, George Washington shares his official holiday with Abraham Lincoln, both celebrated on Presidents' Day.
Happy Independence Day!
The negatives: Some folks remain stubbornly elusive.
No 1950ish address
The top reason I haven't found a particular ancestor is because I have no 1950ish address. Even if I have a 1940s address, some of these people moved frequently. Remember, it was a time of great mobility in America and there was also an acute housing shortage in many regions.
Where's wounded WWI vet Frank Maurice Jacobs (1896-1974), my 1c2r? I'd hoped he was still living in the residential Hotel Tudor in New York City, which was his 1942 address while working in the advertising industry. Nope, he didn't show up when I browsed the many dozens of pages for that Enumeration District. With no 1950 address, he could be anywhere in Manhattan (or possibly an outer borough, although I doubt it). When full indexing is complete for New York, I'll do a deep search for him by given name, middle initial, and birthplace, with possibly other search twists.
No longer living on own
Another reason I haven't found an older ancestor is because he or she moved into a retirement home or was living with an adult child whose address I don't yet know.
This might very well be the case with hubby's great aunt Nellie (Rachel Ellen) Wood Kirby (1864-1954), who has been elusive, as I wrote a few days ago. In the 1940 Census, Nellie was in a Chicago apartment. When she died in 1954, she was in a nursing home. I've browsed the Census for both Enumeration Districts and she turned up in neither place. She's on the back burner until full indexing for Illinois is ready and I can search by name and birthplace and/or other search parameters.
Wood, Smith: common names
Let's face it: Wood, my husband's surname, isn't exactly unique. His uncle John A. Wood (1908-1980) is a tough case, since I don't yet have a clue which state, let alone which county, he might have been in. I know his 1951 address when he got married--but he wasn't there in 1950 when I looked! He's on the back burner until full indexing for Indiana and nearby states has been completed. Then I can search for him with his middle initial and birthplace and/or other search parameters.
Similarly, my great aunt Sarah Mahler married a man named Sam Smith and they moved to California during the 1940s. Sam never used a middle initial. When full indexing is ready, I'll search for a household with Sam, Sarah, and one of their children, or use some other creative strategy--they can run but they can't hide.
Searching by name, initial, birthplace, and/or other fields (like age) might turn my negatives into more positive results!
PS: Try searching state, county, surname on NARA IF not a big city
Before the Census is fully indexed for all states by those big genealogy sites, try searching state, county, and surname on the US National Archives 1950 Census page. That's only if your target ancestor was NOT in a big city.
I wanted to find my hubby's grandfather Brice L. McClure, who wasn't where the family remembered him living in 1950. After a variety of searches that went nowhere, I tried looking where he and his late wife had lived when she died in 1948--in a town in Wyandot county, Ohio.
Success! He was living in that very same house, about to sell it and move out of the county. But not yet. So even before the big genealogy sites finish indexing bit states, try the NARA site because its indexing is fair enough to find someone, even with creative spelling.
"Negatives" - Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors theme for week 16.
Shown at left is the postcard from his aunt, "Nellie" Wood Kirby (1864-1954) and her husband, Arthur Kirby (1860-1939).
Nellie was an older sister of Wallis's father, James Edgar Wood (1871-1939).
Nellie was living in a nursing home when she died, and I haven't found her there in the 1950 Census, nor at the address where she lived in 1945, according to the city directory. I'll keep looking!
By 1920, Ada and her husband, James Sills Baker (1866-1937) were living in Cleveland and most likely visited with Wallis and his family quite often.
Ada was the older sister of Wallis's mother, Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925).
Now 108 years later, these postcards live on in the Wood family's collection!
Halloween is one of the many holidays when the Wood family sent greeting post cards to young relatives during the early 1900s.
These two colorful cards were sent to my hubby's uncle, Wallis W. Wood, in Cleveland, Ohio. The lad was in grammar school at the time and likely couldn't read the greetings handwritten in cursive.
The senders were his paternal aunt Nellie (Rachel Ellen) Wood Kirby and uncle Art Kirby, who lived in Toledo, Ohio. Nellie was the attentive older sister of Wallis's father, James Edgar Wood.
The handwritten greetings on these cards were usually brief and affectionate.
The sender was Aunt Rachel Ellen "Nellie" Wood Lewis Kirby (1864-1954). Nellie was an older sister of James Edgar Wood (1871-1939), my hubby's grandfather. James and Nellie were close and Nellie was very fond of his four boys.
During the early 1900s, Nellie sent postcards to her beloved Wood nephews for every conceivable occasion. The recipients really enjoyed hearing from this favorite aunt -- so much so that the Wood family kept these postcards for more than a century!
Nellie's Story
Nellie married her first husband, Walter Alfred Lewis Sr. (1860-1897), when she was 20 and he was 24. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 37, leaving Nellie with a son to raise alone. She moved to Detroit to find work. In Detroit she also met the man who would become her second husband, Arthur Kirby (1860-1939).
Not long afterward, Nellie and Arthur moved to Chicago...and eloped to the "Gretna Green" town of Crown Point, Indiana, in 1907, where they could be married and return home that same day to the Windy City. According to the 1910 US Census, he worked as a barber and she worked as a seamstress. In 1920, he was still a barber but she was running a nursery from home. In 1930, he continued working as a barber but she had no occupation.
The year 1939 was sad for Nellie. Her brother James (my husband's grandfather) died in January in Cleveland, Ohio, and then her husband Arthur in Chicago died in March. From then on, Nellie lived by herself in Chicago, but remained in touch with her Wood family back in Ohio until her death in 1954.
Remembering Nellie on Halloween with this postcard she sent to the Wood family 107 years ago today.
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| Penny postcard sent by Rachel Ellen "Nellie" Wood Lewis Kirby to her nephew, Walter W. Wood, around 1910. |
In my family, Mom (Daisy Schwartz) preserved the first Valentine sent to her by Dad (Harold Burk), in February, 1946. It was a traditional, romantic card with ribbon embellishment.
Although Daisy and Harold wanted a short engagement, the post-war housing
shortage prevented them from finding a convenient, affordable New York City
apartment. They had to settle for a wedding date in November, 1946. With so many months to plan, there was enough time for both families to gather in force.
Happy Thanksgiving! I looked back in diaries, postcards, meeting minutes, and other bits and pieces of my genealogical collection to get a glimpse of what happened on Thanksgivings of the past in my family and my husband's family.*
At left, a holiday postcard from hubby's family. This was sent by Nellie (Rachel Ellen) Wood Kirby (1864-1954) in Chicago to her young nephew, Wallis W. Wood (1905-1957) in Cleveland, around 1910ish.