July 18, 1911 Grandma travels by Steamer

Moonlight view of D&C Co's Steamer "City of Cleveland", Lake Erie, originally uploaded by morgazgc.

July 18, 1911, originally uploaded by morgazgc.

 Tues. morning.  I know you all wonder why you did not receive word Tues. but I wrote a postal on train, but we were nearly 2 hrs. late arriving in Detroit so we had to go direct to our steamer.  We are getting along fine.  Cecil is doing his best trying to take care of M. [Mary presumably], H. [Helen?] & myself.  We girls got up at 4:30 this morning.  We had a hard time getting to breakfast for there was so many a head of us.  It will be about 3 hours before we arrive in Buffalo.  (1600 on board.)  (Gladys)

Grandma is off on another adventure -- five more cards to come from this trip!

Information is available about the "City of Cleveland" steamer which because of a fire while under construction in 1907, did not go into service until 1908.  Designed to carry 4,500 passengers (so it could have been even more crowded) with sleeping accomodations for 1,500, the City of Cleveland was over 400 feet long and was the first boat on the lakes to have a grand salon three decks high.  Another website reports that the steamer was in a collision with a Norwegian freighter in Lake Huron in 1950, in which four passengers were lost, did not sail again and was scrapped at Buffalo NY in 1956.  One large bronze ship's bell labeled City of Cleveland was sold at aunction in 2005 for $9,100 and is currently on display at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle in Detroit.  [Dad, have you been there?]

Mama and Santa

September 2, 1910 Grandma takes Traction

Post Office, Cincinnati, O., originally uploaded by morgazgc.

September 2, 1910, originally uploaded by morgazgc.

Fri.  Am having a lovely time.  We are now in Harrison.  Going into City tomorrow morning.  Do not worry for we are getting along fine.  Do not expect ... to you see me come home home Sun. night for only bought a round trip ticket from Hillsboro over traction so I suppose we will come home on traction.  If L. & I come alone we will come up on 8:10 but if Cecil comes with us we may not come until 10:10.  Went to Conf. yesterday at W. Hill.  Has not yet rained a drop.  G.H.   I may know then when I will come home.  If I write tomorrow you will receive it Sun. morning. 

So the questions here about Grandma would be:  Why is she in Harrison?  Who is "L"?  What does Cecil have to do with this trip since he may or may not be accompanying them home?  Was the Conference in West Hillsboro or some W. Hill part of Cincinnati?  There was Sunday mail service?  This was mailed on Friday, 9/2/1910 and would have been the beginning of Labor Day Weekend, which became a national holiday in 1894.


Traction?  Now that's an interesting subject!  Turns out "Traction" is another name for Electric Railroad (now in Phoenix, called Light Rail) and there was a C&C - Cincinnati & Columbus line, which opened in 1906 between Hillsboro and Norwood, at the edge of Cincinnati.  Line was never extended further north than Hillsboro, was badly damaged in a 1913 flood, and was abandoned in 1920.  An interesting article on Cincinnati Traction History has more information about this line, as well as the CM&B (Cincinnati, Milford & Blanchester) line.  The article includes pictures (taken in 2008) showing the ROW (Right of Way) of the C&C and says the end of the line, was at the Highland County Courthouse in Hillsboro, looking northwest at the corner of Main and High Streets. The C&C looped around the courthouse.  Here's picture #110 of 111 of the C&C Route along W. Main Street in Hillsboro, looking west. N. Elm Street is at the second stop light, the B&O yards are at the bottom of the hill.

June 14, 1910 Helen to Grandma

Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, O., originally uploaded by morgazgc.

June 14, 1910, originally uploaded by morgazgc.

Dear Gladys, -- Didn't you [have] a grand time but I know you did. I took a good look at Westboro as I went through. Auntie and I went down town this morning and went in several of the stores and there were so many things I wanted but if I had bought everything I wouldn't have gotten home. Please write 5341 Woodbridge Ave. Helen

This is a card from Grandma's friend to her, possibly commenting on Westboro because of Cecil. Helen later travels with Grandma on her second trip to Niagara Falls, but that is mentioned in a postcard yet to come. Both Grandma and Helen use this sideways writing style, which may have been common to their age (or just to them) as all of the non-family postcards I have from this era do not write sideways on the card.

KC

Somebody has a birthday coming up!!

Recognize anyone?

June 6, 1910 Grandma in Missouri

Capitol, Jefferson Cty, MO (June 6, 1910), originally uploaded by morgazgc.

June 6, 1910, originally uploaded by morgazgc.

Sun. Night [June 5]. Was out driving this afternoon with Jamie [James? Jamil? -- appears to be a dotted i]. We are going to theater Tues. night. Just when I am having a good time I will have to start for home. Sis sat up all day & ate at the table today. Robert is getting along fine. I made the cake yesterday & it was very good all gone this evening. R.G. made the ice cream. We went to church this morning & I wore my best white dress. I may write later if I do not, expect me home Friday if nothing [indecipherable] G.H.

The 1910 census records show "Lana" Mitchell (~1876) living in Mound City and married to Robert G. Mitchell (1871). In 1920 her name on the census records is listed as "Luria" but by 1930 the name is correctly spelled. In 1910, she and Robert are listed as the parents of Ellen (1902), Roberta (1904) and Lois (1908).

Flight tracking

Sort of an interesting site for tracking flights - several different ways. Flight Aware. And, by the way, my next flight is December 10. Should I call super shuttle?

June 1, 1910 Gladys to her Mamma

Volumes of Good Wishes (June 2, 1910), originally uploaded by morgazgc.

June 2, 1910, originally uploaded by morgazgc.

Wed. Evening. [June 1, 1910] I received your letter all O.K. Was glad to hear you were going to the class play. Mamma please do not worry about me working too hard for I have not done hardly a blessed thing since I have been in M[ound]. City, but go down town for the mail twice a day. I am invited to a birthday party Friday. Girls and I got ice-cream soda this afternoon. Robert picked 12 gallons of strawberries out at farm today & is not yet through. Sis getting along fine going to sit up in bed Sat. Took a drive Monday evening. Received a letter postal from Donna [?] today & also a letter from Cecil & Helen G. sent a postal. G.H.

Grandma is visiting Aunt Luna (her Sis) in Missouri, evidently Luna has had surgery or been very sick as one can infer she has been/is bedridden. No mention of a new baby. Perhaps they had some household help if Grandma is to believed that she hasn't been working too hard. Who is taking care of the girls, Roberta and Ellen? Who is doing something with the 12 gallons of strawberries? Glad Granddad is staying in touch. Where (or who) would we be if they had not gotten together!

I like Grandma's use of the word blessed, as in "blessed thing". Not an expression you hear anymore. And of course I like the book related postcard which is in excellent condition. The silver design around the edges makes it look like something battered and torn. This card says in tiny print on the bottom (as pictured) of the message side something about London and "printed in Germany." As for going for a ride, there is no indication it is an "automobile" ride which I think might still have been uncommon for 1910. There is at least one more card from this trip which should be arriving (to us modern day folks) via blog next week.

Mary, your guess is as good as mine as far as interpreting Ira's handwriting. I don't think there are any more postcards from him or we might get more clues.

Historical photos from New Vienna Methodist Church

New Vienna United Methodist photos

When I saw Karol she gave me several photos of the NV Methodist Church - although it is rather odd because they are rather clearly from when Rev. Schaumann was there.

Anyway, I seem to be having some trouble posting them here on this blog, but they are in the Picassa album - here

Hard Hat Library Visit

While in California visiting our friends, we visited the Lafayette Public Library, currently under construction.

Mom and Dad with Bob and Pat

Jean and Harold with Bob at the Montgomery Inn Restaurant

Jean and Harold with Pat at the Golden Lamb

Jean and Harold at the Cincinnati Museum


Jean and Harold on train trip

Newer Pictures of John, Julie, Kate & Andrew

From the pictures Bob & Pat Ballantyne sent.

Happy Birthday, Julie!

Happy Birthday, Julie!
We are so glad you're part of the family---not just because you've added alot of class, humor and very importantly you amazing culinary and homemaking skills!
With love from ALL the Uibles....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY

10/31/09

Video of Aunt - not exciting, but it is short

vhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0qQnDXPJ6A

KC underwater 10/09

KC underwater 10/09, originally uploaded by morgazgc.

A collage - Sisters - and a few others

Yes, MV - I do plan to share photos. You can download off of Picasa - although the resolution will not be that great. I've done some of the photos - maybe 15 or so in 300 dpi, but mostly 600 which works out much better if one wants to blow up a photo or crop much. Costco will do CDs for $3.50 with maximum of 600MB - so when I reach that I'll probably go ahead and have the CDs made. I'll probably just give yours and JB's to Catherine, the responsible one.

Three generations

New collage -- with captions

I'm thinking this is the sort of collage that would be best to take to Aunt Mary. Or maybe divide photos into those that have captions and those that don't and then do different kind of collages. Also, the kind of collage on the previous post is mosaic, not montage.

More old time photos

I just downloaded the latest Picasa which does some nice things not possible with older Picasa - Windows only at this point. I like the montage (I think that is what this kind of collage is called), although one can't include captions which is rather of a bummer.

Collage practice

I'm just experimenting a bit with collage making to get ready to make some to take down to Aunt Mary in a couple of weeks.

I'm gonna try to take at least 3 or four different collages - and then maybe some individual photos, too. Not sure how or I'll organize the collages - how much I'll bother.

Postcards from Grandma, Aug. 21, 1908

On March 1, 1907, Gladys Hiestand was probably looking forward to the spring washing of her hair. Bigger news on that day for post card aficianados was the US Postal Service changed their rules so that postcards with a divided back were finally permitted. According to A Brief History of Postcard Types by Stefano Neis, The address had to be written on the right side of the back of the postcard while the left side was reserved for writing messages. At this time in American history the postcard hobby became a public addiction.

Postcards from this period are most collectible when they do not have writing on their fronts. Ones in prime condition currently go for $300 and up on vintage post card sites, whereas one like Grandma's, not including the historical family value, can be found on ebay for 99 cents. This "Real Photo" printed in England was considered of lesser value than those printed in Germany.

I like this card as it is the oldest card that has a message from Grandma. In case you can't read the message on the card itself, she writes:
Fri. morning [Aug 21, 1908]
Dear Mary: We arrived safe and sound Wed. morning and surprised them all greatly. Mamma got along better than usual. We enjoyed the pears greatly and ate them all but one, but Ellen & Roberta [Aunt Luna's daughters] soon made way with it. Found them all well. Gladys


Questions to be answered:
How long did Aunt Luna live in Mound City? At some point she moved to Columbia.
What did Uncle [first name unknown to me] Mitchell do in Mound City?
How long did it take to get from Hillsboro to Mound City via train in 1908?
When was Aunt Luna born?
When were Ellen and Roberta born?
Did "Mamma" not travel well or was she poorly in general?

Stay tuned for further postcard adventures!

Postcards from Grandma Nov. 2, 1906

Here is the oldest post card in Grandma's collection that she sent to her friend Mary Cowman in 1906, when she evidently went on a trip to Indiana at the age of 14. About 12 years later, Aunt Mary and possibly an unknown "Dorothy" used the card for writing practice.

According to the Indiana Historical Society, Union Station, which opened in 1888, was considered one of the finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in the Midwest. By 1900, two hundred passenger trains per day passed through the train shed. In 1983, the train shed was renovated to become the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The hotel includes suites of remodeled Pullman sleeping cars from the 1920s resting on their original tracks. In 1986, some of the station was converted into a shopping center with stores and restaurants, but this enterprise was abandoned in 1997. In 2002, 21st Century Charter School, the city’s first charter school, opened in the building.

KC - Age 2

Here are a few poses of KC's Birthday/Christmas pictures taken 12/23/08