Here are small versions of the ones from the previous post.
I was excited to find another card to one of the Ripleys with some additional information on the back - some good news and some not. This is not the Hillside House, although it looks somewhat similar.
Update: Thanks to Linda Ripley Smith for stopping by and providing information on the Ripleys. Benajah Perry (B.P. )Ripley was her grandfather and Ida A. Ripley was his sister.
Here's the message from the back of the card:
Dear Ida
Will write you a letter soon. Am quite busy now. We have 13 people now. Was so sorry for you all in the loss of the little one.
lots of love Ann
I couldn't really tell what the postmark date for the picture above of the 'youngest' one running with the chickens, but it looks as if it may also have been 1921. Whether it was our chicken boy or not, it appears that one of the grandchildren perished. Update: Again, see Linda's comments below for explanation of the death.
How interesting, it looks as though Hillside House had something of a makeover. Although these old postcards and photos may answer one question, they always leave another one, don't they. I mean now we need to know which child died and what happened.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting more of the story.
I love the fact that you are posting these postcards! I love looking at old ones, especially when they have been written on. They seem to have so much more character.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the postmark looked like 1921 to me too!
Lovely postcard Christine, one of those where the message on the back is more important than the picture on the front.
ReplyDeleteI loved the "chicken boy" posts, and it's fascinating to now learn more. Maybe you'll find another one to continue the story!
ReplyDeleteDiscovering real photo postcards or vintage photographs that relate to each other is always a great find. The intended reader/viewer knew the back story, so the included background info is usually minimal. But sometimes there's enough there to piece something together, and that can be great fun. (or completely frustrating!)
ReplyDeleteAs we get more information about this fine house it is a little like creeping closer and closer to it in the dusk, capturing an occasional look through lighted windows at the life taking place inside. And that, is what postcard collecting is all about.
ReplyDeleteVery... Nicee... Blog.. I really appreciate it... Thanks..:-)
ReplyDeletewhile the news of a dead child is always cruel and painful, one can't help but smile when seeing the chicken boy.
ReplyDeleteHUGZ
This is NOT the Clemons Hillside House! My grandfather was B.P.Ripley and my aunt was Ida Ripley-his daughter. She married Stanley Wells after WWII and believe me I know she had no children! Read my prev comment regarding the first postcard (the recycled one!)One mistake I did make was dates!Obviously the Hillside House was open and running before the mid 1900's-noted from the postcard date--1911.
ReplyDeleteLoss of the "little one" was probably my aunt Betty. She died from 3rd degree burns over a 50% of her body! Somehow she spilled a pan of boiling starch on her. My grandmother never spoke of her and we have no photos of her. Now that I think of it this is probably my grandfather's SISTER not his daughter-my great-aunt.She never married-in fact she was a mid-wife for the whole area!
ReplyDeleteI mean Ida Ripley was my great-aunt; she never married and she was an untrained nurse and mid-wife. She delivered just about every child in the area of my father's generation!
ReplyDeleteJust another addition to the story-after my aunt passed my grandfather carried her tiny casket on his lap as he drove the buggy to the cemetary.
ReplyDelete