Abraham Lincoln Assasination

Even though his presidency was cut short, the United States would likely be a very different place today if Abraham Lincoln had not been president. On April 14th, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth as the President was watching a performance of play called Our American Cousin. Lincoln died early the next day.  Although Lincoln was unaware of a specific danger on this evening, he had received threats and was aware that his life was in danger.

This is a view of the theater where it happened. The car and its passengers seem to have been added to embellish a postcard that might otherwise have been regarded as stark and boring.

This postcard that shows the Lincoln residence in Springfield, Illinois on the day of his funeral. Lincoln's body was brought by train from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois with several stops along the way where he lay in state. The train arrived in Springfield on May 3, 1865. This was the first national commemoration of a president's death by rail.

It was just a few weeks earlier that Lincoln went to meet General Grant in Virginia to discuss the final stages of the Civil War. General Grant and his wife might well have accompanied the President to the performance that fateful night if Mrs. Grant had not insisted on leaving that evening to visit their children in New Jersey.

And here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

 The text of the card, sent to Mrs. Pharis Luckey of Cromwell, Indiana, reads:

Goshen, Ind.

3-26-14

Dear Ma:-

Aunt Sue had to have the Dr. come to the house for Grandma this morning she has congestnig of the lungs. he thinks she will be all right in a short time but Ma she is pretty sick - sicker than she lets us know so if you want to come down you can.

Minnie

Tell Jim

What's Up in Punxsutawney?

This is sort of an odd combination Memorial Day/Groundhog Day postcard. Anyway, it's as close as I get to a Groundhog Day postcard, because it was sent to someone in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, home of the Groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil. The front of the postcard is about remembering soldiers who died in combat, specifically in the Civil War.
 

The card was sent to Mrs. Sarah Malone in Punxsutawney in 1909.
The message reads:

Seattle Wash

4-21-09

Dear Sister Why don't you write

Was to Bremerton navy yard 17th

(????)

goodbye AHS

I don't know much about Sarah Malone, except that she was born about 1851 and was married to James Malone, who is listed as a farmer in the US census.

It really is Groundhog Day today, so if you want to find out more about the tradition or watch the live webcast of Phil, you can take your own virtual trip to Punxsutawney here.

Veterans Day and Ghost Towns

I had the best intentions for a Veterans Day post focusing entirely on military and veterans, but I can't help what's written on the back of the card and where it leads. I certainly couldn't ignore the message sent to J.J. in Lucky Boy, Nevada. Actually, it seems very fitting, since today is not only Veterans Day, but also 11/11/11, a date some consider to be very lucky. It's also the 100th week of Sepia Saturday (more on that below.)
Here we have two pre-WWI American officers wearing Army and Navy military uniforms.

The first picture may be a likeness of Rear Admiral Caspar F. Goodrich.

And then there's the back of the first card. First of all, the message is written in French. Secondly, it's addressed to someone in Lucky Boy, Nevada, a place I had never heard of - and it was sent in 1911 from Goldfield, Nevada. One of the reasons I've never heard of Lucky Boy is that it's a ghost town. You can see current photos of it here. There was a lot more action there in 1911 though, after silver was discovered in 1907.  Gold and silver prospectors came from all over the country and from abroad to seek their fortune. Lucky Boy appears to have had a post office, since the card has a Lucky Boy cancellation.

I have trouble deciphering the message, but it was sent to J.J. Cousol from his mother (Julietta?), who reports that Mr. Murphy visited Doty and it was very nice. She also says that there's something in it for the son - something about Horn Silver. Horn Silver, as I just learned, is silver that is formed on the desert surface from weathering silver sulfide. You could come along with no experience and a shovel and easily haul away a fortune. But when the surface silver was gone, that was it. There wasn't more below.

J.J. Cousol's mother was writing from Goldfield, which by then was at the tail end of its Goldrush. At one point Goldfield had been the largest city in Nevada, all due to gold prospectors. Now it is also a ghost town, with many old buildings remaining. The famous brothers, Wyatt and Virgil Earp, came to Goldfield in 1904, and Virgil was hired to be the Goldfield Deputy Sheriff shortly thereafter. Poor Virgil died of pneumonia within six months of taking the position though. By 1911, when this card was sent, the population of Goldfield had declined to about 4,800. Now it has a population of about 440. You can see some great Goldfield photos past and present here.

I can only guess that J.J.'s parents came to Nevada as part of the Goldrush and that when things started to get tough, J.J. ventured out and looked for better prospects in other parts of Nevada. And since we're talking about seeking fortunes, I should point out that the back of the postcard informs us that Senior Rear Admirals earn $8,800 a year when at sea and $8,000 a year when on shore.

Here's the back of the second card.

Apart from my other intentions, I had also in mind to post something separate to celebrate the 100th Sepia Saturday. After I wrote this post, I decided that it was really meant for Sepia Saturday, with a card that takes us back 100 years. Going back 100 years, we are suddenly in a time where people were prospecting for gold and silver, where World War I and World War II had not yet been imagined, and where communication from afar was primarily through the postal service.

For more ways to celebrate the auspicious 100th post, be sure to visit Sepia Saturday.
Thanks to Alan and Kat for dreaming up the idea.

Happy 4th of July

I hope you are enjoying a slice of watermelon and some fun family activities today.

 

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

For the Fate of a Soldier...

On Memorial Day we commemorate the soldiers who lost their lives in battle. Let's also remember the families who lost someone they loved.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

Presidents Day, Presidents' Day, President's Day

You decide. Which is it?
Tomorrow is Washington's birthday. Lincoln's birthday was February 12th. Some people think that Presidents Day is just Washington's birthday moved to a consistent and more convenient Monday. Others think of it as a combined Washington/Lincoln birthday, and still others think of this day as a day to commemorate all presidents. Since states are not required to observe federal holidays, observance varies. Some states still observe Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays separately, others don't.  The fact that I am posting George Washington cards and no Abraham Lincoln cards, only means that I have lots of Washington cards and very few Lincoln cards.

Veterans Day

When we think of U.S. veterans, we usually think of soldiers who served in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, or more recent conflicts. But here's a card commemorating the efforts of veterans in 1909, well before we ventured into those bloody wars.

The veterans we're talking about here were veterans of the Civil War. The Sons of Veterans was a fraternal organization that grew to 200,000 members by 1904. In 1922, the name was changed to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Although membership has declined to about 7,500, you can still join if you are a male 14 or older and:

1. Are directly descended from a Soldier, Sailor, Marine or member of the Revenue Cutter Service (or directly descended from a brother, sister, half-brother, or half-sister of such Soldier, etc.) who was regularly mustered and served honorably in, was honorably discharged from, or died in the service of, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Revenue Cutter Service of the United States of America or in such state regiments called to active service and was subject to the orders of United States general officers, between April 12, 1861, and April 9, 1865;

2. Have never been convicted of any infamous or heinous crime; and

3. Have, or whose ancestor through whom membership is claimed, have never voluntarily borne arms against the government of the United States.

Here's the back of the card, addressed to Perley Thomas of Gouverneur, New York. It's an unusual name, and I had hoped it was the industrialist and entrepreneur who developed the famous Perley Thomas streetcar, but I don't think it's the same person.

Fourth of July

We're taking a break from Streetcar Sunday today because of the 4th of July holiday. Streetcar Sunday will return next week if this lady doesn't set the place on fire.

Flag Day!

Flag Day is celebrated on June 14th, although it is not an official holiday. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued the proclamation to designate June 14th as Flag Day. U.S. Citizens commemorate the day by flying the flag for the week and by having parades. And then of course there are postcards:

The message sent to Louisa Rose in 1918 appears to say:

On my way to camps Tue

Jos Kehrles

This card was sent to Master Howard Gibbons in Binghamton, New York, but I just can't make out the message.

Memorial Day

This card includes part of a poem entitled The Blue and the Gray, by Francis Miles Finch:

From the silence of sorrowful hours

    The desolate mourners go,

Lovingly laden with flowers

    Alike for the friend and the foe:

Under the sod and the dew,

    Waiting the judgment-day;

Under the roses, the Blue,

    Under the lilies, the Gray.

The card was printed before World War I, before World War II, before the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm,  etc.  At that time, Memorial Day was really only to commemorate the deaths from the Civil War.

The poet, Francis Miles Finch (1827-1907) was a judge of the New York Court of Appeals and also taught at Cornell University. His poem, commemorating soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1867. It was said that Finch was inspired by the women of Columbus, Mississippi, who spread flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers. The event is known as Confederate Decoration Day. Presumably the bearded man on the card is Ulysses S. Grant. You can read the full text of the poem here.

Here's another collectible card, but not a postcard, of union soldiers during the Civil War. It says Copyright 1887 by J. Means and Co., Boston.

George Washington

 

George Washington, the first president of the United States, was born on this date in 1732. When Washington died in 1799, Henry Lee delivered the funeral oration, saying that of all Americans, Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

The message on the card says:

Dear cousin

Arrived home + heard that Eugene Lynch (?) housekeeper was dead + buried. maybe you have heard of it.  Mary

Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln and Impersonators

Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky on this day 201 years ago.  Now, 145 years after Lincoln's death, there are over 300 people in the United States who earn a living as Lincoln impersonators. Really! I hope this also means that they will all be eating birthday cake, because I love the idea of 300 Lincolns blowing out candles today.

If you want to know more about Lincoln and his impersonators (and you know you do!), you can learn all about them in an upcoming documentary entitled Life as Lincoln. The documentary looks at three of the impersonators or presenters, as they prefer to be called, and explores their efforts to introduce people to the principles that Lincoln cherished. All silliness about birthday cakes aside, this is likely to be a very interesting documentary and a reminder of what Lincoln means to all of  us. The documentary premieres today in Chicago.

Star Spangled Banner

Over the years the American flag went through many transformations.  In fact, the first American flag used in 1775 had a pine tree on it!
The original Star-Spangled Banner had 15 stars, representing the 13 original colonies with the addition of Vermont and Kentucky. Somewhere along the line, perhaps in battle during the War of 1812, one of the stars from the flag went missing. That may be why this flag is depicted with 14 stars. However, it's still not accurate, because the stars are too chunky and there should have been five offset rows with three stars in each row. For that matter, it doesn't have the right number of stripes either; it should have had 15 instead of 13. It looks a little like the Guilford flag, which had 13 stars (but with eight points) and 13 stripes (but red and blue.) So, I'm baffled. If you have any ideas, let me know.