Dear Brother Walter...

One of the most popular posts on this blog, for reasons totally unknown to me, is another card sent to Walter Till.  I'm perplexed by its popularity, because I just don't understand it.

Anyway, on to brother Walter.  The birthday card that is viewed so often for unknown reasons, is from 1916. This one is from 1919.

It's a lovely card, but it wouldn't be my first choice for a 9-year-old boy.  The message on the back of the card reads:

5/2/19

Dear Brother Walter

I came near forgetting when your birthday was but dident. here is just a card hoping you have a happy one suppose you will be 9 years old Sun. you want to see how good a boy you can be from now on let Jesus help you

Love from Sister Laura

It started to seem more likely to me, after looking at previous cards, that "brother" was meant in a religious sense, but then I found that Walter actually did have an older sister named Laura. In fact, he had 10 siblings. The 1920 Census shows Walter, the youngest at age 9, living with his siblings, George (11), Edna (13), and Jennie (15) and their mother Julia E. Till. There is no indication of a father in the household, because the father died a few months after Walter's 9th birthday. Walter also had a younger brother who only lived to the age of four.

I looked for more information on Ancestry.com and was surprised to find photos of Walter and his siblings. There's our little Walter on the right.

And there's Jennie on the left. Here's a postcard addressed to Jennie.

The message on the back reads:

Dear Jennie: -

Come up and see the School house fore your self. my room is where the X is. I wish you a happy easter. your friend Bertha.

Another One-Room Schoolhouse

As with yesterday's card, this is likely another Oregon school - I just don't know where.
All we know is that the teacher's name was Hanna E. Swartz, that this was her first school, and that the picture was taken in 1909.

One-Room Schoolhouse

I don't know much about this one-room schoolhouse, except that it was in a town in Oregon that starts with the letter B.
Any thoughts?

Cassie, a teacher at this school, sent the card to Hilda Olsen in Monmouth, Oregon:

Dear Hilda  4/1/09

I have intended to write a letter to you every day but haven't had a chance. Will grab the first opportunity. Have only 10 more days of school and you know what a job it is to prepare a class for exams. This is where I shine and part of my little flock. (The absent part consists of two.) write to me soon can't you? Tue. without a letter from you isn't Tue. at all.

Cassie

Ten more days of school would have meant that instruction stopped on April 11th! It seems early, but it's also possible that those children were needed on the farm during the busy spring months.

One-Room Schoolhouse

Don't know where and don't know when, but Anna Ward went  to school here. There are probably people who can identify locations based on the trees and the terrain, but I certainly can't.

The imprint of the stamp box indicates that the card was printed between 1907 and 1929, but that doesn't tell us when Anna went to school.

Note on back reads:

School Were Anna Ward Whent to.