My husband brought me a cool postcard today, postmarked 10 July 1916, with a photograph of a church just up the street from where we live. The Noblestown U. P. Church and even the house next door haven't changed dramatically in the 95 years since, although the huge maple that makes me smile each fall was nowhere in sight. Addressed to "H. R. Boyce, W Selby St., Alliance, O," the photo postcard is short and sweet.
Dear Brother & Sister
Arrived here safe
Victor, Mary & Mathilda
Who are Victor, Mary & Mathilda? Why were they in tiny little Noblestown, PA? My husband warned me not to get distracted, but what genealogist could resist?
The only surname I have is Boyce -- H. R. Boyce. It seems that Victor, Mary, Mathilda and H.R. are all siblings, but the term "brother and sister" could easily include brother- and sister-in-laws or other relations. Searches are a little trickier without a first name, but a location, time period and initials offer plenty to work with.
A World War I Draft Registration Card for Hiram Ruff Boyce, living at 136 Selby St. in Alliance, Stark, Ohio, turned out to be the key to unlocking the family. Ohio marriage records on FamilySearch.org next yielded a marriage record for Hiram R. Boyce to Amanda Zumbrunnen (Amanda was his wife's name on the WWI draft record) dated 7 April 1910 (search for "Hiram Boyce" with spouse "Amanda" - and exactly spelling off). The digital copy of the marriage record includes information on both Hiram's parents (John W. Boyce & Kate Ruff) and Amanda's parents (Jacob Zumbrunnen & Amelia), which in turn made it easy to locate the Boyce family enumerated in Knox, Columbiana County, Ohio, in the 1900 U.S. census.
Hiram Boyce in 1910 had 8 living siblings -- Mary B., Paul J., Alverda G., Christal, Raymond, Robert J., Olive B., and Sadie E. Boyce. His eldest sister Mary immediately brought to mind the "Mary" from the postcard. Back to FamilySearch.org for another look at Ohio marriage records (searching for Mary Boyce with husband "Victor") uncovered a record of marriage for Mary B. Boyce (parents John W. Boyce & Catherine Ruff) to Victor Legros on 25 Feb 1914 in Stark County, Ohio. In 1920 Victor and Mary Legros are enumerated with daughter Millie K. Legros, age 4, in Alliance, Stark County, Ohio. In 1930 the family is still living in Alliance, and Millie is identified as Matilda.
Why were Victor, Mary and baby Matilda in tiny Noblestown, PA? That's a question for another day...
This caught my attention since one of my ancestors was one of the founders of Alliance, OH. I found some articles at Western Reserve listing him and some of his “importance” in Alliance history. He is buried in the family cemetery on the family farm in Huron, OH. I’ve been there to visit a family member who still owns the farm in Huron. He, his wife (recently deceased) and I spent a weekend driving around Ohio looking for other ancestors. Had a blast.
“Brother and Sister” can also have a religious aspect to it. Perhaps they were affiliated with that church in some way?
How incredible that Donna has been to the family farm.
I have a postcard bought at an Antique market in Queensland which was co-incidentally addressed to my mother in 1919. She was 7 then, lived in a tiny country town in South Australia and it had been posted from London, Britain by a cousin, a soldier who was awaiting a ship back to Australia after WW1.
I will never know where it has been for all of those years.
I belong to a postcard club with over 150 members of which 40-50 get together once a month for 4 hours. I think I will share this with them and see if anything comes of it.
They are an enthusiastic group, so hang on.