The old house at 214 South Kossuth in Osceola, Iowa. It had been vacant so long that the abstract had to be reestablished for it in 1978. A church had inherited from the family 20 or 30 years before and no abstract could be found. My dad bought the property and the house was torn down to make way for his ranch house he was to build.
I have found names in the two albums that were left behind. But yesterday destiny was to be that I found who owned the album. Sticky pages and sales slips do become a problem until you finally unstick the page and lift the sale order slip.
On the left side of the inside of the cover it is inscribed with great information.
From D.W. Webster
to
Callie Alexander Dec. 25th, 1883
Osceola, Iowa
It must have been a Christmas present to her. I know that the Websters owned the funeral home for generations until they sold it in the 70's. D. W. Webster could be her brother or her father. Someday I will know that but for now I am glad to know what I now have in information.
On the back of one of the photos is an order slip for a reprint of this cabinet card. When I lifted it, it said Mr. Alexander, wife of the one enlarged before. There is a first letter to the name of Alexander but the glue is holding the paper on top of the letter.
I do now know that Mrs. Alexander pictured above had the maiden name of Webster. The various photographs throughout the book came from Kellogg, Iowa, Clarinda, Iowa and Graves Photography, there in Osceola. There are a couple of photos from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Children, grandchildren, nieces and maybe even nephews could be possibilities for these people, time will only tell.
All that I shared today is just new information since yesterday. The journey really is in it's infancy. I know that I can eventually pull names from the cemetery that will help match some of the names. The Websters are a long established family in the town so I should find out more. Just like one of my fellow blogger friends, I may actually find relatives to these people out there somewhere.
12 comments:
You will need to be a detective to unravel all the secrets in this album. What a task.
You are just beginning and what a terrific start to such a great treasure! Funny how it can all fit together with a clue here and there. It's funny but for some reason I usually stick the sales slip or something to do with most of my books as well...and of course all the albums and memory books get a dedication. Also funny is how back in the day so many families would just pack up and move away and their house would just sit empty.... there are still many of those old houses (even) one on a hobby farm not farm from where I live...the old homestead still sits worn, weathered and slowly slipping away to ruin....!
Well you have begun an adventure..I am sure you will find some relatives! It looks like an album in great shape! :)
Good luck in your search.
good luck finding descendants! i love finding little clues that make all the difference.
Some Really great treasures ~ keep at it and before long those lost relatives will be finding you
Great start. These folks all look solemn, but I know that was the tradition for photographs.
What a fortunate find!
What a treasure you have there and what an adventure you are going to have on that journey through the album. Make sure we accompany you, Larry.
Good luck! I hope you can reconnect this with the family. Such a wonderful treasure!
The roses are gorgeous. I can just imagine how thrilled you were with the find! But to think now you have to research others and you are not even done with your own ancestors yet?! It shows what happens with this hobby/compulsion we share. Certainly there are tentacles over the Midwest now from this album!
I'm glad you were able to pry the pages apart and find information about the owner. Exciting! The album is beautiful - the first page with rose and pansies is exquisite - as are the photographs. I hope you're able to learn who everyone is. Thanks for sharing the album with us.
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