WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Valentine's Day, 1872

A very sweet Valentine's Day "Decree" from my Greatgrandfather, James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER, 14 Feb 1872 to his teen-aged sweetheart, my eventually-to-be Greatgrandmother, Clara Augusta "Gussie" GRAVES.  They were both about 15 yrs old at the time... although the handwriting seems more mature than that...  What do you think?

Found in the TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM, about
half-way through this very
large album of many pages...
and will eventually be inventoried
on my other blog when I get to this page later this year.

It is a bit difficult to read; transcription follows:


The People of the State of New York.

To:  Miss Gussie Graves
                      Syracuse
Greeting:

We Command You, that (all and singular business and excuses laid aside) you be and appear in your own proper person before the Court of Love, appointed to be held where the Woodbine twineth, in the said place, on the 14th day of February 1872 at moonlight in the evening of the same day, to testify all and singular what you may know in a certain action now pending undetermined in said Court, then and there to be tried  between
 ...........  A Ffection ...............plaintiff
and ..........your  Heart...........defendant
on  the  part  of  the  Plaintiff.       And this you are not
to omit under a penalty upon you of two hundred and fifty kisses.

Witness,   Saint Valentine, Judge of our said Court,
at the Court of Love,  the 14th day of February  in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 72.
...............................C Upid  Clerk
...............  ....H ymen  Attorney

----------------- ------------------ --------------

The couple married on the 2nd October 1879 from her parents' home.  Grove has glued in three different newspaper reports of their wedding - with (of course) NO identifying information about each newspaper.  I'll research that at another time.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.   Tell someone you love them, and promise them two hundred and fifty kisses.

A MYSTERY POSTCARD - Grandpop Kuhn, 1913

Looking through my various photos and copies of documents from my cousins as well as my grandmother's box of saved items, I came across this postcard of my maternal grandfather, Charles Edward KUHN, to share today.

Here's the postcard front, of my grandfather, with something cylindrical in his right hand.  It reminds me of a small recorder for some reason, but I simply can't see it clearly.  Perhaps it's a cigar!  Any other ideas, readers?

He's rather well-dressed with vest and tie, long winter coat, with his hat perched on the head of the horse he's apparently riding.

But you can see that it's all a prop, can't you!  Very amusing photo!

And here's the back side of the postcard:  post office marked as November 2nd, 1913.  The stamp is quite clear and is a 1-cent stamp!  It is addressed to my grandmother, Marguerite, at home in Vancouver:
Mrs. Chas. E. Kuhn, 
106 Sylvia Court,
Gilford St.,  [sic: Guilford]
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada

Message:
Memphis, Tenn.  11/1/13.
11 30 P.M.
Will be thinking of you and Dinky Babs and Madre at 7 A.M. --- hard! 
How do you like the "eye-protection"?    (black ink splotch)
                              (signed)  Boy.
= = = =  = = = = = =

I enjoy the humour in his signature "Boy" ... clearly they had pet names for each other.

"Dinky Babs" is their 2nd child, Barbara, who was born in July 1912, so she would be about 15 months old at this time.  Their first child, also a daughter, was "Betty" who died in 1911 after about 9 months.  See the post I wrote about her here.

"Madre" is the formal version of a nickname for my greatgrandmother, Clara Augusta "Gussie" Graves, Marguerite's mother.  As he is mentioning her in this postcard, likely Maudee (which is what we kids called her) is visiting in Vancouver at this time.  Maudee lived with her husband, "Grove" James Grover Terwilliger,  in either New York or New Jersey for most of her life.

You can't help but notice all the nicknames for individuals in this family.  It's a "very" family - creative, intelligent, attractive, dramatic, passionate, controlling, and more!

I have absolutely no idea why Grandpop is down in Tennessee.  I have a vague idea he was doing something  for the military... but he didn't get drafted, so this must be something else.  Although a US-born citizen, born in Pennsylvania, he and Marguerite (known as "Daisy" among other nicknames she had) spent most of their married life in Vancouver, BC, Canada where 5 of their children were born.

If anyone has any ideas about what kind of military work might necessitate Grandpop being in Memphis Tennessee in November 1913, I'd love to hear your ideas!