Chapter Two: Class of 1895 (Annie)

More historical information from Annie P.

The 'story' goes on..................

After graduating in 1895, both John and Edna became teachers and then the high school sweethearts began their married life together in Cuba, Illinois. See class below.




But, by 1907, they had three children: Verna (the mother of E. Mary your Great Grandmother, Roman and Zoe), Reba and Wendell (my father.) The attached photo has seen some 'wear' but the trio is still visible!



Photos of the family are rare; as the first home that John and Edna had, burned, and all the family pictures (save those that had been sent to others) were lost! Grandma Edna (in later times) took a lot of 'ribbing' about the fact that all she thought to grab when fleeing the fire was the alarm clock! And, of course, seeing the children safely out!

That sort of 'evened' things out with Grandpa John, though, who also took the same 'heat' about his story of the yellow dog that followed the covered wagon when he came west with his parents and brothers. However, the truth is that Grandpa John was not born until the family settled in Illinois! He just remembered being told the story!

By 1910, another boy had been added to the 'fold' and a picture taken of Verna, Reba, Wendell and Bob is the last photo attached with this segment. Bob is the father of John W H (the first grandson of John and Edna) and he is named after his Grandpa John.



I am told that the looks on their faces are because the rug they are sitting (or standing) on has the picture of a dog on it. In any event, it is a charming photo of the ever expanding family of John and Edna. Two more children: Bern and Louise soon joined the family but I do not have any photos of them at an early age with their brothers and sisters, just one soon to come in another segment of them as adults with their parents.

On both sides of my family, many of the old photos were postcards sent to others, then somehow re-collected! A few years back I looked up the history of postcards from the early 1900's on and it is quite a fascinating subject. The two photos (except the 1895 class picture from a newspaper) in this segment were both postcard photos.