Duffield/Sisson Postcards No. 11



This is the eleventh in a series of postcards from 1908-1914 discovered last year in the Sierra Madre, California home of Warren Brown after his death. The collection of memorabilia was saved by Warren's grandparents and passed down. Warren was my husband’s cousin and we are the proud holders of the collection today.

Warren’s mother, Edythe Grace Sisson (1897-1978), was the daughter of Edith Amy Duffield (1864-1926) and Charles Herman Sisson (1868-1927).
Charles was the son of Luther Sisson (1840-1923) and Mary Jane Bassage (1847-1915).
Their children:

• James H. Sisson (1866-1931)
• Charles Herman Sisson (1868-1927)
• Belle Adora Sisson (1869-1957)
• Emma Lucinda Sisson (1872-1939)

This particular postcard was sent by Belle Adora "Dora" to her sister-in-law, Edith in July of 1909.



Observatory, Saugatuck, Mich.

Postmarked July 6, 1908 or 1909, Fennville, Michigan

The card is postmarked July 6 and was mailed from Fennville, Michigan. The year looks like 1908, but I think it is 1909 because of a reference in the message to the "big dance pavillion".  Dora and others were visiting the area for the 4th of July holiday. Saugatuck, on the shore of Lake Michigan, was only about six miles from Dora's home in Ganges, Michigan. In the early 20th century the famous Big Pavilion, a large dance hall that attracted bands and visitors from across the region, was constructed. Tourists were also drawn to the harbor, beaches, marinas, scenery, and the view from atop Mount Baldhead.

The card was addressed:  

Mrs C. H. Sisson, 408 Marcy St, Ottawa Ill.

And read:

Dear Sister: We took in the fourth at Saugatuck. so will send you this card.

I did not cross over to baldhead. but what a crowd there was.

I will try and send you a card of the big dance pavilion.

                                                         with Love

                                                                    Dora.



Belle Adora Sisson, photo from the collection of
Edythe Sisson Brown, now in my possession.

I love her name, Belle Adora. As a young girl she was called Belle, but in most later records she went by Dora.



It's not known if she was married to the father of her daughter, Beulah Sisson, born in 1892. If she was, it must have ended prior to the birth as she named her daughter with the surname Sisson. Back then, it was not common for a single woman to raise a child unless the father had died. That may have been the case, but because the child carried Dora's surname, my guess is that she chose to raise the child alone.

When Beulah was a child, Dora raised her in her father Luther's household. In 1905 Dora was married briefly to a widower, James H. Lamper. By mid 1910, James was listed on the census as a single boarder, signaling that the marriage had probably been dissolved. Dora is listed as single in both the 1900 and 1920 census, but in 1930 is shown as widowed. James was still living so it's unknown who the deceased husband was (maybe Beulah's father?).

Dora continued to live with her daughter, even after Beulah married and began her own family. They were together, a tight mother daughter unit, until Dora's death in 1957. When Beulah died in 1991, she was laid to rest next to her mother. They are buried side by side in the Pilgrim Home Cemetery in Holland, Michigan, a town less than twenty miles from this 4th of July holiday spot.