Duffield/Sisson Postcards No. 30

Continuing in the series of postcards from 1908-1914 is No. 30, sent from Crown Point, Indiana. These postcards were discovered last year in the Sierra Madre, California home of Warren Brown after his death. They were saved by his maternal grandparents, Edith Amy Duffield (1864-1926) and Charles Herman Sisson (1868-1927), and passed down to Warren, my husband’s cousin. Charles and Edith were married in Ottawa, Illinois in 1895 and remained there until the early 1920s when they moved west to Los Angeles, California. 

East Side Main Street, Crown Point, Ind. (Photo by Vilmer.)

Postmarked 18 July 1910, Crown Point, Ind.

Addressed to:

Mrs Charles Sisson

Ottawa

Illinois

408 Marcy St

Message:

Dear Ede -

We are this far on our 

way 93 miles at I-30

We came through Joliet

and Chicago Heights

will go from here

to La Porte.

I never rode on any

roads so nice

will write. With Love - Eva

Eva was Edith's little sister, born when Edith was 16 years old. Their mother died when Eva was 7 years old, so her older sisters played Sister/Mom roles in her life. The "we" mentioned in the note probably refers to Eva and her husband, Lyle Green. The Greens made their home just north of Ottawa in Dayton, Illinois. I'm not sure why they were traveling when this card was mailed. In card 28, Eva was so busy with farm work and cooking that she couldn't manage a short trip to Ottawa. Maybe there will be some clues in later correspondence.

That nice road, I-30, later became part of the Lincoln Highway and is now known as U.S. Route 30. The road went through the center of Joliet and Chicago Heights, but Eva and Lyle would have probably have taken a turn at what is today US-55 to go through Crown Point. Also known as Main Street through town, it may have been the same route taken by Eva and Lyle in 1910. Some of the buildings shown on this postcard are still standing, but a few are gone entirely and some have been remodeled or rebuilt. Some of the architectural details are still clearly recognizable. Few awnings remain. The block shown is approximately the 100 block of S. Main Street.

This postcard was labeled on the back, "Published by W.A. Scheddell, Crown Point, Leipzig. Printed in Germany." The Scheddells were a prominent family in Crown Point, operating businesses and serving in volunteer positions in the community. Mr. Scheddell published a variety of local postcards.