Duffield/Sisson Postcards No. 42

Postcard number 42 revisits the Stiles family in their new home in Hammond, Lake County, Indiana. George Stiles was born in 1866 in Massachusetts and moved with his family as a child to LaSalle County, Illinois. There he married Carrie M. Aussem in 1891 and they began their family. Son Milan Arthur Stiles was born in 1894 followed by Teddy Aussem William Stiles in 1897. While living in Ottawa, the Stiles were neighbors of Charles and Edith Sisson. Carrie and Edith were very close friends and their children called the other woman Aunt. In 1910 the family moved to Hammond and remained there for several years, welcoming son George Jr. in 1913, before finally settling in Chicago by about 1917.

View in Harrison Park, Hammond, Ind.

Postmarked September 30, 1910 in Hammond, Indiana

Addressed to:

Mrs. Chas. Sisson.

408 Marcy St.

Ottawa.

Ill.

Dear Friend,

We are about

settled. I have a 

bad cold & Teddy

is getting along

nicely. I dont seem

like home but

I guess I will have 

to get used of it.

Give to the girls my.

Lovingly Mrs. Stiles.

upside down across the top she added her address:

47 Doty St.

Hammond, Ind.

Without being completely whiney, it's still clear that Carrie isn't loving Indiana so far. She must miss the house she was used to and all her friends back in Ottawa. The family moved because son Teddy was very ill. I'm not sure if there was better medical care there, or the climate was different, perhaps. That part is still a mystery. But I'm happy to see that he was doing well.

This card is from a collection of postcards dated between 1908 and 1914 that was found in the Sierra Madre, California home of Warren Brown after his death in 2015. Warren’s mother, Edythe Grace (Sisson) Brown (1897-1978), was the daughter of Edith Amy Duffield (1864-1926) and Charles Herman Sisson (1868-1927). Charles and Edith were married in Ottawa, Illinois in 1895. They remained there until the early 1920s when they moved west to Los Angeles, California. Their collection of memorabilia was passed down to Warren, my husband’s cousin, and is now in my possession.