Duffield/Sisson Postcards, No. 54

This next postcard from the collection of Edith (Duffield) Sisson illustrates that, in 1912, friendships endured over distance, families stuck together when times got tough, and being neighborly was the right thing to do.

BIRDS-EYE VIEW   56  ULYSSES NEB.

Postmarked Jun 3, 7 PM. The year and post office city didn't show up.

Addressed to:

Mrs Charls Cisson

Ottawa

Ill

south side 

(The Sisson's lived in South Ottawa)

Ulyses Neb

Jun 2 -12

Mrs Sisson

We are still here trying to 

sell evry thing I am so tired 

of the place Sarah is going to 

live with us she must sell 

evry thing it takes time to get 

rid of it I know you are tired 

taken care of hour home but 

we did not inteng to stay so 

long but will try and come home 

midle of next week if arangements 

can be made Love to all

From Mrs Baumgardner

Mr. & Mrs. Baumgardner lived a short distance away from Edith (Duffield) and her husband Charles Sisson in Ottawa, Illinois. The Baumgardner and the Duffield children had grown up attending the same schools. Sarah Eve Baumgardner, born in 1856, had married Charles Henry Challis in 1879 and moved to Ulysses, Nebraska. Charles was the editor and publisher of the Ulysses Dispatch until his unexpected death in May of 1912. These photos of Sarah, Charles, and their children were found in Edith's collection, and I know the families kept in touch even after Sarah moved to Nebraska. She was almost nine years older than Edith, but it seems they were friends despite the difference in age. In one of Edith's letters written in 1922, she mentions that Mrs. Challis will be coming to visit.

Sarah (Baumgardner) Challis,
Photographed in Ulysses, Nebraska,
From the collection of Edith Sisson.

Sarah's parents were about 80 years old when they traveled to Ulysses to help her settle the household after her husband's death. Edith stepped in to care for their home in Ottawa while they were gone. This note tells us that Sarah was planning to go back to Ottawa to live with her parents. She probably helped her parents a great deal until their deaths. Her mother died in 1917, followed soon after by her father in 1918. After their deaths, Sarah moved to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska to live near her daughter, Blanche, and son-in-law, Lloyd Jackson. Sarah died in 1942 in Scotts Bluff and was buried next to her husband in Ulysses.

Before Mr. Baumgardner died, he made an addition to his will. His five surviving children would inherit his estate, but he also wanted to leave $100 to Edith Sisson in appreciation for the many and valuable favors in the past years.