Fun With Postcards #1

I thought we’d take a little closer look at one of the earliest postcards I collected.

First, we will examine the image. This picture was taken at the intersection of Newberry Avenue and Truman Boulevard, look-ing north. The brick building on the right (with the five upper story windows) was the first brick building in town, built by J.A. Shattuck in 1890, and rented out to various store-keepers. For many years it was the home of A. Louis Newmark’s store. It still stands today.

At the very left, behind the trees, sits the William Dollar House. William Dollar was the half-brother of Robert Dollar, he who founded Dollarville. Robert Dollar had moved out to California to become a shipping magnate, but several of his brothers main-tained business ties in our area for many years. When in town, they lived there. The house was razed to make way for the Masonic Temple in 1915.

This picture was taken sometime after 1896, when the New-berry Hotel burned to the ground (it stood in the vacant lot on the right). And it must have been taken before 1906, when the postcard was mailed. Now let’s take a look at the back (we’ll get back to the message in a minute).

So… this card was made in Germany, like many early postcards. It is also a good example of an early postcard, part of the “un-divided back” era of 1901-1907. It was probably commissioned by storekeeper Ross Leighton (as many of Newberry’s early postcards were).

Postcards today have a “divided back” with a space on the left for the message and a space on the right for the address. But early postcards from 1901-1907 allowed only an address on the back. No messages. Many people circumvented the post office, though, by scribbling messages on the front, under the picture, as our sender did. Many postcard manufacturers helpfully left a nice blank spot on the bottom just for this purpose.

The sender wrote: “Hello, Guy. Will write later when I have more time. Stella.” No last name. So who could Stella be? There are further clues to examine.

Stella’s card was processed at the Helmer Post Office (1894-1914), Lakefield Township, on the afternoon of August 21, 1906. From Helmer it was sent up to the McMillan Post Office, then put on the train. The Allegan Post Office then received it the very next morning! I doubt today’s post office could do better than that!

Stella addressed it to Mr. Guy Teed, Allegan, Michigan, RFD #5. RFD stands for Rural Free Delivery. So Guy Teed must have lived along Route #5. In the early 1900s most homes, especially rural homes, did not have proper addresses. Instead, you relied on the route #5’s mailman to figure it out.

So now, who was Guy Teed? The surname Teed is one asso-ciated with Lakefield Township. One quick dip into genealogical databases and we find a Stella Teed of Lakefield Township, formerly of Allegan, Michigan. She was the daughter of John Teed, and would have been about 15 years old in 1906.

And she did have a cousin, 18 years old in 1906, named Guy Teed, who lived in Allegan. Until 1900 they had been close neighbors. Then Stella’s father moved the family to Lakefield.

The Lakefield Teeds owned a farm on Round Lake, next to Luce County Park and “kitty-corner” from Moose du Nord of today. This plat map shows just how close “J. Teed” (Stella’s father) and “C. Fyvie” (the postmaster) were.

The map itself dates from around 1930, but the Teed and Fyvie were still living there.

Stella must have simply run down a third of a mile to the post office (today’s Helmer House) and mailed her card. According to the NOAA collection of historical maps (NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project), it was a cloudy day, about 65º. Chilly for August.

Stella attended Newberry High school and became a school teacher. On January 11, 1911 (about four and a half years after mailing this card) she married John French. Apparently already ill, she died two months later of from after effects of a heart attack.

Cousin Guy was luckier. He grew up to be the Sheriff of Allegan County, and was heavily involved in conservation.

Selected Sources

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