Engle Family Postcards ~ Gateway to Missoula, Mont. – 1905

It's been much too long since I shared an Engle family postcard with you. For my new readers, the story about how these precious postcards are now in my possession can be found in my blog post The Engle Family Postcard Adventure. In this post you will read about how these wonderful postcards were found in a second-hand shop in Ireland and ended up in my grateful hands here in the United States.

The last Engle family postcard I shared with you was from Charles A. Engle. He sent it from Los Angeles, California, and it was dated July 2, 1905. On the postcard, he wrote "we go to Frisco tomorrow July 4th."

Interestingly, the postcard I'm sharing with you today, is also from Charles A. Engle, and it sounds like he was not traveling alone again when he sent this postcard to his mom, Mrs. R. Engle at West Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Charles' mom, Mrs. R. Engle, was Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle.

This postcard is titled "Gateway to Missoula, Mont." and shows a train rounding a curve next to a river.

The message Charles wrote to his mom reads as follows:

Missoula Mont
July 13 - 05
On our way to Yellowstone Park.
Chas A Engle

So, who was with Charles? And was Charles on his way back to South Dakota from his travels in Colorado and California?

These Engle family postcards are not only beautiful and interesting to look at, they also give clues about where the members of the Engle family were at the time the postcards were written. I've been able to add the following dates to my timeline for Charles A. Engle based on the postcards he sent to his mom.

June 21, 1905 - Denver, Colorado
July 2, 1905 - Los Angeles, California
July 13, 1905 - Missoula, Montana

I'll be sharing more Engle family postcards in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

 

© 2015 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Engle Family Postcards ~ From Roses to snow in California - 1905

This vintage postcard, which was made in Germany, was sent to Mrs. R. Engle in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My regular readers will likely already know who Mrs. R. Engle was. But, for my new readers, I'll give a brief explanation of who she was. Mrs. R. Engle was Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle. She was my maternal 2nd great-grandaunt and she was married to Richard Engle, who was a Civil War veteran.

This postcard was sent by Sarah and Richard's son, Charles A. Engle. The previous Engle family postcard I shared here on this blog was also sent by Charles and it was dated June 30, 1905. That postcard showed Avalon on Santa Catalina Island which is near Los Angeles, California.

It looks like Charles was in California for at least a few days during this trip because the postcard I'm sharing today was dated July 2, 1905 and he wrote it while he was in Los Angeles, California.

Here's Charles' message to his mother:

Los Angeles
July 2, 1905
One of the many ?? here.
Chas. A. E.

It looks like he added another quick message the day he mailed the postcard:

We go to Frisco tomorrow July 4th

You'll notice I put two question marks in the first part of Charles' message. I cannot figure out what those two words are. Or are they two words? Is it really one word continued onto the next line? I don't know. If any of my readers have any idea what Charles wrote, please let me know. I'd appreciate it very much.

Also, I wonder who Charles was referring to when he wrote "we." Did his brother, William, accompany him on this trip to California? I wonder what the trip was for. And why were they going to San Francisco?

Were they in California to find a place for the Engle family to live or were they there on vacation? Charles' mother, Sarah, moved to Los Angeles sometime before or around 1909. Her husband joined her later, and so did her sons, William and Charles.

These Engle family postcards are so fascinating. They give an interesting glimpse into the lives of the Engle family in the early 1900's.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Engle Family Postcards ~ Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, Cal. – 1905

It's time to share another postcard from the Engle family vintage postcard collection.

This postcard was addressed to Mrs. R. Engle, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Mrs. R. Engle was Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle. Her husband was Richard Engle. Sarah was my maternal 2nd great-grandaunt.

The writing on the front of the postcard says 6-30-05 and Chas. A. Engle.

Chas. A. Engle is short for Charles A. Engle. And Charles A. is short for Charles Albert.  You may remember Charles from a previous 52 Ancestors post I shared here on my blog. Charles was one of Sarah and Richard Engle's sons.

On June 30, 1905, Charles sent this postcard to his mother, Sarah.

Richard and Sarah Engle lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for many years. In 1909, Sarah moved to California. Richard joined her in California a few years later. Richard, who was a Civil War veteran, was living in a U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Sioux Falls from 1908-1909. I found Richard in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.¹ He was 78 years old at the time and was listed as one of the many lodgers living in a home on Main Street. Perhaps he was recuperating before he moved to California to join his wife.

I'm not sure when Charles A. Engle moved to California. I know he was still living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1900, because that's where he is listed in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census.² I found him living in South Pasadena, California in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census.³ But, I haven't found him in the 1910 census yet. Perhaps he came to California ahead of his parents and sent this postcard to his mother.

This beautiful postcard is a 1903 postcard by the Detroit Photographic Co. It shows Avalon, which is a city on Santa Catalina Island. Santa Catalina Island is off the coast of California near Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, Charles didn't write any message to his mom that would give us a clue about why he was in California in June of 1905. But the postcard he sent to his mom is interesting and gives us a special glimpse into what Avalon looked like in the early 1900s.

This photo of Avalon was taken in 2004, about 100 years after the image of Avalon in the postcard above was published.

Avalon Bay in Santa Catalina California
Photo by Aaron Logan - Wikimedia Commons

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 Year: 1910; Census Place: Sioux Falls Ward 2, Minnehaha, South Dakota; Roll: T624_1485; Page: 8B. Line 58; Enumeration District: 0334; FHL microfilm: 1375498.^↩

2 Year: 1900; Census Place: Sioux Falls Ward 6, Minnehaha, South Dakota; Roll: 1553; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0265; FHL microfilm: 1241553. Line 15.^↩

3 Year: 1920; Census Place: South Pasadena, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_119; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 614; Image: 975. Line 47.^↩

Engle Family Postcards ~ Half Way House to Pikes Peak - 1905

This is part of a series of posts in which I am sharing the Engle family vintage postcards that were found in a second-hand shop in Galway, Ireland. To view more of these postcards, please visit The Engle Family Postcard Adventure tab at the top of this blog.

The postcard I'm sharing with you today is dated June 21, 1905. It was addressed to Mrs. R. Engle, Sioux Falls, S. D.



I think it's fascinating that only the city was needed for this postcard to be delivered successfully to Mrs. R. Engle.



Mrs. R. Engle was Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle. She was my maternal 2nd great-grandaunt. This postcard was sent to Sarah from Chas. A. Engle.

Chas A. Engle is short for Charles Albert Engle. He was one of Sarah's sons.

It's interesting that there is no space for a message on the back of this postcard. In fact, it specifically says, "This side is exclusively for the address." You can see that statement at the bottom left corner on the back of the postcard. So, what did Charles do? He just wrote a little message to his mom on the front of the postcard.

I decided to enlarge the writing on the front of the postcard for easier viewing.



Here's the transcription of what Charles wrote:

Denver 6/21 – 1905

Am having fine time

Can eat 4 times a day.

Chas A. Engle

In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Charles is listed as living with his parents, Richard and Sarah Engle, in Sioux Falls Ward 6, Minnehaha, South Dakota.¹



Charles was 35 years old, single, and his occupation was listed as a Grocery Salesman.

The postcard I'm sharing with you today shows the Half Way House to Pikes Peak. According to an article about the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway on Wikipedia, there was a Half Way House Hotel near this railway.

A Wikipedia article about Pikes Peak states that it is "a mountain in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains." It is 14,115 feet high and is a designated National Historic Landmark.

Charles wrote this postcard while he was in Denver, according to his message. So, what was Charles doing in Denver in June of 1905? Was he there on business and just bought this pretty postcard at a shop because he liked it? Or was he there on vacation and bought this particular postcard because he actually went to the top of Pikes Peak?

If Charles actually did travel to the top of Pikes Peak, did he stop at the Half Way House on his way to the summit? Did he actually stay at this hotel?

And what did he mean by "can eat 4 times a day?" What was that about? If Charles did stay at this hotel, maybe they fed their guests 4 times a day.

So many questions remain about this postcard and why Charles purchased it. Unfortunately, at this time, I don't have the answers to these questions. But, it is a very interesting postcard nonetheless.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 Year: 1900; Census Place: Sioux Falls Ward 6, Minnehaha, South Dakota; Roll: 1553; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0265; FHL microfilm: 1241553.^↩

Engle Family Postcards ~ Rosebud Registration, Yankton, South Dakota - 1904

Here we go! I'm ready and excited to begin sharing with you the amazing vintage Engle Family Postcards that I am so grateful to have in my possession. If you don't know the story of how I acquired these 100+ year-old postcards, I hope you will read the incredible story by clicking HERE. The story has to do with a second-hand market in Galway, Ireland, my family tree on the WikiTree website, and a wonderful new friend in Ireland named Ann.

The first postcard I'm sharing with you today happens to be the oldest postcard in my Engle Family Postcard collection. As you can see, it is dated July 22, 1904 and was addressed to Mrs. R. Engle, (W) Sioux Falls, S. D.





Mrs. R. Engle was Mrs. Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle, my maternal 2nd great-grandaunt.

Here's the transcription from front of the postcard:

Dear Mother -

Registered within 15 minutes after I struck the town.

W.B.E.

This postcard was from Sarah Amanda's son William Barker Engle (W.B.E.).

So, why was William in Yankton, South Dakota and what was he registering for?

I did some research to find out what this postcard was about and this is what I found.

On May 13, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt signed a Proclamation. The Proclamation was titled Proclamation 526 - Opening of Sioux Lands of the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota. You can read the Proclamation by clicking HERE.

In essence, and according to this Proclamation, an agreement was made between the Sioux Indian tribe on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota and a United States Indian Inspector named James McLaughlin. This agreement was approved by Congress on April 23, 1904. In this agreement, the Sioux Indian tribe relinquished their claim to about 382,000 acres of unallotted lands to the United States of America.

On August 8, 1904 at 9:00 am, these lands were opened under the homestead and townsite laws of the United States of America.

There was a procedure put into place for those interested in acquiring these lands. And it went as follows:

Beginning on July 5, 1904 at 9:00 am, and ending on July 23, 1904 at 6:00 pm, a registration was held at Chamberlain, Yankton, Bonesteel, and Fairfax in South Dakota for those who were interested in these lands.

Qualified registrants were eligible for a drawing which began on July 28 1904. The drawing determined the order in which qualified registrants would be able to enter the homestead lands following the opening of said lands in Gregory County.

It looks like William B. Engle registered in the nick of time for the drawing, as he arrived on July 22, a day before the registration period ended.

Thousands of people registered for these homestead lands. I found an interesting newspaper article in the California Digital Newspaper Collection website stating just how many people registered. The following article is from The San Francisco Call, Volume 96, Number 51, 21 July 1904.

The San Francisco Call, Volume 96, Number 51, 21 July 1904
California Digital Newspaper Collection,
Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research,
University of California, Riverside, <http://cdnc.ucr.edu>

According to this article, before William B. Engle even had a chance to register, 46,670 people had already registered! Wow! And since he registered a day later than when this paper was published, the number was likely even larger than the stated 46,670 people.

There are two questions that I don't have an answer for at this point:

1. Was William's name picked in the drawing?
2. Was William B. Engle registering for himself, or as an agent for his Civil War veteran father, Richard Engle?

The postcard above is quite interesting because it shows a collage of pictures showing the Registration at Yankton, South Dakota. It also named the photography studio that took these pictures. I cropped the name of the photography studio to share here.



I saw a picture online that showed the Janousek  & Bruhn Photography Studio on a street in Yankton, South Dakota. If you'd like to see that picture, click HERE.

I also thought it would be interesting to crop some of the pictures from the collage and share those here too. They show the long lines of people waiting to register for these homestead lands.







The following poem was included in this collage of pictures.



Isn't it amazing how much a postcard can teach us about historical events?

I will be sharing more of these amazing Engle Family Postcards in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

The Engle Family Postcard Adventure

Engle Family Postcards
from Ann in Ireland

It all started on November 11, 2013 – this wonderful, amazing, and exciting Engle Family Postcard Adventure. This incredible adventure is about postcards, dating from the early 1900s, that somehow ended up almost halfway around the world from where they originated. And about how these priceless postcards ended up back in America, and in the hands of a thankful relative of those who originally wrote and received these postcards. That thankful relative is me. This extraordinary adventure has also given me a new friend in Ireland named Ann. We have kept in touch since this adventure began.

The Engle Family Postcard Adventure Begins

On Monday, November 11th, I received an email from WikiTree that contained a private message from a very nice woman named Ann. She lives in Ireland and told me that she had purchased three vintage postcards from a second-hand market in Galway, Ireland. The postcards were addressed to Richard Engle and Mrs. S. A. Engle. Ann did an online search for these names and found my family tree on the WikiTree website. She saw that Richard and Sarah Engle were in my family tree and subsequently left me a message.

Ann wanted to know if any of the Engle's relations would be interested in receiving these postcards, and if so, she was willing to send them for free. She also said there were still many more Engle family postcards at the second-hand market where she had purchased these three postcards in Galway, Ireland.

To say I was thrilled upon receiving this email would be an understatement! This was simply amazing! Mrs. S. A. Engle, the addressee of these postcards, was my 2nd great-grandaunt. Her full name was Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle. She was married to Richard Engle. I have done a lot of research on this family over the years. Sarah was born on March 15, 1836 in Coolville, Athens, Ohio and passed away on December 5, 1939 in South Pasadena, Los Angeles, California. She was 103 years old at the time of her death. Her husband, Richard Engle, served in the Civil War.

Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle

Anyway, back to the postcards...I sent a reply to Ann informing her that I am, in fact, related to this Engle family. I asked her if she could scan the postcards and send the images in an email, which she did. It was so exciting to see the images of these postcards! I checked the names and addresses on the postcards, and was able to confirm that they were addressed to my Sarah (Waterman) Engle and her husband Richard.

I definitely wanted these postcards and offered to pay Ann for them. She insisted on sending them to me free of charge. How kind she is! I also asked her if she could give me the contact information for the seller of the Engle postcards at the second-hand market in Galway, Ireland, so I could see about buying the rest of the postcards. Ann gave me the information and I was able to contact him. His name is Thomas.

In the meantime, and before I even contacted Thomas about purchasing more of the Engle family postcards, Ann went back to Galway and purchased 16 of the remaining Engle family postcards from Thomas at the second-hand market. I hadn't asked her to do this. She is just that kind and thoughtful! And she again said she didn't want any money for the postcards. She would send them to me free of charge. She told me to just think of them as a Christmas gift from Ireland. Ann is just so sweet!

On December 16, 2013, I received a package from Ann. Not only did she send me these amazing Engle family postcards that she purchased, which are over 100 years old, she also sent me a lovely letter, a Christmas card to my husband and me, and this beautiful Christmas ornament for our tree!

Christmas Ornament from Ann in Ireland

On November 20, 2013, I contacted Thomas, the seller of the Engle family postcards in Galway, Ireland and inquired about the remaining Engle family postcards. We were able to purchase 45 more of these precious postcards from him.

On December 20, 2013, I received the 45 Engle family postcards we purchased from Thomas.

I have put all of the Engle family postcards in a binder with acid-free photo pages to protect them.

Engle Family Postcards

I will be sharing these special Engle family postcards here on my blog.

I sent my new friend, Ann in Ireland, a thank-you gift before Christmas. I would also like to publicly thank her for purchasing 18 of these amazing postcards, finding me by doing an online search, contacting me, and sending me these priceless Engle family postcards. I am overwhelmed by Ann's kindness. And I can't thank her enough for all she has done.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved