The "Old Ladies' Home" was built in 1896 with funds willed by Ichabod Washburn. According to his wishes, the home was to provide for “those who have not been the recipients of public charity, but have respectably sustained a struggle with disease or misfortune, till such a refuge at the Home will be appreciated and enjoyed by them.” This building survives today and is currently owned and occupied by Washburn House LLC, which runs an addiction recovery center for adults aged 18 and older.
REFERENCES
(1) Website of Washburn House.
Sent to: John A. Scherf
Address: Easton, PA
Many thanks for the card - call again.
From: M. C. Brace, 864 & 1/2 Main Street, [Worcester, MA]
Postmark: 02/24/1909 - Worcester, MA
THE MYSTERY
- As with many postcards, the connection between the sender and recipient is unknown and indecipherable from the text alone. In this case, the only thread I can discover is that the recipient as well as the sender's mother had Germanic surnames. Cousins perhaps?
THE SENDER
Margaret(h) C. Brace, born in 1885, was the daughter of Charles W. & Margaret(h) J. Brace, née Gompf. On the 1910 census, she was recorded as living in Worcester with her parents and three siblings (George, Gertrude & Anna) and working as a Milliner in a department store. By the time of the 1940 census, she was widowed and living with her aged parents. She died in 1970 and is buried at Locust Hill Cemetery in Evansville, Indiana.
THE RECIPIENT
John A. Scherf was born in May 1890 and would have been just 18 years old when this card was sent. About this time he is listed in the Easton city directory as a Silk Worker. He died in 1952 and is buried in the South Easton Cemetery.
THE CARD
Made in Germany. A.C. Bosselman & Co., New York