1940s trip to Colorado. From left, Bobby Lee (Robert E. “Bob” Lee), Ruth Nadine (Alexander) Lee, Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee, Henrietta (Fasterling) Reuter and Walter Reuter on the trail on horseback. (Click to enlarge.)
The gift of the “FAN Club” continues- Jeff Reuter has more images for us with dear family on a Colorado trip.
Little Bobby, or Robert E. “Bob” Lee on the mountain in Colorado, 1940s. (Click to enlarge.)
Little Bobby Lee was born in 1932, so would have been eight if this trip was in 1940.
1940s trip to Colorado- Gene & Ruth Lee family and Henrietta and Walter Reuter. (Click to enlarge.)
Here is another clue to place. Victor, Colorado is about 6 miles from Cripple Creek, and all these historic towns are part of a mining area that has been frequented by tourists for many, many years. Our son was about the same age as his grandfather, “Little Bobby,” when we visited Victor and Cripple Creek. Going down into the mine was such fun for us- wonder if the Lees and Reuters made that trip deep into the earth back in the 1940s?
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Family photos shared by Jeff Reuter- thank you again, Jeff!
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Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
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Henrietta (Fasterling) Reuter on left and Ruth Nadine )Alexander) Lee on right in Colorado, 1940s. (Click to enlarge.)
Jeff Reuter is the wonderful person mentioned on my Monday post who found our blog after reprinting images from his family treasure archive of negatives. Thankfully he enjoys photography, and has all the equipment needed to reprint the found negatives. (Jeff has a business called Silver Coast Photography in Bradenton, FL; he may be found on weekends taking and making black & white images at the Coquina Beach Market.)
Here was the first comment Jeff left on our blog:
“Gene and Ruth were friends of my mother and father, Henrietta and Walter Reuter. I have reprinted photos of Ruth and Gene and Henrietta when they were in Colorado in 1940.”
1940- from left Ruth Nadine (Alexander) Lee, Henrietta (Fasterling) Reuter, a friend, in center, and Ruth’s husband, Walter Reuter. Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee on right with 1940 Pontiac, license plate from Missouri. (Click to enlarge.)
From an email:
“When I printed the photo with the car, I knew that was Gene, but I had never met Ruth. I would have been nine when she died. I did a Google search for Gene & Vada Lee [Vada was Gene’s second wife, after Ruth died.] and found the Heritage [Ramblings blog] website.
“After finding photos of Ruth online I concluded that the other woman in the photo was Ruth.”
Ruth Nadine (Alexander) Lee on left with young boy, probably Robert Eugene “Bob” Lee, her son with Lloyd Eugene Lee, who is probably the man on right. In Colorado, 1940s. (Click to enlarge.)
From Jeff’s second comment:
“There is also a photo of a sign post in Victor, CO. with directions to Florence, Divide, and Cripple Creek.”
When I saw the above image, I felt that I had been there, and thought it might be Cripple Creek or Victor, Colorado. Jeff’s thorough description of what was in with the photos gives us a more specific clue as to place.
Email:
“The photo [below] of Henrietta and Walter was taken in about 1935 around the time they were married. I have no idea how they met Gene and Ruth. My mother’s maiden name was Fasterling and there is a building in St. Louis called the Fasterling building. She was born in 1913 and grew up in south St. Louis around Magnolia and Brannon. My dad was born in St. Louis in 1908 and grew up on a farm in Batesville, Arkansas. He worked for Southwestern Bell in downtown St. Louis his entire career. The photo with the 1940 Pontiac has a Missouri license plate from 1940, so that pretty much dates the photos.”
Walter & Henrietta Reuter, 1940s
Jeff’s second comment included:
“I remember that Gene and Bob would bring fireworks to the home of Mildred and Pete Peterson in Affton, MO on July 4th in the fifty’s. The Petersons were good friends of our family. I can also remember Gene inviting us out on a yacht owned by a drug company and we motored up the Mississippi for a while. That was around 1960 when I was 16.
“The negatives from the Colorado trip that I have printed were stashed in old envelopes that Henrietta kept. I don’t know what happened to the original prints. She died in 2011 at the age of 97. I found the negatives and printed them in my darkroom along with other photos that look to be from that same time. They show Henrietta’s mother Hilda Molin and stepfather Algot Molin and his 1939 Dodge.”
Since the Petersons were good family friends, that might explain how the Reuters met Gene and Ruth Lee- Mildred (Alexander) Peterson was Ruth’s sister. Another tidbit that seems small but can actually provide a link.
When we started this blog, we were hoping it might be ‘cousin bait’ but it has also been a great way to connect with friends, associates, and neighbors, AKA the “FAN Club.” Our family so appreciates Jeff taking the time to contact us and share these wonderful photos!
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.
Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Notes, Sources, and References:
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.
Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
I was excited this morning to see a comment on a previous blog post from a reader whose parents were friends of Gene and Ruth (Alexander) Lee. Henrietta and Walter Reuter were close friends of Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee (1907-1991) and his first wife Ruth Nadine Alexander (1906-1953). The commenter has photos of Henrietta with Ruth and Gene in Colorado in the 1940s. What a great opportunity this is to share images and help each other identify people and places!
I knew there were quite a few photos of being out west in Colorado or in Banff, Canada, in our Lee collection. Closer scrutiny, however shows the majority of the photos are from the 1920s- too early probably to include our commenter’s parents, and Gene was a teen in those photos- too young to be married. The only photo I could find from the 1940s with a person in it is the above photo with Gene Lee sitting high on a rock outcropping by a lake.
(I really need to get my photos into a program like Lightroom- my search would have taken just a short time had I tagged all the images I have.)
I wonder if the family visited the same places year after year? Gene did tell us that they went out west frequently for the good air. (Of course, they were all smokers then so maybe the fresh air cleaned their lungs a bit.) There are some images from the twenties that could be the same place as above. It is sort of hard to tell with beautiful mountains and lakes though- they do look somewhat similar, I suppose.
We are really looking forward to seeing the new photos!
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.
Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
1) Family Album-Lee
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Jefferson Springsteen’s Death Notice in an unknown Washington DC Newspaper.
Sadly, we do not have funeral cards for Jefferson Springsteen in our family, but there were a few death and funeral notices published in the newspaper for him, including one in the Washington DC newspaper. (Jeff’s son, Abram F. Springsteen, was celebrated as the youngest drummer boy in the Civil War in Indiana, and he worked for the Federal government in the Pension Office.)
Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1914, just 5 years after the death of Jefferson Springsteen. When he arrived in 1835, Indianapolis was just a few houses. Public Domain, Wikimedia. (Click to enlarge.)
Indianapolis in 1835 was a small village with just a few houses on South Illinois Street when Jefferson Springsteen arrived. He was probably on his own after being with the circus, and still a young teen.
“Before he was 16 years of age he was a government mail carrier with a route extending from lndianapolis to Winchester through Strawtown. He made the journey of sixty-five miles on horseback and encountered numerous hardships of winter snows and spring freshets which furnished data for many stories which he loved to relate to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. At Strawtown, near Noblesville, he was compelled to pass through a settlement of lndians and he gained the friendship of many of the redskin tribe.
Many years after this settlement was broken up and the state was settled by white men, an old lndian, whose acquaintance he had gained at Strawtown, came to lndianapolis to visit him. The Indian was cordially received.”
See: 1836 A New Atlas Map Of Indiana with its Roads & Distances to see Jeff’s route as a mail carrier through rural Indiana. His route covered five counties. He would have ridden northeast from Indianapolis to Noblesville, then further north to Strawtown, and then east to Winchester. (Map cannot be posted due to copyright, but may be used for personal genealogical use. I was going to post a Google map, but one from the time period is so much better.)
Following is a transcription of the remaining obituary and additional newspaper notices:
This rugged life developed a body of steel and enabled him to keep his health until about one year ago. His death came from general debility and was without suffering.
He induced his father to come to lndianapolis. In 1837 [?], with his father, he went back to New Jersey to visit his grandfather. From there he went to Brooklyn, where he conducted a restaurant at the famous Fulton Market. He married Anne Connor at Brooklyn.
In 185? [poss. 1852] he started back to lndiana with his bride. Most of the trip was by water. They were shipwrecked on Lake Erie in a storm, but landed safely at Erie, Pa. They made their way to the less turbulent waters of the Ohio, on which stream they drifted down to Madison and hence to lndianapolis.
When the couple arrived they stopped at Little’s Tavern, a national road stage coach inn located at New Jersey and Washington streets.
Later his father bought a piece of ground on New Jersey street, between New York and Ohio streets. At this time he was ridiculed by the [citizens?], who predicted that the city would never grow that far from the center, which was then located on South street, around the old Madison Railroad Depot and on Illinois and West Washington streets.
Was Diversified Painter.
He was a painter by trade and painted everything from a landscape in oil to a house. Mrs. Beckwith still retains several of his paintings, which are said to reveal true artistic talent.
In 1854 he was appointed “captain of the peace” and served four terms as town marshal between 1855 and 1861. He was a prominent Democratic politician.
In 1856 he was elected when the Democrats carried the full ticket, with the exception of prosecuting attorney, which office Benjamin Harrison won.
1888- Home of Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana. He became President in 1888. Public domain, Wikimedia.
He was too old to be a soldier, but contributed two sons to the Union army, John and A. F. Springsteen. The last named was a drummer boy and enlisted at 11 years of age. Mr. Springsteen followed his trade for a long time after the civil war, but retired many years ago.
He leaves a sister, Mrs. Eliza Hanna, Fortville, mother of Judge Charles Hanna; Three sons, A.F. Springsteen of the Pension Department, Washington, D.C. ; Charles of Champaign, Ill., and Robert E. of 41 0 North Meridian street; two daughters, Mrs. Joseph Beckwith and E. P. Beerbower, North Delaware street.
Eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren survive him.
Tomorrow: Part 3 with the remaining death and funeral notices of Jefferson Springsteen.
2) Jefferson’s father was John Springsteen (1782-1867), but his grandfather is unknown to us.
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Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
