Envelope to Santa from Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee, possibly c1915-1919. (Click to enlarge.)
Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee was born 06 Sep 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri, to Samuel J. Lee (1879-1964) and Dorothy Adele Aiken (1884-1953).
We are guessing that this letter was written possibly when he was about 8-11, so that would be around 1915-1919. (Kids learned to write later back then than they do now.)
Transcription:
“Gene Lee
1038 Grandview [return address]
[To:]
North Pole
Mr. santa clau [torn paper]”
Including that return address was vital, so Santa could find his house- no GPS or online directories for Santa back then. ;D
Letter to Santa from Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee, possibly c1915-1919. (Click to enlarge.)
Transcription:
“Mr. santa clause
I want a hat a coat
a football a tran [train] a some [looks erased]
soldier game some books
a blackboard some games
a little santa clause.”
The request for the ‘soldier game’ may help to put the date around 1918 when World War I was in progress, although little boys always seem to want to play soldiers, whether with toy soldiers or today’s more sophisticated video war games.
Asking for a hat and coat first, necessities of life in the St. Louis winters, shows how tough economic times were at the end of the nineteen teens, and how practical people had to be everyday.
Even for Christmas.
Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee, age 12, 1920. (Click to enlarge.)
Happy Holidays to all our family and readers!
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Family treasure chest ephemera, in possession of author.
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.
Here are some other pictures that were in the same group. Vada (Kovich) Lee (second wife of Gene Lee, and she also lived in the Alamo house), had originally said this was Dottie Lee, but then decided it was not. She believed it to be an older version of the sunroom on Alamo, the Lee family household for generations in St. Louis, Missouri. She was unsure as to who it was, as she had not known Gene’s grandparents.
Unknown woman- possibly same as above? Maria Louisa Brandenburger?
One possibility is that it is Maria Louisa (or Louisa Maria- Germans switched their two names about and were often called by their middle name) (Brandenburger) Lee. Maria was married to Samuel Lenton Lee, and their eldest child was Samuel J. Lee, who owned the home on Alamo. Samuel L died in June of 1932, so Maria would have been a widow after that, and possibly lived with her son or other children, or just made extended stays to St. Louis from their original home in Bunker Hill, Illinois. Maria died 06 May 1934 in Bunker Hill, not the 07 Feb 1935 as noted on the back of the first picture, but memories written on the back of pictures are not always accurate.
Unknown woman, possibly Maria Louisa Brandenburger Lee or Minnie Schoor?
Could this be the same woman? We don’t know for sure who she is either. It would be great to find someone with these same images!
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Lee Family Treasure Chest, reviewed with Gene and Vada Lee in the 1980s.
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.
Samuel J. Lee family home at 1038 Grandview, St. Louis, Missouri, October 1922.
Details of a house can give one clues to pictures with no names, addresses, or dates. The first picture in this post was positively identified by Gene Lee as being their Grand View home, and he identified his mother and the place in the image below. From there we need to make educated guesses about other images in a photo album that look similar.
Dorothy (Aiken) Lee, probably in front of their home at 1038 Grand View Place, St. Louis, Missouri. (Known identification of Dorothy.)
Things we know about this house:
1) It has large white rectangular stones along foundation.
05 Aug 1923, outside 1038 Grand View Place. Unknown woman.
2) The house has brick above the foundation, probably a red brick.
3) There are arched bricks over lower windows of the house in the basement.
4) The house has a basement.
5) Lattice surrounds the base of the porch.
April 1918, outside 1038 Grand View Place, St. Louis, Missouri. Possibly Dora Russell Aiken, who lived with her daughter’s family.
6) A wooden railing with columns surrounds the porch.
7) Height of porch is about 4 feet.
1920, Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee at 1038 Grandview, St. Louis, Missouri. He was about 13 in this photo.
8) The front porch has wide steps.
1922- 1038 Grand View Place. Probably Dorothy (Aiken) Lee.
9) It looks like the wild vegetation was cleared back and columns made bigger on the porch- note differences from first image, but others of these images were verified by Gene Lee (who lived there)- he said they were 1038 Grand View Place.
10) There is a lone tree at the base of the steps.
11) A narrow sidewalk curves around the side of the house.
April 1918, outside 1038 Grand View Place, St. Louis, Missouri. Possibly Dora Russell Aiken, who lived with her daughter’s family.
11) The house appears to be on a cul-de-sac.
12) Using Google maps and street view, we can see that there is a large two-story building nearby (currently a school and may have been in the 1920s as well), plus a house nearby that has a third story window that is the maximum height for its width in the gable. (This house seems to have been demolished; the freeway is very close by now and the road was terminated.)
Using these clues, there are other images in the Lee photo album that were most probably taken at 1038 Grand View Place. Knowing who lived in the house at certain times can help us narrow the possibilities of the persons in the pictures.
May 30, 1924, Decoration Day probably in front of 1038 Grand View Place, St. Louis, Missouri. Dorothy (Aiken) Lee on left?April, 1918. Possibly Dorothy (Aiken) Lee in front of their home at 1038 Grand View Place, St. Louis, Missouri. Note similar house next door.Possibly Dora J. Russell on left with unknown woman. Probably in front of 1038 Grand View Place, St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1920s.Possibly Dora J. (Russell) Aiken at 1038 Grand View Place, St. Louis, Missouri, May 1923.
The Lees had moved on to 6704 Alamo by the time of the 1930 US Federal census.
The house is still standing, and is listed on Zillow.com as being 1,444 sq. ft. with one bathroom, built in 1908. It is located near Clayton and Berthold Streets on Grandview Place (now ‘Grand View’ is one word instead of two). Due to Google’s Terms of Service I cannot post an image of the house, but if you click here, it should take you to the image.
Home of Henry Edwin “H. E.” Aiken and his second wife Lizzie Schmink in Amherst, Ohio. The young woman and man may be William Hanford “W. H.” Aiken and his wife Dora J. Russell. Image would have been taken after about 1891 when H. E. married Lizzie. A family picture provided by a kind collaborator, DB. (Click to enlarge.)
Since I have been focused on building a new home and have not had much time for writing, I thought some pictures of family homes might be in order on the blog.
Image of “Grandpa Aiken” or W. H. Aiken, d Feb. 17, 1942 in Tylerlawn, Mississippi. Unknown if this is actually his house. (Click to enlarge.)Interior of Lee home at 6204 Alamo, St. Louis, Missouri. The clock on the mantel is still in the family, and the beloved dog in the picture is Mickey. (Click to enlarge.)
Lee home at 6204 Alamo, St. Louis, Missouri. (Click to enlarge.)
Three generations of Lees lived in the above house at 6204 Alamo Drive in St. Louis, Missouri: Samuel J. Lee and his wife Dorothy Adele Aiken, Lloyd Eugene Lee and his wife Ruth Nadine Alexander along with their son Robert Eugene Lee, and after Ruth died, Gene’s second wife, Vada Kovich.
The buildings we live in contribute so much to our daily lives, even though we often forget about them or their beauty and comfort until the house demands attention, like cleaning, painting, or plumbing repair. Knowing where our ancestors lived and what their houses looked like, inside and out, can give us a better understanding of their lives.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Family treasure chest of photos and scans.
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.
The back of this photo of Tressa Cullen and Eidlh Cullen states “Friends of Grandma Aiken, Nov. 5, 1937, Chicago.”
‘Grandma Aiken’ would most probably have been Dora J. (Russell) Aiken, married to William H. Aiken, since the images were in the possession of Gene and Vada (Kovich) Lee; they may have noted the information about the picture. Dora lived in the household of her daughter, Dorothy “Dottie” (Aiken) Lee, with Dottie’s husband Samuel Lee and their son, Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee. Gene’s first wife Ruth Nadine (Alexander) Lee lived in the household too after their marriage in 1929, as did their son, Robert Eugene “Bob” Lee, born in 1932. Dora was listed in the 1920 and 1930 US Federal Censuses as a widow (she and her husband had separated between the 1910 census and 1917) and living with her daughter and her family.
Interestingly, Dora Aiken, who was born in 1864, died in 1935, two years before this picture was taken. Perhaps the family kept in touch with the Cullens even after Dora’s death? Or maybe the year is wrong.
Any information about these sweet ladies would be appreciated. Are they sisters or mother and daughter? A quick search on Ancestry.com did not turn up any information.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Lee Family photo collection.
Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.
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.
