Addressed to: Mrs. Henry Brockman,
15 Avenue B, City
"I am leaving the store will be home after Apr. 19."
Mrs. MacMichael, 40 Guilderland
Postmarked 1913.
The Leighton &Valentine Co., N.Y. City.
Printed in United States.
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The Gleason Building,
also known as the Gleason Book Co.
104 Jay Street.
My father was born in 1932 in Schenectady, NY and lived at 1637 Avenue B....his grandparents, my great-grandpa Henry Brockman and great-grandma Amelia, also lived in Schenectady. So, we start in Schenectady, NY with that generation...four generations back from my children's (Alex, Brendan, Chandler).
Schenectady Public Buildings,
Steamer House No. 4, S.F.D. Schenectady, NY
and 256 -Public Library
addressed to Mrs. Brockman, 15 Ave B, City
...Washington, July 15, 9:00 We leave at 9:50.
Had a good nights rest.
Warmer here and the air has lost its northern feel.
Cloudy, so it may not be so very hot. Louise
Postmarked Washington DC, July 15, 1913
* * * * * * * *
Alexander B. Wright, Alan J. Wright (my dad),
Pearl B. Wright date on photos Christmas 1958.
Schenectady, 1637 Ave B.
* * * * * * * *
"Welcome to the USA" reception
(wedding/bridalshower!) given to Yoshiko A. Wright (my mom)
left to right, center back: Pearl Wright, Amelia Brockman,
Louise Valentine, Jo Brockman, Yoshiko Wright, foreground.
Aunt Jo's mother and sister on left. Photo taken at Aunt Jo's house, 1957.
* * * * * * * *
Ellen Brockman VanValkenburg, Yoshiko Wright
1957.
My dad's cousin Ellen gave me a shoebox full of vintage postcards and ephemera, probably over 100 pieces. Originally I fell in love with the graphics and old-timey verses; I even color-copied the cards and used them to decorate my own cards and Christmas letters. Not until one day I actually took the time to read all the sentiments and messages that were sent in real time to real people did I actually become fascinated with the ordinary moments that were captured in that time. All by distant ancestors most of whom, of course, I'd never met. Some, I barely had heard mention of their names.
Fortunately, it appears that my great-grandmother Amelia,
--Mrs. Henry Brockman aka Amelia (Wallatz) Wallace, saved...and saved
(like Ellen, and me) all the cards she received. Would she ever have known that they would be so appreciated, and provide a window into her life and her contemporaries?! She was born on Nov. 8, 1874 and died Oct. 19, 1959, three years after I was born. Could she ever have imagined that anyone, a century later, would have been interested in the ordinary lives of her family and her generation...
Credit, too, must go to her sister Louise, (Louise W. Valentine) who was a natural journalist and correspondent and sent frequent postcards from places she went. Also dear to my heart is young Mabel Hamann, (a cousin of my grandmother Pearl Brockman Wright) whose notes and observations provide a sweet and often touching look into life at that time. Unfortunately, she died too young; according to cemetary records (Forest Hills Cemetary in Fredonia, NY) Mabel Lucille Hamann was born Dec 14, 1894 and she died in a diabetic coma on February 11, 1916, and was interred on Feb. 14, 1916. None of Mabel's writings give any insight to her illness, she seemed like such a happy, thoughtful young woman....
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