My Aunt Helen used to write me long letters about various family stories and information. Sometimes the letters were nothing more than a specific line's names and vitals. Sometimes she would include little stories about her mother or family stories she had heard growing up. Sometimes it might be a newspaper clipping she thought I'd enjoy. No matter what she sent, even if it was simply a birthday car, she always found the most interesting stamps.
Today, it is US Postage Stamp Day. The United States issued its first postage stamp on July 1, 1847. They were not mandatory thou until 1855. Today, not only are they mandatory, but they cost an arm and a leg.
To put this in perspective, Aunt Helen was actually my great grandfather's youngest sister. Born 24 August 1903, Helen Mae Still was the youngest of six children of Franklin & Sarah Jennie Van Horn Still. She was an incredible woman. She grew up on the family farm. All the Still girls were educated and Aunt Helen was no different. She attended West Chester State Normal School in West Chester, PA. At 21, she married Ellwood James Webster. They had two girls: Gloria and Janet. Gloria died in infancy, only two months old. Janet only recently passed away. She lived, as her mother did, in the old family farm for most of her life.
It was through Aunt Helen that I came to have letters from her uncle to her father (my 3rd great grandfather!). Her uncle - Benjamin Franklin Van Horn - had fought in the Civil War. After the War, he married a girl from Virginia and moved to California. Letters kept the brothers united. Today they serve as an insight into not just their relationship, but of the times. Again, each of their letters brought not just family stories but also the history of the United States through our postal service.
For more information on the history of the US Postage Stamp, visit the US Postal Service.
(c) 2019, Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman
To put this in perspective, Aunt Helen was actually my great grandfather's youngest sister. Born 24 August 1903, Helen Mae Still was the youngest of six children of Franklin & Sarah Jennie Van Horn Still. She was an incredible woman. She grew up on the family farm. All the Still girls were educated and Aunt Helen was no different. She attended West Chester State Normal School in West Chester, PA. At 21, she married Ellwood James Webster. They had two girls: Gloria and Janet. Gloria died in infancy, only two months old. Janet only recently passed away. She lived, as her mother did, in the old family farm for most of her life.
It was through Aunt Helen that I came to have letters from her uncle to her father (my 3rd great grandfather!). Her uncle - Benjamin Franklin Van Horn - had fought in the Civil War. After the War, he married a girl from Virginia and moved to California. Letters kept the brothers united. Today they serve as an insight into not just their relationship, but of the times. Again, each of their letters brought not just family stories but also the history of the United States through our postal service.
For more information on the history of the US Postage Stamp, visit the US Postal Service.
(c) 2019, Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman
Comments
Post a Comment