Two 100-Year-Old Postcards From Cambria
I recently acquired two postcards which were sent from the now-defunct post office in Cambria, Clinton County, in 1909 and 1911. Cambria had a post office from 1883 to 19151, which appears to have been operated out of the general store my third-great-grandfather, Charles Sharp (1859-1937) built.2 The postmaster at the time these cards were sent out was Sharp's son-in-law (and my second-great-grandfather), Charles Franklin Gum (1873-1926), who owned and operated the store after Sharp in addition to being postmaster.3
That general store still stood when I was a child--I used to wait for the school bus on the porch--but was demolished in the 90s. (For more images of the store and Cambria in general, see the Monon Bygone page, about halfway down. The grain elevator was also built by Sharp.)
[Postal stamp:]
Cambria
May 25
1909
A.M.
IND
Don't know if will get home Sunday or not ??? ??? if come will look for Pearl at Bedford Sunday but fear I will not get off ??? ???.
Mrs. Hester Brown
Bedford, Ind
R 74 No 5
 |
| Cambria general store around time these cards were sent |
The Postcards
My best attempt at a transcription follows each card.
[Postal stamp:]
Cambria
May 25
1909
A.M.
IND
Don't know if will get home Sunday or not ??? ??? if come will look for Pearl at Bedford Sunday but fear I will not get off ??? ???.
Mrs. Hester Brown
Bedford, Ind
R 74 No 5
[Postal stamp:]
Cambria
Mar 20
1911
IND
Hello to all ??? us all well. Hope these few lines will find you both well. I said we was well ??? haven't feeling very well has had such a bad cold. Well ??? forgot to come to see us just like all the rest. It look like they all think their self above us.
G W Baker
Cyclone, Ind
R.R. No 1
Sources
1: Jim Forte Postal History - Also where I purchased the postcards.
2: Twentieth century atlas of Clinton County, Indiana (1903) - This and family papers (History of Cambria by Edith Gum Cheesman (1970)) show only who built and owned the general store. I assume since Gum owned and operated the store at the time he was postmaster, the post office was run from his store, which I understand to have been a common arrangement at the time.
3: Official Registrar of The United States (1903) - Lists Charles F. Gum as postmaster
2: Twentieth century atlas of Clinton County, Indiana (1903) - This and family papers (History of Cambria by Edith Gum Cheesman (1970)) show only who built and owned the general store. I assume since Gum owned and operated the store at the time he was postmaster, the post office was run from his store, which I understand to have been a common arrangement at the time.
3: Official Registrar of The United States (1903) - Lists Charles F. Gum as postmaster
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