Divided back, used, Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked from Webster Crossing, New York, November 24th. The year appears to be 1909.

Price:  $15.00

A Real Photo Postcard of a beautiful little church:  M.E. stands for Methodist Episcopal. The Methodist Episcopal Church (M.E.C.) was the first Methodist denomination founded in the U.S. and existed from 1784 to 1939. That’s the short version without getting into a detailed history, (as per the norm, everything is always more involved than one might initially think) what with mergers and differences of ideology, schisms and the like. But back to this particular church:  it’s a charming building, we love the contrast of the dark trim against the white, the steeple (almost like a large cupola), and the lancet-style front window, with its smaller similar version above the door. The reverse of the card shows a joke we are not privy to, but imagining the laugh shared between friends, we are smiling just the same.

“are you going to church sunday night ha, ha.”

Addressed to:   “Hazel Eggelson. Kanona N.Y.”

This is likely the Hazel Eggelston (no matches under Eggelson) who appears on the 1910 Federal Census with her parents, Martin and Louise, and uncle, Samuel Eggelston. All are native to New York and are living in Bath, Steuben County, at Wheeler and Kanona Roads. Hazel, born about 1896 would have been about thirteen or fourteen when she received the postcard.

Kanona is about 28 miles south of Webster’s Crossing, and Bath is about 3 miles south of Kanona, as the crow flies.

Sources:  Methodist Episcopal Church. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Episcopal_Church (accessed October 2, 2016).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Bath, Steuben, New York; Roll: T624_1079; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0100; FHL microfilm: 1375092. (Ancestry.com)