Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1900 – 1910.

Price:  $15.00

“Cousin Wm Cook, we send you a postal of our home in old Iowa. Cookson Bros.”

Finding (or not finding) proofs for old photos and postcards can be unpredictable! The 1900 Federal Census taken in Springdale, Cedar County, Iowa was the first record looked at, and it happens to show two brothers, Israel G. Cookson, a widower, born October 1852 in Pennsylvania; and John R. Cookson, single, born October 1849, also in Pennsylvania. Other household members are Israel’s daughters Lila E. Cookson, born July 1877 in Iowa; and Myrtle A. Cookson, born August 1883, in Iowa; and William Matthew, born April 1847 in Scotland, an employee. Amazingly, Israel and John turned out to be the correct Cookson Brothers. The photo for this postcard was likely taken between 1900 and 1910. The 1910 also shows Springdale. So, we were crossing fingers here after seeing these two records but all was confirmed on an Ancestry family tree which shows both the Cookson and Cook families and their relationship:  Israel Cookson married Eliza Walker. It was Eliza’s sister, Lydia that married John Cook, Jr. Their son being William R. Cook of Pennsylvania; the cousin that would have received this postcard.

So, to identify the people in the photo, that should be Israel on the left, then Lila (Lillia) and Myrtle (or vice versa – it’s hard to tell who might be the younger) and then John. And they are posed for the camera standing in front of their beautiful farmhouse. Note the spindlework detail for the porch and at the windows, and the depth of the porch. We wonder what that wooden, box-like structure was used for, and the name of the plant that’s growing so profusely on the right in the foreground. (It looks like something commonly seen here in California.)

Sources:  Year: 1900; Census Place: Springdale, Cedar, Iowa; Roll: 422; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 0035; FHL microfilm: 1240422. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1910; Census Place: Springdale, Cedar, Iowa; Roll: T624_395; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 1374408. (Ancestry.com)

Appleby – Kingman Family Tree. Web accessed April 19, 2015. (Ancestry.com)