Myersville, Maryland Postcard, 26 June, 1908
Postmarked: Myersville, MD, Jun 26, 2 PM, 1908
Address: Mrs. N. B. Weaver, Ellett, Montgomery Co., Va.
Reverse: “Mrs. Weaver, Douglas rec’d your lovely card & was delighted with it, so I thought I would like to send you one. This time we never have had any with reading one like you sent him and was pleased with it. Mama is anxiously looking for a letter from you. She thinks you have forgotten her. Did you get hers? Please answer soon lovingly. Mama says write soon. I would like to see you. Edward. Douglas will answer yours when I hear from you. He was pleased very much. From Edward McDonough. By by. How is Miss Mary? Tell her to write.”
This slightly inchoate message appears to come from a member of the family of Myersville, Maryland, native George David Routzahn (4 June, 1842, Middletown Valley, MD – 4 March, 1917, Myersville, MD). The sender was his son-in-law John Edward McDonough, Sr. (22 Dec, 1864, New York – 3 Nov., 1923, Enterprise, West Virginia), who was the son of Irish immigrants and a railroad worker. Routzahn’s daughter Lettie (or Letta) May (25 Nov., 1882, Frederick Co., MD – 16 Dec., 1954, Myersville, MD) was McDonough’s wife, whom he married at the Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ in Frederick on 7 February, 1900, when she was 17 and he was 36. The McDonoughs had three sons: John Edward, Jr. (26 March, 1900, Myersville, MD – 7 Feb., 1971, Myersville, MD); David Floyd (27 Jan., 1905, Myersville, MD – 21 Nov., 1974, Myersville, MD); and Burnard (or Bernard) Douglas (12 Aug., 1901, Myersville, MD – 29 Jan., 1918, Enterprise, West Virginia), who is the “Douglas” mentioned in this postcard.
Two years later, the family was enumerated on the 1910 census of Myersville. Edward, Sr., was not there, but Lettie, Douglas, Floyd, and Edward, Jr., were at the home of George and Mary Elizabeth Routzhan, nee Cost (b. 3 April, 1842, Washington, Co., MD - 23 Jan., 1916, Myersville, MD). At that time, the Routzahns had been married for 48 years, placing their wedding in 1862, during the Civil War, when they were both in their early 20s. On 1 July, 1863, George registered for the draft. He eventually enlisted as a private on 23 February, 1865, and was mustered out on 8 April of that same year, transferring to Company I, MD 13th Infantry Regiment. George was mustered out for the final time on 29 May, 1865, at Baltimore.
George was the son of Middletown Valley farmer Enos Routzahn (1801 – 1850) and Lydia Schlosser (1805 – 1882). After his father’s death, his mother, Lydia, took over the farm and George labored on it as a career. Mary Elizabeth was the daughter of Ezra Cost (1816 – 1902) and Caroline Doub (1821 – 1891). After Mary married George Routzahn, the couple produced seven children (Harry and William—who appear to be twins who died in infancy or at birth), Amanda (1863 -1935), Emma (1865 – 1960), Louella (1869 – 1943), Jennie (1870 – 1930), and Lettie.
In 1920, the McDonough family lived in Enterprise, Harrison County, West Virginia, and were enumerated on the census there. John Edward, Sr., died before the next census in Enterprise.
George and Mary Elizabeth Routzahn and John Edward and Lettie McDonough and their sons are buried in St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Yard, which is directly across the street from my home.
The house pictured on the postcard—known as the Hildebrandt House—still stands today—and is, in fact, across the street and three houses down from my own home. According to historian Robert P. Savitt, “John T. Hildebrand was a leading carriage maker in the northern Middletown Valley. He acquired the property for the home… on the south end of Main Street from his father-in-law, Joseph Brown, who operated Myersville’s first post office in his downtown store. Soon after it was built, this handsome home was featured in Ira Moser’s 1905 ‘History of Myersville.’”
Ellett, Montgomery County, Virginia, where this postcard was sent is an unincorporated community located at the junction of State Routes 603 and 723, about 4 miles southeast of Blacksburg. Montgomery County is rife with Weavers, but I cannot match any I have yet found to this missive.
Front with message: www.flickr.com/photos/60861613@N00/11595778084/in/photost...
Myersville, Maryland Postcard, 26 June, 1908
Postmarked: Myersville, MD, Jun 26, 2 PM, 1908
Address: Mrs. N. B. Weaver, Ellett, Montgomery Co., Va.
Reverse: “Mrs. Weaver, Douglas rec’d your lovely card & was delighted with it, so I thought I would like to send you one. This time we never have had any with reading one like you sent him and was pleased with it. Mama is anxiously looking for a letter from you. She thinks you have forgotten her. Did you get hers? Please answer soon lovingly. Mama says write soon. I would like to see you. Edward. Douglas will answer yours when I hear from you. He was pleased very much. From Edward McDonough. By by. How is Miss Mary? Tell her to write.”
This slightly inchoate message appears to come from a member of the family of Myersville, Maryland, native George David Routzahn (4 June, 1842, Middletown Valley, MD – 4 March, 1917, Myersville, MD). The sender was his son-in-law John Edward McDonough, Sr. (22 Dec, 1864, New York – 3 Nov., 1923, Enterprise, West Virginia), who was the son of Irish immigrants and a railroad worker. Routzahn’s daughter Lettie (or Letta) May (25 Nov., 1882, Frederick Co., MD – 16 Dec., 1954, Myersville, MD) was McDonough’s wife, whom he married at the Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ in Frederick on 7 February, 1900, when she was 17 and he was 36. The McDonoughs had three sons: John Edward, Jr. (26 March, 1900, Myersville, MD – 7 Feb., 1971, Myersville, MD); David Floyd (27 Jan., 1905, Myersville, MD – 21 Nov., 1974, Myersville, MD); and Burnard (or Bernard) Douglas (12 Aug., 1901, Myersville, MD – 29 Jan., 1918, Enterprise, West Virginia), who is the “Douglas” mentioned in this postcard.
Two years later, the family was enumerated on the 1910 census of Myersville. Edward, Sr., was not there, but Lettie, Douglas, Floyd, and Edward, Jr., were at the home of George and Mary Elizabeth Routzhan, nee Cost (b. 3 April, 1842, Washington, Co., MD - 23 Jan., 1916, Myersville, MD). At that time, the Routzahns had been married for 48 years, placing their wedding in 1862, during the Civil War, when they were both in their early 20s. On 1 July, 1863, George registered for the draft. He eventually enlisted as a private on 23 February, 1865, and was mustered out on 8 April of that same year, transferring to Company I, MD 13th Infantry Regiment. George was mustered out for the final time on 29 May, 1865, at Baltimore.
George was the son of Middletown Valley farmer Enos Routzahn (1801 – 1850) and Lydia Schlosser (1805 – 1882). After his father’s death, his mother, Lydia, took over the farm and George labored on it as a career. Mary Elizabeth was the daughter of Ezra Cost (1816 – 1902) and Caroline Doub (1821 – 1891). After Mary married George Routzahn, the couple produced seven children (Harry and William—who appear to be twins who died in infancy or at birth), Amanda (1863 -1935), Emma (1865 – 1960), Louella (1869 – 1943), Jennie (1870 – 1930), and Lettie.
In 1920, the McDonough family lived in Enterprise, Harrison County, West Virginia, and were enumerated on the census there. John Edward, Sr., died before the next census in Enterprise.
George and Mary Elizabeth Routzahn and John Edward and Lettie McDonough and their sons are buried in St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Yard, which is directly across the street from my home.
The house pictured on the postcard—known as the Hildebrandt House—still stands today—and is, in fact, across the street and three houses down from my own home. According to historian Robert P. Savitt, “John T. Hildebrand was a leading carriage maker in the northern Middletown Valley. He acquired the property for the home… on the south end of Main Street from his father-in-law, Joseph Brown, who operated Myersville’s first post office in his downtown store. Soon after it was built, this handsome home was featured in Ira Moser’s 1905 ‘History of Myersville.’”
Ellett, Montgomery County, Virginia, where this postcard was sent is an unincorporated community located at the junction of State Routes 603 and 723, about 4 miles southeast of Blacksburg. Montgomery County is rife with Weavers, but I cannot match any I have yet found to this missive.
Front with message: www.flickr.com/photos/60861613@N00/11595778084/in/photost...