I have written about my maternal grandparents previously on this blog. Garth
Beckington was born in Spring (Garden Prairie), Boone County, Illinois and Edna Ella Childs was
born in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, Michigan. They met when Edna was visiting
her aunt and uncle, A. Gates and Mary A. Childs White, who lived near Garth's family. Garth and Edna
corresponded after she returned home, and married nine months later, on
February 28, 1906. They married in
Ypsilanti, but spent the next 3-4 years in Garden
Prairie, Illinois.
My grandmother became good friends with Julia Loveridge
Kleber. Julia and her husband, Charles, lived in Garden Prairie and also were newly
married. Charles and Julia would
eventually have five children, Lawrence, Ada, Norman, Elizabeth, and Raymond. While working on another project, I came across two postcard pictures that
Julia had send to Edna after Edna and Garth returned to Washtenaw County, where
they spent the rest of their lives.
The first photograph is of Julia and her first child,
Lawrence, and is dated January 18, 1909:
The second photograph is of Julia and her first two
children, Lawrence and Ada. There is no date:
I decided it was time to put these photographs in the hands
of the Kleber family. After spending some time doing research on this family, I sent a message to the Boone County mailing list. I received an answer almost immediately from
someone who went to high school with a grandchild of Julia and Charles
Kleber. He gave me an email that he
hoped would still work for this person. It did! I scanned the pictures, but sent the originals to him. He was very excited to receive them
and said they were the only pictures he had of his grandmother. He is in the
process of sharing them with other family members! How exciting is that?
I also heard from a man I had corresponded with in the past
from Boone County. He still lives in the Garden Prairie area and is connected
with the Boone County Historical Society. I sent him copies of the scanned
pictures and he is going to pass them on to the Society. Mission accomplished!!
Now - who is this couple? This picture was taken by photographer, E. J. Buss, in Genoa, Illinois.
