108
June
Dear Sister
Havent heard from you for so long. I will send you a couple cards we took. Pa is — feeling very well again he is swelled in his adobenin and can eat much either, he has to have ice on it all the time It generly only last a couple days when he get it, but this time it is holding on longer. The rest of us are all well. The men folks are busy cultivating, corn looks pretty good although it could stand a little more rain.
Who
- “Sister” is Clara Marie “Mary” (Petersen) Brunken.
- “Pa” is Carsten Petersen, Sr.
- The message writer is Lucia Bertha “Lucy” Petersen[1].
- The woman in the picture is Lucia Bertha “Lucy” (Petersen) Griepentrog[2].
- The child in the picture is Lorena Ida Griepentrog, Lucy’s daughter[3].
What
The message states that Carsten Petersen, Sr., the father of Lucy and Mary, is experiencing abdominal pain requiring ice packs to get relief[4].
When
June[5] but no year is given. Probably 1920 assuming that Lorena is about three years old[6].
Where
Probably Platte Center, Nebraska[7].
Notes
- There is no signature. But the handwriting is that of Lucia Bertha “Lucy” Petersen as may be seen by comparison with other posts such as Lorena Ida Griepentrog, Lorena Ida Griepentrog – July 1917, and William Albert Griepentrog – Open Casket.
- To me, the woman in the picture looks like Lucia Bertha “Lucy” Petersen, but is very tired.
- To me, the child in the picture looks more like Lucy’s daughter, Lorena Ida Griepentrog , than her son, Harold Herbert Griepentrog.
- Carsten Petersen, Sr. died October 7, 1921.
- The June date is consistent with the references to the corn crop.
- Lorena Ida Griepentrog was born 11 May 1917.
- In the 1920 US Census for Platte Center Village, Lost Creek Township, Platte, Nebraska taken on 5 January 1920, Lucy and her children were living with her father, Carsten Petersen, Sr., in Platte Center, Nebraska.
