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| Postcard Sent New Year's Eve, December 31, 1913 |
by Mary Katherine May of QualityMusicandBooks.com.
Interesting enough is the colorful illustration on the cover. Interesting, too, is that Viola Johnson, to whom the postcard is addressed, along with her parents and siblings, can be identified with a fair amount of certainty.
from Eleva Wisconsin, December 31, 1913
RFD H1, Osseo Wis.
Dear Friend
I recd the card you Orlando sent to me sometime ago. I would like to come up there pretty soon. Did your ___ get that letter I sent to her. Happy new to all from Stella.
Violet Johnson
Violet Johnson, daughter of Gust and Martha Erickson Johnson, can be documented through a Wisconsin history website, History of Trempealeau County, 1917 (scroll down to Gust G. Johnson). Viola was one of seven or eight children, depending upon if you take the number of children the article cites, or count the children, which adds up to eight. Orlando, also noted in the postcard message, was a brother to Viola.
Most interesting, though, is how Eleva, Wisconsin, got it's name!
How New Chicago Wisconsin turned into Eleva Wisconsin
Eleva, Wisconsin, is located along the Buffalo River in Trempealeau County. The story of how the small town of Eleva, Wisconsin, got its name may make the reader smile. Originally named New Chicago by R.P. Goddard of Mondovi, the painters had not finished painting the letters on the new grain elevator when winter set in. When newcomers to the town saw ELEVA on the elevator, they assumed it was the name of the town. Eleva, with a population of less than one thousand, is still an active town.
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