Mr. Bernard Decker lived in Germantown, a town on the east bank of the Hudson River in east-central New York State.

The area around Germantown has a remarkable history of Moravian settlers living among Mohican peoples and learning the Mohican language.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germantown,_New_York

On December 24 of 1910, Bernard received a Christmas postcard from Helen F.

Helen mailed the postcard from Mount Vernon, a city in southern Westchester County of southeast New York State.

Once the center of a cooperative endeavor to build homes for “tradesmen, employees, and other persons of small means”, Mount Vernon is now a residential suburb of New York City.

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The face of the postcard is a medallion drawing of a road curving around a group of stone buildings including a tall tower and a handsome church.

The dull skies and the dusting of snow reflect the winter season.

A broad border of icicles and sprigs of holly enclose the scene.

Beneath the artwork, bright red letters proclaim, “Best Christmas Wishes”.

The postcard was published by the English firm of Raphael Tuck & Sons; it was printed in Saxony.

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On the reverse, Helen writes, “Wishing you a peaceful Christmas and New Year”.

In the Research Note (below), we learn that Bernard was 17 years old and living with his parents in Germantown when he received the postcard.

RESEARCH NOTE

There are gaps in the recorded life events of Bernard C. Decker – suggesting a very interesting life.

On October 22, 1893, Bernard Caleb Decker was born in New York State.

He was the son of Harvey Simeon Decker (1869-1938) and Katherine A. Lynk (1870-1952)

Harvey and Katherine were married in the year Bernard was born.

Bernard was the oldest of three children – he had a brother (Clark} and a sister (Laura).

(Laura became a beloved High School teacher in Germantown, and Clark worked for the New York Central Railroad.)

On the federal census records of 1900 and 1910, Bernard is living in Germantown, NY.

Bernard appears on a muster list of New York men who served in World War I, although I could not find the specific record of his service.

In 1920, Bernard is recorded in the US Canal Zone in Panama.

Three years later, in August of 1923, Bernard married Gladys Leona Miller (1899-1976) in Germantown, NY.

The couple had no children, and lived in Germantown through 1935.

By 1940, Bernard and Gladys are living in Richmond Virginia.

Bernard died in Richmond in December of 1941 – he was 48 years old.

Bernard was buried with his parents (his mother outlived him) and other family members in the Livingston Cemetery in Columbia County, NY

It is not clear what happened to Gladys in the 35 years of her life after Bernard died.

Gladys died in San Diego, California in January of 1976,

It may be that she lived with her younger sister, Beulah, who is buried with her in Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego.

(Beulah Maude Miller Avery was the subject of several newspaper stories in her youth -due to her reputed psychic powers and X-ray vision.

When made the subject of a controlled scientific study, she was found to be an intelligent girl with an acute ability to read facial and social cues.)