Miss Grace Whteman lived in Phillipsburg, a town on the Delaware River in Warren County of northwest New Jersey.
This agricultural community was transformed into a center of commerce and freight-handling by the construction of a series of canals and then the development of the Central Railroad of New Jersey during the 18th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillipsburg,_New_Jersey
At Easter, in a year near 1908, Grace received a postcard from Bessie
The postcard was hand-delivered, so Bessie may have been a neighbor, classmate, or nearby relative.
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The face of the postcard is a charming drawing of two girls in a verdant pasture dotted with Spring flowers.
One of the figures appears older than the other; she wears a stylish outfit and a feathery hat.
The other figure is a girl in a red dress who is holding an over-size decorated egg.
Between the figures is a lamb with a bell around its neck.
In the distance, beneath a tree, an unusually-large rabbit is standing upright.
Beneath the scene, a printed legend communicates “Easter Greetings”.
The lovely postcard was printed in Europe, although I cannot identify a specific publisher.
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Although there is space for a message on the reverse, the sender has not written anything there.
On the face, the name “Bessie” is inscribed as would have been done before 1907.
Grace preserved the postcard in very good condition throughout her life.
One hoes that Grace and Bessie enjoyed a wonderful Easter and that they maintained a postcard correspondence for many years.
RESEARCH NOTE
There are census records for a “Grace Whiteman” in Phillipsburg, NJ between 1885 and 1930.
However, I have not found a comprehensive genealogical record of the Whiteman family.
The following is pieced together from various census records – which have some minor variation in ages and dates.
In 1885, Grace Whiteman appears on a New Jersey Census as the infant daughter of Jacob Whiteman and Kate Whiteman.
The family lives ii Philipsburg.
There is another adult, Carrie Whiteman, in the household.
There were six daughters and one son in the family.
In the 1930 census, Grace in living alone as the Head of Household in Phillipsburg.
Here, her father is not named, but identified as “Born in Germany”.
There are numerous persons named “Grace Whiteman” found in various places in the United States in subsequent years, but these are the only documents I found that identify a resident of Phillipsburg.
