Miss Roxie Johnston lived in Neffs Mills, a populated place in Huntingdon County of central Pennsylvania.

This sparsely-populated area, between ridges of the Appalachian Mountains, is about 16 miles southwest of State College, PA.

Neffs Mills had a Post Office from 1894-1942.

https://roadsidethoughts.com/pa/neffs-mills-xx-huntingdon-genealogy.htm

Sometime in a year around 1910, Roxie was celebrating her birthday.

For the special day, she was given a postcard from her Aunt Anna.

The postcard was not mailed, so it may be that Aunt Anna lived nearby.

The face of the postcard is a beautiful drawing of a single red rose.

The lovely blossom is shown against a black backdrop.

On the stem, a note card is held by the leaves.

The message reads: “Loving Birthday Greetings”.

On the reverse, Aunt Anna wishes “many more happy returns of the day”.

In the GENEALOGICAL NOTE (below) we learn that Roxie became a beloved schoolteacher.

She saved this postcard in good condition throughout her very long life.

GENEALOGICAL NOTE

On June 16, 1893, Roxie Pearl Johnston was born in Huntingdon County, PA.

She was the daughter of Mordecai M. Johnston (1859-1894) and Emma Flora Hamer (1870-1963).

Roxie was an only child, as her father died the year after she was born.

(I wish we knew more about Emma who raised the child as a single mother,)

Roxie never married and lived in the same house through the census of 1940 (the last census released).

Roxie was a beloved schoolteacher – her grave notice includes a note of gratitude from a former student.

Roxie died in Petersburg (Huntingdon County) in February of 1988 – at the age of 94.

She is buried in the Moorestown Cemetery with her mother.  

Her father’s grave is separate – there is some indication that he had married previously to his marriage to Emma and had lost his first wife at age 23.

Roxie’s father, Mordecai Johnston, had a sister – Anna Francis Johnston (1868-1955).

This is “Aunt Anna” of the birthday postcard.

In January of 1893.Anna Johnston married Jacob Byron Eberle (1859-1946) in Huntingdon, PA.

Anna and Jacob had a son and a daughter, although the daughter may have died in childhood.

Anna Johnston Eberle is buried beside her husband in the Mooresville Cemetery of Huntingdon County, PA.

The graves of Aunt Anna and Roxie are not far apart.