Master Ellis Pierce lived in Walton, a charming village and town on the West Branch of the Delaware River in southern New York State.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_(town),_New_York

On his birthday in 1907, the boy received a postcard from Sunday School.

The postcard was signed by Mrs. Yendes, the Primary Superintendent.

(There are several historic churches in the village of Walton- we don’t know where Ellis may have joined the Sunday School.

On the face, an uncolored photograph of “A bit of still water by Walton, N.Y.”.

It is a serene composition.

Neither the photographer nor the publisher is identified, but I am confident that the photograph was produced locally.

On the reverse, Mrs. Yendes writes a birthday message to young Ellis:

“May your birthdays be many and happy, and your life useful…”

This is a kind of blessing that is rarely spoken today.

Ellis C. Pierce was born in 1903.

In 1940, he was married to Elma, and the couple had three sons.

One hopes that Ellis fulfilled the pious wish of his Sunday School teacher, and that he found the deep joy that comes from engaging in a “useful life”.