Mr. Daniel Stottlemyer lived in Williamsport, a town in Washington County of west-central Maryland.
Developed on an indigenous trail that linked New York State to the Carolinas, Williamsport was visited by the thousands of European settlers who followed that path to Virginia and points south and west;
This trail through Williamsport became the “Great Wagon Road” during the last half of the 18th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wagon_Road
In 1834, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal reached Williamsport, and the town was able to ship produce to Washington, DC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamsport,_Maryland
Daniel was receiving mail in care of John Palmer, so Dan may have been a boarder or a hired man.
We will learn more about Mr. Stottlemyer – I have a half-dozen postcards that were mailed to him.
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In June of 1908, Daniel received a postcard from Stella.
Stella mailed the postcard from Myersville, a small town in Frederick County of north-central Maryland.
In 1904, Myersville was connected by the Blue Ridge Trolley to the city of Hagerstown, about 15 miles to the northwest.
Williamsport is more than 19 miles northwest of Myersville.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myersville,_Maryland
The face of the postcard is an original drawing of an Alpine scene.
Entitled, “High up in the Swiss Alps”, the artist depicts a snow-burdened evergreen tree on a steep slope.
(One hates to quibble with an imaginative work of art, but “high” in the Swiss Alps would be above the tree line.)
The postcard was published by the German American Novelty Company; it was printed in Germany.
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On the reverse, Stella addresses Mr. Stottlemyer as “Dan”.
She asks, “Did you get over last Saturday “.
Stella reports that she was “up”, “but did not get out of the buggy”.
It is not clear what kind of event or gathering occurred last Saturday.
Dan was not seen by Stella, but she imagines that “…you and Miss Alice had quite a chat again!”
In closing, Stella acknowledges a card recently received from Dan and she describes it as “a pretty one”.
We will meet Stella again – she and Dan appeared to have regular exchange of postcards.
Dan saved this one throughout his lifetime.
