“Thy Lord and My Defender” – Martinsburg, West Virginia (1912)

Mrs. Ida Wright lived in Martinsburg, an old city in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.

As the gateway to the Shenandoah Valley, Martinsburg was the scene of conflict in the French & Indian War, the American Revolution, and in the Civil War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinsburg,_West_Virginia

In April of 1912, Ida received an Easter postcard from Cousin Helen.

Helen mailed the postcard from Dudley, a small borough of Huntington County in south-central Pennsylvania. Dudley is about 75 miles north of Martinsburg.

In 1910, Dudley was twice as large as it was in 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley,_Pennsylvania

The face of the postcard is a floral frame within which an Easter verse is printed.

The verse commands the Sun to show forth all its radiance for Easter day:

“Sun shine forth in all thy splendor

Joyfully pursue thy way,

For thy Lord and my Defender,

Rose triumphant on this day”

I believe that the postcard was printed in the US, although I cannot find any identification of the publisher.

On the reverse, Cousin Helen relates that she received the card from Ida.

Helen wishes that “you could come to see us”.

Sadly, Helen reports that “Mother is not very well”.

We may assume that it is Ida’s aunt who is unwell.

Helen asks Ida to “let us hear from you soon”, and sends her love.

One hopes that Helen’s mother improved in heath, and that cousins Helen and Ida enjoyed a wonderful Easter season.

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