Viella Homsher Has A Birthday – Bartville, PA, 1911

In October of 1911, Mamie was in Philadelphia but she remembered the birthday of her friend in Bartville.

Bartville is a small community in Bart Township, in the southeastern region of Lancaster County.

The postcard sent to Viella was designed and copyrighted by John Winsch, a prolific postcard artist.

The illustration is composed of a medallion, featuring a charming rural scene, surrounded by a large array of blue blossoms – probably, forget-me-nots.

An unusual first name makes historical searches more efficient, and I found Viella quite easily in an internet search.

The Homsher family was prominent in colonial Chester County from which Lancaster County was later created.

John Homsher, Viella’s father, was a merchant and postmaster in Bartville.

The family was Presbyterian.

The family is described in the 1903 edition of “The Annals of Lancaster County”

Viella never married, and lived almost a century – from 1857 to 1953.

The Annals report that she was a woman possessing “more than the usual charms and graces.”

One hopes that Viella enjoyed this, her 54th, Birthday.