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.
