IF THIS HOUSE COULD TALK -- Blog #9

The oldest, Tinnie Ludowine, was born June 26, 1877. Jennie Lucy was born two years later on June 14, 1879. Charles John Daniel, the youngest, was born June 9, 1881.

Tragically, Sylvia did not see the children grow to adulthood. She died of consumption April 3, 1883, just months before the children’s 6th, 4th and 2nd birthdays.

Charles was left to raise his young children. He did so as a single parent, not remarrying. He would try to be both a mother and father to them.

In the first years after Sylvia’s death, Charles’ nieces Jennie and Ludowine Schmidt (sister Jane’s early 20s daughters) stepped in to provide love, care, and guidance to their young cousins. They alternated staying at the house every other week. Thank goodness, because I really don’t know what Charles would have done. Charles worried about what would happen to his children if he should die. Mindful of what happened to Sylvia when she was orphaned at age nine years, he would ask, “Can the home sustain itself and the children be kept here together?” Sylvia and her siblings were separated and Sylvia lived with an abusive aunt.

Mr. Newcomb’s photos help us remember the children’s early years. The top left photo of Tinnie, Charles J.D., and Jennie was taken in 1882, six months before Sylvia’s death. The top right photo from 1887 shows Tinnie (9), Charles J.D. (5) and Jennie (7) wearing the lockets they were given Christmas 1883 as a remembrance of “Mama.” In the bottom photo from November 1895, Tinnie (18), Charles J.D. (14), Jennie (16) and Charles (54) are in front of the east bay window in what Charles calls “the dearest room in the house,” Sylvia’s favorite of my rooms.