Printed in Germany
Dear Cousin
Dear Cousin, We arrived home safe and it has been winter ever since. Old Santa is coming to our church Friday eve. and we are anxious to see him. Come out and see us and we will take a sleighride. ~Ivan Vannroy
A happy Christmas “meow” to you! The lightly embossed kittens send young Donald Minor of Greene County, Pennsylvania wishes for a joyous Christmastide. The publisher’s mark is right below the right kitty and reads “Painting only. Copyrighted by S. Garre, New York 1909.” Small print on the back indicates that the Series #1064 postcard was printed in Germany.
The note’s salutation led me on a goose-chase to find the connection between Donald and Ivan. The postmark is stamped Tama, Iowa, December 22, 11 am, 1909. While some Pennsylvania Minors migrated west to Ohio, Illinois and Iowa in the mid-1800s, I haven’t seen the name Vannroy in any family documents.
Finally, exasperated, I took the shortcut offered at the Thomas Minor (The Immigrant) Society web page, searching the site by surname. Within the descendant surname list I spotted the family name: VANNOY. When I plugged this spelling into Ancestry’s search engine I confirmed the Thomas Minor Society’s information.
The Story Unfolds
Francis Marion Minor had three children older than Donald’s father, Robert. John P. was the eldest, then Olfred (whose son Carl also wrote to Donald), then there was Sarah Priscilla. Sarah married Mark Herrington and had Beatrice Jane. Beatrice Jane married John Vannoy and had little Ivan in 1906. They are cited as living in Tama, Iowa in the 1910 census.
Behind this pair of kitten’s lies a family story wherein Sarah’s daughter Beatrice marries and moves west to Iowa. In the fall of 1909 Bedie traveled home with her family, including young Ivan, returning to Iowa before winter set in. The Christmas kittens were then sent in three-year-old Ivan’s name to six-year-old Donald, the cousin with whom he had played during his Pennsylvania visit.
A Joyous Christmastide to you and yours!
Shoots, Roots, and Leaves 