I bought these postcards (postmarked 1911) on Ebay because, at first glance, they seemed to show the view from the hill where I think the
Bijou resort was located (now
Riverview Park). Once I received them and had a chance to look more carefully at them, I started doubting my first impression. But if not there — where?
(Click on images to enlarge)
"Bend of Deep River" — the Deep River has lots of bends, but one of the most significant is near Riverview Park, where there would also be a bridge carrying a road (now S.R. 51) over the river. But wouldn't you expect to see some evidence of "downtown" East Gary, if the photographer were on the Riverview Park hill pointing the camera more or less north?
He might not have been on a hill. He might have climbed somebody's windmill to get that aerial view.
I scanned these at 1200 dpi to bring out the details. The trees along the road have been planted at such regular intervals that, viewed from a distance against the road, they give the illusion of a line of railroad cars. In the second image (where you can see some farm outbuildings), there's a man working in the field near the right edge. I think the cattle are the same in both pictures — they just moved a bit while the photographer was adjusting the camera's position.
Here's what I get when I put the two images together through Hugin (free panorama software):
The location of the third postcard is even more of a mystery:
This one shows
two bridges over the Deep River. I can't tell if the far one is a road or a railroad.
Although there's a spot where Central Avenue crosses a river
near a railroad bridge, I can think of at least two problems in the way of identifying this image as showing those two bridges: one, the river by that point is the Little Calumet — the Deep River has already flowed into it and lost its own identity. (On the other hand, the photographer and the person who commissioned the photos might not have known or cared about exactly which river they were looking at.) Two, I'm not sure Central Avenue extended that far in 1911, or had such a nice bridge. Oh, and third, since even today this location is outside the Lake Station city limits, I'm not sure anyone in 1911 would have attached "East Gary" to the description. (On the other hand, it wasn't inside any other city, so why not attribute that scenic beauty to East Gary?)
♦ ♦ ♦Thanks to Steve Shook's research, we already have information about the
Crose Photo Co. But what about the person who commissioned the photos, W.E. Ashton?
I believe he was William E. Ashton, shown here in the
1910 Census:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.
As the proprietor of a general store, he might have wanted his own exclusive line of postcards.
William was born in Illinois and grew up in DuPage County, I gather. We find him in the
1870 Census in Downers Grove, his father describing himself as a day laborer, and in Hinsdale in the
1880 Census, by which time his father was working as a butcher.
The
1900 Census showed William out on his own, farming in Liberty Township, Porter County. His household included no family, but three boarders — all female; two widowed, one single. The single one was Mabel Lester,
[1] whom William married in 1901 (
Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index). A 1905 directory out of Valparaiso shows them still living along a rural route, and the 1906 plat map of Liberty Township shows their 30-acre farm (I hope I labeled the roads correctly):
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1906Plats/Liberty-1906.jpg.
It appears that the move to East Gary happened sometime between 1906 and 1910. Thus, the Ashtons' stay in East Gary probably was no more than 14 years, at most. The
1920 Census records them in Gary. William worked as a laborer then, employed by a "Bridge Works."
Assuming I've found the right people, by the
1930 Census William and Mabel had moved to Mississippi! There William described himself as a carpenter. Then they came to their senses and moved back to Indiana — to Hobart, in fact, where the
1940 Census recorded them living on West Third Street. William and Mabel described themselves as a retired owner/manager and clerk, respectively, of a grocery store. Later, they moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana (
1950 Census).
William died in 1951, Mabel in 1973, and they both were laid to rest in
Hobart.
♦ ♦ ♦
The three postcards were all sent by the same person. Here they are in the same order as above.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Ellen (last name/maiden name probably Carlson) first sent postcards to her mother, Mrs. J.A. Carlson, and her father (or stepfather), J.A. Carlson. Two days later she sent a third to her sister/maiden aunt/cousin/whatever, Miss Anna Carlson. I have found households with most of those names or initials, but none with all of them, so the Carlsons remain unidentified for now.
_______________
[1] One of the widowed boarders was Mabel's mother, Linna ("Linnie").
