Vintage Postcard Mystery - Help me crack the Case!

[4reals]

Lou,

Based on the info you provided with his name Lewis (Lunis) Jones was born in Iowa in 1864. That would make him 46 years old at the time of the post cards, writing to a 22 year old Flossie. Whoa! In his defense, he was a widower and probably very lonely. In 1910 he appeared on the census in South Dakota as a laborer who was working at a brickyard. He was rooming with about ten other guys at the time. Based on the info shown on the census report I uncovered that his actual name is Grant Lewis Jones. This would explain why he ended most of his post cards with G.L. I wrongly assumed he was ending them J.L. (possibly for Jones Lewis). Grant Lewis Jones married Carrie Elizabeth Jones in 1879 in Iowa where they lived and were born. He was 38 at the time, she was 23. Seems he was into younger ladies. He also appeared as a laborer in the 1900 census and showed that they had been married for 3 years at that time. So, sometime between 1900-1909 his wife Carrie died and he hit the road for work. There isn't, however, any records of a death certificate for Carrie and I haven't been able to discover her maiden name. It appears that he and Carrie didn't have any kids but still not sure. If they did, he didn't take them with him on his travels looking for work. Still trying to find out what happened to him after 1910. He never went back to Iowa so I'm left to assume he kept moving around. If he remarried later it's possible he had kids later in life. We'll see....

[KCRfan1]

I too have hit a road block in 1910 with him. Sounds like he was a bit of a drifter. I'll keep looking, and am having some fun with this as well. I don't mind saying that I also like younger women

[4reals]

In Postcard #2 Lewis Jones says, "...as Norbeck made a trip North to 2 or 3 well rigs..."

Since we lost location of him in South Dakota in 1910, I looked at this comment and took a shot in the dark and did a North Dakota search and lo and behold I found "Lewis Jones" now drifting with a Mary S. Beard (Thiele) and a Carl Beard in a 1915 N. Dakota Census placing them in the township of Cut Bank in Bottineau County!

I am almost sure this is the right Lewis Jones as he mentions a "Carl" in postcard #5 saying, "Carl was saying he thought he seen you run by him the other day, so as I take most of the ball games I kept a watch for you but did not see you." Based on the records Carl would have been 11 yrs old when he may or may not have seen Flossie.

Side note I'll look more into is that this Mary Beard who Lewis is living with is a widow.

Here are the screenshots of my findings:

[4reals]

As for this Norbeck character who pointed me to North Dakota...all we know from the letters is his last name and that he works with "well rigs".

Lewis mentions in postcard #2 "...as Norbeck made a trip North to 2 or 3 well rigs, getting in at midnight. Some of the crops west are junk others are pretty good."

Well, I found him too. Norbeck is Enoch Norbeck aka Enock Norback of Platte, South Dakota in Charles Mix County. I found him along with his family on the 1920 Federal Census. How do I know it's him? His occupation on the census form is listed as "well drilling"

[4reals]

Originally Posted by 4reals

He never went back to Iowa so I'm left to assume he kept moving around. If he remarried later it's possible he had kids later in life. We'll see....

Another assumption I was wrong about. He DID move back to Iowa where he was born. I did a search of Lewis with Mary S. Beard and Carl Beard and located him on the 1925 Iowa Census living with them under the name LG Jones (similar to the way he initialed his postcards). They resided in Kossuth County Iowa and the census shows two interesting things...

...first, Lewis is still listed as single (no known kids). Second, Mary S. Beard is listed as his mother! That would mean Carl Beard is his brother. Lewis' father is listed as GT Jones. Not sure what to make of the different last names?

I also found Lewis (now listed as Louis) at the age of 51 still living with his mother Mary Beard, now 77, in Kossuth County, Iowa on the 1930 US Census. Carl no longer lives with them.

This is the last record I've been able to find of Lewis Jones or Mary Beard. I am left to assume Mary passed away before the next census. Lewis may have moved again or passed as well. At this point it's safe to assume neither Flossie Horning or Lewis Jones had any kids.

Not sure what to do at this point. Maybe try to trace younger brother Carl and see if he married and had kids to see if they'd be interested in these or give up the search and just keep them and call it an interesting experience.

My trial account with ancestry.com ends in less than a week so either way I'm running out of time.

[KCRfan1]

Joe,

You have given this a very noble effort, with the best of intentions to return items that were very personal ( at one time ). If either of them had children, the cards would be appreciated. But now with aunts, uncles, neices and nephews, most likely the items will not be appreciated. I would hang on to them, and now you have a great story about the parties involved.

Lou

[4reals]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

If either of them had children, the cards would be appreciated. But now with aunts, uncles, neices and nephews, most likely the items will not be appreciated.

I think you're right Lou, my wife had the same feelings towards it. Thanks for your help during this journey my friend, I appreciate it.

[4reals]

So, let me wrap a bow on this journey for those of you who followed it and wondered what came of it. I was gonna keep the cards but I needed closure for some reason on this (don't know why, weird huh?). Lewis Jones had a younger half brother named Carl Beard who was briefly mentioned in one of the postcards. Carl never had any kids (similar to Lewis and Flossie), however, Carl married a woman named Beulah in 1963. Carl died in 1993 and Beulah died in 2006. They had no kids together but Beulah had kids from a previous marriage, two of which are still alive today. I contacted one of them and explained my journey which they were fascinated by and told me a few stories they remembered about Carl. I shared with them my findings about Carl's past and his childhood and they were interested. I asked if they would like the postcards and they excitedly said yes and offered to pay me for them. I declined and said I was just happy to close the book on the journey. I sent a synopsis of my findings along with the postcards out to them this morning. THE END.

[cubsfan-budman]

Very cool...thanks for following up with an update!

[lahmejoon]

I just joined the boards and saw this thread. Fascinating! Very nice work!