Esquire Coffinberry's Great-Grand-Niece

  PART 6: The Young Ladies in the Back Young Adult Mennonite Group Attends  Farmington Chautauqua, August 1910 By Elizabeth Hervey Osborn Part 1  --   Part 2  --  Part 3  --  Part 4  -- Part 5 -- Part 6 -- Part 7 -- Part 8 The next three parts highlight each of the nineteen young people in turn, with a close-up [1] from the photograph and some basic information about their lives, and perhaps another photo or newspaper clipping for some event. If you knew these young people, or if you have additional information about their lives, please feel free to share in the comment section. In parentheses after each name are found identification numbers from publicly available genealogical resources. The first number given is the  identifier from Altleiningen Krebills  [2], as the vast majority of this group is listed in or married to someone listed in that book. Next, where appropriate, is the GRanDMA [3] ID number for the person. Famil...

  PART 3: Chautauqua -- The Original TED Talk [ 1] Young Adult Mennonite Group Attends Farmington Chautauqua, August 1910 By Elizabeth Hervey Osborn Part 1  --   Part 2  --  Part 3  -- Part 4 -- Part 5 -- Part 6 -- Part 7 -- Part 8 “The most American thing in America,” Teddy Roosevelt supposedly said [2] , was the Chautauqua Movement. Before the days of internet, television, radio, and moving pictures, rural folk had a strong appetite for more knowledge on important cultural, political, and philosophical matters of the day. In the years following the United States Civil War, Methodist church leaders concerned about the quality of adult education organized an annual gathering of Sunday School teachers near Chautauqua Lake, New York, where they brought in the best thinkers and speakers they could find. The gatherings at Chautauqua Lake became an “educational and cultural retreat” for idea-thirsty people of many denominations. [3] Sharp-eyed businessm...

  PART 1: Aunt Roberta's Treasure Young Adult Mennonite Group Attends Farmington Chautauqua, August 1910 By Elizabeth Hervey Osborn Part 1 --   Part 2  -- Part 3 -- Part 4 -- Part 5 -- Part 6 -- Part 7-- Part 8 July 2, 2022. Cantril, Iowa . — First thing in the morning Aunt Roberta waved me over to see a treasure she had brought to the family reunion: “A picture of my Grandma and Grandpa,” she beamed, “I knew you’d want to see it.”  Looking closer I saw nineteen young people gathered for an outdoor group photograph . T he dresses, Edwardian hair styles and bows, the ties and hats suggested the year might be somewhere around 1910. Who was this group? Turning it over and tipping it carefully in the light, my aunt pointed to names in careful pencil script on the back, then returning to the picture we found her grandparents, counting “First on the left standing… fourth from the left sitting in front.”   “Group attended Cha[u]tauqua at Farmington I...

PART 2: Farmington, Iowa Young Adult Mennonite Group Attends Farmington Chautauqua, August 1910 By Elizabeth Hervey Osborn Part 1 --   Part 2  --  Part 3  -- Part 4 -- Part 5 -- Part 6 -- Part 7 -- Part 8 North of the Des Moines River, near where the border between Iowa and Missouri leaves the  river valley to shoot westward over rolling hills, rests the village of Farmington, Iowa. At the turn of the 20 th century more people lived in Farmington [1] than in the county seat [2] sixteen miles upriver, its prominence fueled by the modern electric light plant, woolen mill, pants factories, flour mills, repair shops, coal mines, quarries, and several vinegar and pickle factories, in addition to the general agriculture of the region. [3] Two passenger and freight lines intersected downtown. The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad (the “Burlington Route”) served routes east and west. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (the “Rock Island”) ran ...