By happy coincidence, my mother, while researching our family, came across a post written at a genealogy website from someone looking for the family of Lillian Bradley. It turns out that this gentleman’s family bought Grandma Bradley’s house after Grandpa Bradley died, and she moved into a house two doors down. The house seems to have originally belonged to the Day family, from the mid- 1800s. Apparently, there were many artifacts left behind, ranging from Civil War antiques (donated to the Ypsilanti Museum) to Grandma Bradley’s grand piano (which was too big to fit out the door – apparently there had been some renovations since it was first moved in; it may still be there for all I know), to old postcards, such as the following:
to Mrs. H. T. Day, —- Miles St., Ypsilanti, Mich.
“Dear Aunt Ida, I have been unusaly busy this Easter but will write you soon now. I have been getting home about 9:30 or 10 every eve. Love to all
Clarissa
tell Aunt C.S. to write me.”
(I’ve obscured the address, as the house is still there and belongs to someone else now; it is not my intention to invade the privacy of anyone still living.)
It turns out that this kind person lives fairly close to where my mother lives, of all places.
It is truly amazing these days what you can find if only you start looking!
That “Gentleman” you refer to is me. We moved into the Miles St. house in 1960 and lived there almost ten years. I was 5 years old at that time and remember it as the most wonderful childhood any young boy could hope for.
I’m so delighted that Elyce found my posting, as I have wanted to return some of the items we found in the attic to the descendents of the Day family for some time now. The Internet can be truly amazing!
Thank you so much for sharing that with us! We do indeed live in an age of wonders. Any time you want to send anything, you can email me at juliecork -at- prodigy -dot- net. I also have the 4th of July postcard you scanned in for my mom, but I thought I’d save that for when the holiday comes around.
[...] his wife, Victoria. Rory grew up in the house that once belonged to my great grandmother, and had previously sent photos of some of the items he had found in the house while growing [...]