The wandering of a mind can be an interesting thing.
I received a large order of stamps today, and with it were some “free” items, which I appreciate a lot. Among them was this mourning cover, complete with card.
The envelope and card were commercially printed with black margins expressly for this type of purpose. The stamp is a 2 cent Washington portrait.
The card has a short note from the Shaw family to “gratefully acknowledge your kind expressions of sympathy.” The card was postmarked on 9 July, 1912, at 9pm. It was sent with no return address to Mr and Mrs M P Brown, in Rosedale, Kansas, and was annexed by Kansas City, Kansas, in 1922. I have no idea who they are or their relation to the Shaws.
(William) Robert Shaw was the person being mourned.
Robert was born on 11 June 1883, in Illinois, possibly in or near Amby, IL, where his brother was born in 1889.
He was the son of John Christian (or Coupland) Shaw (1837-1923) and Mary Ann Richardson (1851-1923), who immigrated from England in 1865. John was a railroad engineer.
Robert was the fourth child, and third son of the couple. His only younger sibling was a brother born in 1889.
He married Fay (unknown maiden name, born about 1884 in Kansas) sometime before 1910. They appear in the 1910 census for Kansas City, living with Robert’s parents.
Robert and Fay had one daughter, probably in late 1910 or 1911, since she does not appear on the 1910 census. The daughter is noted on the mourning card.
Robert died in his parent’s home, of tuberculosis on 29 June, 1912. His obituary appeared in the Kansas City Star on 30 June.
He was a resident of Lydia St, Kansas City, Missouri, at the time of his death. Like his parents, he was buried at Mount Saint Mary Catholic Cemetery, in Kansas City.
You never know!
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