Mildred Bloss is Carrie Bloss' daughter, not Roses'

I have wondered how we ended up with 14 kids for Rose and Richard Bloss when they reported on two different Censuses that they had 10 of 12 total children living.  If my count is right, they had 11 of 14 kids living in each census-- 1910 and 1920.  So I knew there were two kids listed with them that weren't their kids.  (Interestingly, Mildred is not listed with the family in 1900 when she would have been 6 years old.  Where was she?)

When I found Carrie's obituary, it named the surviving siblings to Carrie.  Instead of listing Mildred as a sister to Carrie, it named Mildred as the only surviving daughter to Carrie.  That was big!  I wanted to confirm this, as there could be two Mildreds-- a Mildred Lind (Carries' daughter) and a Mildred Bloss (Rose and Richards' daughter.)  After all, in those two Censuses I already mentioned, Mildred is listed as the daughter to Richard.  And there are a handful of papers that are addressed to Mildred Lind (the ones claiming Carrie's life insurance policy payout.)  So what was going on?

The confirmation came when I looked for a letter in the many papers that survived these two women.  (Remember that I have the effects of Mary Sophia, Rose, Carrie and Mildred.)   I wanted to see how they viewed each other.  I needed to find a letter written to or from 'Mildred Bloss' not 'Mildred Lind', and it needed to be written to or from Carrie.  I found that letter-- from Mildred to Carrie, with that written clearly on the envelope.  The letter is addressed simply, 'Dear Mother.'  I'll post it here.

Interestingly, Mildred refers to Rose as 'Ma' in her letter and Carrie as 'Mother.'  

So Mildred was born to Carrie and given the name of Bloss for a last name.  That would imply that there was no marriage prior to her birth.  Carrie would have been 21 years old, still living at home and helping her mom quite a bit.  The letters all describe Carrie as a big help to her mother.  I would surmise that Mildred was pulled right into the household and raised along with Carries younger siblings.  After all, Rose and Richard went on to deliver another child or two.  The last one was born when mother Rose would have been almost 45 years old!  Carrie would have been 25 years old at the time.

There is another child in the family that really belongs to a different family.  I suspect it is Willie, born in 1896 and died just a few months later.  He's buried in a different place in the cemetery, away from Rose, Richard, Carrie, Oscar, and the two children that died in their early childhood-- Archie and Kate.  He's about 40 feet away, and his name isn't on the large Bloss monument either.  Remember that Rose reported 10 of 12 kids living in 1900.  We have the names of the two who passed away on their family stone as Archie and Kate.  Does Willie really belong with someone else? Has he been lumped in with Rose and Richard without really having any idea that he belongs there?

Olive delivered 2 children and gave them the last name of Bloss-- Leland in 1901 and Margery in 1904.  Did she also deliver Willie in 1896?  Or did Carrie deliver him, as this was just 2 years after Mildred's birth.  Is there a birth record for him?  Many of them were destroyed by fire.  It's something to look into.  Until then, we can see what these letters reveal about any other mislabeled kids.

Carrie Bloss Lynde's Postcards-- need help identifying senders!!!

Through a kind gift from a distant relative, I am now in possession of a pile of letters, documents, post cards and photographs once owned by Carrie Bloss Lynde.  I am learning a great deal about these dear relatives of mine as I read these old documents.  I thought I'd scan these in and see if anyone else knows who these people are.  I color corrected these these to make the writing stand out more, so excuse the weird colors.

Some of the people who wrote these messages are unknown to me.  The most mysterious is a 'cousin' named Carrie.  She wrote very detailed post cards to our Carrie, seeming to know a lot about the family.

An alarming note on the middle postcard reads, "Elva was here a few minutes yesterday and she said Cole came home and she did not believe that he would have more than a few days to live.  Is that true?"  I don't know who Cole is either!  He is mentioned in several post cards by others to Carrie, usually in connection with Olivia 'Ollie' Bloss.  Is he her son?  Or another husband?  She married first to a Peter Broman in 1896 then a William White later.  

These postcards are from a cousin named 'Lilla'.  Speaks of her mother who's leg got better but then her arm and shoulder broke out with sores.  January and March of 1910.  Postmarked Union City, PA.  

These are from a cousin named May, who signed one of these as from May and Gene.  Who is she?  She writes from Corry PA.  Cards dated 1908-1910.

These postcards are from Eva Bloss, cousin of Carrie.  Who is she?  How does she relate?  She wrote these from Corry, PA.  Postmarked 1909.

More cousins wrote Carrie.  Help me figure them out:  The top one, Allene or Altrene or Alliene, wrote about Mildred from Erie PA.  Not 100% sure she's a cousin.  The middle one-- cousin Grace mentions a Clifford and an Anna in 1908;  The bottom one-- cousin Mabel writes from Union City, PA in 1911.   

The top one was written by a 'Coon' in 1912.  Guessing he's a little boy, who does he belong to?  Later he is linked to 'Gust' and I am assuming that's a relative of Oscar Lynde, Carrie's husband, because the name Gust appears often in his family.  The middle one is signed Enga dated 1910 posted in Polar Bluff, Missouri. The bottom one was posted in 1908 from Watsonfarms, PA.     It's signed Manda and Maze?  Can't really make it out.  Friends of Carrie?