Having never been to Trenton, NJ where many of my husband's paternal ancestors lived for quite some time, it is hard to get a feel for the area. Since there are no family pictures from his father's side of the family I can't look back that way either. I have been lucky to find a couple of old pictures by purchasing a subscription to the historical archives of the Trenton Times for which I am thankful.
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| Broad Street, Trenton, NJ Postmarked 1909 |
Another way I have recently found to get an idea of the times these ancestors lived in is to buy old postcards. I have been lurking on eBay and bidding on those of interest. Just last night I lost out on one of Mercer Hospital where both his grandfather and great-grandfather both worked as doctors. That really hurt, but I have to believe I will come across another one! Here is one I recently bought with a postmark of 1909 depicting a typical scene on Broad Street. My husband's great-grandfather,
Dr. Elmer H. Rogers, well-known, respected doctor and city physician of Trenton
died in 1907, but this is close enough to give me an idea of how he must have driven about daily in his horse and buggy, navigating the streets of Trenton. Evidently this undertaking could be quite precarious and tricky. See the stories below.
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| Trenton Times 18 Aug 1888 |
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| Trenton Times 7 Nov 1903 | | |
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| Trenton Sunday Advertiser 13 Dec 1903 |
It sounds like Dr. Rogers' horse was a bit of a free spirit. I never really thought much about the fact that accidents were prevalent in the horse-and-buggy days.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about it either - I guess commuting has never been easy!
ReplyDeleteHi there!.....Came across your site while researching my own family.....I was born in Trenton in 1942......my dad and his father as well ......and even on my mothers side...My great paternal grandfather was born in Ireland. I am truly enjoying this research....It is only hit and miss for me so far, but fascinating...! My great uncle (mothers side )had Pierce's Garage and later Pierce Van Lines in Trenton.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your hard work.........because YOUR hard work brought back many good memories.
Thank you Laurie, I appreciate your kind words. I've been a little busy lately and not been keeping up with my posting, but plan to post more in the future. Hope you will stop by again! Hope you will keep at your genealogy research - it is very rewarding!
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