Postcard from the past delivered

A postcard from the past has resurfaced at the Jackson County Register of Deeds Office – almost 64 years after it was mailed from Spain.

The postcard is dated Feb. 25, 1959, and is addressed to Winifred M. Nelson, county superintendent, Holton, Kansas, U.S.A and was written by Marguerette Hill. The address does not include a street address or zip code. 

The postcard, which is believed to have been sent from Madrid, Spain, reads:

Mrs. Nelson, 

Arrived in Madrid Tuesday 24th. Have seen so many interesting places and met wonderful people. Am enjoying every minute of my stay in this lovely old city. Do want to thank you for helping make this trip possible by forwarding my school records so promptly requested by my Aunt Goldia Bourm.

Sincerely, Marguerette Hill

Register of Deeds Tammy Moulden said that Nelson was the county superintendent of schools in 1959. 

“It (the postcard) was just in with our daily mail the Tuesday after Christmas,” Moulden said. “It actually arrived in the county clerk’s box, but they handed it off to us because it spoke about school records. When all of the one-room school houses here unified, all those records were deposited here at the register of deeds office.”

The front of the postcard is a photo from the Four Seasons fountain in Madrid, according to information printed on the back of the postcard. 

At the top of the foundation is a statute of Apollo, the sun god, and below are sculptures of the four seasons. 

Between records in the register deeds office and assistance from Anna Wilhelm of the Jackson County Historical Society, Register of Deeds office personnel have learned more about those mentioned in the postcard.

Hill, who sent the postcard, was born Sept. 15, 1908 in Emmett. She would have been 50 years old when she sent the postcard. Her parents were James Edgar Hill (born 1879) and Anna May Bourm Hill (1885-1969). 

Her spouses may have been Wayne John Meeks (died 1982) and then Carey Lee Burroughs (died 1991), according to the register of deeds office. 

A Marguerette Hill Burroughs is listed as being buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Oskaloosa after her death on May 31, 1983. 

Bourm, Hill’s aunt, was a teacher at various school districts in the county for 52 years from 1914 to 1966, including Delia, Sunny Brooke, Stoney Point, Miller, Cedar Grove (Tutt) and Nieve. 

She was a lifelong resident of Emmett and died in 1978 at the age of 89, according to an obituary. 

Winifred Moorhead Nelson was a longtime Holton resident who died at the age of 90 on Dec. 8, 1978, according to her obituary, which was printed on the front page of the Dec. 11, 1978, edition of The Holton Recorder.

To read the rest of the article, please subscribe to The Holton Recorder. 

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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