Four Generations Together, 1955

After some fairly heavy-duty research and blogging about the Chatteris Casbons, I’m ready for something a bit lighter.

Thanks to cousin (fourth, once removed) Mark Casbon, for contributing these photos and allowing me to share them with you.

This photo is a treasure! It shows four generations, beginning with Amos James Casbon (1869–1956), Vernon Lloyd Casbon (1904–1980), James Carroll Casbon (1930–1994), and baby Mark Casbon (b. 1955). Vernon was Amos and Carrie (Aylesworth, 1873–1958) Casbon’s third child and second son. James was Vernon’s third child and second son from his first marriage, to Lucille Frame (1902–1935). James was married to Shirley (Rust), and Mark was their second child.

We can tell that the photo was taken only a few months after Mark’s birth. I think I’ve been able to date it precisely, thanks to this social news column in the Valparaiso Vidette-Messenger that kept track of all the comings and goings in Boone Grove, Indiana.^[1]

The article is dated Friday, November 25, 1955 (about 2 months after Mark was born). It tells us that Amos, Vernon, James and his son (presumably Mark), along with a number of other family members, were all present at Amos’ home the preceding Sunday, which would have been November 20^th. The “Boone Grove and Vicinity” column was a regular feature in the Vidette-Messenger. There are many issues of the column that show either Vernon or James visiting at Amos’ home, but this is the only one I found that shows them all together. I wonder if everyone was there to see the new baby? What do you think – does Mark look like he could be about two months old? How about that hair!

Amos looks very relaxed, like he might have just come in from doing chores. Vernon looks relaxed as well – a proud grandfather! He’s dressed like the businessman he was. His 1980 obituary reports that “he was vice-president and general manager of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. here [Plymouth, Indiana] and was associated with the company for 53 years.”^[2] James looks pretty serious, or maybe just tired and dazed with a newborn in the house.

The photo looks like it might have been professionally processed, with the periphery faded out. I really like the wallpaper. Do any family members recognize it?

Here is another photo from Mark, showing Vernon on horseback, firing a pistol. Vernon is on the right. The other man is unidentified.

The date and location of the photograph are unknown, but Mark thinks it was taken in North Dakota. Vernon looks like he might be in his late teens or early twenties, so it was probably taken in the early 1920s. The horses look like they’re not too happy about the shooting!

Thanks again to Mark. I welcome the gift of old photos. They help to bring Our Casbon Journey to life.

UPDATE: I’ve written about George Casbon of Canada in two posts: “George Casbon – A Canadian Mystery,” and “New Document Breaks through a Brick Wall.” George was one of some 130,000 children sent to British Commonwealth countries for resettlement, beginning in the 1850s and lasting into the 1970s.^[3],[4] An effort to recognize the contributions of these children to Canada’s heritage culminated last week (Wednesday, February 7, 2018) in a unanimous vote by the Canadian Parliament to declare September 28^th of every year as British Home Child Day.^[5] It’s nice to know that George’s life will be commemorated in this way.

^[1] Mrs. Arthur Rampke, “Boone Grove and Vicinity,” Valparaiso (Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 25 Nov 1955, p. 10, col. 3; online image, Newspaper Archive (accessed through participating libraries : 10 February 2018).
^[2] “Obituaries – Vernon L Casbon,” Kokomo (Indiana) Tribune, 12 Dec 1980, p. 7, col. 3; online image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/2673086/ : accessed 10 February 2018).
^[3] “Child Migration History,” Child Migrants Trust (http://www.childmigrantstrust.com/our-work/child-migration-history/ : accessed 17 April 2017).
^[4] “Barnardo’s Children,” p. 8, PDF download, Barnardo’s (http://www.barnardos.org.uk/barnardo_s_children_v2.pdf : accessed 17 April 2017).
^[5] “British Home Child Day, Sept. 28, enshrined nationally,” Nation Valley News (Chesterville, Ontario, Canada), 9 Feb 2018 (https://nationvalleynews.com/2018/02/09/british-home-child-day-sept-28-enshrined-nationally/ : accessed 10 February 2018).