1920's Titusville

H.C. Jepsen home, Titusville, Fl date unknown, possibly 1915, the year Edwina and Harry married.

A letter from Titusville, 1921

I am fortunate to have a copy of a letter written by my great grandmother. Though it is just a really bad copy of the original, I am so pleased to have it, especially since we do not have a single photo of my Great Grandmother. This letter contains details of my grandparents, Harry and Edwina Jepsen in 1921 Indian River City, Florida. It is my summation that at some point, my Aunt Julia, the recipient, made a copy for her sister. Unfortunately, it is a very poor Xerox copy. Much of the letter is not legible, including the signature. For me, though it's a given that it is signed, Mother or Mama.

The 1920 Florida census record shows each adult mentioned in this letter to be in the Harry Jepsen household. I believe the following letter to be written by Kelon Fleming Wilson Weaver. Kelon, Edwina’s mother was born in 1872 Alabama and died in1926, five years after the letter was written. She is buried in Mims, Florida, just north of Titusville.

There is some helpful information to know as you read my transcription. Kelon refers to Edwina as “Ed”. She writes of her son Tom. She also mentions her daughter Euphamia (Aunt Femie). The children in the household are not mentioned in the letter. DeVerde (Aunt Vergie) is Kelon’s youngest daughter, Edwina’s baby sister. Grace says that a woman they referred to as “Mammie” watched after Bruce and Christina. Mammie must not have been living in the household since there is no mention of her in the census record.

In order to fully understand the letter, I would need to see the original, if it still exists, but I do have details that allow us a glimpse into their lives. Hopefully, I’ll be able to meet with cousins one of these days and possibly get a better copy made. Yeah, Florida trip! So here’s the letter with the transcription following. I welcome your comments.

Kelon to Julia 1921

 

Transcription 1921 Letter

Titusville, Florida, Aug 12, 1921, Kelon to her daughter Julia

Dear Julia,

Your welcome letter arrived yesterday.  Was getting right anxious to hear from you.  Well I have never heard of so cheap board you had better stay there as long as they will let you.

I had a telegram from Tom Monday morn saying he would be home on 5th.  There was joy in the land.  He had to get on or stay in.  The wages were cut and the food bill cut by 20 per cent so while going was good he got.  Am sure glad he did, as he is so thin it makes him look taller.  He is well and so happy to get out.  We don’t know what he will do just yet.  He has a ______ discharge.  Character and deferment perfect.  Sobriety and Work perfect.  He is looking around.  He has no love of fishing, something will turn up.  They clipped his head when he first went in, never been cut since and it’s pretty short now and thin, is nearly bald on top.  He’s driving Ed’s car, sleeping at her house.  They eat dinner and supper here.  Harry left for Atlanta Sunday ______, ______.  Left with Bill and wife, all have gone to sanatorium for ten days.  Bill has been there before, knows the roads and after they get settled out they visit her sister.  Harry says he will go in country some place and drink ________ milk and rest.  Ed is in store all the time, very busy.  She is entire manager as Jepsons have bought it all. 

Last week I had a letter from Euphamia saying she was packing to leave for Ft Worth that night as D___ was leaving for Oklahoma and she was going with him.  Said she would write as soon as they stopped.  No news yet, looking for letters everyday.

Mr. Jno Walker died last Wednesday night about ten minutes after getting home from a A____meeting.  Heart failure.  He was buried Sunday at 3:30.  The children and relatives gathered from the far winds.  There were over twenty five hundred dollars worth of flowers from everywhere.  I never saw so many and such pretty ones.  You know he was a member of everything.  Three or four lodges buried him, some from house to church, others from church to grave.  The band furnished music.  Also had special song solos as well as a big selected quire.  It sure hurt us all, he was such a good fellow to everybody.

Well I know of no house yet.  Tell me when you want it and how much pay and I will try further.  Dr. Coffers has gone, haven’t seen about his house yet.  The Robins house in front of schoolhouse is to let.  T____has the big _____ house soon as Jepsons get out.  Mary Mitchell’s dad, they say is moving down to Merritt, how about their house.  I know little, later there will be none anywhere so hurry and say. 

Lots of love to all of you,

_____________________

The 1920 Titusville, Fl. Census

Harry C. Jepson household

Harry, age 30, Manager

Edwina, age 24

Bruce, age 3

Christina, 11/12 (11 months)

William Weaver, age 41, fisherman

Kelon Weaver, age 43

Euphamia Wilson, age 19 (Aunt Femie) Citrus grove worker

Tom Wilson, age 16 (Uncle Tom), fisherman

DeVerde Wilson, age 14 (Aunt Vergie)

Harry is head of household. He owns a furniture and hardware store.

Harry and Edwina have been married 5 years.

_______________________

Harry gives his correct age. He was born in 1889 and at the time the census was taken, he had not yet celebrated his 31^st birthday. Edwina tells the census taker she is 24 years of age. Those of us, who knew her, were very much aware of her tendency to lie about her age. My mother, Grace still questions me on this subject. Unfortunately, we will never have a birth certificate for her, as the 1890 Alabama records were destroyed in a fire. With the other census records in mind and Edwina’s 1978 death certificate showing her age to be 87, I’ve concluded that she was born in1890. This makes her age 30 in 1920.

Bruce with baby Christina, Titusville, Fl. about 1920

 

Let’s talk about Harry

“Harry left for Atlanta”, and “all have gone to Sanatorium for ten days”, indicates Edwina’s ability to manage things in her husband’s absence, but what does it tell us about Harry? Did Harry simply work too hard and needed a break, or had he been ill and was in need of a health remedy? Had he been drinking too much and needed to sober up?

Harry Christopher Jepsen, Titusville, Fl. Early 1900's

“Jepsons have bought it all”, gives us a bit of truth to the family story of lost wealth. It also gives us an idea of Harry as a businessman and family man. His father, Peter Jepson was a widower in 1920. The census shows him living with Harry’s sister, Ann and her husband and son. Peter was not a widower for long, though; he remarried in 1921 and died in Titusville in 1923. He was the Danish pioneer, banker; community leader and land developer. Our Aunt Chris had vivid memories of his elaborate funeral service. The Nebraska pioneer will be another post. I have a good amount of detail on the Peter Jepson family. Grace has always said that Edwina and Harry didn’t care much for the second wife. They had been in a fortunate economic situation, but after the Patriarch died and the estate went into probate court, Harry’s older brother and the second wife were appointed executors. It was at that time that Harry and Edwina lost the furniture store.

At left possibly one of Edwina's sisters, Edwina in the middle and Harry at right in front of the Jepsen Furniture Store, Titusville, Fl. early 1900's

In Florida, the great depression came early in 1926, when much of Miami, Dade County was destroyed by a hurricane. It has been called a “pinprick” in the bubble of the Florida real estate boom. Harry had purchased a lot of land along the east coast, including land known as Dade County. This puts much of his investment into land- that had been destroyed and deemed unfit for habitation. The story from Aunt Chris was that Edwina asked for help from family to pay the taxes on that land but no one was willing to invest in it, calling it "nothing but swamp land". But I do think that the Dade County land was the last bit of land that Edwina sold. I have deeds and correspondence letters. The Jepson real estate will be another post. I think that Peter’s death and the estate going to probate in 1923, was the first “pinprick” in the Jepson family bubble. Financially, the hurricane was another pinprick and then the stock market crash in 1929.

So we get a picture of their economic situation. “Gone to sanatorium”, adds mystery. My imagination runs wild sometimes. Prohibition began nationally in 1920. In Florida the new governor, elected in 1919, ran on a theme of pro-prohibition. But, there was a lot of bootlegging going on and as long as you had money, you could get booze. Florida in the twenties prohibition era was called “the leakiest place in the nation”. Read about it here and be sure to watch the short video, http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/sixty-years-before-the-cocaine-cowboys-miami-was-the-wild-west-of-prohibition-8269399.

Grace has always maintained that in 1930, the family was in Miami so that her father, Harry could visit a sanatorium there. The 1930 census shows them in Miami, 9 years after the 1921 letter and about a year before Harry died in 1931. I have another post coming soon about the family in Miami. It’s Grace’s story about a stroll with her father and a somewhat infamous court case. 

Moving on. Bonus! A letter from Harry to Edwina written about the same time as Kelon's letter.  It’s a short letter and it is not dated, but the details show the approximate age of Bruce to be a toddler. It gives an intimate picture of father and son.

“Bruce is on my lap, trying to help me write this, Hi Mama, see his writing”. I do not know where Edwina was, but it does indicate that she could have been taking care of some business, “Saw Bill Morgan today and he said that you made connections ok. Write as soon as you can and let me know how you are getting along and when you expect to return. I don’t believe it will take very long, I hope not”.
I’d say both Harry and Edwina did some traveling in the twenties. We have heard it said that Harry was a drinker and enjoyed smoking cigars. It has also been said that Bruce and Chris adored their father. It's important to mention too, that Edwina practiced temperance her entire life. Bruce may have been around three years old at the time of the above letter. Harry died in 1931 from cancer of the esophagus, at the age of 42. Bruce was fourteen years old.

 

Edwina

“Ed is in store all the time, very busy”. This shows Edwina’s strength after fairly recently giving birth. It shows us she was managing a baby, a 3-year-old boy, a house full of people and the family business on top of all that. “She is entire manager as Jepsons have bought it all”. This indicates there was more than one business venture. We know from family stories that there was a black maid the children called, “Mammie” and that Bruce and Chris loved her and played with her little boy. With Mammie, her mother and sisters, we may assume that Edwina had some help.

“Tommy drives Ed’s car”.  Grace has said that Edwina was the first woman in Titusville to own an automobile. She thinks there was a newspaper article with Edwina pictured. Searching a newspaper archive is tedious and time-consuming. I have a Jepsen-Paulsen cousin who is a whiz at it. Anyway, I have not found such an article.

 Before marrying, Edwina was a music teacher in Alabama and she did continue to teach music and Shakespeare, mostly as a volunteer in Titusville and surrounding communities. Titusville at that time had a country schoolhouse. We know that Edwina took it upon herself to tutor her children in cultural arts. Bruce’s 1945 letters from overseas indicate that he did not want Grace and Harryette to be taken out of school in Omaha, saying they would do much better with their education there.

In my conversations with Aunt Chris, I learned that Edwina wanted to to be a writer, and that she never really gave that up. She also had wanted me to play the piano and I remember feeling her disappointment in me for not pursuing that. But when I was around 12 years old, she told me that I could write well and encouraged me. I didn’t believe her. I didn’t think about it again until many years later. It has taken me most of my life to realize that I am a writer, like my Grandmother. When we’re young we don’t listen. I wasn’t focused. I could have learned so much more from her.

We fondly called her Pudgie. She didn’t like being called “Grandma”, yet I never thought of her as anything else. As I do the family research now, I’m amazed at the things one might find. Here we can really appreciate her. There will be plenty more to share about Edwina later but I think you get the picture. None of us really knew the kind of strength that woman had while she was still alive.

Edwina in her garden about 1920, Titusville, Fl.

 

Putting it all together

In 1921, Harry and Edwina Jepson are generous and successful enough to have much of their family living under the same roof. They own their home. They own more than one business. Edwina’s mother has come with second husband in tow for an extended stay. Her siblings are there to help. Euphamia, is working at a citrus grove, probably the family business, Titusville Fruit and Farmlands Company. Tom drives Ed’s automobile. Tom was in the navy (verified by Grace), and had an honorable discharge. He isn’t fond of fishing, but with family support he seems to have been managing well. According to Grace, her Uncle Tom was a much, loved brother and he adored his sisters. They are all having dinner together. There must have been plenty of fish and citrus on the menu. Harry is able to leave for 10 days without worry over business. Edwina is possibly a kind of celebrity in her small community.

In the last paragraph of the letter, Kelon is answering Julia’s request for help in finding a home. “The big house”, “is to let, soon as Jepsons get out”, probably she is speaking of the Peter Jepson home on Coquina Ave. Peter’s second wife was a wealthy widow. She owned the Hotel Dixie, which she sold in 1921. Kelon’s comments sound as though she was speculating that the Jepsons might be planning to live at the hotel. I found this little news bit, with the help of our Paulsen cousin, newspaper archive expert, Linda.

Miami Herald, June 6, 1921, p. 2

Titusville - The Hotel Dixie has a new manager, C. Fielding, a well-known hotel man of Lakeland.  Mr. Freiding (sic) took possession of the hotel last Wednesday, having purchased the interest of Mrs. P. Jepson.  Mr. and Mrs. Jepson will move to Indian River city and reside in the Jepson home.                

Titusville Fruit and Farmlands Company, "The big Jepsen House".

Julia and her husband did settle in Cocoa. The 1945 Florida Census, 24 years after the 1921 letter, shows Edwina, Grace and Harryette in the Parrish household. The state census was taken around the time of Bruce’s death. Bruce is listed in the Parrish household, but we know that is incorrect as he was in China. The fact that he is listed, I think, shows Edwina’s inability to face her son’s death.

  It is a great thing our ancestors have given us in the form of a 1921 handwritten letter, even if it is just a bad zerox copy. Thanks go to whoever it was that sent the copy, probably Julia. As I said before, I hope to meet the owner of the letter one of these days. 

 

Other worthy mentions

The funeral service Kelon describes may have been a cousin since Kelon’s ancestry includes Walkers. She writes his name as Mr. Jno (Johnathon) Walker.  I might research that further, if I ever find the time. Her description of the flowers, music and the organizations that honored him really give a picture of what funerals were like. Harry’s father, Peter Jepsen’s funeral service would have been very similar. I will write more on that at some point. Chris recalled his service in detail, bagpipes, swords and all.

The story of Kelon’s oldest son, Douglas Wilson who is not mentioned in the letter, would be an interesting one to research. I was told that he disappeared due to gambling debts and that Julia hired a private detective to find out what happened to him, “Euphamia is packing for Fort Worth”. I also remember Grace saying that Aunt Femie went to Texas in an effort to find Uncle “Dougie”. I found his WW1 draft registration form dated 1918. He was in Arizona. Ironically, in a town called Douglas.

Kelon died in 1926, five years after writing the letter. Possibly, she, like her daughter Ed, lied about her age when the 1920 census was taken, saying she was 43. That would make her 49 when she died. We have 5 sources for her age, including the Find-a-grave website and an obit, which shows Kelon Fleming Weaver born 1872, died 1926 at age 54. Like mother, like daughter.

 

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