I’m a few days late getting my entry together for Sepia Saturday, but better late than never, right? I didn’t have anything quite as lovely as the hotel postcard from the prompt image, but I thought a postcard of a lovely palace in Germany. The Schloss Philippsruhe is located in Hanau, Germany where Gordon Shugg was stationed in the Army. Gordon Thomas Shugg married Alberta “Bessie” Lee Efird December 13, 1952 in this very palace as per the postcard which reads,
19 June
Dear Olga –
Think I sent you a card from Englind. Back in Germany again now. Visited with Aunt’s in England and saw the queen. This is a picture of the castle where we were married Dec 13 “52”
Love
Bess & Gordon
The postmark indicates this was sent June 21, 1954 from the Army Postal Service. Gordon Shugg was in the Army during WWII and afterwards, finally retiring as a CWO4. As for the rest of his life story, he was born to Bessie (Battin, sister to my great-great grandmother) and Arnold Shugg on 10 Jan 1905 in Plympton, Devon, England. In 1911, he arrived in the USA with his mother, brother, and father. Gordon is listed as married and living with Bessie and their 4 year old daughter, Mary, on the 1940 census, so I’m not sure why they say they were married in 1952 in Germany. Perhaps there’s a good story there that I haven’t found yet! Gordon and Bess returned home from Germany in 1955, though their daughter doesn’t show on the passenger manifest. I suppose it’s possible Mary stayed home with other family while her parents were away. Gordon died young, at age 56, on 2 Oct 1961 in Virginia. My postcard from Bess and Gordon isn’t nearly as old as the pictured hotel postcard, but it brought me a bit of genealogical data and a new mystery to work out!
