Meet the Butlers

I suppose I should have introduced you to our main characters.  Say hello to the Butlers.  This family photo was taken about 1897 given that John appears to be 3 years old.  His parents are George and Augusta Butler and his siblings are Stella, Rose and William.  They live in South Bloomfield NJ. 

John and William are a little older here.  They are closer to the age when John will be drafted for WWI.  This photo is the size of a thumbprint.  I suspect it may have been taken at a fair.

Coreta and Mary Geiger are Rose's daughters.  They are standing here in front of Grandma and Grandpa Butler's house.  From 1901-1908 they lived in Sparta, Ohio (once born) with Rose and Louis Geiger.  Louis is an engineer who works on bridges and is frequently away from home.  In 1908 Rose and Louis divorce.

Rose remarries in 1913 to William Shepard. Coreta refers to them as Momma & Papa.

And finally, we have Coreta.  This looks to be about the correct age when she wrote what seemed to be her first letter to Uncle John away at war.