Congress at Travis
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1914:
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10 March 2005: Photographed from the middle of Travis at Congress toward the south. Municipal government moved from Market Square in 1939, and the vacated building served as a bus station until a fire in 1960 forced its demolition in 1962. The Rice Hotel dominates the skyline on the left, the buildings on that block have not changed much since 1914. Treebeards is a popular Cajun-style restaurant, other buildings are bars and eateries.
On the right of Travis Street with the "Grand Tempietto" structure on the top, is the 32 story Niels Esperson Building, then the towering J. P. Morgan Chase of 75 floors, the tallest in Houston. Penzoil Place with 36 stories is next, in front of the Wells Fargo Building's 71 stories, the second tallest in town, and furthest right, the 33 story Calpine Center at 717 Texas. |
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To: Mrs. Sol Weston
633 - 29th St Newport News VA Postmarked: Houston, Tex, Ter. R. P. O. 27 May 1914 Stamp: 1c Green George Washington #405 Message: Houston - Texas 7. 0.. am May 27 . . 50 miles to go. Feel fine this morning. Love Syd. R. P. O. is an abbreviation for Railway Post Office, indicating that the letter was posted either on a train, or at a special railroad depot mailbox.
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Sydney Harcourt Weston was in a hurry to reassure his wife Annie that he was okay, and his message was written in a terse and energetic scrawl. His employer, the U. S. Custom House Quartermaster, later the U. S. Army Transport Service, obliged him to travel a great deal in pursuit of his duties, and he had lived in San Francisco, CA, at Manila the Philippine Islands and in New York before Newport News, VA. Since he was within 50 miles of his destination, it is tempting to speculate that he was bound for Galveston, an active port city like Newport News, where perhaps he would embark for home.
Sydney was born October 13, 1862 in Portsmouth, England, and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1890, discharged in September 1893 and immigrated officially to this country in October 1893 at the age of 31. About 1902 he married Clara Anna G. from Pennsylvania, who was born about 1867; she had been married previously in 1885 and had a child deceased by 1910. Nothing is known at this point about her youth and first marriage. Syd had been married in Portsmouth before immigrating, but nothing is known about that marriage either. He was naturalized about 1918 and lived in New Jersey after that time, first in Newark in 1920, then in Bergen County in 1930. After his captaincy in the military with the Army Transport Service, he worked at States Golf Club in Lyndhurst. The graves of Sydney and Annie have not been located. Sydney Harcourt Weston was in a hurry to reassure his wife Annie that he was okay, and his message was written in a terse and energetic scrawl. His employer, the U. S. Custom House Quartermaster, later the U. S. Army Transport Service, obliged him to travel a great deal in pursuit of his duties, and he had lived in San Francisco, CA, at Manila the Philippine Islands and in New York before Newport News, VA. Since he was within 50 miles of his destination, it is tempting to speculate that he was bound for Galveston, an active port city like Newport News, where perhaps he would embark for home. Sydney was born October 13, 1862 in Portsmouth, England, and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1890, discharged in September 1893 and immigrated officially to this country in October 1893 at the age of 31. About 1902 he married Clara Anna G. from Pennsylvania, who was born about 1867; she had been married previously in 1885 and had a child deceased by 1910. Nothing is known at this point about her youth and first marriage. Syd had been married in Portsmouth before immigrating, but nothing is known about that marriage either. He was naturalized about 1918 and lived in New Jersey after that time, first in Newark in 1920, then in Bergen County in 1930. After his captaincy in the military with the Army Transport Service, he worked at States Golf Club in Lyndhurst. The graves of Sydney and Annie have not been located. |
Syd Weston - Passport Application Photo
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Syd Weston - Postcard Signature
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Syd Weston - Passport Application Signature
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