James and Katherine Filipek and their three children John, Mary, and James along with Theodore Sokolik, the children's 1st cousin left Chicago for Colorado about 1895. James worked as a foreman for a railroad crew and Katherine worked as a cook for the crew. They worked for The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company and were putting in rail lines north of Pueblo around Pinon and Dawkins about 10 miles north of Pueblo.

The letter and drawing is from their son, James Filipek to his cousin John Sokolik in Chicago. James was born in August 1892.

It appears James is just learning script which now-a-days is taught in 2nd grade. Assuming he was on schedule, he would have been about 7 years old and the year about 1899. It's possible this letter was sent at the same time as the December 1898 letter from John Filipek to John Sokolik.

This letter was discovered in March 2000 by Terry Nelson, a gg-granddaughter of Antonin and Katerina Filipek in her grandmother Rose Filipek's home in Florida. If you would like to add information about this picture, please contact Dave Jordan, a gg-grandson of Antonin and Katerina Filipek. The Letter Reference Number is TNN10.