Ed Jordan spent two summers at his Uncle Bill Knowles’ home and farm in Rock Island, Illinois. These were the summer of 1937 after his Freshman year and the summer of 1938 after his Sophomore year. At the time, Wilfred (Bill) and Gertrude Knowles lived at 2506 8th Street, Rock Island, Illinois. The relationship is Bill Knowles’s is Ed Jordan’s paternal grandmother’s brother, sometimes referred to as a great-uncle.

The Knowles’ home address a the time was about a mile from the Mississippi River and an adjacent lake. Dad recalled that the farm was a 4 acre truck farm. I presume that Uncle Bill grew various fruits and vegetables and then trucked the produce to various places around town, such as small grocery stores or farm stands. Dad also recalled that one of the summers he was stung by a hornet 3 times on his hand while picking grapes.

The date on the back of these four photos was clearly stated as July 4, 1938. I am pretty sure Photos a-d were taken at the Wilfred and Gertrude Knowles’ home and 4 acre farm in Rock Island, Illinois. I do not know if the home was on the farm or separate but in the left side of Photo d in the back there is what appears to be an outbuilding. Given the mowed grass all were standing on, it suggests home and farm where adjacent.

I believe Herbert and Elizabeth Jordan drove to the Knowles home and farm in Rock Island to bring their 15 year old son Ed there for the summer of 1938. Ed also was there during the summer of 1937. See the photo: 193708_Ed as Teenager with Fish Near Knowles Farm. It was an opportunity for Ed to see a different life and to learn about working a small truck farm and helping with chores with his Uncle Bill Aunt Gertrude Knowles.

In Chicago schools at the time, classes lasted until around the 3rd week of June. The July 4th holiday was a way to have a Jordan family visit with the Knowles on a day off for all. Ed’s brothers Harold and Herb came also. Perhaps they came up on Sunday, July 3rd as it was a 180 mile drive to get there from where they lived at the time in Chicago, especially without fast interstate highways.

I believe the photos were given to my grandmother Elizabeth Jordan after their 1938 visit to the Wilfred and Gertrude Knowles’ home. As I began my genealogy quest in the late 1970s, she gave them to my dad, Edward Jordan. These photos are a treasure of times past in my dad’s and grandparents’ lives and I am so lucky she gave them to my dad to share with me as I investigated our past.

If you would like to add information about this photo, please contact Dave Jordan. The picture reference number is: 19380704a1.