John Peterson's Livery Service

I found John Peterson's obituary fairly quickly. Rewound the microfilm and put it back in the box.

Then I remembered that a week after her mother's death, John's wife had published a note of thanks to the friends and family members who sent flowers and helped in other ways. Could she have done the same thing after John died?

So I took the microfilm back out of the box and put it on the reader. Scrolling back to the date, John's name caught my eye. And then I saw this amazing picture.

The Batavia Illinois Herald ran a weekly contest series in 1938. They posted a "Old Timer" photo and readers would guess who was in the picture.

Serendipitously, John Peterson's 1913 picture was the Old Timer photo of the week just two weeks before he died. How lucky that he may have gotten to see his likeness. And how fortunate for me; I was the descendant to find it.