The month of January and a health emergency declared in the state of Washington because of a measles outbreak had me thinking about an uncle I never knew.

One can only imagine the joy felt by Tom and Eveline Hoskins upon the arrival of their first child, Wilbur Thomas.

Tom and Eveline celebrated their first wedding anniversary on Sunday, March 23, 1924 and eleven days later, Wilbur was born on April 3rd. He was likely born at the home of his maternal grandparents, Mary and Joseph Coates, as that is where the rest of Tom’s and Eveline’s children were born.

When Wilbur was three months old, the family posed outside on a sunny day for a photograph. Eveline was twenty-three; Tom was twenty-seven.

My grandmother Eveline’s handwriting identifies the time and place, but not the occasion. The baby’s light-colored gown might suggest his baptism, or maybe the occasion was simply that Wilbur was three months old.

A later photograph shows Wilbur sitting in a wicker stroller in front of a wall of some kind. Wilbur is outfitted for a chilly day.

Let’s have a closer look without all that wasted space to detract from the center of attention. This photograph is not dated, but Wilbur looks to be about two years old.

There is another photograph that suggests that Wilbur may not have been the child originally in the stroller that day. In this photograph, Wilbur kneels beside the stroller and his baby brother, Albert, occupies center stage.

Albert was born on January 20, 1926. Perhaps this is his three-month photograph, which would be right around Wilbur’s second birthday. Wilbur seems to have a protective hand on Albert’s chest, perhaps helping him sit up without falling forward.

On a warmer day in 1926, Tom and Eveline brought the boys outside for a photograph. Eveline sat on a chair and held baby Albert, while two-year-old Wilbur, his blonde hair blown by the breeze, stood on the chair behind his mother, looking over her shoulder and holding on to her for support. Albert, dressed in a light-colored gown and bonnet, looked down at his foot, but Wilbur looked straight at the camera.

This last photograph of Wilbur is perhaps my favorite. He looks a little younger in this one. Could it have been taken in the fall of 1925 when apples were ripe for picking?

I wonder what Wilbur was saying while holding that big apple?

The prompt photo this week is a series of photos of a man walking and tipping his hat. My response to the prompt is to begin a series of posts about Wilbur. I have major surgery scheduled for Monday, so we’ll see if I follow through. I have the next post almost finished, so I should at least follow through with that one!

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