Elfreda C. Jackson

This page from the scrapbook of Elizabeth Jackson Guinand is a beautiful tribute to Elizabeth's sister, Elfreda Jackson, who died December 7, 1941, at the age of 52. At the center of the page is a letter written by Elfreda to Elizabeth when the former was ten years old. The envelope contains a greeting card Elfreda gave to Elizabeth more recently. Elfreda was a sales manager for the Fresh Silk Company.

Elizabeth and Elfreda were half sisters. Elizabeth, born in 1874, was the daughter of Edward W. Jackson (1849-1937) - a harness maker - and his first wife, Cornelia B. Tompkins. Elfreda, born in 1889, was the daughter of Edward and his second wife, Harriet Elliott. Despite their differences in age and maternity, Elizabeth and Elfreda seemed to be quite close. After leaving her parents' house, Elfreda moved in with Elizabeth and Elizabeth's husband, Walter Guinand, and lived with them until her death more than thirty years later (she was predeceased by Walter).

Elizabeth had two full sisters, May (born 1875) and Clara (born 1878). Elfreda had one full brother, Edward W. Jackson Jr., born in 1890.
 

Elfreda C. Jackson

Elizabeth and Walter Guinand married in 1893, when she was 20 and he was 35. Seven years later, they were living together with their three-year-old daughter, Gladys, and Elizabeth's sister Clara. Sadly, Gladys Guinand had died by the 1910 census. Clara Jackson had married Wallace Fish, a hardware store proprietor, and moved out, and Elfreda Jackson had moved into the Guinand household. Perhaps Elfreda, who was fifteen years younger than Elizabeth and thirty years younger than Walter, was somewhat like a surrogate daughter as well as a sister.

In 1910, Walter, Elizabeth (or "Lizzie" as she was named in the census), and Elfreda lived on Jane Street (which I believe is now West Main Street) going up Captain Merritt's Hill. In 1920, the three lived at 77 Hillside Avenue. By 1930, Walter had died, and Elizabeth and Elfreda lived on 331 East Main Street.

In July of 1939, the local newspaper reported that Elfreda had undergone a "serious operation" at Northern Westchester Hospital, but was recovering. Two years later, on August 8, 1941, Elfreda's mother Harriet Elliott Jackson died at her home at 57 North Moger Avenue at the age of 83. Less than half a year later, Elfreda died in her home at 52 Grove Street. Her funeral was held at Oelker & Cox Funeral Home with the Rev. Lee M. Fairchild of the Presbyterian Church officiating, and she was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

The scrapbook in which I found Elizabeth's tribute to Elfreda is only one of at least seven of Elizabeth Guinand's scrapbooks at the historical society. I have yet to go through them all.