99 Year Old Photos

These photos, again in postcard form, are all dated 1917. First the ones I can identify:

June, 1917 and Frank G. Haley, on the right was home on leave from the Navy. He and my Grandpa Joe were good friends, hence their picture together. But why were they standing in a cow lot to have it taken? At first all I noticed was the wagon in the background. But after scanning the photo and looking more closely, that is a cow behind J. R.'s right elbow!
Frank settled in California after his service to his country. At the time of his father's death in 1943, he was living in San Pedro and "could not leave his police duties at this time" to attend his father's funeral. Frank's brother, Tom, was married to Joe's sister, Florence - my beloved "Uncle Tom and Aunt Florence". (Actually Mom's aunt and uncle, my great-aunt and uncle.

This and the following pictures are from January, 1917 and all are of the same incident. Man at top left is unknown. The three together are Simon Haley sitting, Thomas Haley on the right and Grandpa Joe standing behind those two. Note that these men are all in work clothes.

Simon and his son, Tom are the two sitting in the middle of this group. Note the man on the left and the one on the right in back. They are wearing full length fur coats.
The incident I mentioned was the collapse of the bridge these people are arrayed around. And the bridge collapsed when Uncle Tom and his Dad were moving a threshing machine across it.

It was obviously note-worthy based on the number of people, men and women, who made the trip in cold weather to see it first hand. Uncle Tom between the two women in back and Grandpa Joe next to the man in the fur coat on the right in back. I don't know who any of the women are, but I admire that fur muff of the woman on the left in back.

I heard the story about the threshing machine going through the bridge when I was growing up, but never knew exactly where it happened. I always thought it was somewhere around Nodaway. I don't think anyone was hurt. And I have no idea how they got a huge threshing machine out of the creek nor whether or not they had to pay for the bridge repair/replacement. I assume they were moving it in January because the roads were frozen then - that they hadn't been able to move it in the fall due to muddy roads. Purely conjecture.

Without these old photos to remind me, the tale would probably be lost even to my memory. By writing about what I know, the photos and memories are preserved.