My Aunt Eliza

 This is my Aunt Eliza, I just received these photos from my cousin Keith Willis (actually a second cousin). He also brought me some postcards to add to my collection. Keith's Mom Ruth, who lived into her 90s, was the first cousin of my Dad Harold. Ruth's Mom was Eliza and Harold's Mom was Lois, younger sister to Aunt Eliza.

This is a nice portrait of Aunt Eliza, maybe from high school.

Eliza Ann Orvis was born on 26 Feb 1887 in Vermont, daughter of James Hervey Orvis and Jennie Sargent. She married Walter John Hogbin and they had two children, William (1921) and Ruth (1923). Eliza died in the 1980s when she was in her 90s. She is buried in Bristol Vermont.

While Eliza was the 2nd oldest of six kids, Lois (my grandmother) was the 2nd youngest. Lois Marjorie Orvis was born on 1 Nov 1894. She also died in the 1980s and was in her 90s. Looks like I have plenty of longevity in my Orvis genes. Other Orvis siblings include Martha (1885), Carroll (1891), Hazel (1892) and Esther (1897).

Eliza got her Nurses degree at Taunton Sate Hospital in Taunton Massachusetts, about an hour south of Boston. Online I found a write up by the Red Cross about the Doctors and Nurses that were heading overseas. Here is one:

I also found a story in a Nursing Journal about her time in Belgium during the Great War, which would become World War I. Here is the title page and the start of each column paragraph...

Now to the pictures, I am including in bolded quotes the notes written on the back of the photos. I am not sure if these were noted at the time of the photos or added later by Aunt Eliza or my cousin Ruth.

This picture is Eliza in a nurses uniform with two dogs. "Eliza Orvis Belgium 1915"

As I mentioned she got her degree and then worked at the State Hospital in Massachusetts. These notes are probably by Ruth since she would call Eliza "Nana" for her four kids sake.

"Eliza at Taunton Mass 1914-1915?"    "Nana - 2nd from right"

This next photo is a little confusing since it mentions Belgium, but I am pretty sure, because of other family photos, this is the Orvis farm in Monkton Vermont.

"Xmas 1917 Eliza Orvis - la Panne Belgium"

This next photo is another portrait and the note is on the front of the photo and has been included. I am not sure how many times (or years) that she spent in Belgium during the War. I know she first went in 1915, but she may have gone back in 1917.

Another except from Aunt Eliza's report in the Nursing Journal...

I have included a map of the area where she was in 1915. De Panne is right of the yellow line, the France/Belgium border, and I have included Dunkirk on the left in France. There was a recent WW I movie about this place. Also, De Panne is what is on the maps but La Panne is what is in Eliza's notes on photos. I found that Belgium has three official languages, Dutch, French and German.  De Panne is in Dutch and La Panne is in French, they are the same place.

Here is another photo from Aunt Eliza's shots, she had mentioned the sand dunes in the excerpt previously. This looks like nurses and soldiers on these dunes...

"Belgium - 1915"

I grabbed a street view from the De Panne beach using Google Earth. The dunes looks very similar over a 100 years later...

There were some local scenery shots, I wish I knew the stories behind each, but that has been lost.

"Windmill Adinkerke Belg."

"La Panne"

"Belgium"

"La Panne Belg"

"La Penne"

Finally, there are some shots of people. Is this guy on a train or a balcony or deck?

"French xx La Penne Belg." xx is unknown word 

Back of the previous photo...any guess what the word after French is (my xx)? UPDATE: My cousin Pam showed me that the word is Zouave. I have included a description below...Thanks Pam!

The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The Zouaves were among the most decorated units of the French Army.

"French Dr."

"Belgium doctors"

It looks like they would take the wounded soldiers to the beach in interesting carriages.

"1916 Belgium"

Now this next photograph really surprised me. Most of these photos are small, about 3.5x1.5 inches. I saw the "Relics of the Great War" in the window and the display of shoes, buttons, military shells, and photos, but it was not until I scanned that I saw the "Collection of Miss Eliza Orvis". It also says "Picked Up on the Battlefields of Belgium." Many unanswered questions about this, I will talk to my cousin Keith about this. I wonder what has happened to her collection.

I know that Aunt Eliza did give talks back in the US about her war experience. One of the blurbs was:

Here is another one:

The thing that struck me as interesting was the mention of "a special stereopticon lecture." I had to look that up...

"a slide projector that combines two images to create a three-dimensional effect, or makes one image dissolve into another."

I guess Aunt Eliza was not just a brave Red Cross nurse who went to a war that our country had not entered yet, but she was also tech savvy and created talks to share her valuable experiences. I am sorry I only saw her as one of those old aunts that show up at family reunions. I wish I had spent some time listening to stories she had, maybe even see a stereopticon lecture...

The last photograph I scanned feels like an old postcard but there is no writing on the back indicating it was. The sign on the table is in French and says "Mon attendant des jours meilleurs" which translated to "My waiting for better days"

Does anyone have any idea who they are? Maybe Belgium soldiers and Doctors. I do not know.

I hope you have enjoyed some of the family history of my relatives. I wish I knew more...