The bride

Flossie Mae Slagle was my maternal grandmother's first cousin. They were born five months apart in Nodaway County, Missouri, in 1889. Their parents migrated west from Virginia to Missouri following the Civil War.

This photograph, taken in October 1908, was Flossie’s engagement picture. She married Lewis Elmer Barnes in November 1908, and their son Doyle was born 10 months later. Flossie contracted streptococcal pneumonia and died at age 21, leaving behind her husband and 15 month old son. She is buried in Monroe Cemetery, Ravenwood, Nodaway County, Missouri.