My aunt, Barbara Claycomb Davis, kept a photo album packed with dozens of photos from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s. I decided to select photos to give you an idea of her life after high school through her years at business college in Chicago.
She was born in 1918 on a farm in Wayne,
Nebraska. After high school she went to the city for more schooling. The farm girl made the adjustment well and had many friends there.
Not all the photos were identified or dated, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
The one thing I’ve learned about Barb is that even if the people aren’t named, the animals will be.
Grandma Ve (Evangeline Shattuck Claycomb) was Barb’s step-grandmother. Her house in Sycamore, Illinois is where my father was born.
This is a little speculation, based on what my mother told me. I believe Floyd Snodgrass was Barb’s first love. I don’t know what happened to them, but they stayed in touch for the rest of their lives.
Barb was always a horse person. It was one of our earliest bonds.
The farm at Wayne, Christmas 1941.
Barbara’s grandmother (Julia Fair Bressler) and her Aunt Dorothy Bressler.
Oh, finally Chicago, big city life, roommates and friends from college.
Sunbathing on the roof.
Montrose Beach 1941
Airplane July 12, 1941.
Printed in reverse.
Barb in dark dress (L).
Risque roommates!
Glea, one of her life-long best friends.
And when the Chicago girls came to Wayne to visit, the farm entertained them.
Travelers ready to see the world.
A trip to Los Angeles in 1943 to see Barb’s brother (my father) Frank’s family.
And a few pages for her brother George, stationed in Alaska during WWII.
This I Leave 
Hi. I am interested in the house in Sycamore. Is it still standing? I think I remember a family home on W State Street in Sycamore, but it does not look like the same house.
I think we have visited in the past when somehow I stumbled across your blog!
Patti Brescia Sycamore IL Dekalbland@comcast.net
Sent from Xfinity Connect App
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This house has been gone a long time. It was along the highway between DeKalb and Sycamore – actually in the very NW corner of Cortland township. And they have changed that highway since then! In the 1876 atlas the property belonged to Daniel Pierce (also family).
We have many relatives from Sycamore and I’m not remembering the addresses well. I’m also unable to access my database. Hoping to have that straightened out soon.
I think we have been in touch before. My memory is slowly fading however.
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