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Photo postcard of Sunday school Easter egg roast in Fowler, CO, April 16, 1911.

This class of boys in the Fowler Methodist Episcopal Sunday School (M.E.S.S.) is preparing to enjoy an egg roast on Easter Sunday in 1911.  Their Sunday school teacher, J. W. Maxey, is in charge.  You’ll note the group appears to be well-supplied with eggs.  That may be the Fowler train station in the background.  (Fowler sits in Otero County in the southeast part of the state.  It’s about 40 miles southeast of Pueblo on U.S. Highway 50-E.)

Note the two boys on the right in identical button-up sweaters and caps.  It appears they have each brought the same type of can fitted with a handle for their eggs – the boy at the left has his can at his feet, and the boy on the right is holding his.   I wonder if they’re twins.

I understand roasted eggs are part of the Jewish Passover tradition.  But until I came across this photo, I had never heard of an egg roast being part of the celebration of Easter.  Based on the number of old newspaper articles I read describing egg roasts, it appears they were a popular, largely outdoor, activity in this county in the early 20th century, taking place on or around Easter.   They took different forms, but they all centered on eating (and sometimes throwing) a lot of eggs.  The term “roast” in the context of this Easter tradition appeared to have been loosely applied.  It could refer to actual roasting, In which eggs would be covered in mud and put in a fire to roast; boiling eggs in a kettle of water suspended over a fire; or frying eggs in a skillet.   

J. W. Maxey is almost certainly James “Jim” Watts Maxey, a dedicated advocate for the education and individual enrichment of children.   Born in Missouri in 1876 and wed to Iowan Bertha Alice Rodman in 1903, he and Bertha had come to Fowler by 1910.  They had a daughter, Eunice May.    Around the time this picture was taken, Maxey had a blacksmith shop; he later established a plumbing business.

Maxey’s dedication as a Sunday school teacher is borne out by his participation in Sunday school associations at the county, state and international level.    As a delegate to the Fifteenth International Sunday School Association Convention held in June of 1918 in Buffalo, NY, he either presented or submitted a paper.  It was a report on the success of the Colorado Sunday school association, working in conjunction with county associations, to bring the state association out of debt and meet its tithe to the International Association.   He also served on the State Sunday School Board. 

Maxey held the position of Scout Master in Fowler and in 1921 led three troops. In May of that year, he met with a scout official in Pueblo to push the idea of a county council that would include a scout executive among its members.   During that visit,   he reported that Fowler was planning “to put on an encampment in the next few weeks,” to which troops from all the towns around Fowler would be invited.  In September of that year he gave a speech in Eads titled “The Community in its relationship to Boys and Girls.”  

In a 1961 Christmas letter to friends, Maxey, then 85, wrote that his wife, Bertha, 82, had died in October from a “hard stroke” after 58 years of marriage.  His letter indicates he and Bertha had comfortably retired, having “a good home in Monte Vista, Colo, for summers and a nice one here on King’s Ranch, Apache Junction, Ariz., for winters.”  He goes on to write, “I put my Social Security check in the savings account every month, so I will have money to spend when I get old.”   He noted that “I have a good car and drive it a lot.”

Maxey died at age 94 In June of 1971, while in Minnesota. He and Bertha are both buried at the Fowler Cemetery.

REFERENCES:

  • My Jewish Learning at myjewishlearning.com 

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