My cousin has sent me three more letters written by my great-great-grandparents. This time a penny postcard is included that was written by Johann Ufkes (1838-1924). He wrote it to his brother-in-law, who at the time was living in Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois. The address is included as a part of this post.
John's signature on the back of the letter is very difficult to read. There is no "real" postmark, rather the postmaster in Basco, Hancock County, Illinois, wrote the town and the date across the stamp.
The "postmark" is clearly not John's writing as the "I" John uses in the address is not anywhere close to the "I" used in the postmark.I'm working on getting the letters translated and we'll be posting an update.