Westley Dyer & Elizabeth Tarver
Westley Dyer was born in Nashville, Tennessee to Wesly and Maggie Belle Dyer in 1895. During the late 1800’s Dyer’s family worked as farmers and most could not read or write. By 1917, Dyer was living in Chicago, Illinois and working as a waiter at the Windermere Hotel in Hyde Park. On June 5, 1917 Dyer registered for the draft and by the spring of 1918 he was at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois for basic training. During his time at Camp Grant he took a trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin where he would meet Elizabeth Tarver for the first time.
Elizabeth Tarver was born in 1901 to one of the most prominent African American families of Waukegan. Her grandfather, George Washington Bell, was a former slave in Tennessee who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He moved to Waukegan in 1888 with his wife Emily Babb. Elizabeth’s father Greene Tarver, the son of Tennessee slaves, also arrived in Lake County in the 1880’s and was one of the first African Americans to move to Waukegan after the Civil War. He married Fredonia Bell and they had four daughters, with Elizabeth being the fourth. The family served as founding members of the Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church in Waukegan.
Elizabeth was born in her family home on 509 Poplar Street. The home was built by her father in 1893. She attended Waukegan Schools, like North School, and graduated from Waukegan High School. After graduation Elizabeth stayed in Waukegan with her family and worked close to home. She began correspondences with Westley Dyer after a day trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin in the spring of 1918.