Treasure Chest Thursday

Yet another pin today, from Grandma's Jewelry Box.   I chose this becuase it seemed very odd to me, and after doing a bit of research on it and discovering its origin, I've no idea why Grandma had it or where she got it.   Grandma loved the flea market and yard sales, picking up oddities and this very well could have been in a mix of costume jewelry that she purchased.  

This pin measures 1/2" square, and is the insignia for the Phi Kappa Sigma International Fraternity.  This all-male fraternity was started in 1850 at the University of Pennsylvania and today has over 50 active chapters in the U.S. and Canada.  Similar pins I've found on line have some type of stamps or engraving on the reverse, this one however does not.   Could Grandma have known a member of this fraternity?  I will probably never know.

Treasure Chest Thursday

Today I share a pin from Grandma's Jewelry Box - how fitting it is!

Treasure Chest Thursday - Pop's Songs and His Typewriter

My paternal grandfather, Leonard C. Anderson, loved to write songs and poetry. One song was actually put to music and released (that's a story for another post). 

Most of his writings are on plain white paper, written in tiny pencil writing - there are at least a hundred of them.  Unfortunately many of them are not dated, but then there are some which are and these could be very telling as to what was happening in his world during the days listed. 

Among the pile I also came across some that were typed and behold, we also have the typewriter! This typewriter was made by Underwood at my best guess sometime in the 1920s or early 1930s (honestly I've not done much research on it).  It has it's own case which snaps on and has a little slide latch on the front, and at one time had a handle for easy carrying.

 

Treasure Chest Thursday

As promised a few weeks ago.   Today's treasure is an item from Grandma's jewelry box.

There are two of this item that are very similar, and I found out why.   There was a time that my grandmother's brother, Charles Anderson, was making jewelry - beaded necklaces to be exact.   So today's treasure is two-fold; they belonged to my Grandma and they were made by my Uncle.  

Treasure Chest Thursday - A rock?

What's so special about a rock?      Why do we have it?  

This rock is special. It belonged to a 6 year old boy, who left his home country in 1923 with his father.   Of all the things he might have brought with him across the ocean, we have this rock.

This rock belonged to my Grandfather, William Patrick Bellew.   When he left England his mother and two brothers remained behind for a few years.  When I hold it I imagine a young boy, with it in his pocket...  this rather large rock from home. Boarding a huge ship for another country, and holding onto somthing to remember the place he came from.  What surprises me more is that he kept it all his life and my Grandmother has passed it to my mom. 

A young boy's "treasure", and now ours.

Treasure Chest Thursday

Treasures come in many forms.  Most adults think of treasures as items of great monetary value..  that is, most adults who don't have some attachment to everything and anything that came from those before us - I often wonder if all genealogists or family historians aren't pack-rats in this way. 

Kids are a bit different, especially in their younger years - a treasure can be anything from a rock collection, a precious flower given to Mommy, shells found on the beach,  or a big box of costume jewelry to dig through on a rainy afternoon.

Today I show a box such as this, overflowing with such treasures.   This box belonged to my Grandmother and the kids in our family have, over the past 15 or so years, enjoyed visiting it again and again to dig, discover, and try on all of Grandma's "treasures".     After looking through it again recently, I have a new found appreciation for Grandma's style and will be presenting some of the items from it in the coming weeks. 

Treasure Chest Thursday - Postcards From The Past

Something recently found in my Dad's things - a postcard from someone seemingly named "Dora" as written here, a cousin of my Great Grandmother Sallie Hott Anderson.

I had never come across a cousin named Dora Henderson in my research and this of course sent me investigating who this could be.   Sallie's mother's maiden name was Mary Henderson, so I started with her family -  this may be a first cousin to Sallie.   Mary had 4 brothers that I knew of, but I had not researched their families in detail.  After finding two of them and coming up with nothing I turned my attention to Robert Henderson, born abt. 1861 in West Virginia.  I could not find a marriage record for Robert on the on WV vitals site so I turned to the census records in search of Dora.    I found a Dora E - age 15 in 1920 with Robert and Minnie Henderson.  Living in the same town that I know this family to be from.  But Dora was listed as a son.  So I then looked at 1910 and found the children of this couple listed as Benjamin, Lottie, Emma, May and Dorie - age 5 (again listed as a son).  I know at this point I have the correct family as I also have a postcard here from his sister Lottie.    So what I thought was a postcard from a little girl, turned out to be from a little boy, and it was written around 1910.  A check of the births for Hampshire county I found a son Dorey Henderson born to Robert in 1905. 

Obviously this card appears to have been written for him, and it reveals another puzzle - he mentions playing with a little sister, who I have yet to identify.  In 1910 there were no younger sisters in the home with Dorey, and I have not (in the past few hours) found a death or birth record to verify who this child was.  

The other post card from Lottie appears to have been written in the same handwriting.  Lottie would have been 13 at the time this postcard was written - possibly she penned both of them.   I'll post hers another time.  In the meantime, can anyone out there make out what the card above says after "... I play with my little sister _______ baby ________  cousin"    

Treasure Chest Thursday - Mom's "Good" Dishes

Every Mom has a set right?   I am the proud owner of my Mom's old "good" dishes. Dishes that she worked very hard to get so many years ago.  Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, we used these dishes at our home.   When Mom got new "good" dishes, these came to me.   My kids often ask the question - "where did they come from?" and comment on how pretty they are.  I am very proud to tell them that they were painstakingly collected, piece by piece, week after week, at the local grocery until the set was complete - making sure not to miss an item; plates, bowls, cups, saucers, dessert plates, platters, serving bowls, ... you get the idea.   

These dishes mean a lot to me - they somehow signify the will of a woman who maybe couldn't get a new full "SET" of dishes but could certainly afford a few bucks a week to collect them.   But can you imagine the time it took?   THAT means something.  These dishes remind me of family holidays, all of us kids around the table for a fantastic dinner, and years later coming back with our own families and gathering around the same table and using the same "good dishes".   

Now, my kids will remember the story and recall holidays around the table using them, while watching out for the plate that has a chip on the bottom, being careful not to use the cup that has the crack,  and the question that's asked every year... "What ever happened to the gravy boat?"

Treasure Chest Thursday

This is my Granddad's Purple Heart from wounds received in WWII. One of his medals that I had to get replaced by the military. If you haven't seen the post about the year-long battle I had to fight to get them, you can read all about it here. Now, I have a confession to make. I had no idea that the back of medals of this sort were engraved. I received the medals, had them out of the cases, shared them with my Grandmother. It wasn't until several months later when I visited my mother and she removed it from the box while I was sitting directly across from her that I actually noticed the William P. Bellew engraved on it.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Odd Little Panda Pin

This item isn't exactly a "treasure" but it belonged to my Grandmother, Edna Keener. Grandma had a box of costume jewelry and odd pins that I guess at some point she enjoyed wearing. This pin was among them - it now sits on the base of my monitor here on my desk.

Treasure Chest Thursday - A Locket?

We're not exactly sure where my Grandmother obtained this item. As I mentioned in my last Treasure Chest post, she frequented yard sales & flea markets. At any rate, we found this in my grandmother's things when she died, and of course the prospect of it belonging to one of my ancestors means that I'll hang on to it until I know otherwise.

The chain is odd, it's very short, meaning not necklace length, almost too short to go around a neck - it's more like the length of a watch chain, and the 'locket' thing is about 2" tall - a bit large. What would someone have done with this? Anyone know?

There is a small area on the front that appears to be for putting someone's initials or other small inscription.

There are two photos inside, they're not marked in any manner and they're not recognized by anyone we've shown them to. I may never know who these people are or if they're even related to me.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Grandmas Plates

Grandma Keener was a collector of things. Mostly glassware items that I'm assuming she picked up at yard sales and junk stores. But I know for sure that she really liked plates - I remember as a kid always wondering why she had them hanging on the walls in her home.

Years later when she died, I saw them again, carefully lined up in boxes at my parents' home. I am now the proud keeper of Grandma's collection of plates. While I don't have them displayed on the walls in my home, I do have a few out here and there. Someday I hope to display more of them.

One thing my Grandmother did with her items was to label them. The label on the back of this one is a piece of masking tape, stating who she received the plate from, and when. She received this plate for Christmas in 1944.

Hard to believe that she wrote "old" on the label and now I'm looking at it 65 years later.