1) The NEHGS Weekly Genealogy newsletter asked an interesting question this week - let's use it for our SNGF this week.
2) What "family heirlooms" did you inherit or obtain? What are your most cherished possessions that were owned or created by an ancestor or relative? They could be photographs, letters or documents, a diary, an audio or video recording, books, jewelry, clothing, quilts, needlework, drawing or painting, toy or doll, collectibles, musical instrument, furniture, something else?
Since I have been interested in family history since a young age and also the youngest of the family, that was the last one around home, I have gotten a lot of family heirlooms over the years. The family photographs and newspaper clippings seem to land in my possession along with other items.
A few that I stick out in my mind as somewhat unique. There are two watercolor paintings hanging on the walls in my house. These were done sometime in the 1940s or 1950s. I had seen them once when my Mom showed me a portfolio shortly before her death. She never thought they were good enough to show to others. Now many of her descendants own these and they are on display.
A couple of other wall hangings are framed cross-stitch pictures. One of them is of such fine work that people mistake it for a painting at first. These also were done by my mother.
Dominating the dining room, as in most homes, is a table. This old oak table is of unknown origins. It is probably from the late 1800s and is solid. The base has a bit of a shelf where the legs go out away from the pedestal. I have heard tales of children at various times sitting on this and hiding with the help of a long tablecloth. There, they listened in on conversations of their elders. These children were my mother and her brothers or their friends.
The history of this table that I know is that my grandfather bought it during their childhoods at an auction and cleaned it up. It then became their dining room table. This would have occurred in the late 1920s or early 1930s. I never did find out how old Mom was when her father brought it home.
After my grandfather’s death in 1976, the household was distributed as is usual. Mom had been promised the table and she decided to go get it. Her older brother, Robert, lived in an apartment in the family home and was out when they arrived. He returned home to find a pick-up in the driveway that he immediately recognized as belonging to my Dad. Walking in, he found Mom and Dad in the dining room with the table flipped upside down, taking it apart to load in the truck. He joked that he had caught a couple of robbers before proceeding to help them load it.
The table resided in our kitchen at the farm for many years after that. It was small for just my parents and me at regular meals, but when family came over, the leaves were quickly added and it expanded to hold many people. After moving to Auburn, they had more furniture than they needed and the table wasn’t used. However, Mom wanted the kitchen table I had, to use as a craft table in the basement, so she refinished the old table and traded with me.
There are lots of other items scattered around the house, but these are probably the more unique ones of them. In actuality could the house be considered an heirloom? It is the house my parents bought and moved to when they left the farm along the lake. After my mother’s death, we bought it from the estate and live there now.
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