05 July 2011

Does Your Heirloom Have a Story?

If you have a family heirloom or keepsake, try and determine who in the family first owned the item, how they obtained it, who made it, and how it has been passed down to the present day owner.

Recording the history now is an excellent idea and searching for information about the heirloom may provide you with more genealogical information on your family.

The item can be  as commonplace as grandpa's horse collar (I have one) or as unique as a fancy piece of jewelry.

2 comments:

  1. This is right up my alley...more fun than dates, etc. I also tell those stories to my daughter and granddaughter (and anyone else who will listen) which is the way my mother passed those stories to me. Have have some written...but never enough of them. Must see to that!

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  2. My grandmother had two rings -- one with sapphires, the other with garnets -- that had belonged to her oldest sister. It seems that the sister's husband took them home on approval from the store. Of course it was impossible to decide which one to keep, so they purchased both. This took place about 1890. My grandmother gave me the garnet ring and my cousin got the sapphires.

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