My Trails into the Past

An heirloom we have is the autograph book belonging to Joseph Norman Gorrell. It appears the book was signed between 1893 and 1898. [1] Joseph was born on 9 March 1869 to Amos Gorrell, Jr, and Catherine E Shotts in Blackwater, Cooper County, Missouri. [2] He was the third child of six and the first son. [3] Autograph books back then were not about collecting signatures of famous people. But rather, friends, family, and classmates wrote sentimental sayings, along with their signatures. Autograph books have been around a long time. In Germany, they were called Stammbuch , Töpferalbum , or Album Amicorum (book of friends). [4] They were often used by university students, much as yearbooks are used today. This autograph book has a lovely cover with the letters “Autographs” embossed along with flowers. The pages inside have yellowed, but might have been buff colored. What would have been the occasion of Joseph receiving or purchasing the book? There is no title page, or a page that ...

We have several interesting items I would call heirlooms. These have been tucked away safely, but unfortunately, our daughters know nothing about them or their significance. My goal this year is to document these heirlooms with photos and stories, printed up in a Shutterfly book. Then if they decide not to keep the items, at least they know the background story and its provenance. This post was originally written for Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun in 2017. I am updating the content. Opera Glasses The first item is a pair of opera glasses that were given to me by my aunt, Virginia Gertridge, who told me they were owned by her great-aunt, Elizabeth Gleeson. Nothing was written down and I do not remember her exact words as I received the gift. It is possible that Virginia’s mother, Anna Sullivan Hork, had the opera glasses first and then they were passed down to Virginia. Clues about the glasses. They are stored in a leather case which is falling apart. Inside the lid is wr...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Here is our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing , I chose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 1)  Lorine Mcginnis Schulze on her Olive Tree Genealogy blog asked this question several weeks ago in  http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-is-your-oldest-ancestral-item.html . 2)  So have at it - what is the oldest ancestral item in your collection of artifacts and stuff?   3)  Tell us all about it in a blog post of your own, in comments on this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.  Be sure to link to them in a comment on this blog post. Thank you to Lorine for the idea and to Linda S. for suggesting it. Here's mine: I have written about heirlooms several times before, the last time here . In that post are links to four more posts. Heirlooms we have (not inclusive): Jewelry ...

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. I have written several blog posts previously about some of the heirlooms that have made their way to our home. They can be found here , here , here , and here . It’s wonderful that I have written about these heirlooms, but that might not be enough to keep them from being tossed once my husband and I have passed on. We didn’t talk about the old things with my daughters. Our children would treasure these things we treasure if we had talked about them as they were growing up. That way they would possibly feel a connection to them the same way that we do. It’s almost too late now—they are out of our home, so out of sight, out of mind. But, perhaps I can remedy that. I have decided to create a Shutterf...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's Saturday Night again - time for some more Genealogy Fun !! Here is our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing: 1)  Last week we shared the heirlooms that we inherited or obtained from our families. 2)  This week, please show a photograph of one or two of them. 3)  Share your cherished heirloom(s) in your own blog post, on Facebook, and leave a link to it in the comments. Last week, I shared two blog posts that I wrote about some heirlooms I have. I also mentioned some others that I will now show here. Glass-domed clock . This clock was passed down to me by my grandmother, Pansy Louise (Lancaster) Johnston in 2005. I always loved watching this clock when I was a young child and am glad I now have it. It is not working now, so I need to find a clock repair shop. This clock was made in Germany.  I searched for these clocks and Google and found they are called Anniversary Clocks.  I found on sale at...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  time for some more Genealogy Fun !! Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has our assignment for this week.  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? 3) Share your cherished heirloom(s) in your own blog post, on Facebook, and leave a link to it in the comments. I have written two previous blog posts about heirlooms I have.  "A Family Heirloom, Actually Two" and  Fearless Females "Day 6" . I have some other heir...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by  Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either  Mam-ma’s Southern Family  or at  My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. While visiting a first cousin in Florida, we discovered several pieces of woodwork done by my husband’s father, George Joseph Gorrell (1915-2011). The first was a table, signed by him. It was believed that he gave the completed table to his parents, Joseph Norman Gorrell and Matilda Pearl Davey, perhaps after making it in high school woodshop. The cousin got the table after the grandparents died. She also had two other items made by him but not signed: a recipe box and a covered bowl. Someday the table will make its way to us so we can pass it down to our daughters. They would probably like to have a piece that their grandfather had made. Copyright © 2018 by L...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has a new mission this week. Our mission this week is to: 1)  The Family History Hound listed 20 Questions about your Ancestor, and I'm going to use some of them in the next few months.   2)  Please answer the question - "What heirloom do you have that has been handed down through the generations?"   3)  Write your own blog post, make a comment on this post, or post  your answer on Facebook or Google+.  Please leave a link to your answer in comments on this post. This was an excellent challenge for me. I began thinking about the heirlooms I have. I had not previously taken photos of them. Looking at them now, I realize I need to buy some archival boxes and tissues to preserve them properly. Melissa Barker, The Genealogist in the Archives blog writer, has good advice about using archival boxes . I have two items that meet Randy’s requirement, and since I took the trouble to get them out and photograph them b...

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs "My Trails Into the Past" and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 6 — Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.) Cast iron pans from Nana We don't have many heirlooms from my ancestors.  My family did not have a lot of money but the few items that have been passed down are cherished.  I especially love the black cast iron frying pans from Nana, my grandmother, Anne M Hork. These pans are so well-seasoned, that I can cook anything in them without sticking.  Plus they can be washed gently without worry...