Heirlooms, Keepsakes and Memories

This week the prompt given by No Story Too

Small in the 52 Ancestors Challenge is 'Heirloom'....

I'm super excited about this post. I started by requesting on Facebook that any of my family that had any heirlooms please contact me. The response was wonderful! While some of the items may not have necessarily been passed down generation to generation, they definitely hold a great deal of sentiment for those who now own these treasures belonging to their ancestors.

I'll start with my mother's cousin (that's easier than saying my first cousin 1x removed) Tarona who sent me a picture of a very unusual item that belonged to her grandmother, my great grandmother, Zula Jane Acord Stepp. It is a four eyed bottle opener. A little research shows it was made in the 1940's by Wilton Co. Tarona shared that her mother, Jayne, remembered that Grandma Zula got it after she was married in 1946.

Tarona says:

"When I was really little it kinda scared me and then as I got older I couldn't wait to get a coke so I could use it! It was on the door jam in Grandma Zulie's kitchen......I wouldn't take a million dollars for it."

Another cousin of my mother, Debra,  has Grandma Zula's old Singer sewing machine from 1912

 

My grandmother, Reba, has and old cast iron tea kettle made by Bridgeford & Co, Louisville, KY, 1868.  It belonged to Grandma Zula's maternal grandmother Jane Conner Evans.



My Aunt Diane has the Bynum Family Bible printed in 1884. It was given to my 3rd great grandmother, Lou Emmer Reynolds, who married John Thomas Bynum, from her "Papa" 17 May 1885 when she was only 11 years old. She kept it and wrote in it her birthdate as well as the birthdate of her children. Diane also has my great grandmother Bondell Bynum Melson's thimble.

Another cousin of mine, Mike, has his grandmother, my great-grandmother, Myrtle Rutherford Jones' old WWII ration book:

I have a few treasures of my own and a few people to thank for them. I'll start with my Dad and Dawna who gifted me this past Christmas with my great grandmother Wille Belle Foster Nall's old canning funnel. Then my dad's cousin Angie who so graciously thought of me at the passing of my great grandmother and gathered up a box full of stuff that belonged to her and then made sure I got it. In it was this old standing mixer from Montgomery Ward dated 1963 complete with beaters and two mixing bowls, a serving bowl that still had Grandma's address label she used so that her dish would be returned to her when she brought food to the church potlucks and a decorative plate. The one with a solid round edge is hers. The plate that matches it belonged to my husband's grandmother - it has more pointy edges. I love that I have these two "matching" items from opposite sides of my daughter's family. I also have one of my most treasured items; one of the last Christmas gifts I ever received from Grandma Nall - a handwritten recipe for her chocolate gravy.









From my grandmother Winnie Sue Jones Nall (We called her Mammy), I have a cook book from our church - where she wrote me a sweet note on the worn out cover. It was a gift to me Christmas 2008.




And then there's my Uncle Mike and family who were kind enough to give me the family's old wood cook stove. I remember my Mammy and Grandma Nall cooking on it during a camp out we had in the field below Mammy's house one year. My grandpa, Charles Nall, brought in the big hay trucks for us to sleep on and in the morning we had biscuits, bacon, sausage, chocolate gravy, eggs and hot chocolate for breakfast. It was quite a treat! When I posted pictures of it on Facebook, my great Aunt Dena told me that the stove had originally belonged to her Dad, Rufus Nall, and that he bought it from Chicken Hollar in Farmington because he didn't like the way propane made his biscuits taste. He kept it on the back porch to cook his 'catheads'.

  

  

My Dad has his dad's old Bible. It has my grandfather's marriage date and the names of the witnesses and who married them. They were married by Charles' father Benjamin Rufus Nall and the witnesses were my grandmother Winnie Sue's brother, Edwin Jones and Charles' sister, Mildred (Dena). The handwriting belongs to my grandmother, Winnie Sue.  

  

  

My Great Aunt Peggy shared an heirloom she and my Uncle Dwight have. Dwight's dad, my great grandfather, Newell Stepp Sr. was a machinist in the Army in WW1. He made 5 ballpeen hammers while he was in the Army. He gave one to his commanding officers and brought the others home. A few years ago Dwight was visiting his cousin, Edna McDonald and she had one of the hammers that Newell made and gave to her Mother. She said she wanted Dwight to have the hammer, which he is very proud of. We don't know where the other 3 hammers are. They have Newell's serial number stamped on them, unfortunately its too faded to make out.

  

Another heirloom from my great grandmother, Willie Belle Foster Nall, now belongs to my dad's cousin Tracie. It is her old butter churn.

What family treasures do you and your family members have?

Until next week,
Becky