Showing posts with label vintage family records. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vintage family records. Show all posts

Saturday, August 16, 2014

The Birthday Book & A Hopeful Reunion

 
Greetings Sweet Friends...
What a wonderful summer we've had this far, so many
adventures shared with loved ones. We just got back
from Casinos in Nevada, National Parks in Utah
& my Sister's Ranch in Colorado, all with
our grandson Kai...the perfect vacation!
 
 
But today, I want to tell you about a little book I bought at an
antique store years ago, it's well worn  pages turned so many
times they are now coming apart. It was a gift to Miss Lottie
Burkett on her 19th birthday in 1909. 'The Year And The
Day, A Tennyson Birthday Book' & Lottie filled it in
with all her loved ones births & deaths, all her life.
She got this book before she was married, but
it includes her husband, children &
grandchildren's important dates.
 
Who could part with such a treasure?
 
 
This is a question I have asked myself so many times over
the years, finding myself drawn to vintage record books
but once getting them home & scouring through them,
realizing they are a missing piece to someone's family
 history. And because family history is so important
to me, I can't imagine it not being important
to someone else.
 
 
I have attempted to find that person over the years who is a
descendant of Lottie, some one who would treasure this
little book as I have, but to no avail. This morning I had
an idea & the time to actually work it through. I would
create a Family Tree on Ancestry.com & research her
family line, hoping to ultimately find a family
member who is also researching her.
 
 
Because of Lottie's excellent record keeping, I was able to do
just that...starting with her Grandparent's & taking the tree
down to her Great Grandson, I have now contacted another
Ancestry member to see if they can assist me in reuniting
this amazing family heirloom with it's rightful owner.
 
{I believe this is Lottie's grandson Arnold}
 
This is a joy for me to do & a way to pay back the Ancestry
community for the many gifts it has given me, photographs
with faces I thought I would never see, generosity &
kindnesses I can never repay. I'll keep you posted
as to what happens next, it will be exciting! :)
 
XOXO
vintagesusie


Monday, June 23, 2014

Vintage Family Records


Happy Monday Friends...


If you have followed me with any regularity, you
already know that Ancestry.com is my passion.

 
A couple of years ago after watching a few episodes of 'Who Do You
Think You Are', I became really interested in finding
out as much as I could about my heritage
& where I came from.


Through my research I came across these amazing
Vintage Family Records & have enjoyed
using them to keep track & record
some of my family lines.


I thought you might enjoy playing with them too!!


They are so beautiful & nothing made today can
even compare to these lovely vintage images.


With the Fourth of July  right around the corner, I like
to remember the history of my ancestors & what
they have done to keep our Nation Free.


Several of my 6x Great Grandfathers & Uncles
fought in the Revolutionary War out of places
like Ohio, Pennsylvania & Virginia.
 

We fought in the War of 1812,


the Indian Wars...


& the Civil War, both for the North & South.


My story is truly an American Story...


& looking at all the hero's in my family tree,
including my Father, it's a great reminder that
Freedom does NOT come Free!


I hope you enjoy these images of vintage Family Records,
all found through The Library of Congress.
 

For me, doing this kind of research is like being the family detective.
Hunting down clues, looking for a confirmation on a hunch
& sometimes even chasing ghosts.


But I am the keeper of the past...
the holder of the archives...
the memory of a family.


It's what I do,
it's what I've always done.


I look to the future in the hope that another generation will
follow me & find value in these things, as I do. That they too
will want to know more about where they came from &
will continue to tell the stories of our American Family.
Maybe they will even remember a distant grandmother who's
great, great grandparents were the children of men who
fought in the Civil War for the North & the South,
proving that in the end, we are all just American's.

XOXO
vintagesusie