52 Ancestors Week 24: Handed Down

Question

Time for the next 52 Ancestors challenge...

Please share with us a profile of an ancestor or relative who matches this week's theme:

Handed Down

Share below.

You don't need to share every week to participate, but those who do will earn badges. If this is your first time participating and you don't have the participation badge, or if you pass a milestone (13 shared profiles in 13 weeks, 26 in 26, or 52 in 52) let us know here. For more about the challenge, click here.

Comments

My great-great grandmother, Catherine Mumma-Omelia (1848-1935) for some so far unknown reason was raised by an Aunt and Uncle.  

When she was very young child they acquired a high chair for her.

This high chair has been "handed down" and actually used by several generations ... I have possession of it.  Below is a photo of the chair and a card written by someone in the chair of the tree.

Answer 1

My father had wonderful stories that he would tell around the campfire on summer trips. His father Clarence Elisha Driver had actually gone to the Yukon Gold Rush with his brother Grant S. Driver. Here is one.

Two Bullets

My papa was the youngest of the brothers in the family. When his oldest brothers decided to leave California and go to the Yukon to mine for gold, he begged to go too. For some reason his mother said yes. Maybe she wanted a vacation from him, because he was a bright but mischievous child always creating havoc.

Their first winter came on suddenly and food was running short so the brothers went into Dawson for supplies. The snow was deep and they thought it best to leave my papa at the cabin as he would only slow them down. After they were gone a few days a huge blizzard decended and lasted for days. His brothers couldn’t get back and pretty soon there was nothing left to eat but some dry crackers. My papa was getting hungry and there seemed to be a break in the weather so he took down the long rifle above the wood stove and took the last two bullets and went out to find something to eat. The rifle was almost as long as my papa, so he was dragging it through the snow. After awhile he tripped and dropped one of the bullets. The snow was so soft and deep that as he dug the bullet went deeper and deeper in the snow and pretty soon he could no longer see it. 

Now, my papa was a smart little guy and he thought and thought and decided to put the remaining bullet in the gun. 

After about hour he came to a frozen pond and next to it was a tree chock full of arctic pigeons! My papa was very quiet and thought “If I prop this gun against something and take good aim I should be able to hit one.” So he propped the gun against a big rock and took aim. 

He pulled the trigger, and lo and behold the bullet went through 3 of those pigeons! There were so many pigeons on the branch that it was weighed down and when the three fell off and the rest flew away, the branch sprang up and when it came back down it broke off and hit a moose who was startled by the gunshot and was running by and killed him. A rabbit had popped its head out of a hole to see what the commotion was and got kicked by the moose’s death throes and that rabbit flew over and hit my papa in the stomach and knocked him into the pond. He came up with one hand on a muskrat and the other on a beaver and his pockets full of fish! He gathered up his bounty, buried most in the snow, took one of the pigeons and the fish and dragged the gun back to the cabin. He ate well for a few days and when his brothers could get back with the flour and salt and other supplies they all ate well for the rest of the winter. 

Comments

Now that's a whopper!  If you don't mind, I'm going to tell it to my 5 year old tomorrow at bedtime, she will love it!

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Thanks! I loved the stories as a kid, my children loved hearing them over and over and I have been telling then to my grands! If you are good maybe I will tell you all about the frozen roars or how my papa invented the popsicle!

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What a great story!

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LOL! that reminds me of a tale my pap-pa used to tell. He hopped on the backs of alligators to cross the river and killed three turkeys and a bear with one shot.

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Love this.  Very interesting story. Kept me on the edge.  Thanks for sharing..

Answer 2

Things get handed down in families for generations, sometimes for a century or more until they're broken/destroyed/lost.  I have one valuable item that belonged to my Great Grandmother, Anna (Carswell) Jones - Her gold pocket watch.  Inside the front cover is a photo of her probably taken in the late 1930's /early 1940's.  I took it to a clock repair shop a few years ago and they got it working again.

Since I have no children, I will probably leave it to one of my nephews in hopes it will stay in the family for another generation or two.

Answer 3

While there were physical things that were handed down in the family, the things that have most inspired me in my genealogical work are the stories. I am sure the stories are what started me on this quest.  Sometimes I have been able to understand things said generations before, because I learn something in the genealogy that informs it. 

Before I was born, my parents were discussing names for a girl.  Pamela was popular at the time, but my paternal grandmother vetoed that name.  She said she couldn't pronounce it.  None of us understood this statement.  Grandma spoke perfectly plainly, and we didn't think there was anything about "Pamela" that was a tongue twister.

My grandmother had been gone for 30 years before I figured this out.  She had more of the family stories in her head than she was able to communicate to us.  One must have been about her grandfather's aunt, born about 1800, named Permilla Martin.  The name was spelled with an R, in several different ways. Parmelia, Parmella, and without the R as Pamelia.  My grandmother was very fond of her grandfather, who died when she was about 8.  It is clear now, she knew stories of his Aunt Parmelia,and they remained in her subconscious mind.  Consciously she said, I can't pronounce that name.  

So, I am trying to learn more about Parmelia Martin Sheldon, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Martin-54944  And I am not named Pamela. I am glad I got the clue about her from my grandmother, and sure wish the rest of the story had been handed down.

Answer 4

My family has a lot of this handed down to the family. We receved a double handed saw from around the 1890 from montana.

Answer 5

Unfortunately the most old things where destroyed at ww2, so the only things I got handed down are a few old pictures and a few official documents. Mostly of my grandfather Gustav Poitner.

Answer 6

I wish that this hand-me-down was in our brach of the family but I'm glad that the cousins who had it donated it to the family museum.  This coverlet was sewn by my 4th great-grandmother Marjry (DeGraff) Miller in 1805 making it a 215 year old hand-me-down!

edit: spelling

Comments

SJ that is certainly nice that your family has a family museum. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful family treasure. 

Answer 7

My most treasured item that was handed down to me was a spiral notebook full of photostats of the Dodge and Millar family histories.  This notebook, which I have had for nearly 50 years, is the item that fueled my interest and gave me a good start in my family genealogy.

Answer 8

Since I am the only child of an only child, I have been fortunate to have been handed down several things. I treasure these many things. One of my most favorite is the 1845 signature quilt that belonged to my second great grandmother Adaline Hutton. It has the date and names of her family and friends in the center of each square. I hope that my granddaughters will treasure these things, since my daughter has put a moratorium on my giving her things.

Answer 9

From my grandfather Jack, who died 4 years before I was born, I was handed down his portable typewriter. I am not sure the exact year, but it was pre WW I, and he used it while he was working as an Egyptologist in Egypt, and as a professor at Oxford. My father used it at University, and I used it through college and grad school.  It needs some minor repairs now, but is not ready to be cast away.

I have a box full of  faience beads that my grandmother  grandmother sieved out of the "waste heap" at one of Jack's digs.

I have another box full of about a dozen of my great grandfather's, Charles Stephen Meacham, oil paintings on wooden boards, mostly landscapes from South Africa, Italy, and England.  Also some sketches by my great great grandfather  Samuel Peploe Wood , mostly of people and scenery in England,Scotland, and Ireland (these have been donated to a museum).

When my grandmother died, what money she had went to my half uncle, but we got a couple of boxes of "stuff", which included the paintings and sketches, as well as some stories she had written.

Answer 10

My family are not big into "handing things down".

The only really old thing we have at this time is the family bible belonging to my mothers adoptive family. I dont have the original, but I do have photos.

My adoptive grandparents were not particularly nice people so I prefer to ignore them. This family is currently being added to wikitree, and the family bible was very helpful in providing names,places and dates of birth.

However this family have NOT been linked to MY family tree since they are oinly the adoptive family and did not contribute any DNA. I no longer consider them to be my family.

Answer 11

My great-grandfather Bradley Musick was the proprietor of a large General Store in Bee Spring, Kentucky. My mother inherited a small case that housed spools of sewing thread that stood in the store. The drawers are just deep enough for spools of thread, but perfect for storing small items like votive candles.

Bradley Musick died in 1934, many years before any of his great grandchildren were born. We also have no photographs of Bradley. This small case is really my only connection to him (other than my DNA.) My mother was kind enough to hand this down to me shortly before she passed away in 1984. I think of my mother, my grandmother, and my great grandfather Bradley every time I use this.

Answer 12

From conference table to coffee table to battlefield for two warring factions of sentient transforming robots: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2020/06/52-ancestors-week-24-handed-down_9.html

That and I discuss clocks and a sword I have in my collection! So much stuff!

Comments

Oh, my, Chris, I love your virtual museum! Thanks for sharing!

Answer 13

I'm an only child. This being said my dad has a storage unit of things from when my gramma died. He saved as much as he could before the house was sold. Long story there but you get the idea of forces I couldn't control. So far he has handed down a heart shape table my grammy had and a few other trinkets. Her father was very skilled with his hands, I'm convinced my skills are from him, my dad, and my cousin Terry. Anyway I have a chair that either he made or his grandfather made sitting in my front room. I'm very selective of who sits in it as well. The chair is old and very plain but it's very sturdy. I also have a white birch horse that he made. I recall this white birch horse with the one memory I have of his wife my great gramma who lived with my gram and pap when I was 4. It sits on my trinket shelf so none of the little fingers in my house destroys it. Also among my handed down items is the Spencer Kraybil book about the Pine Creek Settlers here in PA. It is by far my most prized possession as it has my grammas hand writing in it. She left her notes in there just like I am leaving my notes in there for future generations. Being an only child does have its perks somedays. :)

Answer 14

 My Aunt Myra,https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Crawford-13093 made about a dozen beautiful porcelain dolls in the 1950s.  When she died, my mother, her sister, got them.  When my mom died, I chose the one least likely to break during the drive back to Iowa from California.  It is still in one piece, as is the taffeta in the dress that will disintegrate when touched.  (I also chose the one easiest to pick up without touching the dress) 

Answer 15

I have papers, genealogy notes, pictures of https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hoit-15 born about 1770 and his wife https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cate-117 born in 1773

along with several things passed to me that I will pass along, including my GGGrandfather's Civil War Pistol; engraved grandmothers (pocket) watch on a chain necklace given on her 16th birthday; GG uncles stamp collect from his boyhood etc.  and

I gave my grandson who is now 3 years old, a hand made sled, brought it to the house on a day of family gathering and we put it aside so the kids wouldn't all be climbing on it, and told my daughter and her husband:

1: It is required that Max must use this at least once and I want pictures.

2: If I ever see it on craigslist or ebay I will haunt you forever.

A few days later my son-in-law emailed me and said WOW! This looks really old and seems to be entirely handmade, even the curled wooden runners, at which point I said look at the back of it.   Hand carved on the back are:

DWH 1845  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hoyt-579

JIH 1880

DWH 1917

JDH 1945

JFHV 1980

So we ordered a wood carving tool from Home Depot and he has added MVS 2016.  Yes, it was 171 years old, I know my grandfather also used it, my dad used it, my brother and I used it, my kids used it and now my grandson, but we only have pictures from the last 3 generations.

And my son-in-law will NEVER put it on ebay!

Comments

A wonderful story

Answer 16

This week's topic is a difficult one for me because I do not have any artefacts, documents or stories that have been handed down to me from previous generations, so I am going to take a different approach.
I was recently browsing a family tree and came across Moses Xerxes who married in 1766 at Bentley, Hampshire, England and had eight children. No record of his origins has been found which is a pity because it would be nice to think you could trace his ancestry back to Xerses King of the Achaemenid Empire (518-465 BCE). Maybe one of his descendants has an heirloom in the attic such as an ancient Persian vase that has been dutifully handed down through the generations.
 

Answer 17

I have several antimacassars 'handed down' to me on the maternal side of my tree. I have tried to add a photo to no avail. The antimacassars were crocheted by my maternal Great Aunt Delida, the daughter of Antonio Giorgio (Anthony George) of Turin, Italy, and Elizabeth Dunstone (Stephens) George of Sithney, Cornwall. My 'Aunt Lidey' left them to my maternal grandmother and she left them to me. I still use them. The photo I tried to add 'blew up' this week's 52 ancestors. I will try to add a photo later.

Answer 18

Names are handed down; heirlooms are handed down.  New heirlooms are made.

I have a distant (2nd cousin 4 times removed) cousin named Margaret (Thompson) Blean https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Thompson-34629  As an avid quilter, I was looking up quilt patterns on the internet one day as I was curious if there are any patterns associated with the name Margaret.  

I found a pattern called "Margaret's Quilt" at quilterscache.com.  There are instructions at this site.  The site led me to a book, "History from the Heart: Quilt Patterns Across Illinois," by Dwayne and Rachel Kamm Elbert (1993) for the Illinois Quilt Research Project.  So I ordered a copy of the book.

In the book I found that "Margaret's Quilt" was made by Margaret (Thompson) Blean. It was made in Greenspring, Cumberland, Pa. in 1839.  I decided to look up her ancestry and that's how I discovered the connection.

The quilt was not only made by Margaret, but it has been passed down through the generations to descendants named Margaret.  I started making one for myself but I set it aside for a while.  All those pieced diamonds--But I plan to return to it.

Answer 19

Week 24 - Handed Down, This week I need to go back to the family Bible, that I'm not sure that anyone alive in the family knew existed until I found it while going through my Grandpa's library. It was really interesting going through the family details in the front of the Bible, and not recognising any of the names, but soon discovering that they were all my ancestors in one line of my tree. So today I'm choosing Helen Cruickshank-637, who was given this Bible set when they were married in 1829 in Scotland. This Bible set would have been handed down a few times, to have gotten to me.

Answer 20

My great-great-grandfather, Edward Crossley, worked for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for most of his life; the railroad gifted him with a gold pocket watch.  It was handed down to my grandmother and then to me.  It doesn't work anymore, but it's a very nice keepsake.