52 Ancestors Week 41: Passed Down

Question

From Amy Johnson Crow:

The theme for Week 41 is "Passed Down." We can pass down lots of things: stories, clothes, special items. What is something that has been passed down to you or that you've passed down to someone else?

Chances are good that I'll be writing about a sword. If only it had magical properties.....

Answer 1

The first things that spring to mind for me are a silver Apostle's spoon and a small, white, leather Bible that were sent by my biological maternal grandmother to the social worker to be passed on to me with the message, "this is what we give all our grandchildren." I can't tell you how comforting it was to be able to hold them whenever I was struggling.

I'd much rather hear about your sword though...

Comments

What a heart-warming story. Thank you.

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I sadly didn't get a chance to write about it as intended. My great-aunt passed away and I just learned  about it. But, I do have a pic of it elsewhere in the blog.

Answer 2

She died before I was born. But I grew up hearing the stories of the courageous Dr. Catherine Travis, a female doctor in 1905, working with the Red Cross in 1916 during World War I, on the front lines, then a medical missionary in China in the 1920s.  She was my grandmother's cousin.  http://wikitree.com/wiki/Travis-2561. When she passed away in 1948 she donated over 200 artifacts to the New Brunswick Museum.  She mentioned my father in her will and passed down a Buddha, a brass smoking tray, a brass ink pot and a rosewood table, which were then passed down to me.  Dad built a stand for the tray so it sits in my living room as a small table. My first large painting ever done in Art College was of that Buddha, with the two missing fingers, always in our living room as I grew up. Dad told me he didn't break it. So that even became a story in my childhood imagination: The Mystery of the Buddha with the Missing Fingers.  

Comments

Pat, what an interesting story, especially about Catherine Travis being a female doctor in WWI. Is the Buddha made of carved wood. I have always admired Chinese art. My house is mainly antiques and Chinese art—lots of cloisonné.

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Thank you for your comment, Alexis.  Your house sounds beautiful.  The Buddha is brass with heavily patina.  It may be from the late 1800s and it's heavy.  One of the stories was about Dr. Travis removing bullets from Russian soldiers in the woods before they could even get them to a medic station. When she was a doctor in Connecticut she gave lectures to different groups on how to eat properly to avoid becoming ill.  She was really ahead of her time.

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What a beautiful Buddha Pat and the story

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Thank you, Susan. Dr. Travis was a remarkable woman.  But I think we are ALL related to remarkable women because there were so many of them.

Answer 3

When I saw this question, I thought of a song my parents used to sing (Tune of "The Old Oaken Bucket")

The old family toothbrush, the old family toothbrush, the old family toothbrush, that hung by the sink. First it was Father's and then it was Mother's, and then it was Sister's, and now it is mine.

The toothbrush wasn't passed down, but the song was. I wondered where it had come from. Google led me to this interesting story:

In the 1920's and 1930's, the most eagerly awaited event of the Palm Beach social season was the annual celebration of E.T. Stotesbury's birthday on February 26. The hundreds of people who filled the courtyard at El Mirasol on this festive occasion could always count on certain hallowed traditions. One of these was that Mr. Stotesbury, after cutting the big cake and accepting many fond toasts, could be prevailed upon by the crowd to regale them with "The Old Family Toothbrush." With Meyer Davis and his orchestra  providing accompaniment, Stotesbury would sing, and the guests would join in the chorus with a gusto that probably made the palm fronds quake.

Comments

Joyce, you always come up with such unusual or funny or thought-provoking responses to the chosen topic.  What can I say, but you've done it again.

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I added this story to his profile. (Stotesbury-24)

Answer 4

This is the watch that had belonged to my great grandmother Clara McCleery It was pinned to her dress on Thanksgiving Day 1901 when she ran from her home that burned to the ground.  After her death, the next year it was engraved and given to her daughter, my grandmother Pearl McCleery. My grandmother gave it to me, and I treasure it. This is a photo taken of my grandmother when she was only 14 and wearing the watch.

Comments

Wonderful, Alexis.  I remember you showed us a picture of the house that burned down.  Very moving story.  Beautiful grandmother and watch.

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Pat, thank you for your sweet comment. I have always felt my grandmother’s eyes looked sad in this photo. It is probably because she told me so many times how her life changed after her mother’s death.

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Alexis what a beautiful clock I really love it your grandmother was adorable thank you for sharing this

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Susan, thank you for the nice comment. This is my grandmother that left me so many photos.

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I Think she most have love you very much and also know you would treasure the photos Alexis

Answer 5

I have my paternal grandfather's watch, but the most interesting thing in the box of their items that I inherited was not the watch but a small ribbon such as might be issued to those attending a convention.  And that it is precisely what it was. Apparently, Grandma McNicol attended a suffragist convention, probably in 1914, the year Montana amended its constitution to grant women full suffrage. (Grandma and her husband took up a homesteaded in Montana in the Fall of 1913.) Although I had overlooked it several times through the years, I found this bit of ribbon invaluable as it was the only hint I had to her political beliefs.

Comments

Excellent. David.  Thank you for this post.

Answer 6

I have all kinds of things, but the one that sticks out is the Bible that Samuel Culbertson (1838-1864) - my second great uncle - carried in the Civil War.  He served in the 5th Iowa Infantry, was captured at the Battle of Missionary Ridge and died in Andersonsville Prison.

Comments

Roger, thank you for your sharing your answer. Such a tragic story, especially since Samuel was so young. Glad you have his Bible. My travel partner and I went to Andersonville last October. We took some photos and went to the grave of her second great grandfather and my first cousin three times removed.

Answer 7

I wrote about an heirloom that was handed down from my great-grandmother, Louise Gwynn Scrivener, --the souvenir that she brought home from the coronation of King George VI. https://annesgenealogyadventures.blogspot.com/2022/05/52-ancestors-week-41-passed-down-great.html

Comments

That was interesting! I'd always thought of Blue Willow as  American.

Answer 8

I have a pearl necklace that used to belong to my paternal grandmother. My mother gave it to me years ago and bought me earrings to match. I only wear it on special occasions.

Answer 9

This week I chose to look for families where a given name repeats itself in several generations. For that I went into the English unconnected lists, more precisely to Cambrigeshire. One of the biggest unconnected branches there is the Tree of fellow user Bryan Hancock. In this branch there are William Felix Hancock, his son William James Joseph and the (grand)son William Ernest. William James Joseph is married to Tryphena (Higgins) Hancock and I found her brother Walter already connected in the database. I only had to create their father John to connect them.

Answer 10

I didn't get a chance to write about the sword. It's okay. Something else came up and was probably more important than a legendary blade.

https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2022/10/52-ancestors-week-41-passed-down.html

Answer 11

My grandmother's baked sauerkraut, topped with bacon and brown sugar,  always served with Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey, is something that has been passed down in the family.