Family Stories Hidden in Boxes

Some large furniture pieces are now out of my house. Feels good and a bit shocking. Need to buy a new bed frame and perhaps a dresser or shelf. We'll see.


Yesterday went through another box of old papers--looks like my grandmother never purged her own parents' box of letters and legal papers, so....I found stuff relating to my great-grandfather's siblings. While it helps me piece together some interesting stories, you wonder how much this procrastinating of dealing with boring paper clutter just literally pushes boxes of papers on to the next generation.


Yes, I found a poll tax from 1915. That sounds cool to some, but I have "it's really old" fatigue. I'm thinking this should have been trashed a few generations back. But, it's not all bad. I learned some stuff, like Great-Grand Aunt Mary* had a cafe or bar called Mary's Tavern. And if the newspaper clipping was saved because he was her husband (as he had her last name), her husband was killed by a bolt of lightening in the street. In the same family, Great-Grand Uncle William had a bride of 16 who died of typhoid fever after a month of marriage. It sounds like a TV mini-series. While I resent people not dealing with a TON of the less interesting papers, it is amazing to see the drama three, four, and more generations back. How much happened that we'll never know because no one actually wrote out a narrative? Or just didn't know it would be of interest later down the line?

*Note: ancestry.com informed me that it's not great-great aunt but great-grand aunt. I'll take their word for it. 



Another person whose paperwork has been left was my great-great grandfather who was a Methodist pastor. Because he qualified as a public figure, little items about him would run in the paper, like how his five children had "sore eyes." (What is that? Pinkeye?) I call those papers the old form of facebook. I also have various legal documents and letters that are so dusty they make my skin itch. I realized that not only was he a Methodist pastor (among other jobs), but his father-in-law was as well. I had known this but not really put it together as two generations of reverends. The funny part is that I was not raised Methodist and had zero experience with Methodism until I was maybe in my 20s. I'm not Methodist today, but it's interesting to see it was a big thread in that side of the family. In contrast, my grandfather's side was raised Church of Christ, which is quite different, I would guess. I wonder how many denominations are part of my entire family tree--I would guess all of them in the end.

It's worth being careful when sorting through things--the stories are good to know. But I hope to lose the stuff that does not need to linger in boxes anymore, e.g. my grandmother's 1928 perfect spelling test.  Or a stack of 1930s real estate documents and land abstracts. It's not interesting, and it's accidentally unkind to never cull that stuff. At least I'm getting a few rewards in learning some details about people I knew little about before.
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Update: Hours after writing this, I found most of Mary's estate documents from the early 1960s...and guess what I found? Keys to the tavern and house. SIGH. Well, I wasn't sighing, but that's the polite version. 

I'm So Excited!

And I just can't hide it. 
That's because the auctioneer came over today and we went over items to sell. They'll come back a in a few days to take stuff away. Goodbye bedroom set that has been in the family since 1940. You served your purpose, and I even kind of like you, but just not enough. 

All this empty space begs the question, am I too old to shop at IKEA? Facebook friends say NO, IKEA is okay. Perhaps I will enter the Swedish maze and breathe slowly to get through my mild claustrophobia--when I can't find doors or windows for ages, I get a little nutty.

Fare thee well antique dresser with fold-out drawer that serves as a desk!

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Fun fact: English folks used to be taxed according to how many closets they had. Hence the commonness of those big wooden wardrobes a la Narnia. (I have a big one in my bedroom.)

Sad fact: Antique wardrobes aren't selling for much these days, should I ever move the hefty one out of my room. Alas.

Gonna Go Back in Time...

Phew! I am tired today. Went through a box of genealogy research. I may be off a little, but I have 8 or more banker's boxes of genealogy papers, most gathered in the 1980s when my grandmother went on a genealogy kick. The woman was kinda amazing given that we didn't have the net for easy research. I can only imagine what she would have done with ancestry.com. She was old-school and went to state libraries and also requested records from government agencies.

I got sucked into ancestry.com's free 2-week trial over a year ago--it was so addictive, I was a little concerned for myself. When I canceled after two weeks, I was glad--I might have needed an intervention. Anyways, today I went through a few family lines and sorted papers into folders, writing names in huge print for easier future access. I continually see that my grandmother's research matches up with what's online, and sometimes it's useful for filling in some details. I am nowhere near retirement age, but I can see how people can spend a lot of time researching this stuff. I probably know a lot more about my family members than most people my age.

Because of my ancestry.com connections, a member contacted me to tell me my great-grandmother was 1/64 Cherokee. That makes me...1/512 or 0.001953125 Cherokee. Something to say at parties, I guess? Fun to know nonetheless. And before the net, Grandma had tracked most of that line if not all of it. Impressive. She could have been an investigative reporter, perhaps?

From a decluttering perspective, I don't have to save every paper because a lot of it is online today. Another win for technology and more space for me.

Cleaning for the Cleaners...and Pondering Mortarboards

I'm sitting here as the carpet steam cleaner guy preps some rooms in my house. Nothing makes me see all the stuff scattered around my floor like the carpet cleaners because I have to really pick up and vacuum before they come. It's been two years or more since I had the carpet cleaned, so this is overdue. My family used to joke about "cleaning for the cleaning lady," but having cleaners come out is definitely a motivator to deal with items I don't even see anymore.

Went through an old trunk in the infamous garage yesterday...found WWII papers and orders. That's okay. But I did come across some English papers from 1934 and 1936--my grandfather earned A's and kept them. I know I still have some OLD school assignments, but I'll have to consider, as I get older, how to streamline those types of mementos. The room I'm sitting in now has a bag with not just my high school mortarboard, but also my college and grad school caps. Do I really, really need all three to remember the events? (I do love that I wrote "Adieu!" in masking tape on my high school hat.) I graduated--it happened. I've gotten jobs as a result. Perhaps now's a good time to part with at least one...some kid can buy it at a thrift store for a costume. I'm not against keeping some things--but when I'm pressed for space and trying to leave less behind, I want to be thoughtful about how much I leave, let alone schlep around when I move in the future.

Okay, so the truck engine that runs the steam cleaner isn't working right...someone else might need to come out to do the job. Hopefully this can get done today and I won't have piled things onto furniture for nothing!

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mor·tar·board noun \ˈmȯr-tər-ˌbȯrd\
1
: an academic cap consisting of a closely fitting headpiece with a broad flat projecting square top
2
a : hawk 2 b : a board or platform about three feet (one meter) square for holding mortar

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mortarboard?show=0&t=1341523239

Wacky Picture Wednesday

A couple pictures today...wacky kichenware from years gone by, found in the garage. 

This is an egg nog set, for those who looked at me quizzically when I said I had one. I actually like the golden clear glass look, but I don't think I serve nog enough to keep it.

My dad said this was his grandmother's coffee pot/server. Percolator still works!

I didn't photograph the biggest meat cleaver I've ever seen in person, so you'll just have to believe me! I assume Great-Grandma used it in getting the fried chicken ready...

Clutter as Social Entertainment

So I guess at some point it can get a little old listing off the various things I'm finding. But tonight I provided some entertainment at a dinner party of middle-aged folks. We discussed my weird finds, the value and superstition of feng shui, and tracking down items' value online. People reminisced about the magic of slide rules, told of valuable paintings found in storage, and I even met an auctioneer! Not everyone is in my situation, but at some point in life, people can relate to dealing with their older relatives' stuff. It happens. 


And to some folks, it does sound novel that yesterday I was going through Christmas cards from 1957. (They said I could have written a story based on them. But, the cards mostly had cute black and white photos of children looking retro and wholesome. "The George Westervelts wish you a Merry Christmas.") There is an interesting factor to this sorting--I can even enjoy it in certain moments. Yet the sheer quantity of stuff is what makes it annoying. It's not 100% bad; it's just taking too long because of the layers. This is a distinct chapter in my life, but I will be glad when I can pack up my own items someday and know I have only my own stuff. At least I have some stories and am learning more about my relatives' lives. (And what a reminder to toss out/recycle paper over time!)

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Hardest clutter of the week: sympathy cards from decades ago
Simpler clutter: grandparent's college report cards and transcripts from 1940s
Easiest clutter: evil antique bedframe that I tripped on--taken away by charity. Much joy.