The Rest of the Story or Passmore Handpainted Plates - Treasure Chest Thursday

This is one of those "rest of the story" stories and then some.

First, the "rest of the story."

A while back in a post about a birth certificate for Bessie Maud Passmore, I made a passing comment about some hand painted plates Mom had. One of them was signed on the back by C. Passmore (upon closer examination, both plates had been signed by C. Passmore but most of the signature on one had faded or rubbed off).

A comment was also made, in that post, about "...the two hand painted plates (painted by an Aunt, or Great Aunt of ours)..." mentioned in a letter to Mom from one of Bessie's sons. The plates were to go to Mom. I finally unpacked the box they spent the last several decades in and brought them home to Arizona. Here they are!

The Cora Passmore who painted these plates lived from 1862-1946 and was Bessie's Aunt. Cora never married and lived with her sister Mary Passmore, who also never married. They lived together until their deaths in the 1940s in Rockford, Winnebago County Illinois.

So there we have a nice little "rest of the story." Now for the "and then some."

Earlier this year, I was contacted by a woman who found a couple of hand painted floral plates at a Goodwill store in Tennessee. One of them was signed M. Passmore. She had read my blog post and was wondering if the plates had been painted by a relative of mine. Hmmmm....

She sent me pictures of the plates and I mulled things over for quite sometime. How many M. Passmores are running around who paint plates??? I may never know for sure but....I'm thinking those two little old ladies had a hobby they shared. So, I offered to purchase the plates from this woman for a small sum and here they are!

Who says family history research isn't fun and full of surprises?

In case you are wondering, Husband thinks I am completely off my rocker. No surprise there!

© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum