Getting the Family Trained - Treasure Chest Thursday

A very exciting thing happened recently. I think I am getting my family truly trained. Out of the blue, my mother-in-law sent me copies of a page in a family Bible her mother received from a relative! Most of the information I have seen before but I do believe I see a clue in there. Oooh, something to look into. But that's not the best part.

Husband was going to see his mom so I asked him to take a picture of the cover of the Bible and the publishing and copyright information inside. They did better than that. Mom gave Husband the Bible!

URL for this post:   http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2012/03/getting-family-trained-treasure-chest.html

© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Wonderful Readers' Top Picks for 2011

As the sun sets on 2011, sit back and enjoy your top 12 picks at The Turning of Generations for this past year. According to Google Analytics these are the most viewed posts this year, so they really are the top pick of my Wonderful Readers.

1. Using Land Records to Solve Genealogical Problems. This particular series was about William Ballenger's Military Warrant file. Several individual posts in this series made the top 10 so I've combined this into one selection pointing you to the summary post which has links to the individual posts in the series. I was surprised this was so popular and I think we partly have Randy Seaver to thank for highlighting it in his weekly Best of the Genea-Blogs.
2. Metadata, Image Files and Migration. Something we will want to think more about with some of our projects this coming year for The 21st Century Organized Family Historian (see #8 below). Nira Porter Chambliss of The Door Keepers provided a link in the comments to a really helpful article.
3. 98th  Edition of COG - Document Analysis! Bessie Maud Passmore Birth Certificate. This post was actually published in October 2010 and for some reason continues to remain high on the hit list with readers. I did go a little overboard with my creative use of metaphor but why it's so popular is a mystery to me. Maybe there are a lot of Passmore researchers out there? Thanks go to Jasia, and her Carnival of Genealogy, for providing the topic for a popular post and one that has put me in contact with a distant cousin.
4. Mt. St. Helens Eruption - Disasters. A topic that surely is high in search hits, this was part of Amy Coffin's (We Tree Blog) 2011 series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History.
5. How Do You Organize Your Blog Reading? A topic I still am tinkering with, I'm glad it generated interest.
6. When is it OK to Throw an Old Photo Away? Sorting Saturday. There was some excellent discussion in the comments on this post and I suspect we will continue to ponder and discuss it in the New Year (see #8 below).
7. A Look at a Cash Entry Land File - The Summary. I'm pleased you Wonderful Readers have taken an interest in land files. It's a topic I'm finding very interesting and productive as far as making progress in my research. I haven't yet covered the ever popular Homestead Files. Look for that series in 2012. I'm putting a different spin on it.
8. Introducing the 21st Century Organized Family Historian (#21COFH). I am shocked, pleased, humbled and a little intimidated to see that this one post in the last few days of 2011 made the top 12 for the year! There has been a debate raging in my mind for the last several months as to whether or not to do this series as I wasn't sure if there would really be much interest. Considering that this one post generated an all time high in daily hits to The Turning of Generations, I would say there is some pent up interest in the community! My hope (besides getting this family archival mess straightened up) is that we all can learn from each other by going through this process. Let's get it done!
9. Treasure Chest Thursday - The Time Capsule - Part 2. This series is from 2010 and while I'm not sure why this one post from the series popped up as number 9 but I'm really glad. Examining and preserving the contents of a suitcase of my great grandmother, Frances Lowe, was a favorite project. I've updated the post to include links to the other articles in the series.
10. The Green 1964 Chevy Impala. This was another 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History, the topic of which was - cars. Classic cars are always fun.
11. COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe Another  Carnival of Genealogy topic, scrapbooking of any kind is always fun.
12. Progress on the Archival Closet on Sorting Saturday. This is the perfect post to end your list of top choices from 2011. Progress has been made! More progress will occur in 2012. I think I see an Archival Room in my future!

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

One Ringy Dingy on Treasure Chest Thursday

Since I seem to have telephones on my mind these days, I thought it would be fun to share the story of this old-fashioned phone that hung on the wall in the kitchen of the Family Home since my earliest memories. These days it holds a place of honor in another home of our family.

The phone hung on the wall in the kitchen where the outgoing mail and any papers Dad needed at work the next day would be placed. I can remember as a child standing on a chair, cranking the little handle to get the phone to ring before I began my conversation with my imaginary friends. The bell still works today.

I never knew where this phone came from until very recently. In a conversation with another family member, I learned the story behind the origin of this phone. Thus emphasizing the importance of talking to other family members as their experiences no doubt are different from yours.

Anyway, Sibling relayed to me that one of our grandfathers found this old phone in an old barn. The other grandfather took the phone, refinished and fixed it all up before giving it to my parents. When you turn the little handle on the side the bell still rings!

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

On The Outside Looking In - Treasure Chest Thursday

One of the last things we found tucked away in the Family Home was our childhood rocking horse. I can vividly remember sitting in this cute horse rocking away, my little feet on the foot board and my little hands on the bar looking out to where ever I imagined my rocking horse taking me. It's rather strange now for I can only stand on the outside of our rocking horse, look in and remember. My feet are so big I can't even fit one foot in the rocking horse now.

Our rocking horse has a spot now where the next generation of children can occassionally hop in for a ride.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

It Takes A Thief - Discharge Papers



 A while back, I wrote about breaking into the locked “safe” in my parents’ basement. Inside were numerous papers belonging to my grandparents. One of those items, I was particularly excited to discover was my grandfather's World War I discharge papers. Initially I thought they were the originals but upon closer examination I noticed they are a notarized copy. If you're familiar with the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center, you know that this is quite an exciting find.

The Enlistment Record portion expands on some of the details of my grandfather's service. This should help me verify information that I've pieced together from other sources and provide a more complete timeline. Down at the bottom in the notary area, it states that my grandfather has the original in his possession. I'm still hoping the original will turn up and have no doubt it might.

I also noticed Grandpa recorded his discharge papers with the Spokane County Auditor upon his return from the war.

I can see why Grandpa kept his discharge papers locked up and am thankful that he did.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Photo by Marcin Wichary

Treasure Chest Thursday - Or - It Takes a Thief

When I was a kid I remember a "safe" sitting in my grandparents extra bedroom. It was more of a file cabinet with a combination lock on the bottom compartment. We used to sit and twirl the dial trying to open it up.

After my grandparents passed, the "safe" was moved to Dad's office where it sat for many years. Recently another family member expressed interest in having the "safe." Suddenly there was a need to open it and see what was inside. But how? No one alive seems to know the combination or where it might have been written down.

Enter Husband with his common sense ingenuity; and a butter knife. Yep, he popped that baby open like it a pro! While there was no family fortune waiting inside, there was a family historian's delight: old photos, letters and other documents. Some of which are both valuable and helpful. Others have left me with questions but no answers.

Check back over the next couple of weeks and I'll share a few items. You might even be able to answer some questions for me.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum
Photo by Marcin Wichary

Treasure Chest Thursday - Homestead Certificate

While sorting through the Archival Closet, I came across a very old envelope simply labelled Mitchell. Upon opening it, I realized this was an item I had never been through before! Most of the papers had to do with my great great grandfather, John Hamilton Mitchell, Sr.'s homestead in Tumtum, Washington.

Years ago, I had written off to the National Archives for his homestead application packet, so most of the information in this envelope was already familiar. However, there was a very heavy weight, large piece of paper in this envelope that had an official raised seal. Upon opening it, I was surprised to see it was the original certificate issued to John in 1906! It's in great shape and now in a home that will insure it's longevity.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - Backpacking Anyone?

This backpack belonged to my grandfather who would have used it early in the 20th century.  All I have to say is - we've come a long way baby. This thing isn't exactly comfortable!

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - You Are My Treasures

Today I want to pay tribute to numerous the treasures that have come into my life in the form of GeneaBloggers. When I first started the Time Capsule series I really wasn't sure if anyone would be all that interested. Instead the many comments and helpful suggestions have been an encouragement to me. Thank you.

In no particular order, here are the commentors of the Time Capsule series and links to their blogs where appropriate. You are now part of the Time Capsule as well since I printed out all the posts, including everyone's comments and suggestions.

Carol of Reflections From the Fence and Reflection's Flora and Fauna
Lindalee at Flipside
Kerry of The Clue Wagon
Amy Urman who writes The Genealogy Search
Gini over at Ginisology
Barbara who writes Life From the Roots
Tonia of Tonia's Roots
Lisa at Are You My Cousin?
Mary of Mary's Musings
Miriam at Ancestories: The Stories of My Ancestors and several other blogs
Denise Levenick The Family Curator
A Rootdigger
Doreen from Ohio of the Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay blog
Julie Cahill Tarr at GenBlog
Astrid Of Trolls and Lemons
The Shy Genealogist
Finding Our Ancestors
Dr. Bill Smith who writes Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories among other blogs
Nan (I'm sorry but I wasn't able to access a profile and provide a link :(
IrishEyes at 'On a flesh and bone foundation': An Irish History

Thank you again for your kind comments, suggestions and encouragement!

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - Preserving the Time Capsule

For the past several weeks, I've been going through my great grandmother, Frances Lowe's small suitcase of belongings that the family has dubbed the Time Capsule. It's been a fun voyage back in time, clear back to the late 1800's and then forward to the early 1960's. Now that I've sorted through the entire suitcase, I've realized the importance of properly preserving these items for another generation or more.

The photos, booklets and other paper items were easy to store in two appropriately sized document and photo boxes.

The precious little leather shoes were a bit more of a challenge. I want to thank Sally Jacobs, The Practical Archivist for some great advice on storing and displaying them (as well as storing some of the other items). Sally truly is practical in her approach to archiving.

The shoes were in excellent condition for being way over 100 years old. The leather was still soft and supple so I was able to gently stuff them with acid free tissue paper and place them in this special box with a clear lid.

The other artifacts went into this acid free box that is also buffered, so a couple of items like the leather wallet were padded with unbuffered acid free tissue paper.  Apparently leather doesn't do so well if it's in contact with buffering agents (thanks again Sally!). The same goes with the wooden letters.

I may have to put the wonderful smelling Bottle of ??? in the box with Frances' dress just to be able to enjoy the smell when we open the box with the dress.

Finally, I've printed off all of these posts, including everyone's wonderfully helpful comments and the emails to and from family members regarding the photographs that needed identifying. They will also be placed with this collection. After all, what would be the point of this entire project if what I've learned isn't passed on?

Next, it's time to wrap up with some comments about what I've learned from this project.

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - Time Capsule - Dress

At the very bottom of Frances Lowe's Time Capsule was a neatly folded dress with embroidered butterflies.

After being packed away with the bottle for several decades the dress smells wonderful. You hear of certain aromas evoking memories? My personal memories of Frances are fuzzy since I was very young when she died. This wonderful aroma will forever evoke those warm, fuzzy memories of my great grandmother Frances Lowe.

I am trying to decide if Frances sewed the entire dress.

What do you think?

Next up, results of the family inquiries about that box of pictures and other "correspondence."

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures


© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday-Time Capsule-Doilies

There is a set of six of these cute doilies that Frances made. It appears she had started working on something else as well. I can't imagine doing this!

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday-Time Capsule-Embroidery

Apparently Frances enjoyed embroidery. More on that in a future post. There is also a bag of various colored embroidery thread which I haven't included here.

Unfortunately there is no published or copyright date so I have no idea how old this little book is, other than that it is older than 1964 when Frances died.

 

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday-Time Capsule-Frances' Necklace

Today's item from the Time Capsule, is one that's particularly exciting for me as it's one that I might just wear for a special occassion. 

Frances had a very long, triple strand, beaded necklace.  The clasp still works just fine.

The beads themselves are tiny!

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday-Time Capsule-Teacher's Certificate #2

Continuing from Saturday's post where I wrote about my great grandmother Frances Lowe's Teacher's Certificate from Boulder County, Colorado. Here is the second Teacher's Certificate that was found in the "Time Capsule."

Unfortunately, there is a small hole in the paper right where the last digit of the year Frances certificate was awarded to her! She and Milton were married 13 March 1895 in Boulder, Colorado[1] so the year would have to be 1895 or later. An account in the local history, They Gazed on The Beartooths, by Jim Annin, place the Lowe’s in Limestone, Montana by 1896[2]. However, Milton's Homestead Entry file states that he settled on his land on 20 April 1897[3].  So that at least gives me a pretty good idea of when the certificate was awarded to Frances.

If you read the small print it’s clear here that the “3rd grade” is referencing Frances’ certificate and not the grade of children she is certified to teach. That makes sense considering the community where they were living was very spread out and sparsely populated.

The only other thing I am wondering about is why it was issued for Carbon County, Montana. My understanding is that at the time, they were in Yellowstone County. The Lowe’s homestead was located in 3 different counties that I know of, during the 30 or so years the family lived on it. None of them was Carbon. Although Carbon County is adjacent to the various counties in which the Lowe's homestead was located.  So I need to double check the county histories and also consider the possibility that Carbon was the closest places for Frances to go to obtain a teaching certificate.

On Saturday we'll move away from paper and start looking at some of the other types of treasures in the Time Capsule.

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures


Citations:
[1] Boulder County, Colorado, marriage certificate (1895), Lowe-Robinson; privately held by Michelle Goodrum, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE].


[2] Jim Annin, They Gazed on the Beartooths, 3 vols.( Billings, Montana: Reporter Printing & Supply Company, 1964), 1:336.

[3] Application No. 7063, 8 May 1908, in Milton C. Lowe (Yellowstone County) homestead file bearing final certificate No. 136540, 13 June 1910, Bozeman, Montana, Land Office; Land Entry Papers, 1800-1908; Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Time Capsule - Part 2

Today I am examining the next layer of my great grandmother, Frances Lowe's "Time Capsule;" specifically some of the contents of the leather case. You can read previous posts about the "Time Capsule" here, here and here.

A partial inventory reveals items relating to the Order of the Eastern Star, including:

• 
  
  Rosters from Queen Esther Chapter No 5, Boulder Colorado for the years 1907, 1914, and 1938. Frances is listed as a member in the 1914 directory only with an address of Nye, Montana.
• 
  
  By-Laws for the same chapter.
• 
  
  Book titled, Ritual of the Order Eastern Star, published by Authority of the General Grand Chapter, Chicago, copyright 1890. The publish date is July, 1904.
• 
  
  2 receipts dated 9 July 1914 and 25 March 1915 stating Frances Lowe had paid her dues.
• 
  
  The "certificate" dated 25 March 1915 and shown below which, if I read it correctly, is saying that Frances was received as a member 24 November 1910 and  is now released from membership.

 

Frances moved with her husband, Milton, from Boulder, Colorado to Limestone/Nye, Montana in the mid 1890's. I can't help but wonder why she joined the Order of the Eastern Star, in Boulder, so long after she had moved from there.  Frances was born and raised in the lovely town of Boulder and moved literally to frontier country in Montana.  I visited their homestead last summer and it is still in what I would consider back country (or very nearly); a beautiful land but remote and harsh in the winters. Talk about going through a lifestyle change.  I would not be surprised if she had hoped to move back to Colorado.

Interestingly, the Ritual of the Order Eastern Star, has a paragraph titled Membership.  It states:

Master Masons in good standing in a Masonic Lodge, and their wives, daughters, mothers, widows, and sisters, who have attained the age of eighteen years, are eligible to membership in this Order.

I have found no evidence, yet, that Frances' husband, Milton, belonged to the Masons (although his father did[1]).  Frances' father, Daniel Robinson, was a Mason in Boulder[2].  So that could have been how she gained her membership. Frances' mother, Nancy (Ballenger) Robinson, was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Boulder (she is listed in the 1914 directory and her obituary[3] mentions it).

If you are interested in the Order of the Eastern Star, you can read more about it here and here.

So far all of the items in the Time Capsule (with the exception of the leather case) can easily be placed together in an archival safe box.  It is done.

Next up are by far my favorite finds to date in the Time Capsule.

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures


Endnotes:
[1] The Boulder Daily Camera (Colorado), 3 June 1897, p. 4.
[2] The Boulder County Herald (Colorado), 7 Feb 1900, page 5.
[3] Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Washington), 9 September 1927, section H.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Time Capsule - First Steps

I don't know about you but boxes, or in this case suitcases, of really cool old things tend to get me very excited.  Kind of like a little kid on Christmas Day.  I want to know what's in it now.  When presented with the Time Capsule (you can read about it here) I did take a deep breath. I was going to try and do it right.

My hands were washed; I had the digital camera handy.  As we went through the suitcase, layer by layer, I took a picture of each layer before removing the items.  Since I was going to have to put it all back, I wanted to keep the contents in order for now.

After going through the "Time Capsule," not only had my initial curiosity been satisfied but I was able to get a general understanding of this particular collection.  The next step was to write a short description including how I know that these were Frances Lowe's things, when and where they were found and how they came to be in my possession.  The book, Organizing Archival Records, A Practical Method of Arrangement and Description for Small Archives, by David W. Carmichael, has some good forms for this activity.

On Saturday, I will begin going through Frances' Time Capsule, layer by layer, describing what I found and how I will catalogue and store this collection.

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Family Fortune

A while back I discovered a letter to my mother from her grandmother on the occassion of Mom's college graduation.  You can read the original post here.

The letter read in part:

These antique napkins rings are the remnant of your Great Grandfather and Great grandmother’s fortune. The silver in the rings were part of a silver brick given to them by a friend and my father had six napkin rings made out of same and when their three daughters were married they gave each of us two napkin rings. They are over Seventy-five years old.

I finally found them!  They weren't where Mom thought but the box they were in was just as Mom described it and the fact that they were tied together with a ribbon.

The inscription reads:

Presented to

D. A. ROBINSON

By Wm Parker of

Sherman Mine

Caribou Colo.

According to the letter the would have been made in the early 1870's.

It was common for Boulder residents to be involved in mining ventures during this time.  Daniel A. Robinson was no exception.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - WWI German Bayonet

This turned up a while back in one of the boxes of my grandparent's things.

 

The manufacturer was Simson & Co SUHL. A quick Google search revealed that it is a German bayonet.  The Allies referred to it as a "Butcher Blade" due to it's shape.  A pretty nasty looking weapon if you ask me. This particular one is a "sawback bayonet" characterized by the 29 teeth on the backside of the blade.  It was designed to be more of a tool than a weapon. 

Grandpa's diary and letters home referred to him wanting to find a German helmut and bring it home. In one of his last letters home, he mentioned that whenever he found one, they would have to move out before he could get it mailed.  He also mentioned that he was shipping home a box of stuff for himself and a friend.  I'm guessing this was one of the treasures in that box.

You can read more about this particular bayonet here if you are interested.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - Photo Locket

This locket was in the same little box as the WWI pins and buttons I wrote about on April 8th.

Grandpa was able to get a 3 day pass while with the American Expeditionary Forces in France.  He went to Paris to check up on his father's family and must have picked up this tiny souvenir.  The pictures from top to bottom are of the Statue of Gambetta, the Monument of the Republic, the Grande Roue, the Eiffel Tower, the Pantheon, Notre Dame, Invalides and Sacre Coeur all in Paris.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum