This is a repeat of a blog that I wrote and published on a different site. It especially fit the bill for Week 24’s category of “Handed Down” It was initally called “A surprise..” because it was! I hope you enjoy it!

A surprise in the mail…

Last week I got an email from my cousin in Traverse City, Michigan. She informed me that she had dropped a little surprise in the mail to me so I should keep my eye out for it!

Low and behold, a few days later I got this small box. So I opened it and this is what I found!

I’ve had only a small amount of time to research this week to see if I could find out more about this item. It appears to be a paper weight which commemorates the dedication of the ME Uniondale Church in Indiana. Today this church is the United Methodist Church of Uniondale and is still operating. Back in 1917, it was my great, great grandparent’s church, John and Emma Crites. It also shows the original church built in 1888. It is an interesting piece of our family history which has been kept for five generation now.

My cousin, Helen Jane Wilson, said that she is slowly going through her mother’s china cabinet and deciding what to do with the family items which have been kept for all these years. She told me that since I had done such a good job of uncovering who our family really was and where we came from, that she thought I might enjoy having this on my desk! And I do! It gave me goose bumps when I opened it, wondering how many family members had handled it before me…and who exactly kept it as a treasure before Uncle Fred and Aunt Hazel did! It was likely Cora Crites Smith and before that, Emma herself.

It’s a piece of our family history which I can touch everyday! Now, it is time to clean my desk up a bit so I have a place to put it.  I am sure that all of you can relate to the condition of my desk.  There are always papers, photos and old documents which represent my current mystery as I research my next family story.  Everyday there is a new fact to be found and a new story to uncover.

With that in mind this paperweight now presents me with a new mystery! I did spend some time discovering more about the company who made this paperweight. It’s the Keystone Badge Company which is still in business today in Reading, Pennsylvania. It makes many types of items for commemorating historical or milestone events.

A couple of years later I went to Uniondale to try to find John and Emma house. I found it…and that story is for a different blog. While we were in town we visited a local Antique shop. In the shop was a large panoramic photo with lots of people in it. An old photo which was not for sale but was simply on display. It did not take me long to recognize the church which is standing right down the street, visible if you stepped out the door and looked to the east. They were obviously commemorating an important event with this photo. Soon it became obvious to me why I was there that day.

 

I had to break the photo into three parts to get it all. and honestly in my excitement…I really did not do a very good job of it. I need to go back with today’s technology and try it again.

And in the front just behind the small children stands my Great Great Grandmother, Emma Crites, and her daughter Dessie and her granddaughter Velma! I have not located John Henry Crites. I need to get out a magnifying glass. I am fairly certain that her daughter Cora, who is my Great Grandmother and her husband Alvin are in the photo too.  My Grandfather Everett and Uncle Fred are probably in here as well.

The more I looked at this photo, I decided that it had to have been taken on the day of the dedication of the new bigger brick church in 1917.  I sure wish I could identify the people in this photo. This is am amazing piece of local history.  It really should be in the hands of the church.  If  you could get a list of the church membership in 1917 and work with local historians, maybe you could identify some of the people. It’s a pipe dream I know but I would still love to try.

So my “handed down item” lead me to this. I am overdue for a visit to the area for some research.

Happy Hunting,

Jan

 

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