I am still going through papers and pictures I have inherited. Look what I found today.
I found an inventory of household goods that had to be sold to pay off debts from my great great grandfather Daniel N. Davidson 1821-1893. He lived in Hendricks County Indiana.
In the picture above, about 1/2 way down you can see 12 quilts listed with 10 Comforts above and 9 sheets below. (a goodly amount of bedding) Also, if you look across the page, the quilts are valued at $4.00 and sold at $2.00. GASP!
This was back in a time when only men owned property and so it seems that my poor great great grandmother had all her household goods sold out from under her. The list also included a cook stove, lamps, bedsteads, a sewing machine, clocks, tables, and a rocker. (Lots of other things. . . . )
(Just realized my great great grandmother died two years earlier. Makes me feel a lot better than she didn't have to loose all her possessions.)
Anyway, I have inherited that organ and it is pictured below.
Oh, I just noticed there is a small "x" penciled in next to the word organ. As I looked down the list there is a small "x" next to Comforts and next to the Quilts and at the very bottom of the list next to the Gold Watch. Hmmmmm?
I do have an old Indigo and white feathered star quilt that I have wondered if this great great grandmother made it. I think it would have been made during her lifetime.
Elizabeth Dent Davidson 1830-1891
There are so many things to learn from old papers and photos but usually they create more questions as well as answering the original ones.
IToday we had a morning sky right out of a Maxfield Parrish painting. Quite lovely~
Robin
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8 comments:
Oh how wonderful that it was not sold and is now being cherished by you. So intriguing that it was marked with an X. For whatever reason, I'm happy that you now have it. So much fun to go through papers but you are right, they often create more questions than they answer.
That old organ is gorgeous, wondering if it still works. You are so fortunate to have those papers, yes sometimes they present more questions than they answer. I'd love to see a photo of the blue and white quilt you think may have been made by your great-great grandmother.
I love history like this, Robin. And what a treasure to have that organ. Does it still work?
I am not aware of quilting ancestors. I am not saying they don't exist--just that I don't know about them. My Mom says her mom didn't quilt, and she isn't aware that her grandmother did, either. Dad's Mom didn't quilt, and he isn't aware that his grandmother did. They were so poor, just scrambling for an existence on a farm in Idaho, after moving here from Tennessee.
That is a gorgeous morning sky!
Wow, what a cool artifact, the inventory! It's wonderful that you have the organ, and that very likely your indigo quilt was one of these 12 quilts? The pricing is mind blowing.
Wow! What a find! It is so wonderful to find documentation of your ancestors! I'm enjoying your blog! Have a wonderful day!
Your inventory is a treasure as is the organ and quilts. I had some quilts from my grandmothers but most of them have been worn out through use. I'm encouraging my family to use quilts everyday. It seems like the only way to get them to treasure them... even if they wear out sooner.
You have several treasures here, Robin: the inventory, the organ, and the quilt! How wonderful. Are there headings at the top of the columns of the inventory, even if only on the first page? It's hard to imagine that the asking price for 12 quilts was only $4.00 in the 1880s-1890s. That just seems crazy to me. I don't have an inventory but one of my g-g-grandmothers became a widow while she was pregnant in addition to having 6 or 7 other young children. With the probate packet there is an inventory of items that had to be sold to pay debts. It was just so sad.
Your grandmother's organ is gorgeous. Do you play? When I was a child my family visited a history site (I can't remember which) where there was a pump organ. The guide played it, then offered for me to pump it. Uh, it was really hard to pump!
How lucky you are to have inherited this family history- both the inventory and the organ. I love how this sort of artefact helps us to feel connected with the lives and experiences of people who came before us.
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