2024 Week 8 - Heirlooms

 

Something special that has been handed down in the family – hmmm.  I really don’t have anything that special.  However, I do have some things that had belonged to my grandparents or great grandparents that I have sentimental value about. 

 
What are these items,  you ask?  Well, I have two family Bibles for starters.  One is a German Bible that was given to my paternal Great grandparents on their wedding in February 1889.  This would be William Edward Kludt and Susan Katherine Reisner.  The Bible was passed down to their youngest son (the oldest son died before they passed away), probably at the death of Susan in 1948.  I remember seeing it when  I was at Papa’s house when I was growing up.  Papa was my Grandfather, Edward William Kludt.  When he passed away in 1975, it went to my Aunt,  Lois Jean Kludt Haynes.After her death in 2012, it came into my possession.

The other Bible I have belonged to my maternal Great Grandfather, George Wilby Keesee.  The Bible was given to him by his oldest daughter, Merle Keesee Paxton.  She had filled out all the family information (his marriage to Zettie, births of family members, deaths, etc).  I’m not sure how my grandfather, E B Keesee, came to possess it as he was not the oldest child.  One day, when my mom & I were cleaning his house (the daughters took turns as he didn’t do it himself and grandma was in a nursing home), I saw the Bible and was looking at it.  He said I could take it to look over and return it the next time we were down.  Somehow, that never happened.  He passed away in February 1985 and I still have the Bible.  So, it skipped a generation.

I have a 1956 Elna sewing machine that belonged to my maternal grandmother, Fern Reynoldson Keesee.  It was given to her as a gift at that time.  She created a lot of projects until her stroke in 1959.  It was given to me in the late 1970’s as I was doing a lot of sewing at the time.  I had moved out on my own in 1979 and only had room for a portable machine.  I used it a lot until the 1990’s when it was difficult to use in our dining room (power cord had to string across the room).  It sat for a long time and when I needed to use it again, I took it in to be cleaned/serviced.  Well, they could do that but if it needed parts, I was out of luck.  I had another machine (a Pfaff) that was 10 years old that I wanted serviced as well (I had inherited it as well).  The same response.  So, I took the Pfaff and traded it in for another, newer machine last year.  I kept the Elna for sentimental reasons.

I also inherited a lot of dishes, pans, silverware, and a 1953 Better Homes & Garden Cookbook from my paternal grandparents when Papa was put into a nursing home in 1973-4.  These items became my hope chest.  To this day, I still use the cookbook and several of the pans.  When I got married in 1985, we switched over to the Corelle dishes my husband had as they wouldn’t break as easily.  My dishes (both the everyday dishes and the good china) as well as the good silver silverware went into storage.  Now that we have moved into a new home, I hope to bring them out of storage and start using them.

Who will get these after I’m gone?  I don’t know.  There are no grandchildren at this time.  So, maybe I should look for a new home before I pass – there may be other family members (cousins) that would be interested.