Meeting 10 October 2009

HEIRLOOMS - PART II

The October 2009 meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society was a continuation of September's meeting about Heirlooms.  More members brought and told about the heirloom they have and the stories behind them. 

    Georgia Bopp brought a Dresden china "knock-off" of an old English Inkwell.  It belonged to her great-grandfather from about 1850, so it is over 150 years old.

Jean Neuer showed her Pennsylvanian great-grandfather, Stephen Jordan's cane that he used after suffering a leg wound in the Civil War. She also showed his Stephen's daughter-in-law, Neva Crawford Jordan's white kid wedding shoes.

Suzanne Case brought a writing chest that is 8 generations old, with a list of the successive owners, all women beginning with Sophia Bear who received it in 1786 in England on her 16th birthday.

 

Jeanne Davis showed a display she created from photos of the Espenett ancestral home in Port D'Envaux, France. Wheat in the frame is from the wheat fields owed by the Espenett family 300 years ago.  David Espenett, a protestant, fled France in 1701 to Rye, England because of religious persecution.

Jin Deutch displayed a photo of his Deutch grandparents old Ford Convertible Touring car from about the 1920's, and he couldn't resist bringing his childhood friend "elephinki" a stuffed elephant.

Tom Bopp's father was the family historian and saved an old document written in German by Tom's great great grandfather from 1896.

Marguerite Peach's ancestors have a long history in Hawaii. She showed a special land ownership marker from the days of King Kamehameha III to mark land boundries. She also brough the watch fob of her grandfather John Hills, that is made of Boar's tooth from French Tahiti.

Harriet Hoffman brought a doll that had belonged to her mother, it has a china bisque head, unglazed, with closing eyes, blond hair, moving feet and head, and wearing a white dress.  It is probably from 1880-1890.

John Lundin, brought copies of the pages of "Seaman's Books" that were written by his grandfather, William Lundin.  He started in 1898 as a cook, then carpenter on a 2-masted brig.  He voyaged to Egypt and saw the pyramids in 1900.  By 1903 he was on British ships and others from Liverpool.  His books note that he carried many emigrants to the USA and brought cattle back to England on the return trip.  One ship was the S.S. Haverford.  John plans to donate these books to the Maritime Museum in Philadelphia one day.

 

Paige Dwight had a Daguerrotype photo of her grandmother with another relative.  There was a paper with writing on the back and the case had a floral decorated cover.

Patricia Beekman's grandfather's brother, Yonescu Morita Kumomoto was in the Japanese-Russian War and left Japan to come to Hawaii to work in the sugar plantations in 1940.  She brought a replica of a lunch pail similar to what her family used for lunches of rice and okazu, near Hilo, Hawaii.  She also brought Geta - wooden shoes, and a "sorban" abacus.. the Japanesse sytle abacus has one row of beads at the top (Chinese abacus has two rows).

Rosemary Panko father's German grandmother, loved to do tatting and lace making.  She brought a intriguing assembly of old 1900 U.S. coins tied with ribbons and attached at the top to a vial that her this great-grandmother created and the ladies present thought that perhaps the item was used as a counter-weight for holding thread when doing tatting.  If anyone has any other ideas, please make a comment.

Rosemary Panko passed out a list of recommendations for Photograph Preservation and websites for how to care for your family collections -- preservation of your resources.  Also four websites of companies were listed where one can order archival supplies.

Twenty three people attended this fun meeting, and enjoyed the ghost-like chocolate piece tombstone cupcakes made for Halloween-month refreshments by Jean Neuer.

The next meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society will be Saturday, November 14, 2009 and the topic will be tips and strategies for better searches on Ancestry.com.  Please bring laptops and questions.  A wireless connection will be available.

Contact Jim Deutch if you are a member and want to attend our  Holiday Party/Buffet and gift exchange, at the Hickam Air Force Base Officer's Club on December 6th, 2009 at 10:00 am.