Uncovering Family Treasures When Least Expecting It
Unexpected family heirloom discovery stories from the Reddit community.
“Hey! Kind of a random question, but have you ever stumbled across a family heirloom — maybe a family bible, pictures, journals, ledgers — completely by accident or when you weren't expecting to?”
I posted this question on the Genealogy community on Reddit. I had never posted before and wasn't sure if anybody would answer, but after 24 hours, there were 70 responses! I’ll put 4 of my favorites below.
An unexpected discovery I stumbled across last week inspired this question. I was doing some research on a branch of my family tree from the 1880s. They were carriage makers in Maine, and I thought ~maybe~ if I was lucky, I might find a picture of their shop or carriages online. I searched "Lovejoy carriagemakers Maine" in Google, and the first thing that came up was somebody selling two 400-page ledgers from their carriage-making company written between 1880-1908 on eBay! I stared at the screen, just shocked, for a few minutes before I got my wits about me to buy them.
From u/read-it-on-reddit: Great-Great-Grandfather’s Pool Table
My great great grandfather owned a business that manufactured pool tables in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I found one of his pool tables was for sale on eBay.
From u/fire_works10: Yard Sale Shock
Somewhere around 20 years ago, my dad was at a yard sale. He saw this beautiful, Gothic-ish (an incredibly detailed, black, almost carved-looking cover) family Bible that he couldn't seem to resist opening. In various handwriting, it had his/our family history going back to my great-great-grandparents who were married in 1877.
From u/prunepicker: Great Aunt’s Children’s Books
When I googled my great aunt’s name, I was blown away by an eBay listing for one of her children’s books. Until that moment, I didn’t know she’d written a series of children’s books! And yes, I bought it.
I have since found, and purchased, one more of her books.
She wrote six books, but I can only find four that were published. And I can imagine your excitement finding those ledgers! My ancestors are from Maine. I wonder if they owned a carriage from your family.
From u/boblegg986: Great-Great-Grandfather’s Civil War Muster Roll
My maternal 2nd great grandfather served in the 5th West Virginia Infantry in the Civil War, was wounded at 2nd Kernstown and discharged in 1865. I had his copies of the National Archives muster roll cards, but they are just extracts. I knew when he enlisted, so I did a search for 5th West Virginia Infantry on eBay and saved it with alerts.
We were on a delayed layover in Atlanta so I killed some time checking my computer and found an original muster roll for the same company and regiment, and for the same 60-day period as his enlistment. I bid $500 on it because I didn’t want to lose. When we made it home I had won for $75.
When it arrived I found I had guessed right. I found his name and even his rate of pay. It’s a large document - about the size of a D-sized map. I plan to have both sides scanned and donate the original to the West Virginia Archives. It has the names of other soldiers on it, so it doesn’t seem fair to keep it.
Jack Palmer is a History and Psychology double-major at Duke University. I’ve done genealogy research since I was 10 and love writing about it for family, friends, and anybody else who might enjoy a blast from the past.